Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple is best known for making some of the world’s most ubiquitous consumer devices, software, and services: the iPhone, iPad, iMac and MacBook computers, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iOS, iCloud, iTunes, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and many more. Led by CEO Tim Cook since 2011, Apple is one of the largest technology companies in the world alongside Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Facebook.
Bloomberg reports that Apple Upgrade will be available later this month for most of Apple’s most popular devices.
Reports of a new wider foldable phone suggest Samsung is ready to take a risk.
Right now, the iPhone maxes out with a 6.9-inch display. That could climb to a full 7 inches if reliable leaker Digital Chat Station is correct. We’ll have to wait until next year to find out.
According to sensor tower, apps added to the App Store almost doubled to about 560K in the first half of 2026, compared to about 600K added in all of 2025. The surge comes as AI makes it increasingly trivial to develop apps. That’s good if it means useful apps finding an audience, bad if Apple’s reviewers can’t keep up and more junk and malware slips through.
As 9to5Mac reports, the release notes for the latest iOS 26.6 beta say it “optimizes the Spotlight index to prepare for iOS 27.” This is likely aimed at speeding up the indexing process so it doesn’t take days when iOS 27 officially launches, like some users on the developer beta have reported.
A hidden popover interface has been discovered in the macOS 27 Golden Gate beta that surfaces AI-powered contextual actions and writing tools when text is highlighted, including Rewrite, Proofread, and “Edit with Siri.” Beta users can try the unfinished feature by following the instructions provided by MacRumors.
The reputable Design Docs YouTube channel has a new documentary about Apple’s first graphic designer. Kare is responsible for the smiling Mac icon, that weird looped-square Command symbol still found on Apple keyboards, and many other “pictures that taught a generation of nervous, non-technical people that a computer could be approached without fear.”
San Francisco city attorney David Chiu demanded that Apple and Google remove 13 apps that could generate non-consensual nude images. Adam Dema, a spokesperson for Apple confirmed their removal in a statement to The Verge:
“We have always strictly prohibited apps designed to generate, distribute, or consume pornography. ‘Nudification’ apps are against our App Review Guidelines and we have proactively rejected many of these apps and removed many others, including when users have flagged them via our reporting tools. We have removed three of the apps in question and are in the process of terminating their developer accounts from our program.”
The DOJ sued Apple in 2024, but the two sides are in “early” and “active” discussions about a settlement, Bloomberg reports.
San Francisco city attorney David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to both companies, demanding that they remove 13 apps that can be used to generate nude images of someone without their consent, according to a report from Wired. The letters ask Google and Apple to stop “aiding and abetting” the sale of sexualized AI deepfakes, which is prohibited under California law.
Google spokesperson Dan Jackson tells The Verge that the company suspended the five Android apps cited in Chiu’s letter, adding that the Play Store “does not allow apps that contain sexual content.”
Around 40 employees received the letters, which ask for meetings with Apple’s lawyers and tell them to “preserve documents and communications,” according to a report from the Financial Times. Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI last week and accused two of its former employees of helping the AI giant steal its trade secrets.
[Financial Times]
Major League Baseball is cracking down on league-issued iPads provided to teams since 2016. Teams can no longer install custom apps that tap into generative AI to recommend “substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches.” It seems up to “a third of the league used the dugout iPads for at least one of these purposes.”
MacBooks have hard, pointy edges. But would you take a hand file or sanding block to your laptop? Software engineer Max Bretschneider did just that, and the results look pretty good. The more heavily filed MacBook Pro he cites for inspiration from designer Kent Walters? Less so. (Yikes!)
What do you think? Is this now a thing? Should Apple round the corners off more? (Yes to that last one.)
The EU is excluding wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and smart glasses, from an incoming rule that will require a wide range of electronics to have user-replaceable batteries. The Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t exempt, though, and will come with a replaceable battery in the EU by the time the law goes into effect in February 2027.
Apple’s on-device generative AI service has officially been registered with China’s cyberspace regulator, clearing a major hurdle for device rollout. To navigate local regulations, Apple is tapping domestic tech giants, integrating Alibaba’s Qwen and Baidu’s AI models to power the experience for Chinese users, as reported last year.
