Follow Benjamin on Twitter 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.
Follow @bzamayo on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.
Update: AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation currently reduced to $169 on Amazon.
So, Apple just updated its base model AirPods for the first time in years. There’s now two new models, one with Active Noise Cancellation, and one without – starting at $129.
ANC was the hero exclusive feature of AirPods Pro … until today. So how do the new AirPods (not Pro) stack up? Here’s all the differences.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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 …
Expand Expanding Close
In the final instalment of this week’s announcements, Apple has posted a 17-minute event video unveiling the new M4 MacBook Pro lineup.
The MacBook Pro lineup spans an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4, as well as higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch models powered by M4 Pro and M4 Max …
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple today unveiled the new smaller Mac mini, with M4 and M4 Pro chip options. The new Mini measures 5×5 inches square, significantly smaller than the generation it replaces.
Like with the iMac yesterday, Apple has shared an announcement video for the new machine, led by Apple SVP John Ternus. Watch it after the break …
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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 …
Expand Expanding Close
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 …
Expand Expanding Close
The first developer beta of iOS 18.2 has been released today, including a bevy of new Apple Intelligence features, like image generation with Genmoji and Image Playground.
But most interestingly for users outside of the United States, iOS 18.2 also officially expands Apple Intelligence support the United States for the first time.
Expand Expanding Close
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 …
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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.
Expand Expanding Close
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 …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple TV+ today starts streaming a high-profile new series, called Disclaimer, based on the book of the same name. The series is created by esteemed Alfonso Cuarón, and stars Cate Blanchett in the lead roles. Here’s how to watch.
Expand Expanding Close
The critically acclaimed Apple original Severance is getting a release on disc, with a Blu-ray edition going on sale this December.
Expand Expanding Close
The iPhone 16 Pro Max continues to make headlines, with Apple firmly having the best performance and longest battery life smartphone this year.
In PhoneBuff’s test, the 16 Pro Max went head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in a test involving a variety of app functions, all controlled by a robotic arm. The iPhone ultimately lasted a total of 28 hours and 14 minutes; with more than 12 hours of active screen-on time and 16 hours of standby. That battery life performance set a new record, beating out any other smartphone PhoneBuff has tested.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple Search Ads is continuing its expansion into new geographic segments, following a successful rollout to Brazil earlier this year.
Apple announced today that developers will soon be able to start buying Apple Search Ads for placement in Turkey and 20 additional countries.
Expand Expanding Close
Via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is set to update its entry-level iPhone SE early next year, alongside updates to the iPad Air and accessories.
The new iPhone SE will be a significant release, featuring a shift away from the dated forehead and chin bezels, replaced with an all-screen design with Face ID unlock. The new iPad Air will keep the same chassis design, with the update predominantly focused on ‘internal improvements’.
Expand Expanding Close
AirPods (3rd-generation) were released in October 2021. Three years on, AirPods 4 are here.
If you are a current AirPods 3 owner, should you upgrade to Apple’s latest on-ear wireless earbuds? There’s one specific new feature that might encourage a sale, but here’s all the differences to consider …
Expand Expanding Close