9to5Mac

Today exactly one week after releasing iOS 18.0.1 to the public, Apple has stopped signing the prior iOS 18.0 software release. This means it’s no longer possible to downgrade to the older iPhone version.

Typically when Apple and law enforcement are in the news together, it’s because of a standoff over user privacy. But today, a new report outlines the company’s efforts to build bridges with law enforcement—efforts that may be changing.

Apple Vision Pro has been available for just over seven months, and Apple is starting to ramp up its market research among customers. The company is sending surveys to early Vision Pro adopters inviting them to share their experiences with things like comfort, use cases, and much more.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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Benjamin and Chance get excited for Apple’s upcoming product launches, which we are now expecting for the end of the month. The base model M4 MacBook Pro might even have fully leaked on the web. iOS 18.1 beta 6 brings some nice refinements, and more high-profile Apple execs are retiring from their posts.

And in Happy Hour Plus, the duo discuss Apple’s decision to put TV+ as a channel inside Amazon Prime Video. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple TV+ is home to a growing number of beloved and critically acclaimed shows. One such series, Bad Monkey, just wrapped its first season. And the most popular TV+ series ever, Ted Lasso, is ramping for a long-awaited fourth season. If you enjoyed those shows, you should absolutely give Shrinking a try. Here’s why.

The major upgrade for Apple Maps with iOS 18 is topographic hiking trails (same with iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, and macOS Sequoia). New features include detailed planning and guidance for custom hikes, the ability to save the maps offline, elevation details, and more. Here’s how to use Apple Maps topographic hiking trails.

Filmmaking for the Apple Vision Pro is taking a big step forward today. Submerged, a new short film that’s the first scripted project in Immersive Video, is available now in the Apple TV app. You can catch its trailer here. Alongside Submerged’s launch, Apple has also shared a new making of video.

Today Apple released its first scripted short film in Immersive Video: Submerged. In coordination with the launch, the company has also outlined its plans for future Vision Pro content releases. Here’s what to expect for new Immersive Video content coming soon.

iOS 18.1 will arrive for compatible iPhone models near the end of October, bringing a variety of powerful new AI features with it. Apple Intelligence is being pitched as ‘AI for the rest of us.’ Here are the upcoming features that serve as great examples of that, with potential to make the biggest impact for the most users.

An iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S24 camera comparison concludes that it’s hard to pick an overall winner given the role played by personal preferences, but the range of sample shots provides a really good chance to judge for yourself.

The piece starts out by noting that Samsung wins the megapixel war, though we’ve frequently cautioned that squeezing ever more pixels into a tiny sensor can actually result in worse images …

China has detained four Taiwanese employees at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, the largest iPhone production facility in the world, responsible for around 80% of global production.

The employees were detained using powers the Chinese government last year granted to itself. No specific reason has yet been given, but it seems likely the move is political …

In what is now an annual tradition, filmmaker Joey Helms has created a stunning iPhone 16 Pro cinematic video demo reel, in his home city of Chicago.

This year he paired up with Sam Perez to mount the new phone on a drone to include airborne shots – and, of course, included some extra-slo-mo footage to highlight the new 120fps 4K capture capabilities …

Starting later this month, Prime Video subscribers will be able to subscribe to Apple TV+ through Amazon. Specific details about the business arrangement between Apple and Amazon are not known. However, Apple presumably believes it can reach more subscribers by offering TV+ as an add-on subscription for Prime Video subscribers.

Tim Cook’s Nike Air Max 1 ’86s aren’t the only things being “Made on iPad” this year. The National Hockey League has also turned to the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro for creative design inspiration.

Since the 1970s, NHL goalies have used customized masks as a form of expression. This year, creators of hockey masks the top goaltenders in the league have leveraged the power of the iPad to bring their designs to life.

Telegram this week announced an update with some new features, and there’s one in particular that’s quite interesting. The platform will now allow businesses to use Telegram for phone number verification, which can be more convenient than using methods such as SMS.

Whether you’re a fan of smart assistance with manual cleaning, or delegating the entire cleaning task to a robot, there’s never been a better time than this year’s Amazon Prime Day to grab the latest Dreametech products.

Dreame Technology is not only heavily discounting six of its most popular cleaning products, but it’s also offering 9to5Mac readers an additional 5% off with code DM9to55off …

Meta on Wednesday announced that it is expanding its AI features to 21 additional countries. Meta AI includes a chatbot that can be used for conversations or searches, as well a Studio to generate images based on text inputs.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Roborock: Level up your home cleaning automation with Roborock and save up to $650 for Prime Big Deals Day. 

One of Apple’s newest apps, Journal, arrived last year as an iPhone exclusive with lots of potential. iOS 18 builds on that foundation, bringing upgrades to Journal in a variety of key ways. There’s still no iPad or Mac app, but Journal on iPhone is better than ever. Here’s everything that’s new.

Apple is using titanium for the latest high-end iPhones, but what’s safe and best to use for cleaning iPhone 16 Pro and 15 Pro? Whether you just got your new phone or it’s been dirty for a while, let’s look at how to clean titanium iPhones with step-by-step do’s and don’ts.

Dan Riccio, Apple’s long-time hardware engineering executive, is retiring. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Riccio is leaving Apple this month after 26 years at the company. Most recently, Riccio led development of Apple Vision Pro.

Apple TV+ is currently airing several of the best shows on TV, regardless of streamer. One of them, Slow Horses, just wrapped up its fourth season. But the spy thriller is already looking ahead to the future. The first season 5 trailer is now available, but only if you know where to look.