Chance Miller

Benjamin and Chance discuss Apple’s surprise acquisition of Pixelmator, all the new features and changes in the latest OS betas, and the rumors around Apple’s indecision for the future of wearables on your face. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, we speculate on what we’d like to see from the rumored 2026 MacBook Pro redesign. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook has joined the chorus of Big Tech CEOs congratulating Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election. Cook says that he looks forward to working with the Trump administration.

The European Commission has announced its latest antitrust investigation, and it could once again have an impact on Apple.

The EC says it is investigating whether Corning, a key Apple supplier, “may have abused its dominant position on the worldwide market for a special type of glass that is mainly used to protect the screens of handheld electronic devices, such as mobile phones.”

Today is Election Day in the United States, and the News app built into your iPhone can help you stay informed throughout the day.

In the News app, you can find up-to-date information on how to vote in your state as well latest news and developments. Most notable, however, is that the News app has a built-in Live Activity to help you follow the election results in real-time today.

November 5, 2024: Updated with additional longer-term thoughts below ahead of the release of the nano-texture M4 MacBook Pro.

When Apple announced the new nano-texture display option for the new iPad Pro, I was skeptical. I assumed that nano-texture would cancel out a lot of the benefits of the new Ultra Retina XDR display.

But after spending a few weeks with the new nano-texture iPad Pro, I’m happy to admit that I was wrong. The 11-inch iPad Pro with nano-texture is very nice – and currently $50 off.

Apple is set to face the first-ever fine under the Digital Markets Act in the EU as soon as this month, Bloomberg reports. The EU initially issued its decision that Apple was in breach of the DMA in June.

Apple has confirmed that iOS 18.2 will be released to everyone in December. The update brings major upgrades for iPhone users, including new Apple Intelligence features, a redesign fro the Mail app, and more.

Head below as we round up every new feature and change in iOS 18.2.

A new rumor today suggests Apple is developing a 90Hz display that could be destined for the iPad Air, 24-inch iMac, and Studio Display.

The rumor comes from an anonymous source who reached out to the Upgrade podcast hosted by Myke Hurley and Jason Snell.

We’re coming up on two years since GM announced its decision to ditch CarPlay on all of its EVs. By all measures, the transition got off to an incredibly rocky start with its 2024 model year cars. The Chevy Blazer EV, for example, suffered from a series of problems courtesy of GM’s “Ultifi” infotainment system.

In a new interview this week, Baris Cetinok GM’s software vice president once again doubled down on the company’s move to abandon CarPlay.

iOS 18.2 beta 2 was released for developers today, and it includes several notable changes for iPhone users. There are upgrades to Find My, changes to the iPhone 16’s Camera Control, and more. Head below for a full roundup of everything new.

Apple released the first beta of visionOS 2.2 for developers today. The update comes with an exciting change for Apple Vision Pro users: new “Wide” and “Ultrawide” settings when using Mac Virtual Display.

iOS 18.2 is set to be released to everyone in early December. Ahead of that, beta testing continues today with the release of iOS 18.2 beta 2 for developers. As a refresher, iOS 18.2 comes with new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration.

Notably, iOS 18.2 beta 1 was only available to iPhone models with support for Apple Intelligence. iOS 18.2 beta 2, however, is available to all iPhone models capable of running iOS 18.

Apple Intelligence features, of course, are still limited to iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models.

Apple made a lot of announcements this week, including the launch of the M4 Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac. While each of those products is impressive, there’s one surprise announcement that stands out most to me.

On Wednesday, along with the new MacBook Pro, Apple announced that the MacBook Air now starts at 16GB of RAM and costs the same as before.

Apple is acquiring the popular photo editing company Pixelmator. The Pixelmator Team announced the news in a blog post on Friday and said there will be “no material changes” to its apps “at this time.” The deal is pending regulatory approval.

Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. Stay tuned for exciting updates to come.

Earlier this year, the NCAA approved new technology rules for college football. The ACC, SEC, and Big Ten subsequently announced partnerships with Apple to integrate the iPad into their workflows.

In a post on its newsroom today, Apple dives into the details on how college football teams have embraced the iPad Pro with M4 and nano-texture display.

Apple released iOS 18.1 with the first Apple Intelligence features on Monday. In a new interview with CNBC today, Apple CEO Tim Cook touted that Apple is seeing strong adoption numbers of iOS 18.1 so far.

Cook’s comments come following Apple’s Q4 2024 earnings report, where it set a new September quarter revenue record.

Apple released iOS 18.1 to all iPhone users this week with a slew of important new features and big fixes. While we’ve been chronicling all of the changes for the last two months, Apple has also now shared the full release notes for the update.

Apple has released its earnings report for fiscal Q4 2024. The company reports $94.93 billion in revenue during the three-month period, up 6% year-over-year. This sets a new September quarter revenue record. For comparison’s sake, Apple reported $89.5 billion in revenue in the same quarter last year.

There is, however, a $10 billion wrinkle to Apple’s earnings this quarter…

Benjamin and Chance react to this week’s trio of Apple announcements, with the exciting launch of the newly redesigned M4 Mac mini, and all the changes in the updated M4 MacBook Pro and iMac lineups. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, we consider how successful this three-day event format was for Apple, and whether we’d like them to do it again. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple today unveiled its new MacBook Pro lineup powered by M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips. The update comes with good news for external display support for some users, and we’ve got all of the details about the changes below.

Apple rounded out its “exciting week of announcements” today with the launch of the new M4 MacBook Pro lineup.

The company has now shared a new ad on YouTube promoting the performance of the M4 MacBook Pro line.