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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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The Apple Watch is not actually carbon neutral, says German court

Apple is no longer allowed to advertise the Apple Watch as carbon neutral, a German court ruled following a protest from environmentalists about Apple’s promoted claims.

The Frankfurt court found the company misled consumers for describing the Apple Watch as a CO2-neutral product. Apple first unveiled its first carbon neutral products starting with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in September 2023.

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Apple’s F1 movie tops $600m at worldwide box office, surpassing all expectations

Apple’s big box office bet continues to break records for the company, with F1: The Movie now breaking another milestone this weekend, topping $600 million at the worldwide box office.

This figure beats even the most optimistic expectations ahead of release, which cost Apple about $250 million to make. The film hit buy or rent video on demand on Friday, but a streaming date on Apple TV+ has not yet been announced.

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Foldable iPhone coming next year to feature four cameras, Touch ID, Apple cellular modem

There's one big problem with the iPhone Fold (render shown), and it's almost the obvious one

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman spilled some more details about the upcoming foldable iPhone in his Power On newsletter today.

He says the foldable iPhone will open like a book to reveal a larger inner display, like many Android foldables. The foldable iPhone will feature a total of four cameras, one on the front screen, one on the inside and two on the back. It will also use Touch ID for biometrics and use Apple’s in-house cellular modem for connectivity.

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You might get a secret discount offer when you go to cancel Apple TV+

Apple TV+ just announced a 30% price rise, which may convince some subscribers to cancel and churn out for a while.

However, the company seems to be prepared to mitigate for that somewhat. Users on Reddit discovered that when they went to cancel their subscription in the Apple TV app, they were presented with a 54% discount offer for two months.

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When will F1 movie be on Apple TV? Here’s the expected streaming release date

The F1: The Movie has made a big splash at the box office at movie theaters around the world, and is now available to buy or rent at stores including Amazon Prime VideoApple TV, and more. The film is being distributed in partnership with Warner Bros. But as a fully financed Apple Original production, it will end up streaming on Apple TV+. Here’s the expected streaming release date.

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Paramount poaches key Apple TV+ exec

Apple TV+ logo

On the same day that Apple TV+ announced a 30% price rise, news has broken that one of its key TV execs is leaving the company. Creative executive Chris Parnell is leaving Apple and is joining Paramount+, per Deadline.

Parnell joined Apple back in 2020 and spearheaded development of many high-profile TV+ originals, including Dark Matter, Bad Monkey, and the upcoming Vince Gilligan series Pluribus.

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Apple TV+ subscription price increasing to $12.99 per month from today

Apple today announced that the monthly price of Apple TV+ is rising in the United States and some international markets. From today, the monthly subscription will cost $12.99, up from $9.99.

Existing subscribers will see the price change 30 days after the next renewal date. The pricing for yearly TV+ subscriptions and the Apple One services bundle remains unchanged.

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Report: Apple strikes out of baseball coverage on Apple TV+, Friday Night Baseball to end

A package of MLB baseball rights are currently up for grabs. As recently as last week, Apple was said to be a front runner to land expanded baseball streaming coverage. But according to Yahoo Sports reporter Kendall Baker, that is no longer the case.

According to the report, Apple has elected to exit its relationship with Major League Baseball altogether. That means it will add no new Sunday games, and it also implicates the future of Friday Night Baseball. Friday Night Baseball currently streams two weekly games for Apple TV+ subscribers.

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Apple TV+ premieres the first new Snoopy musical special in 37 years

As part of its exclusive deal with Peanuts, Apple TV+ today premieres Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical. This is the latest original Snoopy special to air on the platform, and this one stands out as it is a song-filled musical. The last time Peanuts premiered a new musical episode was more than 37 years ago.

The new special celebrates summer camp. Charlie Brown is trying to make his last year at camp as special as possible. Meanwhile, Snoopy and Woodstock find a treasure map that leads them on an adventure.

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Faster animations on iOS 26 makes even older iPhones feel like new

The design revamp brought about with iOS 26 brings all sorts of new animations along with the Liquid Glass visual treatments. With beta 6, Apple overhauled Springboard’s app launch animations for the first time in years.

Apps now launch to full-screen much faster than before, accompanied a minor warp effect that is reminiscent of how Mac windows minimise to the dock. The faster animation speed makes a big difference. It really feels like iOS 26 made your iPhone faster, even several-year old models …

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A new Apple TV 4K is coming soon: will it support Apple Intelligence?

A hardware refresh for the Apple TV 4K set-top box is coming soon. The current generation was released in spring 2022, and is powered by an A15 Bionic chip.

