, Apple’s item tracking device, was announced almost four years ago. Although the company has introduced new software features for AirTag owners since then, the accessory has never had a hardware upgrade since its launch. But according to the latest rumors, an AirTag 2 is on the way – and here’s everything we know about it so far.

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Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by DREAME: Get up to $600 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs in DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale now.

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Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the ‌Apple Card‌ is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs.


Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while Mastercard is aiming to retain its position. Apple apparently plans to choose a new ‌Apple Card‌ network before it selects a partner to replace Goldman Sachs as the ‌Apple Card‌'s issuing bank, and competition is intense. Visa is offering Apple a $100 million upfront payment, while American Express is "in the mix" and Mastercard is "fiercely trying" to retain its role.

Apple and Goldman Sachs have been working to dissolve their partnership since 2023, with Goldman Sachs planning to exit the consumer banking market. JPMorgan Chase and Synchrony Financial are in talks with Apple to take over for Goldman Sachs, but American Express has also been aiming to become the issuer and network of the ‌Apple Card‌. Apple needs both an issuing bank for the ‌Apple Card‌ and a payment network that facilitates transactions.

Goldman Sachs and Apple have worked together on the ‌Apple Card‌ since its 2019 launch, and have also teamed up for the high-yield Apple Savings account. Apple has not been happy with Goldman Sachs because of customer service issues caused by long wait times for disputed ‌Apple Card‌ transactions and savings account withdrawals.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even launched an investigation into Goldman Sachs due to the customer complaints, which led to tension, so both companies are eager to end their relationship.

The ‌Apple Card‌ has over 12 million users in the United States, with approximately $20 billion in balances.
This article, "Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple’s push to make the iPhone more customizable and personal has brought a new iOS 18.4 feature: now there are two new categories for setting default apps, depending on where you live.

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A battle is apparently breaking out among companies looking to get in on the Apple Card business. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are all in talks to become the payment network behind Apple Card…

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Apple’s Messages app got some big upgrades in iOS 18, but one with the biggest potential impact—RCS support—has had a slow rollout among some carriers. Fortunately in iOS 18.4, Messages is bringing the feature to a lot of new users, including those on Google Fi, Mint Mobile, and more.

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HBO Now gave way to HBO Max, which later became Max—and now, Max is getting its HBO vibes back with yet another rebranding. This go-around is mainly about color changes, but it just might be the most successful rebrand yet for the streamer.

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Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.


watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.

With watchOS 11.4, Apple has added an option for a Sleep Wake Up alarm to break through Silent Mode, so you can have your Apple Watch make a sound in addition to haptic tapping when a morning alarm goes off. There's also support for Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners in the Home app.

This update includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:
- Matter-compatible robot vacuum cleaners can be added to the Home app as well as used in scenes, automations, or simply say "Siri, clean the living room."
- An option to allow Sleep Wake Up alarm to break through Silent Mode
- An issue where face selection may become unresponsive when switching faces
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/100100

More of the features available in watchOS 11 can be found in our watchOS 11 roundup.
This article, "Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Amazon today has all-time low prices on the new M4 MacBook Air, with up to $60 off the 13-inch and 15-inch versions of the computer. Right now these discounts are only available on Amazon, and most of them have estimated delivery windows of early April.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This time around, there is one 13-inch configuration on sale and one 15-inch configuration on sale, reaching up to $60 off the original price. You can get the 256GB 13-inch M4 MacBook Air for $949.00, down from $999.00, and the 256GB 15-inch M4 MacBook Air for $1,139.00, down from $1,199.00. Both of these deals are available in two colors on Amazon.




We aren't currently tracking any notable deals on the 512GB models of the M4 MacBook Air. If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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This article, "Amazon Takes Up to $60 Off New M4 MacBook Air, Available From $949" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has just shipped version 1.1 of the Apple Invites app, which first debuted nearly two months ago. Here are the details.

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One of my favorite Apple accessory brands, Nomad, is having an extremely rare sitewide sale for April Fools! Nomad is giving everyone 15% off all of its amazing products. That means all of its newest releases, from its 3 in 1 charger to its new Kevlar cables to its leather phone cases, are eligible here, using code FOOLS15 at checkout. It is not very often we see its new, full-priced releases see a sale opportunity like this, so jump on it while you can!

