Chance Miller

If you’ve been having problems with Apple Pay today, you’re not alone – especially if you also happen to be Chase customer. A number of users on Threads and other social networks say that their Chase cards have been “Declined” when buying with Apple Pay today.

In November, Apple surprised us all when it announced that RCS support would come to the iPhone sometime this year. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent way too much time since then thinking about why Apple reversed course.

Writing at Daring Fireball, John Gruber has an explanation: China.

We may have just gotten our first hardware leak for the iPhone 16 lineup. On social media today, Majin Bu shared an image that they say is the “new camera module of the iPhone 16.” The image shows a vertically-oriented camera layout, a change that has been rumored multiple times by other sources.

Despite Tim Sweeney’s vocal opposition to Apple’s new third-party app marketplace guidelines in the European Union, Epic Games is planning to launch its own store on iPhone later this year. The company teased its plans last month, and has shared more details in a blog post today.

Earlier this week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a 3-minute video on Instagram in which he “reviewed” the Apple Vision Pro. Ultimately, he concluded that the $500 Meta Quest 3 is not only the better value than the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro, but also the better product.

In a new interview on the Morning Brew Daily podcast today, Zuckerberg explained his reasoning for posting this video and shared some of his thoughts on “Apple fanboys.”

Most of Apple’s recently-announced App Store changes are exclusively for iPhone users in the European Union, but there’s one exception. Apple also announced last month that it is relaxing its App Store Guidelines for cloud gaming apps worldwide

This opens the door for services like Xbox Cloud Gaming to finally release a native app for the iPhone and iPad, but apparently Microsoft is not interested in doing that.

Benjamin and Chance discuss the tantalizing references to a HomePod with some kind of screen found in iOS 17.4 beta 3, the App Store Review process has an embarrassing week, and The Information reports Apple is still working on foldable iPhone prototypes. Chance also bought the developer strap for the Apple Vision Pro, while some other launch day buyers opt to return their units within the two-week window.

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In a report describing new AI coding and testing features coming to Xcode later this year, Bloomberg also shares some interesting details about ways Apple is considering using AI to supercharge Spotlight. The report describes a version of Spotlight that is far more powerful than what we have today, thanks to the use of generative AI.

Apple is widely rumored to be working on major new artificial intelligence features coming later this year. In a new report today, Bloomberg says that Apple is “nearing the completion of” an update to its Xcode development platform that will use AI to streamline coding and testing for developers.

iOS 17.4 offers a number of changes for the App Store and iPhone in the European Union. This includes things like third-party app marketplaces and support for alternative browser engines. One byproduct of these changes, however, is that iOS 17.4 removes support for Home Screen web apps in the EU.

Apple has now offered an explanation for this decision, confirming that the omission was not a bug. Instead, it’s because of requirements under the Digital Markets Act.

In a blog post on Thursday, Meta announced changes to how advertisers pay for “boosted posts” on Facebook and Instagram. According to the company, advertisers will now pay a 30% fee when they purchase boosts from inside the Facebook or Instagram apps on iPhone. This is due to changes to the App Store guidelines that went into effect over a year ago.

In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple responded to Meta’s criticism and its attempt to shift the blame to Apple.

iOS 18 is rumored to include a number of new AI features, and Apple is allegedly prepping iPhone 16 hardware upgrades to coincide with this. A new report from the Economic Daily News today suggests that Apple’s next family of processors – the M4 and A18 – will “greatly increase the number of built-in AI computing cores.”

As pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this week, the 2024 MLB season is fast approaching. In celebration of that, Major League Baseball has shared more details on its plans for MLB.TV in 2024.

Most notably for Apple users, this includes long-awaited support for proper Multiview streaming on Apple TV.

Even though the launch of Apple Vision Pro is behind us, there’s still a lot to be excited about coming soon from Apple. Rumors are that Apple will unveil multiple new iPads and a new MacBook Air in March.

Does this mean Apple will hold a March event? Here’s what we know so far.

Bloomberg reports that Apple’s longest-running senior designer, Bart Andre, is retiring. As the story explains, Andre joined Apple in 1992 with Jonny Ive. His departure marks “the near-complete turnover” of Ive’s former design team.

Last week, Apple was handed a significant victory in its legal battle with AliveCor over the Apple Watch’s heart monitoring technology. At the time, however, the full details of the decision were unavailable for confidentiality reasons.

This week, the judge in the case has released the public version of the court’s decision siding with Apple.

Apple is rolling out the second developer beta of visionOS 1.1, one week after the first beta was released. As we covered last week, visionOS 1.1 offers improvements to Personas, MDM support, and more.

Apple has pulled an app dedicated to streaming pirated movies and TV shows from the App Store. The app in question, “Kimi,” disguised itself as an app that “tests your eyesight.” In reality, it offered unfettered access to some of the most popular TV shows and movies.

“Compare and click on the two pictures to easily improve your observation skills,” the description said.

Following this month’s release of Apple Vision Pro, Apple has shared an in-depth overview on how Vision Pro and visionOS protect your data. The new “Apple Vision Pro Privacy Overview” covers things like Optic ID, cameras and your surroundings, Persona, EyeSight, and more.

Jon Stewart is returning to The Daily Show on Comedy Central this week, after parting ways with Apple last year. In an interview with CBS Mornings today, Stewart commented on his departure from Apple for the first time.

According to Stewart, Apple “didn’t want me to say things that might get me in trouble.”

I’ve written before about how CardPointers is one of my favorite apps, making it super easy to maximize credit card rewards, offers, promotions, and more. Now, CardPointers is available on Vision Pro, with a very clever AutoPilot feature.

CardPointers is also celebrating its 5th birthday this week with a 50% discount and $100 Savings Card bonus for 9to5Mac readers.