8 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Apple

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.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Something huge is coming to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2.

A mysterious kaiju is stirring up trouble in this new teaser for season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The new creature seems bigger than King Kong and more menacing than Godzilla, but we’ll have to wait for the season’s premiere on February 27th to learn the monster’s name.

What Apple and Google’s Gemini deal means for both companies

They’re putting up a united front against AI newcomers.

Hayden Field
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
“I still can’t recommend the Vision Pro.”

Stratechery’s Ben Thompson says Apple just doesn’t understand Vision Pro after the first live NBA broadcast on the device bounced from camera to camera, rather than offering an immersive, courtside experience:

Just let me sit courtside and watch an NBA game. I don’t need a scoreboard, I can look up and see it. I don’t need a pre-game or post-game show, I can simply watch the players warm-up. I don’t need announcers, I’d rather listen to the crowd and the players on the court. You have made a device that, for this specific use case, is better than TV in every way, yet you insist on producing content for it like it is TV! Just stop!

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Spigen’s new retro iPhone 17 Pro case is inspired by classic Apple computers.

The $39.99 Classic LS case, available for only the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, features a boxy design and a “retro tech aesthetic” based on the Macintosh 128k and Apple Lisa. There are also keyboard-inspired buttons on both sides of the case, a lanyard loop, and a single beige color option.

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<em>Spigen’s retro Classic LS case will protect your iPhone 17 Pro while taking it back to the ‘80s.</em>
<em>The case features a gloriously dull beige finish paired with sharp edges and a retro aesthetic.</em>
<em>The case’s buttons draw inspiration from classic Apple keyboards, but modern features like an additional MagSafe ring and a built-in CameraControl button are included.</em>
<em>Spigen includes a lanyard strap on the Classic LS case and is offering a free matching phone strap until January26th, 2026.</em>
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Spigen’s retro Classic LS case will protect your iPhone 17 Pro while taking it back to the ‘80s.
Image: Spigen
Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai are cowards

X’s deepfake porn feature clearly violates app store guidelines. Why won’t Apple and Google pull it?

Elizabeth Lopatto
The best Apple Watch to buyThe best Apple Watch to buy
Victoria Song
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Who will be Apple’s next CEO?

Apple is stepping up succession planning for CEO Tim Cook, and hardware chief John Ternus could be the lead pick, according to a New York Times profile. However, the publication says Cook is “also preparing several other internal candidates.”

David Pierce
David Pierce
Last night I discovered the iPhone’s sleep timer.

It’s very possible I’m the only person who didn’t know this, but just in case: you can go to the Clock app and set a timer, and then under “When Timer Ends,” instead of picking an alarm tone, scroll all the way down and set it to “Stop Playing.” System-wide sleep timer! As someone who sometimes likes to fall asleep listening to podcasts or The Office episodes, this is a game-changer. Thank you, five-year-old Reddit thread, for solving this for me.

The best laptop deals you can get right nowThe best laptop deals you can get right now
Cameron Faulkner and Sheena Vasani
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Courtside via Vision Pro.

Apple and Spectrum have released the schedule of the Lakers games you can watch in the Apple Immersive format inside a Vision Pro. The first game takes place this week on January 9th, with the Lakers taking on the Milwaukee Bucks.

A photo of a screenshot of the Vision Pro app to watch NBA games.
Image: Apple
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Apple Fitness Plus brings new fitness plans, musical guests, and podcasts for 2026.

Just like last year, Apple has announced new fitness content that will start rolling out next week (if you want to try another app, we’ve got suggestions).

There are new multi-week Strength, HIIT, or Yoga Fitness Comeback workouts, new music playlists, a Strava challenge for Apple Watch owners, and new Time to Walk audio episodes with Penn Badgley, Mel B, and Michelle Monaghan.

Three simulated screenshots of Apple Fitness Plus content on iPhone and Apple Watch
Image: Apple
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Apple did it first.

As Framework announces its second price hike tied to rising RAM costs, it’s worth taking a moment to give Apple its dues — it was hiking up memory prices long before it was cool.

Akarain8:

If this carries on Apple’s RAM pricing will start to look merely ‘overpriced’.

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Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
“...like e pluribus unum.”

Once you’ve watched the Pluribus (or, actually, Plur1bus?) season finale and read through Andrew Webster’s review, it’s time for Apple TV’s 20-minute behind-the-scenes video with Vince Gilligan & Co.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Apple’s foldable gets Prossered.

It’s unclear if Jon Prosser — Apple rumor monger and target of that Cupertino lawsuit — has his own sources, or is just regurgitating as fact reporting already done by the likes of Mark Gurman and Ming-Chi Kuo. Nevertheless, this video is a good summary of where rumors of the foldable iPhone have coalesced, less than a year before its supposed release.

Phones were fashionable again in 2025Phones were fashionable again in 2025
Allison Johnson
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
More ads in App Store searches.

Apple knows that search is the most common way to find and download apps in the App Store. So in 2026, it’s going to inject even more ads into those results. Right now ads appear at the top, pushing down the things you’re actually looking for, but soon they’ll also be sprinkled into the slots below.

Say it with me: enshittification.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Apple might be bringing back a high-end iMac.

Leaked kernel debug kit files have references suggesting that Apple is working on a new iMac with an M5 Max chip, MacRumors reports. Return of the iMac Pro?

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Monsters inc.

Apple just announced that, in addition to the upcoming second season, a spinoff of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is also on the way that will star young Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell). Here’s the logline:

The spinoff series will follow the story of Colonel Lee Shaw, an American operative who in 1984 went on a secret mission behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop the Soviets from unleashing a horrific new Titan big enough to destroy the U.S. and turn the tide of the Cold War.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Apple is getting closer to bringing notifications to third-party watches.

The iOS 26.3 beta introduces a new “Notification Forwarding” setting that you can use to forward alerts to non-Apple watches, according to MacRumors. The feature comes in response to an order from the EU, and is still a bit limited, as it only forwards notifications to one device at a time.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Apple: “Pluribus is the most watched show in Apple TV history.”

The company didn’t share specific numbers, but it still seems like a meaningful milestone. Guess I should watch it.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
A look at Apple TV’s early 2026 lineup.

New seasons of Hijack, The Last Thing He Told Me, Shrinking, and Monarch are all on the docket as well as the debut of the film Eternity. Personally, I’m anticipating Hijack the most; the first season was so dumb but also was way more gripping than I expected.