Michael is 9to5Mac’s Weekend Editor, keeping up with all of the latest Apple news on Saturday and Sunday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and has published numerous apps over the years.
Snapchat unveiled a new version of Spectacles back in September, providing a peak at the future – with augmented reality glasses. I got the opportunity to try them out earlier this week, and honestly, they’re pretty impressive. Far from perfect, but definitely amazing.
Expand Expanding Close
Originally introduced in 2016, it now seems like Apple’s Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter may soon be discontinued (via MacRumors).
Expand Expanding Close
Apple released its new MacBook Pros with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chipsets last week – and early CPU benchmarks (via Geekbench) painted a very promising picture for Apple’s highest end M4 Max chipset. Now we’re taking a look at some GPU benchmarks, and the M4 Max continues to hold quite strong.
Expand Expanding Close
It’s long been rumored that Apple will be partnering with other AI chatbot companies in the future, to support Apple Intelligence features. Apple already partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to iOS, and that integration is now here in the iOS 18.2 beta, which is expected to release in December.
Expand Expanding Close
Now that the iPhone 16 lineup has been released to customers, some people might be thinking about what’s next for the iPhone. However, it isn’t the iPhone 17, and it isn’t a year away…
Expand Expanding Close
According to this weekend’s Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman, Apple is ‘evaluating’ the idea of releasing an Apple-branded TV set, once again.
Expand Expanding Close
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is preparing the release of AirTag 2 around the “middle of next year.” The design will stay pretty similar but will improve on the original model in three key ways.
Expand Expanding Close
Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
Pinning is a unique calendar countdown app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision. It offers a visually appealing way of keeping track of birthdays, calendar events, anniversaries, and more! It also includes a number of native-feeling design elements.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple just finished releasing the initial M4 Mac lineup, with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max going into the iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro. While those are likely the last announcements for the year, there’s still a lot in the pipeline for next spring. Here’s everything to look forward to.
Expand Expanding Close
This weekend is Indie Charity Weekend – a new initiative started by notable app developer Will Bishop! Starting today, 100% of this weekends proceeds from the 23 participating apps will go to the charity of the developers choice.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple users across the globe have been reporting that they’re receiving refunds for AppleCare+ on iPhones they purchased and traded in years ago. Seemingly, there isn’t anything specific triggering the refund, but there are a number of varying cases.
Expand Expanding Close
Late last month, Apple unveiled the first Macs with the M4 chip: the MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini. That’s about half of the Mac lineup, leaving the MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Among the two remaining desktops, the Mac Studio is definitely the more popular one – though it’s a bit outdated, still sporting the M2 Max and M2 Ultra. Here’s everything we’re expecting with the next Mac Studio, though it is a bit light.
Expand Expanding Close
According to recent reports from Bloomberg, Apple will be releasing another iPad Air with “internal improvements” as early as spring 2025.
The iPad Air was just refreshed with M2 earlier this year, meaning there’d be around 12 months between refreshes, rather than the typical 18-24 months between iPad Air refreshes. With such a short turnaround time, it leaves you wondering: what will Apple actually be updating in these iPads?
Expand Expanding Close
In the latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported that the 2nd generation of Apple Vision Pro is expected to hit the market between fall of 2025 and spring of 2026. This mostly aligns with previous reports, although slightly less optimistic.
Expand Expanding Close
Seemingly, for the first time in forever, Apple will be updating every single Mac with an M4 chip, presuming rumors hold correct. There have been a number of times where this has been close, but it hasn’t happened anytime in the past decade, at least.
Expand Expanding Close
Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
Currency is a completely free currency conversion app for iPhone and Mac, with no ads, a clean design, and offline functionality. It has support for over 160 currencies, making it an easy to use tool for any international travel.
Expand Expanding Close
Earlier this week, we reported that the storage in the new Mac mini is actually modular, meaning that it isn’t soldered to the logic board of the Mac, and ultimately would be user accessible. However, that didn’t necessarily mean it’d be easy for users to upgrade the storage on their own – though that didn’t stop one individual.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple skipped updating their cheapest iPad this year (and last year as well), leaving it with the over four year old A14 chipset. They did lower the price earlier this year, from $449 to $349, but we should finally see a real refresh next spring. Here’s what to expect.
Expand Expanding Close
Initially spotted by Brad Lynch on X, Apple has recently listed a new Belkin Head Strap for Apple Vision Pro, one that looks very similar (though not quite identical) to the strap that they unveiled back at WWDC23. It works in addition to the Solo Knit band.
Expand Expanding Close
On Friday, Pixelmator, the company behind many popular photo-editing apps for Apple platforms, announced that Apple will be acquiring them. While some people are rightfully skeptical of the deal, I’m optimistic that it might solve one of my biggest grips with the iPad.
Expand Expanding Close
According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple is ‘seriously considering’ developing a cheaper Apple Vision device that offloads all of the computing power to your iPhone, essentially developing a headset with primarily displays and battery.
Expand Expanding Close
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will be releasing a ‘total redesign’ for MacBook Pro in 2026. Apple has traditionally taken a four year design cycle with MacBook Pro, but it’s looking like the M5 refresh will just be another chip upgrade – and we’ll have to wait another year to see a complete overhaul.
Expand Expanding Close
According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple will be releasing iOS 18.2 a little bit earlier than usual, on the week of December 2nd. He also outlines some more details on the release timeline for future Apple Intelligence features.
Expand Expanding Close
According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has delayed its plans to release a more affordable Apple Vision headset in 2025. It’ll take a couple extra years now.
Expand Expanding Close