Meanwhile, Apple and the EU are waiting to see who blinks first.
Apple’s lawsuit said that OpenAI “never responded” to outreach in February. But NBC News reports OpenAI did respond, though communication stopped after one of Apple’s lawyers apparently mixed up OpenAI staffers with the last names Wang and Chang.
Here it is, given to Bloomberg:
While we take these allegations seriously, we’re not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit. We believe in fair competition and allowing people the freedom to work wherever they choose, and we’re focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.
Apple sued OpenAI on Friday, alleging the company stole hardware secrets.
If you wouldn’t dream of wearing socks with sandals or using accessories that clash with your laptop, Satechi announced two new USB hubs and new versions of its Slim EX Wireless Mouse that match the silver, blush, citrus, and indigo color options of the MacBook Neo. They’re available now for $29.99 to $44.99.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
As the World Cup nears its end, Apple Arcade is getting the surprise addition of Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition, which hits the service on August 6th. It’s part of a big sports-themed update for Arcade which will also include NFL Retro Bowl ’27 and Retro Bowl College+.
And yet, Apple’s accusations around stealing trade secrets might take years to litigate.
watchOS 27 feels like a culmination of several years of smaller updates.
Its full capabilities require heavy developer support, but the public beta version is a glimpse at how capable Apple’s assistant could become.
The 41-page complaint details how OpenAI allegedly ‘coached’ Apple employees on how to avoid security checks and asked for ‘show and tell’ during job interviews.
Don’t get too excited, but Mark Gurman says the styluses are being updated alongside new iPad Pros next year. In February, new EU rules go into effect that require batteries to be user-replaceable with basic tools. So maybe the next-gen Apple Pencil will be less of a nightmare to fix.
As spotted by MacRumors, to get the new AI-powered camera features — text descriptions, searchable camera clips, and noteworthy clips — you’ll need Apple’s 2TB plan or higher.
HomeKit Secure Video has always required the base iCloud plan for recording, but now you may need to upgrade to get these smarter alerts. I’ve been testing them in the beta, and they’re a big improvement.
Apple is suspending work on a display made in partnership with Samsung Display for an entry-level XR device, according to a machine translation of a report by The Elec (which we saw thanks to MacRumors). Seems like Apple is moving away from headsets in favor of glasses.
Apple added a bit more insight into that Broadcom deal announced a few days ago. It’s expected to “exceed $30 billion” and “lead to the production of more than 15 billion US-made chips” and “hundreds of American jobs.” The announcement comes with a line of obligatory flattery from CEO Tim Cook:
“We’re grateful to the president and his administration for supporting important projects like this one.”
Pete Holmes has a lot of good tech takes in this Wired interview. He also, against all odds, made me want the iPhone Air:
Everybody has the same fucking ugly spider eyeball phone. Everybody’s just getting the Max, the 2,800-hour battery life. Get all that shit out of here. The iPhone Air is the first iPhone I’ve seen in a very long time that looks like Steve Jobs had a say… And the flex is that it has a short battery life. You see my phone and you go, “Pete must not be on his phone much.”
Filings spotted by leaker Digital Chat Station claim that the iPhone 18 Pro’s battery will be 4,288 mAh, while the Pro Max’s will be 5,567 mAh, as MacRumors reports. Both would be a modest boost over the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max’s batteries, especially the 479 mAh bump for the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
It’s been missing from the first two versions of the beta, but you can now continue conversations from your phone on your wrist, and vice versa. I’m playing around with it now, but I’m curious to hear from fellow smartwatch nerds. (You’ll need a Series 9, Ultra 3, or SE 3 and later to run the dev beta.)
Jason Snell, long-time writer of all-things-Apple for Macworld, recently announced his tenure is coming to an end after nearly 30 years at the publication. (Snell also contributed some great pieces to The Verge; you can read his work here.) What a run! You can read his farewell letter here:
As Bloomberg reports, the new Broadcom chips will be in “multiple generations of Apple products.” It’s an expansion of Apple’s existing partnership with Broadcom, which is also collaborating with Apple on AI server chips and has long been making 5G and wireless components for Apple devices.