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Your Tuesday deals on Apple gear and accessories are now live and at the ready down below. We are once again tracking $100 price drops on the latest iPad mini 7, including the mid-range 256GB model, as well as an ongoing offer on the 36GB M4 Max MacBook Pro at $350 off. From there we move over to OG Apple Watch Ultra units at up to $409 off the original list price, a new all-time low on Twelve South’s latest 15W Qi2 HiRise 2 MagSafe Charging Stand, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth Headphones at $100 off. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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Rumors about next year’s ‘iPhone Fold’ have been growing, including sky-high expectations for the new device’s price. Those rumors may provide Apple yet another good reason to test the waters of premium pricing this year by launching an iPhone 17 Ultra. Here’s why.

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Apple has now refreshed the Mac Studio twice since its introduction in 2022, so should you upgrade your unit and is an older model still worth buying?


The new ‌Mac Studio‌'s main upgrade is its chip, moving from the M2 Max and ‌M2‌ Ultra to the M4 Max and M3 Ultra. Compared to its predecessor, the new ‌Mac Studio‌ is up to 75% faster with 2x faster graphics. It also now features up to 512GB of memory of 16GB of storage, as well as Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

See the breakdown below for each new feature, change, and improvement that was added with the latest ‌Mac Studio‌ compared to its predecessors:

‌Mac Studio‌ (2022)	‌Mac Studio‌ (2023)	‌Mac Studio‌ (2025)
Apple M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip	Apple ‌M2‌ Max or ‌M2‌ Ultra chip	Apple M4 Max or M3 Ultra chip
M1 Max: 10-core CPU (8 performance cores, 2 efficiency cores) M1 Ultra: 20-core CPU (16 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores)	M2 Max: 12-core CPU (8 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores) M2 Ultra: 24-core CPU (16 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)	M4 Max: Up to 16-core CPU (12 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores) M3 Ultra: Up to 32-core CPU (24 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores)
M1 Max: Up to 32-core GPU M1 Ultra: Up to 64-core GPU	M2 Max: Up to 38-core GPU M2 Ultra: Up to 76-core GPU	M4 Max: Up to 40-core GPU M3 Ultra: Up to 80-core GPU
		Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
		AV1 decode
M1 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (11 TOPS) M1 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (22 TOPS)	M2 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (15.8 TOPS) M2 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (31.6 TOPS)	M4 Max: 16-core Neural Engine (38 TOPS) M3 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine (76 TOPS)
M1 Max: Video decode engine M1 Ultra: Two video decode engines	M2 Max: Video decode engine M2 Ultra: Two video decode engines	M4 Max: Video decode engine M3 Ultra: Two video decode engines
M1 Max: Two video encode engines M1 Ultra: Four video encode engines	M2 Max: Two video encode engines M2 Ultra: Four video encode engines	M4 Max: Two video encode engines M3 Ultra: Four video encode engines
M1 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines M1 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines	M2 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines M2 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines	M4 Max: Two ProRes encode and decode engines M3 Ultra: Four ProRes encode and decode engines
M1 Max: 32GB or 64GB memory M1 Ultra: 64GB or 128GB memory	M2 Max: 32GB, 64GB, or 96GB memory M2 Ultra: 64GB, 128GB, or 192GB memory	M4 Max: 36GB, 48GB, 64GB, 128GB memory M3 Ultra: 96GB, 256GB, or 512GB memory
M1 Max: 400GB/s memory bandwidth M1 Ultra: 800GB/s memory bandwidth	M2 Max: 400GB/s memory bandwidth M2 Ultra: 800GB/s memory bandwidth	M4 Max: Up to 546GB/s memory bandwidth M3 Ultra: 819GB/s memory bandwidth
512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage	M2 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage M2 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage	M4 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB SSD storage M3 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, or 16TB SSD storage
M1 Max: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-C ports M1 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 4 ports	M2 Max: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB-C ports M2 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 4 ports	M4 Max: Four Thunderbolt 5 ports and two USB-C ports M3 Ultra: Six Thunderbolt 5 ports
HDMI 2.0 port	HDMI 2.1 port	HDMI 2.1 port
Support for up to four Pro Display XDRs and one 4K display	Support for up to eight 4K displays, six 6K displays, or three 8K displays	Support for up to eight 4K displays, eight 6K displays or four 8K displays
3.5mm headphone jack	3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones	3.5mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6	802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6E	802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6E
Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 5.3	Bluetooth 5.3
Released March 2022	Released June 2023	Released March 2025

