Apple appears close to supporting end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages, almost a year after the GSM Association said it was working to implement the privacy feature for messages sent between Android and iPhone devices.


As shared by Tiino-X83 on X (Twitter), the latest iOS 26.3 beta includes references to a new carrier bundle setting that will let carriers enable and disable E2EE for RCS messages.

It's possible that the setting relates to making the encryption status of messages visible to the user, as per the GSMA standard's requirements. The requirement is stupulated because local regulations can prohibit E2EE for all users, and users must be notified of encryption status.

End-to-end encryption for RCS was announced in March 2025, as part of version 3.0 of the RCS Universal Profile. Apple said it planned to add support to the Messages app in future iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS software updates, but the company has since been silent on the subject.


The carrier bundle references in the latest iOS 26.3 beta could be Apple laying the groundwork for future support, and are no guarantee that E2EE for RCS messages are coming with the software release. But they at least indicate that Apple is working to bring support at some point in the future.

RCS support as a whole was added to the iPhone with iOS 18, which supports ‌RCS‌ Universal Profile 2.4. It is effectively a modernized version of the SMS standard, which remains available as a fallback option for text messages over a cellular network.
This article, "End-to-End Encrypted RCS Messages Referenced in Latest iOS 26.3 Beta" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's Mac business ended 2025 with flat year-over-year shipments in the holiday quarter despite a broader rebound in the global PC market, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).


The findings suggest that global PC shipments rose 9.6% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 76.4 million units, exceeding expectations as brands accelerated purchases ahead of anticipated supply constraints and component price increases. Within that total, Apple shipped 7.1 million Macs during the quarter, which is essentially unchanged from the same period a year earlier, resulting in a decline in quarterly market share even as the overall market expanded.

Apple ranked fourth globally behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell, all of which posted double-digit shipment growth. Lenovo shipped 19.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 14.4% year over year, while HP shipped 15.4 million units, up 12.1%. Dell recorded the fastest growth among the top three at 18.2%, with 11.7 million units shipped.

IDC attributed the stronger-than-expected fourth quarter to factors including the end of support for Windows 10, tariff-related uncertainty earlier in the year, and growing concern over tightening memory supply. These dynamics encouraged many vendors to pull forward inventory purchases into late 2025, amplifying the usual holiday period seasonal uplift.

For the full year, Apple's performance was more robust. IDC estimates that Apple shipped 25.6 million Macs in 2025, up from 23.0 million units in 2024, representing year-over-year growth of 11.1%. That increase outpaced the overall PC market, which grew 8.1% to 284.7 million units globally. Apple's annual market share rose to 9.0% from 8.7% the year before, even as its fourth-quarter share fell to 9.3% from 10.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024 due to faster growth by major Windows brands.
This article, "Mac Shipments Were Flat at the End of 2025 as Rival PC Brands Surged" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's U.S. patent activity declined sharply in 2025 amid a broader slowdown in patent filings, according to newly released data from IFI CLAIMS Patent Services.


The data shows that Apple was granted 2,722 U.S. patents in 2025, down from 3,082 in 2024, a year-over-year decline of roughly 12% that pushed the company down two positions to sixth place in IFI's annual ranking of the top 50 recipients of U.S. patent grants. The shift marks a notable change for Apple at a time when its spending on artificial intelligence, silicon design, and software continues to expand, but it also reflects a wider contraction in patent activity across the United States.

Total U.S. patent grants in 2025 fell to 323,272, a decline of less than 1% from the previous year, while U.S. patent applications dropped more steeply, falling 9% to 393,344. IFI noted that the decline in applications represents the lowest level since 2019, following a record high in 2024. The data is compiled directly from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and forms the basis of IFI's annual Top 50 and Top 10 Fastest Growing Technologies reports.

The slowdown was visible across core technology areas that typically account for a large share of U.S. patents, with filings and grants falling in key categories such as digital data processing and data transmission. The slowdown was not limited to Apple, with other major U.S. technology companies such as Google also falling in the patent rankings in 2025, while Nvidia did not receive enough U.S. patent grants to place in the Top 50 despite its central role in the AI boom.

It also came as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office continued to work through a backlog of more than 1.2 million applications, which has delayed the pace at which patents are issued. While U.S.-based companies still received the largest number of patents overall, their total fell by more than 5% in 2025, even as companies in several Asian countries increased their patent counts.

Apple's decline occurred as several competitors either held steady or increased their patent output. Samsung retained the top position for the fourth consecutive year with 7,054 U.S. patent grants, accounting for more than 2% of all patents issued in the United States in 2025. Apple chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) ranked second with 4,194 grants, followed by Qualcomm in third place with 3,749.

Apple's drop contrasted with gains by companies such as Dell and Toyota, which moved up eight and six places respectively, driven largely by patents related to computing infrastructure, energy storage, and vehicle systems. Key areas of research in 2025 included AI and battery technologies.
This article, "Apple's Patent Grants Declined in 2025 as Innovation Slows" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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