The new generation is expected to feature a new Apple-designed WiFi and Bluetooth chip, as well as a CPU upgrade. A report from MacRumors today cites code references that indicate the box will actually get an A17 Pro chip, the same processor that powers the iPhone 15 Pro.

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The redundant iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps can now be hidden from the Apple TV Home Screen

tvOS 26 beta 6

The iTunes Movies and TV Shows app predate the unified Apple TV app, and go all the way back to the first version of tvOS in 2015. Fast forward to today, and these apps are almost entirely redundant and serve as mere placeholders.

As system apps on Apple TV are not deletable, these husks of times past have somewhat comically stuck around on the Apple TV home screen. With the latest beta of tvOS 26, users will finally have a way to bury these apps for good.

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iOS 26 brings back the iPhone calculator’s clear button

iOS 18 featured a major redesign to the Calculator app, including fancy features like Math Notes. Those changes included adding a back button to the keypad, replacing the traditional C/AC button. This was so frustrating for some, the real hard-core Calculator users I guess, that The Atlantic published an entire column when iOS 18 shipped, decrying the button’s removal.

Apple has seemingly taken those complaints onboard. With iOS 26, the Calculator once again has a dedicated C/AC button.

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The new Preview app has a fun interactive Liquid Glass easter egg

As part of the overall redesign, Liquid Glass has been implemented throughout iOS 26, changing how app icons, toolbars, tab bars and system controls look and behave.

But Apple is also open to just having a bit of a fun with the new material, like the completely-over-the-top refraction effect when you pull down the Lock Screen. With beta 6, Apple hid another fun Liquid Glass easter egg inside the Preview app on iPad. See the video after the break …

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How to use a VPN on iPhone

With worldwide government regulations increasingly cracking down on what content is available, and various streaming services increasingly locking content behind geographic paywalls, more and more people are turning to VPNs.

Setting up a VPN used to be complicated, but in the last decade, the process has become incredibly streamlined. Here’s how to set up and use a VPN on your iPhone.

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Apple’s F1 movie crosses $500 million at global box office

The F1 movie continues its hot streak at cinemas, with the film still widely resonating with audience a month after its theatrical premiere. The Apple Original Film has now crossed the $500 million mark at the global box office, with the running total now standing around $509 million.

F1: The Movie will eventually land on Apple TV+, likely in October. But Apple and distributor Warner Bros. have little incentive to hurry along the secondary release windows if the cinema takings remain as strong as they are.

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Apple announces new series ‘Pluribus’ from the creator of Breaking Bad, watch the teaser here

Apple today announced a new series from Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad. The series is called ‘Pluribus’ and stars Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul). It will premiere on Apple TV+ on November 7.

It appears to be a mysterious sci-fi thriller in which “the most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness”. You can watch the 30-second teaser after the break:

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tvOS 26 public beta is now available, here’s all the new features for Apple TV

tvOS 26 public beta

The Apple TV 4K set-top box is getting a handful of new features with tvOS 26. tvOS 26 is available now as a public beta, and will be available as a free software update later this year for everyone to install.

tvOS 26 includes updates to Apple Music Sing, easier profile switching, better support for AirPlay speakers that are not HomePods, and a visual design refresh featuring Liquid Glass material. Here’s everything new …

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Here’s what Apple Intelligence summarized news notifications look like on iOS 26

After launching notification summaries as one of the flagship features of Apple Intelligence, Apple disabled the feature for apps in the News and Entertainment categories in the iOS 18.3 update, following backlash from publications like the BBC about Apple Intelligence portraying its news headlines inaccurately.

Having been disabled entirely for these apps since mid-January, Apple announced this week the feature will return as part of iOS 26. Users running the developer have noticed that these notifications get a different visual treatment compared to normal notification summaries generated from other categories of apps.

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Apple now allows app developers to show retention offers when users try to cancel a subscription

In-App Purchase Retention Offers

Apple is expanding the capability of its In-App Purchase framework with a new retention messaging API. This means, for the first time, developers will be able to show offers to users when they go to cancel a subscription in the global Subscriptions screen inside the Settings app.

Apps will be able to show a simple static message, display dynamic progress based on the user’s app state, or present a special offer to try and dissuade the user from cancelling their payment altogether.

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Apple Sports app expands soccer coverage and launches in a new country

The Apple Sports app, which allows users to track sports scores in real-time, today expanded its coverage of soccer. With the new 3.1 update, fans of the FA Community Shield soccer match can now follow along inside Apple Sports.

Also notable is that the app is now available to download in Mexico. This means fans of Liga MX can now use the app for the first time to track the performance of their local teams, as well as how they fare in the MLS Leagues Cup.

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