Only those 2022 ‌Mac Studio‌ users who consistently push their machines to the limit with tasks like 3D rendering, video editing in high resolutions, machine learning workflows, or large-scale software development should consider upgrading to the 2025 model. The 2025 ‌Mac Studio‌ introduces a considerable leap in performance, particularly with the M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, offering substantially better GPU performance, more powerful GPUs with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a significantly faster Neural Engine, and support for up to 512GB of memory and Thunderbolt 5. These improvements dramatically improve workflows that demand extreme parallel processing, faster memory access, or broader external display setups. If your current 2022 ‌Mac Studio‌ ever feels like a bottleneck, or if you are preparing to work with increasingly complex projects over the next few years, the upgrade is likely to be worth it. However, for users whose workloads remain well within the capabilities of the ‌M1 Max‌ or ‌M1 Ultra‌, especially those focused on less GPU-intensive tasks, the gains may not justify the cost at this time.

Upgrading from the 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ to the 2025 model is likely to be worth it for far fewer users, simply because the performance gains, while significant on paper, will make less of a real-world difference for most professionals already using the ‌M2‌ Max or ‌M2‌ Ultra chip because the 2023 model is still exceptionally capable. However, there are a few edge cases where the upgrade may be justified—particularly for users working with local large language models or intensive AI workloads, where the vastly improved Neural Engine in the M4 Max or M3 Ultra can offer major benefits. Similarly, users who rely on extremely high memory capacity or bandwidth, or those building systems around Thunderbolt 5 and AV1 decode support, might see tangible improvements that justify the cost. Still, for the vast majority of users, especially those in video production, app development, or general pro workflows, the 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ remains more than sufficient for the foreseeable future, making the 2025 upgrade more of a luxury than a necessity.

The 2022 and 2023 ‌Mac Studio‌ models are still very much worth buying, especially if found refurbished or second-hand at a good price. Both models offer excellent performance that remains highly competitive even in 2025, with the ‌M1 Ultra‌ and ‌M2‌ Ultra still delivering substantial CPU and GPU power, high memory bandwidth, and dedicated media engines that easily handle demanding tasks like video editing, music production, 3D rendering, and software development. While they lack newer features like Thunderbolt 5, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, or the enhanced Neural Engine performance found in the 2025 models, those are largely beneficial only to users with very specific, future-facing workloads. For most professionals and power users, especially those upgrading from Intel Macs or base M1 systems, the 2022 and 2023 models remain an outstanding value—and often represent the best balance between performance and cost when purchased refurbished or pre-owned.
This article, "Mac Studio Buyer's Guide: All Models Compared" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple released iOS 18.4 to everyone this week, and it comes with a big upgrade to the Home app. With iOS 18.4, users can now add robot vacuums to HomeKit for the first time thanks to the Matter smart home standard.

Here are the best robot vacuums compatible with HomeKit in iOS 18.4…

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Apple’s AirPods Max revision last fall was underwhelming. It only brought a few changes: new colors, USB-C, and Personalized Spatial Audio. But now thanks to iOS 18.4, this just gained three additional features.

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At least five VPN apps in the App Store were found to have links to the Chinese military, according to a new report today. Three of them have racked up more than a million downloads.

A subsidiary of one of the Chinese companies behind the apps is currently hiring for a role in “monitoring and analysing platform data,” with a familiarity with American culture listed as a job requirement …

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iOS 18.4 includes a variety of big and small upgrades for iPhone users, but if you’re in the EU, there’s one especially huge bonus change: Apple Intelligence is now fully supported for EU users.

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Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported a couple of days ago on what he described as “Apple’s biggest push into health yet with a new AI doctor.”

While I completely understand why Apple would want to do this, I think the company will need to tread extremely carefully to avoid the risk of doing more harm than good …

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The popular iOS game emulator Delta has received a major update that adds online multiplayer functionality for Nintendo DS games. Version 1.7 of the app now allows players to compete against each other in classic DS titles like Mario Kart DS, Bomberman, and Animal Crossing.


Nintendo officially shut down the original DS online services back in 2014, so Delta relies on alternative Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection servers maintained by the community. The way it works is very straightforward – simply select your preferred server within the emulator settings. No complex DNS or network configuration is required. A list of supported games can be found on Wikipedia.

Beyond online multiplayer, version 1.7 also introduces several other notable improvements. Nintendo 64 emulation has been enhanced, with new options to upscale resolution and use custom texture packs for improved visuals. A quick screenshot feature has also been added, alongside various bug fixes and performance optimizations.

Delta is regarded as one of the most polished game emulators available on iOS, supporting multiple Nintendo platforms including NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. The app offers robust controller support, save states, cheats, game backups, and cloud syncing.

