Apple Archive

Thomas RickerSep 25

Silicon Valley’s power ranking.

If you want to know where the power in tech currently lies, you only need to look at this photo of the head table at Donald Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping. I see Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, AMD’s Lisa Su, Apple’s Tim Cook, and SpaceXaiTesla’s Elon Musk seated by the leaders of the world’s two superpowers. The CEOs and / or founders of Alphabet (Google), OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, Qualcomm, Micron, Dell, and… Zoom, were also in attendance.

Xi Jinping, China’s president, speaks during the state dinner.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Everything is spying on you and there’s no opting out

A new wave of AI-enhanced consumer creep-tech disregards the privacy of everyone but the wearer. The people have had enough.

Janus RoseSep 24

John HigginsSep 24

The Beats 360 are essentially true wireless earbuds disguised as headphones.

As confirmed by Beats product manager Jeff Bruksch, the new Beats 360 headphones use a true wireless architecture with each earcup containing its own battery, antenna, and processing components. It allows Beats to “significantly reduce the cabling between the two sides,” according to Bruksch.

Because we don’t have the traditional system including a charging case, we have a cable for power supply and power management between the left and right sides so that you don’t have to charge both sides and the left and right sides power on/off together.

Having a cable for power management only explains the lack of audio support through the USB-C.

Apple clarifies that Texture and Grain controls are exclusive to the latest iPhones’ cameras

Andrew LiszewskiSep 22

Apple is reportedly working on a Whoop-like fitness tracker

Emma RothSep 22

Jess WeatherbedSep 22

Is Apple Music experimenting with a new logo?

A redesigned wordmark has appeared at the start of a new promotional video for Apple Music Hall, and at the top of the venue’s website. That said, the current version is still being used across the Apple Music website, and displayed inside the new show venue. so it’s unclear if Apple will be using the new logo anywhere else.

I rather like the redesigned version on the right, it feels more suited for the Apple style vibe. Thoughts?

Image: Apple

Andrew LiszewskiSep 22

The new Apple Watches also reduce heart rate readings while Theater Mode is active.

If you’re worried about the green LEDs being a bigger distraction in a dark theater now that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 measure your heart rate every five seconds, Theater Mode now reduces readings to five minute intervals while still silencing alerts and keeping the screen off. But you can override that new feature in the Apple Watch’s settings to restore the continuous monitoring.

The front and back of the Apple Watch Series 12 with its heart rate reading LEDs activated.

Image: Apple

Verge Score

The Beats 360 are what I’d bring to the gym if I hated earbuds

With swappable ear cushions and IPX4 water resistance, the Beats 360 should stand up better to sweat than most headphones.

John HigginsSep 22

Andrew LiszewskiSep 22

Apple is once again soldering the Mac mini’s SSD preventing aftermarket upgrades.

While the Mac mini M4’s SSD was easily removable and upgradeable, the NAND module on the new Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro is soldered to the logic board, according to a blog post by Expand Mac mini. That’s the same approach Apple took with the Mac mini M1, M2, and M3.

A partially opened Mac mini M4 computer.

Replacing the SSD in the Mac mini M4 was relatively simple after some disassembly.

Image: iFixit

Emma RothSep 22

Apple still appears to be working on an “AutoLock” feature for stolen iPhones.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, code in the latest iOS 27.2 beta backs up earlier reporting that suggests Apple may automatically lock iPhones when taken from their owners. Apple may use various signals to determine when an iPhone was stolen, such as a “sharp acceleration” that indicates a device was snatched, the inability to connect to a paired Apple Watch, and a loss of network connectivity.

iOS 27.2 beta 2 reveals new details about anti-snatching feature

[9to5Mac]

It’s time for the Mac Neo

Antonio G. Di BenedettoSep 22

Apple’s first live music venue is opening beneath its UK headquarters

Jess WeatherbedSep 22

Jennifer Pattison TuohySep 21

Apple’s smart display could finally arrive next month.

According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, the long-rumored Apple home hub with a screen is now being positioned as an AI hub for the home, working in tandem with your personal AI hub, the iPhone. He writes:

“It will bring together all of your connected-device controls, video calls, intercom capabilities and media, while giving you access to Apple services and apps. It also will feature a new operating system built around Siri AI.”

I shared my ideas for what I want to see Apple do with a truly “intelligent home hub” in this piece, but in the meantime I’ll make do with Apple just shipping something here.