Spotify today announced a price increase in the United States, Estonia, and Latvia, marking the company's third U.S. price increase in less than three years.


The company revealed the changes in a post published on its website earlier today, stating that Premium subscribers in the affected markets will receive an email over the coming month explaining how the new pricing will apply to their accounts. Spotify said that the revised prices will take effect on subscribers' next billing date, while new customers will see the updated pricing immediately when signing up on spotify.com/premium.

In the United States, Spotify is increasing the cost of every major Premium tier. The Individual Premium plan will rise from $11.99 to $12.99 per month. The Student plan will increase from $5.99 to $6.99 per month. Multi-user plans are seeing larger increases, with the Duo plan, which supports two accounts, moving from $16.99 to $18.99 per month, and the Family plan increasing from $19.99 to $21.99 per month. Spotify attributed the changes to what it described as periodic adjustments across its markets:

Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists.

This latest increase is the third time Spotify has raised U.S. subscription prices since mid-2023. In July 2023, Spotify implemented its first U.S. price hike since launching in the country in 2011, increasing the Individual Premium plan from its long-standing $9.99 monthly price. A second increase followed in June 2024, bringing the Individual plan to $11.99 per month. The January 2026 change moves that price another dollar higher, continuing a pattern of more frequent adjustments after more than a decade of unchanged pricing.

Outside the United States, Spotify has also raised prices in recent years. The company increased subscription costs in multiple international markets in August 2025, and previously raised prices in regions including the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
This article, "Spotify Increasing Subscription Prices in the US Again" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Over the years, I have tried 100s of iPhone cases, from rugged cases to leather cases, clear cases, and multifunctional wallet cases. And while these cases have their time and place, I always come back to the same type of case as my favorite: thin iPhone cases. There is just something about keeping the iPhone feeling like an iPhone that makes it enjoyable to use long-term. So when I saw Moft was releasing their new Movas Frame case, I had to give it a try. It was designed to be slim, light, and minimal while still adding protection. I’ve been using it for a few weeks, and here is what you should know.

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Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is now ready for you below starting off with the return of $200 price drops on the 13-inch M5 iPad Pro and a chance to land the black Apple Watch Ultra 3 at up to $117 off the list price. Those offers join ongoing Ultra 2 deals at up to $369 off as well as some accessory offers – USB-C Magic Mouse at more than 25% off, Nomad leather iPhone 17 Pro/Max cases at 20% off with a FREE screen protector, and Anker’s white model 25W Qi2 MagSafe Charging station with the onboard display at 30% off. All of the details and everything else awaits below. 

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Subway Surfers has been one of the most successful mobile games ever. And now its long-anticipated sequel—Subway Surfers City—is officially coming next month.

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Opera has updated its flagship browser, introducing a rebuilt AI engine and expanded multitasking features, as well as an animated UI theme that reacts to music playing in the browser.


The browser's AI assistant now uses architecture borrowed from Opera's experimental Neon browser, which the company says delivers 20% faster responses. Notably, the AI can now operate within the context of specific tabs or tab groups, so it doesn't mix up information across different browsing sessions. There's also a new YouTube integration that lets the AI analyze videos to find specific moments or summarize content.

Meanwhile, split-screen mode has been expanded from two tabs to four, with horizontal and grid layout options for users with larger displays.

Elsewhere, Opera's Tab Islands feature, which automatically groups related tabs, can now be color-coded and named for easier identification. The sidebar has also gained Gmail and Google Calendar integration alongside existing support for messaging apps and music services.

The company is also retiring its separate beta browser build in favor of an "early bird mode" toggle within the main browser.

Lastly, there are three new animated themes in this release, including one developed with Spotify that reacts to music playing in Opera's built-in player. Opera One R3 is available now as a free update and can be downloaded from the company's website.
This article, "Opera One R3 Gains Music-Reactive UI Theme and 4-Way Split Screen" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Creator Studio was unveiled earlier this week as a new bundle of powerful creative apps. Despite pushback from some users tired of subscriptions, I think this new Apple offering could be exactly what many of us have long asked for. Here’s how.