For players looking to try these new features, Delta 1.7 is currently available through AltStore PAL for users in the European Union, with a global App Store release expected soon. The emulator remains free to download.
This article, "Delta Emulator Gains Online Multiplayer for Nintendo DS Games" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Mark Gurman’s recent Q&A revealed a little snippet of information about iOS 19 – its codename within the Apple teams working on it – and it sounds very much like it tells us what to expect …

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Apple has gotten a lot of flack for talking up Apple Intelligence while delivering very little of it, and now it seems Amazon is about to do the exact same thing.

A new report citing internal company documents suggests that Alexa+, Amazon’s equivalent of the new Siri, will also launch without many of its headline features …

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In iOS 18.2, Apple introduced a major change to iPhone's Mail app with a new Categories feature, which has now been rolled out to iPad and Mac with iPadOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4. Categories automatically sorts your emails into four distinct sections: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. However, while this organizational system aims to help manage email overload, not everyone will prefer the new layout.


Mail Categories attempts to intelligently organize your incoming emails into different sections. Important emails are shown in a "Primary" category, with orders, newsletters, social notifications, and deals organized into three other sections.

The "Transactions" section includes receipts, orders, and deliveries, and aims to make it easy to find orders that you've placed and shipping information for those orders. Meanwhile, the "Updates" section includes newsletters, alerts for things like doctor's appointments and correspondence, and other subscription emails. Lastly, Apple's "Promotions" category includes special offers and deal emails.

Note that even if an email would normally fall into Transactions, Updates, or Promotions, it will also appear in your Primary inbox if it contains time-critical information. On devices that support Apple Intelligence, the system goes a step further by highlighting priority emails that require action or have deadlines.

Mail Categories: Why You Might Want to Revert

The new Categories view, while helpful for some, might not suit your email management style. Perhaps you prefer seeing all emails in chronological order, or have your own organization system. Or maybe you just want fast access to all your emails without switching between categories. On iPhone and iPad, you can swipe left across the categories to switch to an "All Mail" view (the same option can be found on Mac to the right of the category buttons) but what if you want to remove the categories completely?

How to Return to List View in Apple Mail

Categories is the default view after updating to the new software. Fortunately, Apple makes it simple to switch back to the traditional list view. Here's how it's done:

1. Open the Mail app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.


2. On iPhone/iPad, tap the More button (three dots) in the upper right corner of your inbox. On Mac, you can find the More button at the top of the inbox view.
   
   
3. On iPhone/iPad, select List View from the pop-up menu. On Mac, click Show Mail Categories to uncheck it.

Once you switch to List View, your inbox will return to showing all emails in chronological order, just as it did before. The change takes effect immediately. While categorization is not perfect, it's likely something that Apple will improve over time. You can always switch back to Categories view using the same menu if you want to try it again later.

Note: If you're using an iPhone/iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, you'll see an additional option in the More menu for priority messages. This option won't appear on devices without Apple Intelligence support. The More menu also has an "About Categories" section where you can see how your messages have been categorized over the course of the last week, but there is no option to tell the Mail app if you believe an email has been put into the wrong category.
This article, "How to Turn Off Apple Mail Categories" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

In this episode of Apple @ Work, I talk with Brad Kowalk from Hero Assistant about the problems with the current generation of digital assistants, what’s needed to advance the technology, and where we are most likely headed.

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Apple today announced 'Find My' network availability in South Korea. The launch brings the full range of Apple's location-based ‌Find My‌ services to South Korean customers for the first time, enabling them to keep track of devices, belongings, and loved ones.


With the ‌Find My‌ network enabled, users will be able to to locate their iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices, as well as AirTag-connected personal items and third-party ‌Find My‌ compatible trackers, while maintaining strong privacy protections.

One of the main features of the ‌Find My‌ network is its ability to pinpoint lost devices on a map, providing users with step-by-step directions to retrieve their misplaced items. The app also allows users to trigger a sound on their lost Apple devices, making it easier to locate them when in close proximity.

‌Find My‌ also lets users stay connected with friends and family by opting to share their location with specific contacts. This can be useful when meeting up in crowded areas, particularly for owners of iPhone 15 and later models who can take advantage of the Precision Finding capability to navigate directly to their friends' exact locations.

