4 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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iPhone

Over the past ten years, Apple’s iPhone has become the company’s most valuable —and recently, somewhat volatile— asset. Since its introduction in 2007, the iPhone helped to jumpstart the smartphone revolution, and with it came some big innovations. The App Store, touchscreen gaming, the mass adoption of social media, and protecting user data with biometrics. Its product lineup is enmeshed in Apple’s ecosystem, and the impact that it continues to have around the globe is vast.

Todd Haselton
Todd Haselton
The iPhone 17 Pro is aluminum again and that feels like a step back.

This kind of feels like Apple is forcing me to the titanium iPhone Air. Apple switched to titanium for the iPhone 15 Pro two years ago, and it was noticeably lighter than the aluminum iPhone Pros that came before it. Why ditch titanium here?

iPhone 17 event live blog: on the ground at Apple’s keynote

We’re here with the latest on iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods.

Victoria Song, Allison Johnson and 1 more
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
A peek at every iPhone 17.

We’ve seen several leaks of the iPhone 17 lineup already, but these new images shared on Weibo show them all together side-by-side in various color options. Will the blue versions of the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air, and those orange iPhone 17 Pro models, actually be that vivid? We should find out at the launch event later today.

Leaked images of the full iPhone 17 lineup in a variety of colors.
Maybe Apple has remembered that colors can be saturated.
Image: Whylab via Weibo
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Live Photos are coming to WhatsApp.

Wabetainfo says the WhatsApp for iOS beta 25.24.10.72 update adds support for Live Photos in chats, groups, and channels, after rolling out similar support for motion photos on Android last month. Users can decide whether to send them as a still image or the original dynamic clip.

Three screenshots showing the Live Photo support rolling out in the WhatsApp beta for iOS  version 25.24.10.72.
The Live Photo support is available to some beta testers, and will be rolling out to more users “in the coming weeks,” according to Wabetainfo.
Image: Wabetainfo
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The iPhone 12 is getting a little less radioactive in Europe.

Bad news if you were hoping to Hulk out: Apple is rolling out a software update across the bloc to reduce transmitter power and meet strict radiation standards. It’s an expansion of a change it made in France in 2023, following a new European Commission decision backing the French regulator.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
The iOS alarm is wheely weird.

I just verified it for myself and, yup — if you keep scrolling, you’ll eventually hit bottom.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Apple issues a security patch for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

A vulnerability (CVE-2025-43300) stemming from Apple’s image processing framework, “may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals,” according to Apple.

Apple has rolled out a patch for iOS 18.6.2, iPadOS 18.6.2, macOS Sequoia 15.6.1, and other OS versions listed here.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Apple’s FineWoven successor might be called TechWoven.

Pictures from leaker Majin Bu show what appears to be iPhone 17 Pro Max case boxes with the new texture. It looks like of like the texture on Amazon’s fabric Kindle cases.

A screenshot that appears to be of Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max TechWoven cases.
Image: Majin Bu
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
iOS 26 could be worth the upgrade for this new ringtone alone.

On Monday, Apple released the sixth developer beta of iOS 26 which includes six new ringtones. Five of them are new variations of the Reflection ringtone — currently the iPhone’s default option — with names like Buoyant, Dreamer, Pond, Pop, Surge, and Reflected, which was carried over from previous betas and renamed.

There’s also an entirely new ringtone called Little Bird that’s destined to become an earworm and is begging to be remixed into a real banger.

Apple shipped its 3 billionth iPhoneApple shipped its 3 billionth iPhone
Allison Johnson
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The iPhone 17 Pro might be oh so orange.

Leaker Sonny Dickson has shared photos of dummy units from Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 lineup, including a bright orange for the Pro and Pro Max models. Expect the exact hues to be different in the final phones though.

It follows a video yesterday from another leaker that showed similar Pro finishes, plus a model in gray — but with signs of AI generation in that video, we’d put more stock in Sonny’s shots.

<em>The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could come in black, white, dark blue, and bright orange.</em>
<em>The regular iPhone 17 may have five colors — I kinda love the green.</em>
<em>The super slim Air offers the most muted colors of the lot.</em>
<em>Here’s the full set, though oddly omitting the 17’s bright green.</em>
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The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could come in black, white, dark blue, and bright orange.
Image: Sonny Dickson
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
India overtakes China in smartphone exports to the US.