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Yesterday’s widespread Verizon outage has officially been resolved, and the company has announced details for a $20 credit that will be given to those affected. Here’s how to get it.

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Verizon today announced it will be offering customers a $20 account credit after a major outage on Wednesday, and action is required to receive it.


The carrier said affected customers can accept the credit by logging into the My Verizon app, but it might take some time before this option shows up in the app. Affected customers will receive a text message when the credit is available.

On average, Verizon says the $20 credit covers multiple days of service.

"This credit isn't meant to make up for what happened," it said. "But it's a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us."

Verizon once again apologized for the outage.

"We are sorry for what you experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that you expect from Verizon," it said.



Verizon said that customers who are still experiencing issues should restart their device, as a quick way of reconnecting to the network following the outage.

The outage began mid-day on Wednesday, and Verizon was finally able to fully resolve it around 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The downtime affected the ability to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, and use mobile data.

AT&T offered customers a lower $5 credit after it experienced a major outage in February 2024.
This article, "Verizon Offering $20 Credit After Major Outage, Here's How to Get It" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's AirTag 4-Pack has dropped to $64.98 this week on Amazon, down from the original price of $99.00. Free shipping options have a delivery estimate around January 20, while Prime members should be able to get it delivered a few days sooner.

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

Overall, this is a solid second-best price on the AirTag 4-pack that's within $2 of the Amazon all-time low price, which we last tracked during the holiday season. We're not tracking any notable deals on the AirTag single pack right now.



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, "Get an AirTag 4-Pack for Just $64.98 on Amazon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's newly announced partnership with Google to use Gemini models for Siri and Apple Intelligence could be worth as much as $5 billion, according to one analyst's estimate.


The deal is structured as a cloud computing contract that will see Apple pay "several billion dollars to Google over time," according to the Financial Times (paywalled), citing a person familiar with the agreement. Gene Munster at Deepwater Asset Management puts the value at $5 billion for Google.

The arrangement is reminiscent of a deal made two decades ago that made Google's search engine the default on Apple devices, which grew to be worth about $20 billion annually to Apple.

Apple said it determined that Google's technology provides the "most capable foundation" for its Apple Foundation Models. However, the Gemini partnership raises questions about the future of Apple's existing ChatGPT integration, which has been part of Apple Intelligence since 2024. Apple said the Google deal does not affect the ChatGPT integration, but Munster expressed skepticism about its long-term prospects.

"I think that the ChatGPT integration is going to die on the vine... having two large models, given the economies of scale, wouldn't make a ton of sense for Apple," he told FT.

A person close to OpenAI told the newspaper that the company had taken "a conscious decision to not become the custom model provider for Apple" last autumn to focus on building its own AI device. That hardware effort is being led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, who was hired by OpenAI in May 2024 – a move Munster suggested may have soured Apple on a deeper OpenAI partnership.

Despite the $5 billion figure, Apple's Gemini deal is comparatively conservative compared to other companies' AI infrastructure spending. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have all committed hundreds of billions of dollars to new AI data centers since ChatGPT launched in 2022, but Apple has kept its investment in physical infrastructure at roughly 3 percent of revenue, according to FT's analysis.

For fiscal 2025, Apple's spending on property, plant, and equipment was $12.7 billion. Compare that to the roughly $90 billion Google is expected to spend this year. One former Apple executive told the FT that the Google deal was "a necessary byproduct of Apple's decision not to 'go big' on its AI investments like its competitors."

The next-generation version of Siri is expected to be introduced with iOS 26.4, which will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
This article, "Apple's Google Gemini Deal Could Be Worth $5 Billion" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The long-awaited launch of the new AI-powered Siri now looks much closer thanks to Apple’s partnership with Google. The company this week confirmed reports that many Siri features will be powered by Google’s Gemini models.

