This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: Apple’s foldable iPhone breakthrough, the AirTag 2 release window narrows, iPhone 17 Pro and 17e reports, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.

Earlier this week Apple shipped new firmware for AirPods Max models with Lightning. Today, the company has followed that up by releasing a beta version of new firmware for all models. Here are the details.

Apple’s new iPhone 16e pitches itself as an iPhone 16, but with some small losses to achieve a lower $599 entry price. But depending on what model you’re upgrading from, some of those losses might seem significant. Here’s a full iPhone 16e vs iPhone 14 Pro comparison that aims to answer the question: is the 16e an upgrade or downgrade?

In a new whitepaper published today, Apple outlined several tools it already offers to parents and developers to “help enhance child safety while safeguarding privacy. This includes Screen Time, Find My, Communication Saftey, Communication Limits, and more.

Over this year, Apple is introducing new features to build on its commitment to user privacy, security, and safety for children:

• Make it even easier for parents to set up Child Accounts that underlie many of our parental controls.
• Put parents in control by allowing them to share information about the age range of their kids with apps to enable developers to provide only age-appropriate content, all without needing to share their birthdate or other sensitive information. 
• And further enhance parents’ insight and control over their kids’ experiences by updating our age ratings, adding more useful information on product pages, and making browsing safer on the App Store.

Apple does say the Mac is the best AI PC, and Microsoft is here for it. Starting today, Microsoft’s AI app called Copilot is now available on the Mac App Store. Copilot, which includes OpenAI and Microsoft models, was previously limited to the iPhone and iPad for Apple device users.

Among major TV networks in the US, FOX is the only player that doesn’t yet offer a direct-to-consumer streaming service along the lines of Paramount+ (CBS), Peacock (NBC), and Disney+ (ABC). But that’s changing later this year, and the company has just announced its new streamer’s leader.

Today’s Apple deal highlights start off with prices dropping even lower on select MacBook configs. Firstly, the 15-inch M3 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM is now $420 off the original price before the RAM upgrade alongside models from $899. Then it’s the M4 Pro MacBook Pro – the 16-inch model with 48GB of RAM is now $308 off – alongside M4 iPad Pro Magic Keyboards at up to $114 off. Apple Pencil Pro, AirTags, and official Apple Watch bands also join the fray today alongside everything else you’ll find below. 

Apple has a big goal of making all its products carbon neutral by 2030. But the company is now being sued over claims that its first such product to hit that goal—Apple Watch—isn’t actually as carbon neutral as Apple says. Here’s what you should know about the new Apple Watch carbon neutral lawsuit.

Apple has been under investigation by authorities in France for nearly two years over App Tracking Transparency, a privacy feature that lets iPhone users decide whether their activity can be tracked by advertisers or not. You’ve likely seen many of the ‘Ask App Not to Track’ pop-ups. Now, per a new Reuters report, the case is about to wrap up and looks set to end unfavorably for Apple.

Reviews for the iPhone 16e have arrived, offering a lot of praise for the new device but also plenty of criticism about one omission in particular: the removal of MagSafe. But according to Apple representatives who spoke with John Gruber, the feature’s absence won’t actually be a problem for most users.

There are two new reports of Mac malware in the wild, with the first of them set to be blocked by an update expected this week.

There’s no word yet on a fix for the second, but you’d have to be a pretty naive Mac user to fall for it …

Instagram users saw a flood of violent and sexually explicit contents in their Reels before the company responded to complaints …

I’ve never been a fan of raised camera modules, whether on iPhones or Android phones – but Xiaomi has found a way to make one beautiful …

Each current iPhone gets its own wallpaper, and it turns out there’s a fun hidden message in the official iPhone 16 wallpapers.

While not obvious when viewing the one of the models in isolation, it becomes much easier to spot when you see three of them side-by-side in the comparison tool on Apple’s website …

One of the questions raised by the iPhone 16e naming is whether it points to an annual update to the entry-level iPhone, with an iPhone 17e following next year.

A leaker who got early wind of the the iPhone 16e name says there are already signs that this may be the case, with a codename believed to reference next year’s model …

The first tests of the iPhone 16e’s cellular performance show promising results. The Chinese review site Geekerwan performed various 5G testing with the iPhone 16e, using a special synthetic cell tower broadcasting inside their lab.

In general, they found the iPhone 16e behaved similarly to the when it came to cellular connectivity, with comparable speeds and reliability. Meanwhile, Apple’s claims of efficiency also seem to ring true, with Geekerwan measuring significantly less power draw for the C1 modem compared to the Qualcomm modem in the iPhone 16 …

Apple last week announced the iPhone 16e, a new entry-level iPhone with an A18 chip and OLED display that costs $599. A day ahead of the official launch in stores, the first iPhone 16e reviews went live on the internet, and they all talk about battery life, C1 chip, and price.

Apple’s Find My network lets users easily track their devices and accessories such as . However, despite having anti-stalking features, researchers at George Mason University recently discovered an exploit that lets hackers silently track any Bluetooth device through Apple’s network.

With the release of the first beta of iOS 18.4 last week, Apple has finally expanded the capabilities of Apple Intelligence to languages other than English. But one of the questions that non-English users had was “will Apple Intelligence work in multiple languages?” Read on as I detail the experience of using Apple’s AI features in two different languages.

