Apple Rumors

The Information reports that three years ago, Musk offered Apple an 18-month exclusive connection via SpaceX in return for $5 billion up front, and $1 billion per year after that to support satellite-connected iPhone features. If Apple didn’t take it within 72 hours, he threatened to announce a competing feature.

This year’s rumored redesign for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS is also coming to watchOS and tvOS, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. In an April subscriber edition of Power On, he wrote that watchOS would only get elements of the redesign “here and there.”

Just weeks after Apple replaced AI chief John Giannandrea as the head of Siri, Bloomberg reports that the company now plans on placing its robotics team under the leadership of John Ternus, the senior vice president of hardware engineering.

The company is working on two follow-ups to the Vision Pro, according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. The goal for one is a cheaper Vision Pro. The other would tether to Macs for use as a wired display or for “high-end enterprise applications.”

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter notes Apple’s push for an AI agent-powered “Project Mulberry” upgrade for its Health app next year, and that its its long-running attempt noninvasive glucose monitoring via Apple Watch sensors is still “many years away.” (Here’s more on why that’s been so difficult).

Apple has been expected to switch to a plastic case for its entry level smartwatch, but that plan is reportedly “in serious jeopardy,” according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Gurman writes:

One, codenamed J427, is the rumored second-generation Studio Display due “either at the end of this year or early next year,” writes Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in the subscriber version of today’s Power On newsletter. He has written of that one before.

Apple supposedly set its rumored HomePod with screen for launch in March before delaying it to Q3 2025. Now supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says it will come after WWDC (and the expected reveal of iOS 19) so that the new smart home device’s interface “aligns with new OS updates.”

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman posted that a launch of the Mac Studio with an M4 Max chip and, oddly, an M3 Ultra “appears to be imminent.” Gurman speculates that this will help Apple differentiate the Studio from a future M4 Ultra-powered Mac Pro. Both have been rumored for later this year, with the Pro coming in as late as the fall.

Apple’s retail stock of last year’s iPad Air is drying up, a sign that Apple could announce new versions of the tablet soon, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in today’s Power On newsletter. That’s a rare turnaround for the iPad Air, which Apple tends to take longer to replace.

Apple has introduced code referencing “Google” as a third-party model choice for Apple Intelligence to leverage, according to a backend change spotted by Aaron Perris, who often shares info gleaned from Apple firmware code, following the release of the first iOS 18.4 beta last week.

The company plans to use these combined chips by “2028 at the earliest,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. The move could cut costs and make its devices more energy-efficient, he notes. I imagine it would help save space in the cramped confines of something like the rumored iPhone Air, too.

In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman writes that the PowerBeats Pro 2 earbuds are preparing to launch on February 11th, with heart-rate monitoring as previously rumored, and also about a new iCloud feature.

Sonny Dickson is doing his annual thing of leaking non-working iPhone “dummy units” used by case and accessory makers. This is the fourth-generation of the budget iPhone SE that should have an improved OLED display amongst other improvements. Importantly, it’s also expected to have a USB-C jack so it can once again be sold in the EU.

The next version of Apple’s item-tracking device will feature an Ultra Wideband chip that’s “on par with the one introduced in the iPhone 15,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in Power On today.