The original "‌Find My‌ iPhone" app was launched in 2009 alongside ‌iPhone‌ OS 3. "‌Find My‌ Mac" was added to OS X 10.7 Lion in 2011, while "‌Find My‌ Friends" was released in October 2011. With the release of iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 Catalina, the functionality of ‌Find My‌ ‌iPhone‌, ‌Find My‌ Mac, and ‌Find My‌ Friends was unified into the app we know today as ‌Find My‌.
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The popular console game emulator Delta has just gotten another huge update. With its latest version, users can now play online multiplayer Nintendo DS games.

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iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, ‌iPhone‌ XS, or the ‌iPhone‌ XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past.


The ‌iPhone‌ XR, ‌iPhone‌ XS, and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like ‌iOS 19‌ will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected to support ‌iOS 19‌, with a full compatibility list below.

• iPhone 16e


• iPhone 16


• ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus


• iPhone 16 Pro


• ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max


• iPhone 15


• ‌iPhone 15‌ Plus


• ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro


• ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max


• ‌iPhone‌ 14


• ‌iPhone‌ 14 Plus


• ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro


• ‌iPhone‌ 14 Pro Max


• ‌iPhone‌ 13


• ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini


• ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro


• ‌iPhone‌ 13 Pro Max


• ‌iPhone‌ 12


• iPhone 12 mini


• ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro


• iPhone 12 Pro Max


• ‌iPhone‌ 11


• ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro


• iPhone 11 Pro Max


• ‌iPhone‌ SE (2nd generation or later)

While these iPhones will support ‌iOS 19‌, advanced features may be limited to newer iPhones with faster processors. Apple Intelligence in ‌iOS 18‌, for example, only runs on the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and the ‌iPhone 16‌ models.

As for iPadOS 19, it is expected to drop support for the seventh-generation low-cost iPad with A10 Fusion chip. It sounds like iPads that are equipped with the A12 Bionic such as the iPad mini 5 will be compatible with iPadOS 19.

The source that shared the information also provided details on the devices that would be compatible with ‌iOS 18‌ ahead of when ‌iOS 18‌ was unveiled.

Apple is planning to introduce ‌iOS 19‌ and iPadOS 19 at the Worldwide Developers Conference that is set to begin on Monday, June 9.
This article, "iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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We’re just over two months away from Apple announcing iOS 19 at WWDC25. A new rumor this week says that iOS 19 will drop support for three iPhone models: iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max. All three of those phones were released in September 2018.

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Apple on Monday released visionOS 2.4, and it’s the first update to enable Apple Intelligence features in Apple Vision Pro. However, even though the update was released on the same day as iOS 18.4 – which expands AI capabilities to more languages – Apple Intelligence for Vision Pro is only available in English.

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Apple today released a new firmware update for the USB-C version of the AirPods Max headphones. The new firmware is version 7E99, up from the prior 7A291 firmware the device was previously running.


When paired with the iOS 18.4 update, the new ‌AirPods Max‌ firmware brings lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio to the USB-C version of the headphones. The USB-C ‌AirPods Max‌ support 24-bit 48 kHz lossless audio, which is designed to allow listeners to experience music the way the artist created it in the studio. Apple says lossless audio and Personalized Spatial Audio offer a “more sonically accurate, uncompressed, and immersive experience.”

With lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio support, music creators are able to use the ‌AirPods Max‌ to create and mix in Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking, with just a USB-C cable and a Mac with Logic Pro or other music creation software.

Lossless audio and ultra-low latency is only available for the USB-C ‌AirPods Max‌. The headphones need to be running the latest firmware and need to be paired with a device running iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, or macOS Sequoia 15.4.

Firmware can be installed by putting the ‌AirPods Max‌ in Bluetooth range of an iPhone, iPad, or Mac that’s connected to Wi-Fi, and then plugging them in to charge. It can take up to 30 minutes for firmware to update.

You can check your firmware version by going to Settings > Bluetooth and selecting the Info button next to the ‌AirPods Max‌ when they are connected to an ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, or Mac.
This article, "Apple Releases New AirPods Max Firmware With Lossless and Low-Latency Audio Support" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 18.4 is the fourth major update to the iOS 18 operating system that first came out last September, and it adds a long list of new features. Some features are limited to Apple's newer and more powerful iPhone models, while others are available to all ‌iOS 18‌ users.


This guide covers everything new in iOS 18.4.

Priority Notifications - Apple Intelligence

iOS 18.4 adds an Apple Intelligence Priority Notifications feature that shows you your most important notifications first. Priority Notifications is disabled by default, but it can be turned on by going to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and tapping the toggle.


Priority Notifications can also be set up on a per-app basis, with toggles available in the same sections of the Settings app.