We already knew some of the features we could expect from AI Siri thanks to the announcements at WWDC 2024 and a now-deleted iPhone 16 ad – and the launch of Gemini Personal Intelligence has now effectively provided a working preview …

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EU antitrust legislation forced Apple to allow third-party app stores for iPhone within the bloc, with MacPaw’s Setapp Mobile one of the first to take advantage of this.

The company has now announced that it is closing its iOS store, citing “still-evolving and complex terms.” Apple would likely argue that the EU is responsible for constantly moving goalposts without clearly specifying how it wants the company to respond …

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Ukraine-based developer MacPaw is set to close Setapp Mobile, its alternative app store for iOS devices in the European Union, next month.


The service will officially cease operating on February 16, 2026. Setapp Mobile launched in open beta in September 2024.

In a support page, MacPaw said Setapp Mobile is being closed because of app marketplaces' "still-evolving and complex business terms that don't fit Setapp's current business model," suggesting it was not profitable for the company.

For users in the EU who accessed iOS apps through Setapp's subscription store, those apps will be removed from the platform after the shutdown date. Setapp advises users to back up any important data before then, as the apps will no longer be available once the service ends. Setapp's separate subscription-based Mac app store will continue to operate as normal.

MacPaw is not alone in trying its hand in the EU market for alternative app stores, which came in the wake of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that mandates support for third-party app marketplaces on iOS in the EU. There are five other alternative marketplaces available at this time, but the most prominent is the Epic Games Store.

These alternative app marketplaces, as Apple calls them, are a relatively new frontier for app distribution on iOS, but they face hefty challenges, such as navigating Apple's controversial Core Technology Fee, and competing with its established ‌App Store‌ ecosystem.

Epic Games currently pays the Apple fees that EU developers incur when distributing their apps through the ‌Epic Games‌ Store. However, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has said it is "not financially viable" for ‌Epic Games‌ to pay Apple's fees in the long term, but it plans to do so while it waits to see if the European Union requires Apple to further tweak its rules for third-party marketplaces under the DMA.

Sweeney has criticized Apple's Core Technology Fee and app distribution guidelines many times, and has described the fee as "ruinous for any hopes of a competing store getting a foothold." Whether it is the main reason for Setapp Mobile's closure remains unclear.
This article, "MacPaw Pulls Plug on Setapp Mobile iOS Store, Citing 'Still-Evolving and Complex Business Terms' for Alternative EU Marketplaces" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The US was one of a number of countries to escape recent Spotify price increases, but that is now coming to an end.

The streaming music service increased the price of its premium plans in a large number of other countries late last year, while US pricing remained unchanged. Predictably, that was only a temporary respite …

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Wikipedia is today celebrating its 25th birthday, but its long-term future has never been less certain due to a range of threats with the potential to become a perfect storm …

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A new report on Apple’s partnership with Google to have Gemini power the new Siri appears to confirm speculation that the iPhone maker is paying around a billion dollars a year for the deal.

It also claims that ChatGPT provider OpenAI made a conscious decision to decline the opportunity to provide the intelligence behind Siri …

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Apple today announced expanded cross-border Apple Pay support for users in mainland China, allowing them to use Visa credit and debit cards issued by local banks to make contactless payments both in-store and online while traveling abroad.


Eight major Chinese banks now support the feature, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank. Additional banks including Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and China Construction Bank will add support in the coming months. Mastercard is also preparing to launch similar support for select cardholders.

"With this expansion of cross-border Apple Pay capabilities in mainland China, we're making travel more seamless and secure, giving users confidence in their payments wherever they go," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

Apple first launched ‌Apple Pay‌ in 2014, and has expanded it to dozens of countries and territories around the world.
This article, "Apple Expands Cross-Border Apple Pay Support in China" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's upcoming iPhone 17e will feature a Dynamic Island instead of a notch at the top of the screen, but unlike the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup, the display itself will still refresh at 60Hz, according to a known Weibo leaker.


