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Benjamin Mayo

bzamayo

Follow Benjamin on Threads to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.

Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.

on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.

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UK consumer rights group sues Apple for maintaining an ‘unlawful’ iCloud monopoly

iCloud unhappy

UK consumer rights group Which? is leading a lawsuit against Apple, targeting Apple’s dominance over cloud services on iPhone and iPad. Essentially, it argues that Apple forces iOS device users to buy iCloud storage as it does not allow other cloud services to integrate deeply with the system for data backup. Apple said it “rejects any suggestion that … iCloud practices are anticompetitive”.

The class action is looking for damages of about £70 per individual, although this figure could change dramatically once the case goes to trial, or a settlement is reached. The case could also be thrown out entirely. Details of the suit can be found at cloudclaim.co.uk.

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OWC announces its first Thunderbolt 5 dock, compatible with latest M4 Macs

The new M4 Pro Mac mini and new M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro feature Thunderbolt 5 ports for the first time. Thunderbolt 5 offers bi-directional transfer speeds up to 80Gb/s, or 2x faster than Thunderbolt 4. It can also drive high-resolution displays using a 120Gb/s bandwidth mode.

However, the universe of Thunderbolt 5 accessories is still nascent. OWC announced its first Thunderbolt 5 dock today, priced at $189.

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Kuo: Apple to release its own smart home camera in 2026, with AI features

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported today that Apple will enter the smart home camera market in 2026, with the company seemingly set to compete against third-party HomeKit cameras like the Eve Indoor Cam for the first time.

The IP camera is targeted to hit annual shipments in the tens of millions, indicating Apple hopes this will become a major accessory in its product lineup. Kuo says the appeal of Apple’s camera will be rich integration with Siri and Apple Intelligence features.

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All your iPhone notes gone in Apple Notes app? Here’s the fix

Apple Notes gone

Some iPhone users are reporting a scary bug with the Notes app on iPhone. After agreeing to new iCloud terms and conditions as prompted by the system, the Notes app appears to disconnect from iCloud and instead presents users with a screen of zero notes, as if all the user’s notes have been deleted.

This happened to me on my phone running iOS 18.2. Based on the number of reports on social media from aggrieved users worried that all their notes are now gone forever, this is a relatively widespread bug that impacts iPhones running any iOS 18 version. Fortunately, there is a fix …

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EU commission assessing whether the iPad offers sufficient interoperability with third-party headphones and ‘smart pens’

Apple App Store EU

The EU commission announced today that it is now formally assessing whether iPadOS, the underlying software for Apple’s iPad tablets, is in compliance with the Digital Markets Act.

The DMA requires that iPadOS must allow the choice of a default web browser, allow alternative app stores, and support accessory ecosystems “like headphones and smart pens”, in the European region.

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Siri on your iPhone running iOS 18.1 may look different, but it still works the same

Siri on iPhone with iOS 18.1

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 model, you can access Apple Intelligence when updating to iOS 18.1. This includes a new look for Siri, with a beautiful edge-lit animation.

However, the new animation does not mean that Siri’s intelligence or capabilities have meaningfully improved. Here’s exactly what’s new .. and what you have to keep waiting for.

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Apple expands iPhone satellite services deal, commits $1.1bn to expand capacity

As iPhone users can now send SMS via satellite, will Apple finally charge for such features?

Satellite services provider GlobalStar today disclosed an expansion of its deal with Apple. Apple will commit an additional $1.1 billion for upfront infrastructure prepayments, to increase the capacity of satellite services. Additionally, Apple will take 20% ownership of GlobalStar, in an equity deal worth about $400 million.

The news has sent GlobalStar stock soaring, and it hints towards Apple’s growing plans for iPhone satellite features. With iOS 18, for instance, iPhone users are now able to send text messages to friends and family over satellite, when outside of cellular or WiFi range.

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The new Mac mini will be Apple’s fastest desktop Mac, as shown by M4 Pro Geekbench scores

New Mac mini

The new Mac mini with M4 Pro will be Apple’s fastest desktop Mac, ever, eclipsing the M2 Ultra performance of Mac Studio and Mac Pro. The base M4 Mac mini will be blazing fast too, but for single core and multi-core, the M4 Pro is the new desktop king (We expect the high-end M4 Max MacBook Pro to handily beat it, of course).

As shown by Geekbench scores appearing overnight, the Mac mini with M4 Pro is reporting single-scores in the 3,700 range and multi-core scores around 22,000. This means the Mac mini will beat the previous multi-core champ, M2 Ultra, on raw CPU performance.

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Watch: Hands-on with M4 MacBook Pro, iMac and the new Mac mini

Hands on with M4

YouTuber Brian Tong brings us a nice video of Apple’s Los Angeles hands-on showroom event on Wednesday, which let creators get their first hands on with the new M4-powered Mac product lineup.