With the feature enabled, ‌Apple Intelligence‌ will show notifications that may be important in a dedicated section at the top of the Lock Screen's notification center.

Visual Intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro Models

Visual Intelligence is now available on the iPhone 15 Pro and ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max, and it's no longer an option limited to the iPhone 16 models.



Since the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro and Pro Max do not have a Camera Control button, ‌Visual Intelligence‌ can be activated via the Control Center or with the Action Button.

Visual Intelligence Action Button

Apple added an Action Button option that activates ‌Visual Intelligence‌, and it can be used as an alternative to the Camera Control button for ‌Visual Intelligence‌ on the ‌iPhone 16‌ models.

Control Center Apple Intelligence Section

In the Control Center, there's an Apple Intelligence section. It includes the Type to Siri option that was in the now-removed ‌Siri‌ section, along with new options for activating ‌Siri‌ and using ‌Visual Intelligence‌.

Image Playground Sketch Style

Image Playground includes a Sketch style that joins the Animation and Illustration styles. Sketch was previously available for Image Wand, but now it is a third style that can be used in ‌Image Playground‌.


Swap styles by tapping on the "+" button in the ‌Image Playground‌ app. Apple also replaced the previous "Winter Holidays" theme with a new "Spring" theme.

New Apple Intelligence Languages

French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified), along with localized English for Singapore and India.

New Emoji

There are new emoji characters in iOS 18.4, including bags under eyes, fingerprint, leafless tree, root vegetable, harp, shovel, and splatter.

Vision Pro App

If you have a Vision Pro headset, you'll see a Vision Pro app on your ‌iPhone‌ after installing iOS 18.4 if you have a Vision Pro headset. The Vision Pro app helps you discover and download content on the Vision Pro.


There are dedicated sections for Immersive Video, 3D movies, and more, with options to download apps directly to the Vision Pro without having to use the headset. Apple also added a dedicated My Vision Pro section with a user guide and tips for using the device.

Guest setup can now be managed on an ‌iPhone‌ or iPad linked to a Vision Pro, making it easier for Vision Pro owners to let others test their headset. There are controls for limiting what apps a guest is able to use, and an AirPlay mode for guiding the guest through Vision Pro experiences. When a guest user puts on the Vision Pro, a prompt to enable Guest Mode will appear on the headset owner's device.

Apple News+ Food

For Apple News+ subscribers, there's now an ‌Apple News‌ Food section. The Food section features tens of thousands of recipes, stories about restaurants, tips for healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more.


Content will come from top food publishers such as Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats. ‌Apple News‌ editors will curate food-related stories, and there will be a dedicated Recipe Catalog section where new recipes are added regularly. An included cook mode provides step-by-step instructions, and users can save favorite recipes for offline access.

Ambient Music

iOS 18.4 includes an Ambient Music option that can be added to Control Center. There are four different sound categories, including Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing.


Each category can be added to Control Center separately, and tapping one plays a random selection of sounds or music from that particular category. If you tap on the Ambient Music button that you added while in edit mode, you can select different options within each category.

• Sleep: Sleep Sounds, Bedtime Beats, Sound Bath, and Piano Sleep.


• Chill: Piano Chill, Ambient Chill, Lo-Fi Jazz, and Pure Chill.


• Productivity: BEATstrumentals, Binaural Frequencies, Pure Focus, and Classical Concentration.


• Wellbeing: Pure Meditation, Spa, Beats & Breath, and Pure Calm.

If you play Ambient Music and then tap into the Dynamic Island at the top or access the Now Playing widget, you can skip songs and see the name of what's currently playing.

Privacy Indication Dots

The small dots that show up on the ‌iPhone‌'s menu bar when the camera or microphone is in use have been moved to the left and are now more apparent thanks to a black background.

Siri Voices

There are two new Australian voices for ‌Siri‌.

Genmoji

The Genmoji icon for the Emoji keyboard now says "‌Genmoji‌" instead of just featuring a multi-colored smiley face. The change should make it more obvious where users go to create a ‌Genmoji‌ character.

Photos

In the Photos app, there are new options to filter your library by images that were shared with you by others or by those that are not included in an album, which is useful for separating out content that you've organized into albums.


Apple also added an option to view your album list by key photo.

The Recently Deleted section of the ‌Photos‌ app now has one-tap options to delete all photos and to recover all photos.


In the ‌Photos‌ Settings, there is a Show Recently Viewed & Shared toggle that will show or hide the Recently Viewed and Recently Shared albums from the Utilities list.

