Apple

The $64.99 Sole Series Pack upgrades OtterBox’s durable and grippy Sole Series smartphone cases with adjustable crisscrossed bungee cords on the back. In addition to protecting your iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, it can also be used to carry other everyday essentials like lip balm, gum, or your keys.

The Broadway adaptation of Schmigadoon!, originally an Apple TV series, picked up four awards in yesterday’s Tonys, off the back of 12 nominations, completing Apple’s unexpected set after recent Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar wins. Not bad for a computer company.

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in a post today: “The Apple XR headset and smart glasses roadmap I put together about a year ago is no longer a useful reference. For now, only two smart glasses products remain visible in the roadmap.”

Apple’s new iOS update is exclusive to its latest handsets, to address “an issue for a small number of users that may prevent wired charging on iPhone Air and iPhone 17 models when the battery is nearly drained.” Don’t worry if you notice it lists a huge download size, iOS 26.5.1 is not actually that big of a download and it will take far longer to actually install it.

Apple’s Greg Joswiak is teasing a very glowy logo ahead of next week’s WWDC — one that could match the rumored design for Siri’s big upgrade that’s expected to be revealed at the show. I like it.

Some code spotted in a recent Apple Music beta for Android includes messages referring to “Premium Access” and a “skip limit.” That suggests a free or low-cost plan is in the works. Right now, Apple Music is an all-or-nothing affair after retiring the Voice Plan in 2023.

According to leaker and journalist Sonny Dickson, that is, who shared photos of iPhone 18 dummy units — though these look like Pro models, due this fall, with the regular 18 likely launching next spring. Dickson got last year’s iPhone 17 colors almost dead-on, meaning this brand new cherry color is probably accurate.

In a brief order, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Texas to move forward with implementing its App Store Accountability Act while the case seeking to block it plays out. It’s an early test of a method that is being considered across several states, and in Congress.

The Apple TV series returns for season 2 next month, and the new trailer makes it clear John Sugar is getting pulled into yet another far-reaching mystery. Interestingly, the trailer barely hints at the show’s sci-fi nature, which — spoiler warning! — you can read about here if you’re curious.

Sonny Dickson is back with what’s purported to be one of those non-working, physically accurate replicas used by accessory makers ahead of launch. The folding Galaxy’s passport-like design is set to take on Huawei’s Pura X Max and Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone later this year.

According to Mark Gurman, the next version of iOS will have native support for third-party casting services to satisfy the requirements of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. Users will be able to set AirPlay, Google, or something else as the default for beaming audio and video from their iPhones.

The Major League Soccer match between the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo FC will stream live on Apple TV this Saturday and will be the first “major professional live sporting event broadcast” captured entirely using iPhones, according to Apple.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was a commencement speaker for Grand Valley State University a few weeks ago, and managed to mention AI without being booed or completely ruining the event.

The changes are intended to help Apple’s chip teams work better with its product teams, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Srouji got chief hardware officer job after former SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus was tapped to succeed Tim Cook as CEO.

Apple’s dedicated sports app (where betting odds may be on by default until you turn them off) has expanded to 90 new markets. Apple also says that new features include a tournament bracket view for the World Cup stages, visual formations of each starting lineup, and one-tap links to Apple News coverage.

iPhone and iPad users in the European Union, Japan, and other countries can now download Fortnite directly from the App Store, Epic Games announced on Tuesday:

At Bloomberg, Mark Gurman has more AI-related rumors ahead of WWDC, saying that, along with a reworked version of Siri, Apple plans to build Grammarly-like grammar checking and suggestions into the next iPhone and iPad updates (hopefully, without using our AI slopplegangers for an “expert review”).

While Google’s I/O developer event is about to start tomorrow, Apple’s own event is scheduled to begin on June 8th, as it just reminded potential attendees.
Apple event invites can sometimes tease what we’ll see, but your guess is as good as mine as to what these visuals might mean.

Digital Foundry put the $600 laptop through some benchmarks and came away underwhelmed. It was possible to get a playable 30FPS out of Control and Death Stranding with quality dialed back. But, more demanding titles required dropping to 720p or, in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, refused to play at all.