Benjamin Mayo

So, Apple has just released the next major version of its iPhone operating system, called iOS 26. If you have an iPhone model newer than the XS, you can update to iOS 26 for free right now.

But the previous version number of iOS was iOS 18. So what happened to iOS 19? Why did Apple jump to 26?

The iOS 26 Safari browser on iPhone evokes the new design system featuring Liquid Glass, with floating toolbars and buttons that shine through the web page content behind them as you scroll. But Apple has also taken the opportunity to revamp the design of the toolbar UI.

By default, iOS 26 now uses a Compact layout which hides away some of the commonly used buttons. However, there’s a way to change it back if you prefer something that looked like the iOS 18 design …

As well as a refreshed new look for system components like buttons and tabbars, the Liquid Glass redesign of iOS 26 also extends to app icons. For the first time since iOS 7, Apple has redrawn all of the system apps with new artwork. That means a whole new look is coming to your iPhone home screen when you update.

In this post, we share a side-by-side of the iOS 26 app icon and its iOS 18 counterpart, so you can decide for yourself how much of a step forward the new visual style represents.

Apple today released the brand new tvOS 26 version for the Apple TV 4K set-top box. The update is available for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD users, although not all features are available on older hardware generations.

The new update includes a set of visual design changes to harmonise with Apple’s platform-wide Liquid Glass design system, new karaoke features for Apple Music Sing, a new profile switching UI, and more. Here’s everything new …

Apple TV+ set a new personal record for wins at the 2025 Emmy Awards, taking home 25 total trophies across its series. This was led by recognition for The Studio in the comedy categories, which won 13 awards including the top honors Best Comedy Series.

However, Apple was less successful on the drama side. Despite coming in to the night with a record-setting 27 nominations for Severance, HBO’s The Pitt ultimately clinched the Best Drama Series Emmy.

The iPhone 17 is resonating with Chinese consumers, with seemingly strong preorder sales volume. The South China Morning Post reports that iPhone 17 sales at JD.com (a large online Chinese retailer) within the first hour of preorders going on sale exceeded the first day of iPhone 16 preorders last year.

The base iPhone 17 with 256 GB storage was said to be the most popular model. Meanwhile, the launch of the iPhone Air is indefinitely delayed while Apple waits for eSIM-related regulatory approval.

The iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air are now available to order. First deliveries ship on September 19.

You could order AirPods Pro 3 and new Apple Watch lineup as soon as the event ended, but today is the first time customers can claim their new iPhones for launch day. You can also buy new accessories, including the Crossbody Strap and the TechWoven cases.

The iPhone Air is Apple’s flashiest new iPhone model, featuring a strikingly thin industrial design. One of the ways Apple achieved this sleek profile was to maximise internal space by making all iPhones Airs rely on eSIM, with no physical SIM card slot model available.

Despite announcing at the event that the iPhone Air would be available in China through carrier China Telecom, Apple has since delayed the launch. Via The South China Morning Post, the iPhone Air will not go on sale in China today as Apple continues to work with the Chinese regulators regarding eSIM.

It’s new iPhone preorder day, which means Apple is following the usual tradition of taking down the store a few hours ahead. The store will be back up at 5 AM Pacific Time.

Today, customers can order iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air for (hopefully) launch day delivery on September 19. AirPods Pro 3 and the new Apple Watch models are already available to order.

The HomePod got short shrift at Apple’s event yesterday, which ended with barely a mention of Apple’s home speaker lineup.

While we are still waiting for a rumored HomePod mini 2 to be announced, Apple is launching a software update next week which comes with two small enhancements to the HomePod experience …

A new software feature available across the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air lineup is Dual Capture, which allows you to record from the front and rear camera at the same time.

This mode is available through a button in the Apple Camera app running on an iPhone 17. The dual video recording capability was first demoed by Apple back in 2019 as a feature of the iPhone 11 Pro, but required a third-party app to use …

The new AirPods Pro 3 have better battery life than AirPods Pro 2 on a single charge, with the buds lasting up to 2 hours longer on one charge.

But here’s a curveball. The overall battery life of AirPods Pro 3 is actually less. Including the charging case, Apple says AirPods Pro 3 are good for 24 hours of listening time, whereas AirPods Pro 2 actually last for 30 hours. That’s a surprising 20% reduction …

At Apple’s event yesterday, battery life was one of the big marketing points for the iPhone 17 Pro series. However, it turns out that the best battery life models of the Pro and Pro Max are not actually available to buy worldwide.

In the United States, Apple quotes 30 hours streaming video playback for iPhone 17 Pro and 35 hours for iPhone 17 Pro Max. But in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere, the tech specs list battery life of 28 hours and 33 hours respectively, two hours less than their US model counterparts.

The new iPhone Air features a stunningly thin design, comprising a 5.6mm thick chassis with a protruding camera plateau. But ultra-thin phones come with tradeoffs, and there’s been a lot of consternation about the battery life of the iPhone Air.

Here’s what Apple says about the kind of battery life you can expect from the new iPhone Air …

After the disaster that was FineWoven two years ago, Apple is back again with another attempt to replace its leather cases with something more environmentally friendly than leather, and more stylish and premium than its base silicone range.

The new TechWoven cases have a new fine-knit weave appearance. We’ll obviously have to wait for these cases to get into people’s hands to assess their durability.

For the iPhone Air, Apple announced a brand new chip, called the N1 chip. The N1 chip manages the Bluetooth, WiFi and Thread radios inside the new iPhone.

The N1 is a custom Apple design, to achieve better wireless performance and power efficiency. Apple specifically said it improves the performance of features like hotspot and AirDrop.

Apple today announced its next generation lineup of iPhone, starting with the entry-level iPhone 17. iPhone 17 features an upgraded display, better front and rear cameras, and more enhancements. All of these upgrades are offered at the same $799 starting price as the outgoing iPhone 16.

The new iPhone 17 has a larger 6.3-inch display, with ProMotion high-refresh rate support for the first time. It also supports always-on mode to show your lock screen in a dimmed state. The iPhone 17 is also powered by the brand new A19 chip for faster CPU and GPU performance. Here’s more new features …

Apple today announced the new AirPods Pro 3, the next-generation of AirPods hardware.

One of the big new software features is Live Translation. By tapping on the stems of both buds, AirPods enter a new translation mode which cancels out background noise and listens in to your conversations. When it hears a foreign language it can understand, you hear the translated version spoken back to you through your AirPods.

Keeping with tradition, the Apple Online Store has been taken down ahead of Apple’s September product event. We are expecting the company to officially unveil the new iPhone 17 lineup, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and a new generation of AirPods Pro.

The ‘awe dropping’ event kicks off at 10 AM Pacific Time. Apple typically takes the store down to signal that new hardware is about to be announced, although it won’t necessarily go on sale immediately.

The Powerbeats Fit appear to be a rebrand/replacement for the Beats Fit Pro. After being teased by Beats at the end of August, we now have a full leak of their specs and colorways, courtesy of Evan Blass (@evleaks).

Powerbeats Fit come in a handful of colors, including a vibrant ‘spark orange’ that might just match the new color of the iPhone 17 Pro being announced later today. The earbuds are expected to officially launch in a few weeks time.

Just a day ahead of Apple’s September iPhone event, we finally have confirmed battery capacity numbers for the entire iPhone 17 lineup, thanks to Chinese regulatory filings.

All iPhone 17 models will get bigger batteries this year, compared to their 16 predecessors. But the biggest gains will come in the form of the iPhone 17 Pro, whose capacity increases 18.7% compared to the iPhone 16 Pro …