Type to Siri

When you use Type to ‌Siri‌ to ask ‌Siri‌ a question, the keyboard is now collapsed down when ‌Siri‌ answers. To type another request, you need to tap on the ‌Siri‌ bar to bring it back up. There is also a toggle to activate Type to ‌Siri‌ with the side button, which would normally cause ‌Siri‌ to listen for a voice command.

Back Tap

If you have the Back Tap Accessibility option turned on, there is now a notification when a double tap or triple tap action is performed.

App Store Review Summaries

Apple now provides summaries of an app's customer reviews to get a quicker overview of what people think of it.

Pause App Store Downloads

When you download an app from the App Store, you can pause the download right from the update list in the ‌App Store‌ rather than having to do it from the Home Screen icon for the app. Before now, you could only stop and restart an installation entirely from the ‌App Store‌, with no option for stopping it entirely.


Pausing and resuming works for both new downloads and app updates.

Apple Maps

In the Apple Maps Settings, there is a new option to set a Preferred Language.

Passwords

In the Passwords app, verification codes for two-factor authentication have a countdown circle so you can tell when a new code is going to be generated.

Podcasts Widget

There are Library and Shows widgets that can be added to the ‌Home Screen‌ on an ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌. The Library widget features saved content, while the Shows option displays shows that you are subscribed to.


In the Podcasts app, if you tap on your profile picture, there are new options for Podcasts Settings and Notification Settings.

Mac Setup

There is a new feature that allows a nearby ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ to be used to sign into a Mac with an Apple Account for setting up a new Mac. macOS Sequoia 15.4 is also required.

Control Center Toggles

The Cellular toggle and the Wi-Fi toggle in the Control Center now show your cellular or Wi-Fi signal strength represented in bars.


The Brightness and Sound toggles in Control Center have been tweaked slightly and will now change color when the sliders are lowered below the position of the icons.


The Focus option in Control Center now has two small arrows that serve as a visual indicator that there are more options that can be accessed.

Shortcuts Actions

There are multiple new actions for Apple apps in the Shortcuts app, most of which are for changing app settings.


In Maps, for example, there are actions for things like avoid busy roads, avoid tolls, volume level, directions on radio, and more. In Safari, you can use AutoFill information, toggle on pop-up blocking, close tabs, change search engine, and change the tab bar configuration, among other options.

There are Settings actions for Maps, Safari, Reminders, Calendar, Apple TV, Books, Notes, Voice Memos, and Weather.

Apple also added a new Shortcuts action to open a specific conversation in the Messages app.

Safari

When you long press on an ‌App Store‌ link in Safari, there is an updated design for ‌App Store‌ link previews.



When you open up a new Safari tab and then tap the address bar, Safari shows a list of your recent searches. There is an option to disable recent searches by opening the Settings app, going to Safari, and toggling off Show Recent Searches.

CarPlay

Some CarPlay users will have access to a third row of ‌CarPlay‌ icons on the ‌Home Screen‌ rather than just two rows.

Default Apps

There is an option to set a different Translation app as the default in the Default Apps section of the Settings app. In the EU, there is also an option to choose a different Navigation app.

Notification Center

The animation when swiping out of the Notification Center is now smoother.

Camera Control

Additional camera apps that can be selected for the Camera Control feature on ‌iPhone 16‌ models are now listed in a Camera App section rather than directly in the main Camera Control menu.

Safari Connection Security

In Safari, you can tap into the details on a website to see the certificate through a new Connection Security Details interface to ensure the site is secure.

Robot Vacuum HomeKit Support

In iOS 18.4, HomeKit supports robot vacuums. Adding a vacuum to the Home app requires a vacuum with Matter support, and that requires robot vacuum manufacturers to implement Matter. Not all Matter-enabled robot vacuums will be able to be added to ‌HomeKit‌ right away.

Wallet

In the Wallet app, there is an updated menu that includes Orders, Settings, and Subscriptions and Payments. It can be accessed by tapping on the three dots in the upper right corner, which used to be just for package tracking.

Find My

Find My support has been added in South Korea.

Mail Categorization for iPadOS 18.4

With iPadOS 18.4, an updated Mail app is available with categorization. The new Mail app organizes incoming emails into different sections. Important emails are displayed in the Primary category, with other emails organized into sections highlighting product orders, newsletters, deals, and social notifications.

Mail categorization was previously introduced for the ‌iPhone‌ in iOS 18.2.
This article, "iOS 18.4 Features: Everything New in iOS 18.4" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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With the launch of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4, Apple rolled out a new Apple News+ Food feature that is available for all ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers.


