Traveling is one of my favorite activities, but organizing a good trip can be quite complicated – especially when it comes to a new destination. Thankfully, there’s a new app called MagicMiles that helps you create entire travel itineraries using AI.

Apple’s next generation of CarPlay keeps showing signs of life. Not long ago, we saw new CarPlay icons debut in a recent iOS 18.2 beta, and now some fresh next-gen CarPlay assets have turned up in a public online database.

Federico Viticci at MacStories has unveiled a new version of his Apple Frames shortcut. As we highlighted last week, Federico battled some frustrating technical challenges in getting this up and running…

One of the iPhone 16 Pro upgrades that’s gone under the radar is its battery life improvements. Though Apple hasn’t put much marketing focus on the new model’s battery upgrades, this year is the first that the iPhone’s battery has finally hit a tipping point for me.

As we reported last week, Threads has begun to globally roll out Custom Feeds based on specific topics. And Meta seems to be really listening to users recently, as the company is now testing an option to let users set which feed they want to see by default.

iOS 18.2 will be here very soon, and in addition to a bunch of powerful new Apple Intelligence features, the update also brings a big redesign to the Mail app. But there’s an important detail you should know: the redesign is currently limited to the iPhone only. It won’t be coming to the iPad and Mac just yet.

Apple Music, for me, is about much more than renting access to my favorite songs. The best case scenario for Apple Music, in my experience, is when it guides me to discovering my next favorite album or musician. After School Radio still does it for me, and access through Apple Podcasts is helpful for easily keeping up with the show.

More recently, it was just letting Apple Music recommend music after playing an album from my library. Within a matter of months, I went from first hearing this song on Apple Music while driving around to driving hours away to see the song played live.

Apple is planning some big changes for its iPhone 17 lineup. While most rumors have focused on the expected iPhone 17 Air, a new report outlines ‘significant design changes’ coming to the full lineup, especially the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.

A new report from The Information today once again highlights Apple’s work on an ultra-thin “iPhone 17 Air” set to launch next year. According to the report, iPhone 17 Air prototypes are between 5 and 6 millimeters thick, a dramatic reduction compared to the iPhone 16 at 7.8 mm.

This focus on making the device as thin as possible has reportedly put Apple engineers in several predicaments…

Apple CEO Tim Cook and more than 20 other chief execs met China’s premier today to discuss potential trade disruption once Trump takes office in January.

However, the report makes it sound like the meeting didn’t achieve much, with some saying it felt scripted and didn’t discuss specific plans …

The most viewed Apple TV+ movie ever, Wolfs, is no longer getting a sequel. Despite the original’s success, the next installment has reportedly been canceled.

Apple has unveiled the app and game finalists for the 2024 App Store awards. Apple says these finalists represent “developers who delivered the highest levels of user experience, design, and innovation.”

Head below for the full list…

Baseus has been on a roll lately with some new products. I recently tried the company’s new Qi2 Certified 15W for Magsafe Battery Pack and was blown away. It brings a couple of table stakes features for me, but it adds another that I love and don’t remember seeing in a MagSafe battery. Read on to see what it is and why it would make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas.

Following tests of the Pro Max model back in September, the base model iPhone 16 DXOMARK camera results are out, and the smartphone has been ranked #20.

The organization notes that while the camera hardware is almost identical to the base model iPhone 15, software improvements have seen it score better in several areas …

The AirPods 4 earbuds are designed to work best with iPhone and other Apple devices, including automatic pairing and set-up. But under-the-hood, they are Bluetooth-compatible headphones and can pair to your Android phone, tablet or other device. Here’s how.

A new report suggests that CEOs of other US companies plan to copy Tim Cook’s Trump strategy in order to lobby the incoming administration.

The report suggests that Cook developed the world’s simplest approach to interacting with Trump, noting that the strategy paid off for Apple …

After releasing the HomePod 2 in early 2023, there have been a number of varying rumors about what’s next for HomePod. Some rumors suggest that Apple is taking a dive into smart home tabletop robotics, while others suggest that Apple is working on a more traditional smart display, one that provides Apple Intelligence for the home, while being cheaper than an iPad.

According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple has no ‘meaningful’ plans to refresh AirPods Max after the introduction of the USB-C model earlier this year. If you were waiting for a bigger refresh with a newer chip, improved noise cancellation, or anything else – you’re out of luck.

AirPods 4 are here, and they are awesome. As a pair of on-ear wireless earbuds, they are really hard to fault. I have used AirPods 2 for the past five years — skipping the third-generation model due to fit concerns — and AirPods 4 are what I have been waiting for.

The new AirPods are available in two models: $129, or $179 with Active Noise Cancellation. I have the ANC buds and I’m thrilled with them, but I predict even the base model is going to drive a lot of sales this holiday season.

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.

Pestle is a recipe manager for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. It offers a number of unique features, including the ability to easily import recipes from anywhere, meal planning features, and more. It makes every recipe easily achievable.

In a move to improve repairability across its product lineup, Apple will soon be selling MacBook Pro speakers as an individual component, something that the company hasn’t done since the 2015 MacBook Pro model.

Every year, there seems to be an infinite number of cases available for your iPhone. There are thin cases, bulky cases, cases made of leather, others made of pure metal, cases with stands, and cases with a camera control cover; if you can think of it, there is a case for you. All this variability makes it tough to crown just one case as the ‘best’ case because it is so subjective. So, I wanted to create a few categories of cases and pick my favorite of each category. Here are my six favorite iPhone cases of 2024, with my personal favorite one first!