Forced by licensing issues, Apple replaced the rsync command-line tool in macOS with an alternative: openrsync. Here's what you should know about the change.


The rsync command-line tool has been around for decades. It provides users with the ability to copy files and folders to and from remote computers over the Internet and local networks.

Rsync works by comparing files during a request to copy, and only transmitting files that have changed. This reduces the size and time required to make network copies.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

ExpressVPN is a fast and reliable VPN service with a clean interface, but while convenient and feature-rich, it's also a bit pricey.


One of the major names in virtual private network (VPN) services, ExpressVPN offers a lot to consumers at face value. Offering servers in 105 countries around the world, fast speeds, and privacy and security, theoretically covers all of the bases that you would want from a VPN.

It also offers a very simple approach for end users to get quickly up and running with the service using apps. At the same time, it provides a more customizable experience if you dig a little deeper than the immediate options presented by the apps.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Plans for an anti-reflective, scratch-resistant display on the iPhone 17 have seemingly been abandoned, according to an anonymous source.


Apple often promotes the durability and hardness of the iPhone screen. With the release of the iPhone 16e, for instance, Apple said that its Ceramic Shield front was "tougher than any smartphone glass," and the company's claims have often been backed up by independent testing.

The iPhone 17 range was likely meant to continue this trend, as in March 2024, leaker "Instant Digital" claimed a new display coating was in the works. At the time, it was said the coating would allow for better scratch resistance and improved anti-reflective properties.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Morgan Stanley hiked its Apple stock price target to $235 because instability created by the Trump administration's tariffs may be a boon to Apple's bottom line — at least in the short term.


Even after the failed attempt at increased tariffs during the first Trump term, it was a well-known promise that they'd be attempted again in the second term. After a few weeks of on-again, off-again general tariffs, President Trump went all-in on "Liberation Day" in early April with seemingly random global tariff increases.

According to a report from Morgan Stanley seen by AppleInsider, these conditions led to uncertainty among consumers, which pushed key purchases forward, and will benefit Apple's first half of 2025. So, for those that may have waited until September 2025 or later to buy a new iPhone or Mac, they upgraded much earlier in 2025.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Surfshark's birthday VPN deal is about to expire, with plans as low as $1.99 per month for 24 months through the end of April.


Time is ticking to take advantage of the Surfshark VPN birthday deal, which delivers up to 87% off and up to three months free added to select plans.




Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The fourth round of developer betas has arrived, with Apple trialling another set of builds of iOS 18.5, iPadOS 18.5, macOS 15.5, tvOS 18.5, watchOS 11.5, and visionOS 2.5.


The fourth round of testing for iOS 18.5, iPadOS 18.5, macOS 15.5, tvOS 18.5, watchOS 11.5, and visionOS 2.5 arrived after the third, which landed on April 21. The second appeared on April 14, while the first round for this generation was handed out on March 17.

The fourth iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 developer betas share build number 22F5068a, taking over from the previous build, 22F5053j. The fourth macOS Sequoia 15.5 build uses number 24F5068b, replacing from 24F5053j.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The iPhone 17 is getting closer to mass production, as it takes an important step ahead of its eventual release this fall.


The annual cycle for the main iPhone releases in September means that mass production of the iPhone has to occur during the summer. To get to that point of manufacturing, the year's iPhone has to pass through a number of stages to ensure production goes smoothly.

According to a Monday report from DigiTimes, as spotted by MacRumors, at least of one the models has completed one of the early stages of pre-production testing. The report doesn't specify which models of the 2025 roster have done so, but that it was Engineering Validation Testing, or EVT.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

You've got to be inspired by the incredibly cool concept to do this, but you can now spend a lot of money to wedge a Mac mini into a case with a keyboard and monitor.


Back in 2022, talented YouTuber Scott Yu-Jan took a then-current M1 Mac mini and nearly made it portable. He made a clever combination of a Mac mini with an iPad for the screen, but you still had to find a keyboard, and you still had to plug the whole thing in.

Nonethless, Yu-Jan reportedly used that Frankenstein's monster of a Mac mini, because he's also complained about it. "I hated carrying around the keyboard for my other portable builds," he said, "so this time I wanna incorporate the Apple Magic Keyboard into the design."


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Amazon has issued fresh price drops on multiple Apple devices this week, including the 2025 iPad 11-inch and AirPods 4, with prices falling to a low as $99.99.