‌Apple News‌+ Food offers tens of thousands of recipes, that users can browse through. There are built-in filter and search tools for finding specific recipes, and new content is added daily. Favorite recipes can be saved for access later, and Apple has designed a special format for recipes.

Recipes are displayed with a list of ingredients that can be checked off while cooking, and users can tap any ingredient to see the amount needed for the current step. Timers can be set by tapping on a highlighted duration in the recipe, and there is a "cook" mode that provides step-by-step cooking instructions in a full-screen view.

Along with an extensive recipe catalog, ‌Apple News‌+ Food includes stories about local restaurants, information on kitchen essentials, tips on healthy eating, and more. Content is sourced from major food publishers like Allrecipes, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Good Food, and Serious Eats.

While ‌Apple News‌+ Food is a feature that is designed for ‌Apple News‌+ subscribers, Apple does make select stories and recipes available for non-subscribers as well.

‌Apple News‌+ is priced at $12.99 per month, and it is also included in the Apple One Premier plan for $37.95 per month. Along with the new ‌Apple News‌+ Food feature, ‌Apple News‌+ includes access to over 400 magazines, and news from newspapers like The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.
This article, "Apple News+ Subscribers Can Now Access Apple News Food" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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was introduced last year with a refreshed design. But when it comes to health sensors, Series 10 has pretty much the same capabilities as Series 9. Interestingly, a leaked prototype of Series 10 has just revealed that Apple may have had bigger plans for last year’s Apple Watch.

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iOS 18.4 is here, bringing with it a ton of new features. One of my favorites? A new Apple Music capability that expands the service’s reach beyond the Music app, pushing further into Control Center and more.

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Apple today released big iOS 18.4 and visionOS 2.4 updates, each of which come with a brand new app: ‘Apple Vision Pro’ is the newest iPhone app, and ‘Spatial Gallery’ is new to Vision Pro. Here’s everything you should know about Apple’s latest apps.

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As reported last year, the Unicode Consortium had teased eight new emoji that would become available on platforms such as iOS and Android. Now with the official release of iOS 18.4 to the public, Apple has finally introduced support for these new emoji.

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Apple is going to debut its thinnest ever iPhone later this year, at just 5.5mm thin. While this new cutting-edge iPhone will have some compromises to shave nearly half the thickness of a normal iPhone, there’ll still be a number of features you won’t be compromising on. We’ll be delving into some of the pros and cons here.

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The iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 updates that Apple released today include a long list of fixes for security vulnerabilities, though none of the issues addressed were known to have been actively exploited.


iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 fix 60 vulnerabilities, including an issue that could allow sensitive keychain data to be accessible from an iOS backup, a problem where password autofill filled a password even after a failed authentication, and a bug that could allow hidden photos to be viewed without authentication.

Apple has a full list of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 fixes in its security support document. There's a separate security support document for macOS Sequoia 15.4, and the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.4 update addresses over 120 vulnerabilities with everything from AirDrop and the App Store to the Dock and Kernel.

Because iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and ‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.4 fix so many vulnerabilities, it is a good idea to update as soon as possible even if there were no known instances of these security holes being used in the wild.
This article, "iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 Address 50+ Vulnerabilities" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The account @StellaFudge today shared photos of an alleged Apple Watch Series 10 prototype with a unique health sensor design.


The health sensor on the prototype has a smaller array of LEDs compared to actual Apple Watch Series 10 models that launched last year. There is also an extra ring of lights around the sensor's perimeter, but it is unclear what it is for.

The prototype was running an internal build of watchOS 11.1 that was never released to the public, according to @StellaFudge.


The health sensor on the back of the Apple Watch is used to measure the wearer's heart rate, as well as blood oxygen on models sold outside of the United States only due to a patent dispute. It is unclear why the sensor looks different on this prototype, but the changes likely related to Apple testing future health features for the Apple Watch.

For example, Apple has reportedly been testing a feature that could alert you to signs of high blood pressure. This feature was first rumored a few years before the Apple Watch Series 10 launched, but Apple continues to face development challenges. It is unclear if the feature will be ready in time for the Apple Watch Series 11.
This article, "Apple Watch Series 10 Prototype With Unique Health Sensor Revealed" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 to the public and despite it not including the highly anticipated contextual Siri with on screen awareness, it still arrives with several noteworthy features. In this hands on video, we step through the top 10 iOS 18.4 features and changes that users should be aware of. Be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more iOS-related videos.

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