Apple made major improvements to the iPhone 17's display last year, introducing ProMotion display technology with up to a 120Hz refresh rate, similar to recent iPhone Pro models. 120Hz maximum refresh rates allow for smoother scrolling when viewing webpages and improvements for video, but it looks like the iPhone 17e is not getting the upgrade to keep costs down.

In a new post on the Chinese social media platform, "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 17e will retain a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate, but this time it will have a Dynamic Island. The Dynamic Island would add the interactive area at the top of the screen that displays ongoing activities, incorporating the camera and other front-facing sensors.

The iPhone 16e features a "notch" at the top of the display, similar to the ‌iPhone‌ 13 and ‌iPhone‌ 14. That's because the ‌iPhone 16e‌ is based on the design of 2022's ‌iPhone‌ 14, so it could be that the ‌iPhone‌ 17e is based on 2023's ‌iPhone‌ 15, which gained the ‌Dynamic Island‌ and a more rounded frame.

Reiterating a previous claim, the leaker also said the second version of Apple's more affordable iPhone will feature an A19 chip, replacing the A18 used in the current iPhone 16e. The A19 chip is based on TSMC's third-generation 3nm process, N3P, and is around 5-10% faster than the A18 chip in terms of raw CPU performance.

Another Weibo leaker has claimed Apple will use a downclocked A19 chip in the iPhone 17e. If so, aside from Neural Engine improvements, it would be roughly comparable to Apple's A17 Pro chip.

Meanwhile, other rumors suggest the iPhone 17e will gain a magnetic ring so it can connect to MagSafe chargers, which is not an option with the iPhone 16e. To cut down on costs, the device may also be equipped with either the older C1 or C1X modem, but no N1 wireless chip, based on leaked Apple code.

Otherwise, the device is expected to retain a front-facing 12-megapixel camera, Face ID, and a rear 48-megapixel camera. The iPhone 17e could launch as soon as February, as the iPhone 16e did last year, but it could come later in the spring. The $599 starting price is not expected to change.
This article, "iPhone 17e to Gain Dynamic Island But Display Still Stuck at 60Hz" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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The newest version of the Opera One browser improves on the interesting Tab Islands feature, brings a re-engineered AI assistant, and adds theme-specific soundscapes. Here are the details.

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Verizon today experienced a major outage, which it now says has been resolved. To make up for the inconvenience, the carrier has promised that all affected customers will be credited an unspecified amount, with more details to be shared soon.


"Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry," said Verizon.



iPhone users with Verizon service were generally unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or use data over 5G or LTE due to the outage.

iPhone users typically see "SOS" in the status bar when a carrier experiences an outage.

Apple explains what "SOS" means in a support document:

If you see SOS or "SOS only" in the status bar, your device isn't connected to your cellular network, but you can still make emergency calls through other carrier networks. This feature is available in Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Verizon said that customers who are still having an issue should restart their devices to reconnect to the network.
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Hours after a coalition of digital rights, child safety, and women’s rights organizations asked Apple to “take immediate action” against X and Grok AI, xAI confirmed that Grok will no longer edit “images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis,” with significant carve-outs. Here are the details.

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Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to allow users to test features that are planned for future release versions of the Safari browser.


‌Safari Technology Preview‌ 235 includes fixes and updates for CSS, Canvas, Clipboard, Editing, Encoding, Forms, HTML, JavaScript, MathML, Media, Networking, Rendering, SVG, Web API, Web Inspector, WebAssembly, and WebRTC.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sequoia and macOS Tahoe, the newest version of macOS.

The ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser from Apple’s website. Complete release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple’s aim with ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while it is designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download and use.
This article, "Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 235 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Appfigures’ annual report on the app economy shows that app downloads declined in 2025 compared to 2024, even as estimated gross revenue surged to a record high. Here are the details.

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