This might be a one-off after Apple reportedly shipped 600 tons of iPhones from India in April to avoid tariff threats, but a new report from Canalys tracks with Apple’s intention to move the totality of its US iPhone production to the country by the end of 2026. China doesn’t like it and Trump’s gonna be real pretend mad.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Is this really an iPhone 17 Pro spotted in the wild?

Now that Google has coughed up a look at the next Pixel, it’s apparently time for more iPhone rumors. The account @Skyfops on X tweeted two pictures of a cap and sunglasses-wearing man with two phones, claiming he’s holding a test development iPhone, complete with another man seemingly running interference to keep them hidden.

The device in the pictures certainly resembles other supposed leaks, but with AI, Photoshop, and bored students in the summer, are you ready to believe this is Apple’s next iPhone? Bloomberg Apple reporter Mark Gurman reshared the tweet, saying, “This looks legit.”

How to install the iOS 26 public betaHow to install the iOS 26 public beta
Barbara Krasnoff and Wes Davis
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Torras iPhone case review.

The Torras Ostand case made me a kickstand convert and the Ostand Q3 Air improves upon on it in every way that matters. The MagSafe-compatible iPhone case offers better protection and improves the kickstand to make it more durable and useful without sacrificing pocket-ability. Too bad the price is nearly double at $65.99 / €56.95

Check out the images and captions below for my quick review.

<em>The metal kickstand and hinge briefly click into place at 90-degree intervals as you rotate the assembly, making it easy to find the most stable orientation.</em>
<em>It strikes a good balance between protection for my iPhone 15 Pro and pocket-ability. </em>
<em>The kickstand can hold your iPhone when using <a href="https://thevergetoday.pages.dev/23440538/apple-macos-continuity-camera-how-to-use">Apple’s continuity camera feature</a> during video calls</em>.
<em>The 18N MagSafe-compatible magnet is strong with “fourth-generation airbags” in all four corners. It has an 8ft drop rating.</em>
<em>That N52 magnet creates some interesting mounting possibilities. </em>
<em>Torras’ buttons are springy and easy to locate, and actually improve the feel over no case at all.</em>
<em>The case uses scratch-resistant materials that offer good grippiness as well.</em>
<em>Importantly the case rises 1.4mm above the phone’s glass display to protect it from falls.</em>
<em>The lip rises 1mm above the camera array</em>.
<em>All my USB-C cables fit through the case’s opening, but the bulkiest connectors (like the USB-C cable that came with my MacBook charger) need a push.</em>
<em>The case fits Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max.</em>
<em>Torras includes replacement buttons in the box if you’re not feeling this Miami Dolphins color scheme.</em>
<em>That hinge feels solid and has held up to blowing sand and dust without issues... so far.</em>
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The metal kickstand and hinge briefly click into place at 90-degree intervals as you rotate the assembly, making it easy to find the most stable orientation.
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Apple’s next iPhone, iPad, Mac, monitor, and... CEO.

Mark Gurman’s newsletter runs the gamut of Apple nexts this weekend, starting with rumors of the “iPhone 17e” kicking off an annual refresh cycle for cheaper iPhones, more iterative chip-bump updates for the Mac and iPad starting this fall, and Apple’s first new Mac external monitor since 2022’s Studio Display.

There’s also some succession plan musing around (secretly swole?) CEO Tim Cook detailing why hardware chief John Ternus is most likely, and how the design team that will be reporting to Cook might do so via Alan Dye and Molly Anderson.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
My favorite Jeff Williams story.

Here’s the outgoing Apple COO and defacto head of design recounting the time that Steve Jobs willed a scratch-resistant display into existence after the original iPhone was announced and demonstrated with a plastic screen. Corning eventually dubbed the product “Gorilla Glass.”

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Is China blocking Apple’s India diversification plan?

The bulk of Foxconn’s Chinese staff working on iPhones in India have been ordered back to China, according to a new Bloomberg report. It appears to be part of a concerted effort to prevent “technology, skilled labor and specialized equipment to leave China for manufacturing upstarts such as India.”

In April, at the height of Trump’s tariff threats, the Financial Times reported that Apple wanted India to produce all 60 million iPhones headed to the US each year by the end of 2026.