Apple's Beats by Dre is bringing out two more colors of its Beats Pill portable speaker, with Blush Pink and Navy Blue colorways joining the roster.


Beats frequently offers new color variants of its products, building out the selection for consumers to choose from. On Monday, the Apple subsidiary is doing just that for its Beats Pill.

In time for the Summer and people spending more time outside, the Beats Pill is being made available in Navy Blue and Blush Pink.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The Orico MiniDock Vertical Mac Mini Dock Stand offers more ports and storage for the new Mac mini, without frills. But, sometimes, that's all you need.


The Mac Mini has always been compact, but the M4 generation's reworking of the form made it even smaller. The newest model takes up very little desk space, but it seems Orico thinks it can do better.

The Orico MiniDock Vertical Mac Mini Dock Stand is an attempt to minimize the desk footprint of the new Mac mini by thinking vertically. In effect, it's a vertical stand for the Mac mini that also incorporates a bunch of extra ports into its base.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

On the latest episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast, Dan Turk joins to talk through the latest smart home news for the week and review the Aqara G5 Pro camera


Dan Turk, a PR representative from Max Borges, joins us for his third time on the podcast. He provides unique insight into the inner-workings of tech agencies bringing new products to market.

This past week, saw several new smart home devices come to market. Starting with Aqara who had three new options available for the US market.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Analysts at JP Morgan are looking more favorably at Q2 results, predicting that Apple may actually see increased revenue in Q3 thanks to short-term effects of the ongoing U.S.-China tariff battle.


Apple will be reporting its Q2 2025 earnings on May 1, to a background of a tariff war between the U.S. and China. Despite the noise, JP Morgan is still looking towards good results for the concluded quarter.

In the near-term view, a note to investors seen by AppleInsider proposes Apple will have a good quarter, thanks to a pull-forward of demand for iPhones, Macs, and other products. The early-year threat of tariffs will have modestly increased demand, causing early consumer upgrades as well as an increased influx of inventory by retailers.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple TV+ has won four Bafta awards in the UK body's technical categories, with "Slow Horses" thriller repeating its 2024 success.


The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) presents the UK's highest awards, with its TV categories resembling the Emmys. As ever, Bafta has separated its 2025 television awards into different events, and as ever, Apple TV+ has won multiple awards.

For the latest Baftas, presented in London on Sunday, April 27, 2025, the winning Apple TV+ shows were "Slow Horses", "Bad Sisters", and "The Velveteen Rabbit." They won:


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple has highlighted that developers in India earned $5.31 billion from the App Store in 2024, but makes the real headline be just how little developers have had to pay Apple itself.


Apple has occasionally promoted how much money developers make from the App Store — in 2018 it said they'd earned $100 billion since the store opened, and then in 2019 the total was $120 billion. It's now singled out a study that reports Indian developers earned $5.31 billion from Apple during 2024 — but it's really saying that as part of its defence against accusations of anti-competitive practices.

"The App Store has been an economic miracle for developers in India and all around the world, and we're thrilled to support their work," Tim Cook said in a statement. "This study underlines the power of India's incredibly vibrant app economy."


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

A record-breaking discount on the 2025 MacBook Air M4 has been issued, driving the standard model down to an all-time best $849.


Amazon and Best Buy are engaged in a MacBook Air price war, with customers benefitting from a 15% price cut on the latest M4 13-inch model with 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage.

Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The next lighter iteration of the Apple Vision Pro will be arriving either towards the end of 2025 or in early 2026, a leaker claims, as Apple continues to try and make its headset a bigger success.


Apple is believed to be working on multiple future revisions to the Apple Vision Pro, with the expectation of an updated model arriving before a full-blown sequel. The current rumor mill belief is for something lighter and more consumer friendly to be the next release in the range.

In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes about two successors to the Apple Vision Pro. One is a mode that is lighter and cheaper than the current model.


Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple is rumored to be shaking up its 2025 iPhone lineup, with a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. Here's what the rumor mill thinks is coming.


The long-rumored iPhone 17 Air, or iPhone 17 Slim as it's sometimes called, is set to launch alongside the standard iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. It will, however, replace the Plus variant of the iPhone, which hasn't seen significant popularity with end consumers.

Just as the iPhone 14 Plus replaced the iPhone 13 mini in 2022, the iPhone 17 Air will appear in place of the Plus model for 2025. Rather than simply being a larger version of the standard iPhone, Apple's new iPhone Air model will focus on thinness above all else.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's Mac mini is on sale this weekend, with current and closeout deals dropping models down to as low as $359.99.