Apple Intelligence has raised the bar when it comes to RAM requirements as AI-based features require a device with at least 8GB of RAM. With Apple working to expand the capabilities of Apple Intelligence even further, the company is now rumored to put 12GB of RAM in the iPhone 17 Pro models.

Fifteen days ago, Apple released a tool for iPhone and iPad that allegedly allows you to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another. The primary requirement is that you must be logged in with both Apple Accounts on the same iPhone or iPad.

The only problem is that there are also secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary requirements as well. There were so many requirements that I had to learn what comes after tertiary!

Best of all is that the tool doesn’t explain what went wrong when your two Apple Accounts don’t meet the very strict criteria. It just fails.

Apple is reportedly developing a new Apple TV 4K device that will launch later this year. While I wasn’t pining for an upgrade before, Amazon’s new demo of Alexa+ features changed that. It showed me just how great an Apple TV 4K upgrade with Apple Intelligence could be.

Heart Month may be coming to a close, but continues to save lives.

The latest story comes out of Austin, Texas. Mike Gomez credits the Apple Watch with helping to save his life after receiving a number of irregular heart rate notifications and an Afib detection alert.

Siri is basically perfect and always has been, but there’s one voice assistant feature Amazon’s Alexa+ has that Apple has always needed — long before the age of modern generative AI.

Remember that awesome with a AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation.

One of the most exciting times of the year for Apple fans is swiftly approaching. WWDC is held every June as Apple’s showcase for the next year of its software platforms. This year, Apple will announce iOS 19, watchOS 11, macOS 16, and more at WWDC.

When will Apple announce and hold WWDC 2025? Here’s what history tells us …

Netflix just released its latest bi-annual data dump, outlining all the most popular shows and movies from the second half of 2024. One interesting highlight in particular may help explain why Apple TV+ has been leaning so hard into global, non-English content recently.

Earlier this month, Apple added the M4 Mac mini and MacBook Pro to its refurbished store. But the M4 iMac—which launched at the same time—was mysteriously absent. Now, however, the full M4 Mac lineup is available.

No, Friday didn’t come early and you didn’t get fired. Slack and a bunch of other online services are just going in and out for everyone.

“Our teams are aware and are investigating the issue,” a Slack spokesperson tells 9to5Mac. “For the latest updates, please keep an eye on status.slack.com.”

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is not very happy about Apple’s current compliance with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). In a new interview with Bloomberg, he criticizes Apple and calls on EU regulators to bring swift action against the company.

According to a letter seen by 9to5Mac, the Trump Administration is investigating whether the UK may have broken a bilateral agreement when secretly demanding that Apple build a global backdoor into iCloud.

Alongside ongoing rare price drops on the Nomad iPhone 16 cases and Apple Watch bands, today’s collection of deals is kicking off with some deep discounts on Apple Watch Series 10. You’ll now find open-box units with full Apple warranties at as much as $168 off the going rates – these are some of the best prices ever and they might not last long. From there, we move over to the return of $150 price drops on the mid-ranger 512GB M4 iPad Pro alongside deals on Belkin’s wireless auto-tracking Apple DockKit 15W MagSafe charging stand and Apple’s latest blue Trail Loop with the black titanium finish, not mention some trade-in discounts on the new Powerbeats Pro 2. All of that and more awaits below. 

Welcome to Neural. AI moves fast. We help you keep up. Much has unfolded in AI Land since we last spoke. Amazon has officially announced Alexa+, OpenAI has made a feature cheaper that used to cost $200/month, Anthropic unveiled and released Claude 3.7, and Perplexity has previewed its new AI-driven Comet browser for agentic search.

Apple Intelligence is an umbrella term for Apple’s vast suite of AI-powered features across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and soon Vision Pro. New features have rolled out across several releases of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS and changed many aspects of how our devices work. Here is a full list of every current Apple Intelligence feature, plus a look at what’s coming next.

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 ChargeASAP: Check out the Flash Pro Ultra, featuring a new 275W power bank with an OLED screen that can charge up to 6 devices simultaneously, including your MacBook, phone, smartwatch, and more!

iOS 18.4 is now available in beta, and one of its main additions came as a total surprise: a new Food hub and cooking experience for Apple News. However, there’s a new Home product launching soon—I call it ‘HomePad’—that the cooking feature seems perfectly built for.

President Trump has calmly suggested that Apple should consider reevaluating its policies around diversity, equity, and inclusion, while making the case that meritocracy could yield better results and reduce workplace division. Wait, scratch that, President Trump has blasted Apple on social media in an all-caps message, demanding that “APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM.”

Apple TV+ today announced a new documentary film called Bono: Stories of Surrender, which streams worldwide on May 30, and will also be available in an immersive 3D format viewable in the Apple Vision Pro headset.

In fact, this will be the first feature-length Apple Immersive film; all previous made-for-Vision-Pro content has been short-form fare. Apple and U2 have always had a close relationship, and this project is the latest example of that.

In a world in which privacy is a hot-button issue, we might have expected Brits to be outraged that their government was responsible for Apple withdrawing Advanced Data Protection from the UK. In reality, it’s gone largely unremarked.

A new Bloomberg piece suggests that’s because people care far less about privacy than they claim. While I do think there’s some truth to that, it’s not the primary reason …

A new market intelligence report indicates that Mac market share grew at a faster rate that the top three PC brands during the final quarter of last year.

Apple also dominates the AI-capable computer market, with a 45% share against 15% for the nearest Windows PC competitor …