You can see size comparisons with the new Mac mini next to the old Mac mini, and even the Apple TV. The new iMac colors (and nano-texture screen coating) were also on display. Apple also had demos setup showing Final Cut Pro running on the new M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pros

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M4 Max chip has 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 35% increase in memory bandwidth

Apple’s high-end laptop chip, the M4 Max, debuted today as part of the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

In its highest configuration, the M4 Max chip features a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and 546 GB/s of memory bandwidth. That compares to the M3 Max specs of 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU and 400 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Through a combination of more and faster cores, Apple says customers should expect a 20% overall performance jump with M4 Max, compared to M3 Max.

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M4 Pro chip boosts CPU and GPU performance, up to 64 GB RAM and Thunderbolt 5 support

The just-announced Mac mini includes the unveiling of the M4 Pro chip for the first time. The new upscale chip features 14-CPU cores (10 performance and 4 high-efficiency), up to 20 core GPU, and support for up to 64 GB RAM.

Like the M4 iMac, both the M4 and the M4 Pro configurations of Mac mini also start at 16 GB RAM as the new baseline. And the M4 Pro chip brings Thunderbolt 5 for the fastest I/O yet on the Mac.

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Tap to Pay on iPhone expands to more countries

Tap to Pay Apple iPhone

This morning, Apple announced that Tap to Pay on iPhone is rolling out to more markets, with five new countries across Europe.

Tap to Pay on the iPhone is the feature where businesses can use an iPhone as a contactless terminal to accept payments. The customer simply holds their contactless card, or iPhone or Watch, near the merchant’s iPhone to complete the payment using NFC chip inside the iPhone.

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Apple posts event video for new M4 iMac, confirms first of three Mac announcements this week

M4 iMac event

Apple today launched the new M4 iMac in a press release, while simultaneously posting an announcement video to YouTube that looks like it could have been cut straight out of a streamed event video.

John Ternus introduces the new iMac as the first of “three exciting new product announcements” coming this week, all but confirming the imminent unveiling of the new Mac mini and MacBook Pro with M4 lineup coming Tuesday and Wednesday. Watch the video after the break …

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Apple Intelligence is here: iOS 18.1 includes Writing Tools, a new look for Siri, notification summaries, and more

After a lot of marketing hype and developer testing, Apple Intelligence is finally here, with the public release of iOS 18.1 rolling out now. Apple Intelligence is available on all iPhone 16 models and iPhone 15 Pro, the new iPad mini, or older Macs and iPads powered by the M1 chip or newer.

iOS 18.1 includes the first wave of Apple Intelligence functionality. More features are coming in iOS 18.2, and later in 2025. The headline features available now include Writing Tools, notification summaries, a new visual update for Siri, Photos enhancements, and more. Here’s everything new …

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iOS 18.2 beta now available with Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT, iPhone 16 Visual Intelligence, and more

Apple Intelligence iOS 18.2

The first developer beta of iOS 18.2 is out now. The update brings the second wave of Apple Intelligence features for developers to try.

iOS 18.2 includes Apple’s image generation features like Genmoji and Image Playground, ChatGPT integration in Siri and Writing Tools, and more powerful Writing Tools with the addition of the ‘Describe your change’ text field. iPhone 16 owners can access Visual Intelligence via the Camera Control. The update also expands Apple Intelligence availability to more English-speaking locales, beyond just US English …

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Apple previews new iPhone features including enhanced caller ID for businesses and brand logos in Mail

Apple today announced an extension of the Apple Business Connect program, which allows companies to submit information about their businesses to Apple to be surfaced in Apple Maps, Siri and increasingly more places across the operating system.

In iOS 18.2, the Mail app will be able to show brand logos next to emails from participating businesses. Next year, the Phone app will be able to identify the incoming call from a business with a logo badge and descriptive name. The enhanced caller ID and branding will help users distinguish legitimate communications from spam and phishing attempts.

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Apple announces new iPad mini with A17 Pro chip, Pencil Pro and Apple Intelligence support

Apple today unveiled a new generation of iPad mini, upgraded to be powered by the A17 Pro chip. That’s the same chip as the iPhone 15 Pro. This means the new iPad mini can support the full suite of Apple Intelligence features. It also features support for the Apple Pencil Pro.

The new iPad mini is priced at $499, with 128 GB storage — that’s double the storage of the previous generation for the same price. Customers can order iPad mini right now, with deliveries from next week, starting October 23.

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You can now subscribe to Apple TV+ inside of Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV

As previously announced, Amazon Prime Video is now offering Apple TV+ content directly inside its app. Prime Video users can subscribe to Apple TV+ at the regular price of $9.99 per month, with a seven-day free trial for new subscriptions.

The experience is still rolling out, but it seems that the entire catalog of Apple original TV shows and movies are available, including latest releases like the new limited series Disclaimer.

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Apple shares season two trailer for sci-fi series Silo

Apple today released the season two trailer for Silo, the hit sci-fi series on Apple TV+. Based on the book series by Hugh Howey, the show sees Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) in a world where everyone is living underground, in a silo that is shrouded in mystery.

Silo became Apple’s most viewed drama when the first season debuted last year, in May 2023. And season two picks up right where the season one finale lefts off, with Juliette exploring the world outside …

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