Kicking off the sale is a blowout special on the last-gen M2 Mac mini, which in refurbished condition is down to $359.99 for the 8GB RAM/256GB SSD spec at Stack Social. Or you can get the 512GB version for $60 more, with Stack's $459.99 deal.

Buy M2 from $360


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Tom Hanks is steering Apple TV+ back into WWII waters with a high-stakes sequel to "Greyhound," with production scheduled for early 2026.


Apple Original Films is once again partnering with Hanks' Playtone banner and director Aaron Schneider for the follow-up to the 2020 wartime thriller. Hanks returns as Captain Krause and is also writing the script.

The sequel will expand beyond the Atlantic setting of the first film, taking audiences from the beaches of Normandy to battles in the Pacific theater, according to Deadline.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

As Thunderbolt 5 devices become more widely available, the CalDigit Element 5 Hub offers a compact, no-frills expansion option with only the essential ports.


Thunderbolt 5 was finalized in 2024, but it wasn't until January's CES 2025 show that we started to see devices get announced. CalDigit, known for its excellent peripherals, was quick as always with its Element5 Hub.

It was soon followed by its more full-featured docks, but the Element 5 Hub is great for something more affordable and compact. Plus, it still has eight downstream ports to utilize.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

While we'll never stop looking ahead to what's coming, and never stop looking at what's going on right now, it's also time to look back at how much Apple Silicon and the Apple Watch have meant to us all.


It's unbelievable that we've had Apple Silicon for half a decade — or the Apple Watch for a whole decade. Both were so strongly rumored for so long before they were announced, and both have become enormous successes since. It would be hard to go back to the pre-Apple Silicon days now, and you wouldn't rush to give up your Apple Watch either.

This week has also seen developers accusing Apple of using bug reports to train AI, though, and there's also plenty to say about what's been happening with Apple Intelligence. Plus Apple is being sued — again — and this time the reasons for it are a lesson for us all about protecting our iPhones and our data.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Imagine turning everyday experiences — a photo, a song, a quiet moment — into something worth remembering. With Apple's Journal app, you can do just that, but only on your iPhone.


Journal isn't just about capturing your thoughts. It's a personal memory tool designed to help you reflect on daily experiences, monitor your well-being and rediscover what matters most.

Introduced at WWDC 2023, the app became available with iOS 17.2 in December 2023. It integrates deeply with iOS, using on-device machine learning to generate private, personalized journaling suggestions.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple will reportedly dramatically accelerate manufacturing efforts in India, and may try to import nearly every iPhone 18 sold in the US from the country by the end of 2026. There are reasons to be skeptical that this will happen.


Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in India for a few years. Opinions vary on how many devices imported to the US come from the country, but if Friday morning's report first made by the Financial Times is accurate, that number will skyrocket in the next 20 months.

While a lofty goal, we're skeptical about the report. At the moment, India produces about 40 million iPhones per year for both local distribution requirements and export — a bit less than a fifth of Apple's global iPhone production.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

For many, the best email app is the one that came on your iPhone, Apple's own Mail app. To get the most use out of the Mail app, you can set it up to have all of your email accounts and addresses in one place in it.


Whether it be on your Mac or your iPhone, the process of adding an email account to Apple Mail is quick and painless. And, most importantly, it will make sifting through your emails that much simpler.

That's because once you have added two or more email accounts to the Mail app, you have a choice of how to read them. You can go separately into each one or click on the overall inbox to see all messages from all accounts, right there in one place.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's iconic App Store was recently updated to feature AI-generated summaries of user reviews, and now we know how it all works.


In October 2024, an unlisted App Store article revealed that Apple wanted to summarize user application reviews with the help of artificial intelligence. Months later, in March 2025, the feature became available to the general public with the release of iOS 18.4.

While we already had a few details about Apple's AI-generated review summaries, a new post on Apple's Machine Learning blog explains the intricacies and specifics of the feature.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

A new report suggests that Apple CEO Tim Cook has lost faith in his AI/ML chief John Giannandrea and is shifting the robotics team to hardware headed by John Ternus.


Apple has been rearranging some of its teams after making a publicly embarrassing move to delay contextual Apple Intelligence features. The Siri team moved to be placed under Mike Rockwell, the Apple Vision Pro chief.

It seems that wasn't the only internal move planned by Apple, as Bloomberg reports the robotics team is moving out from under the AI/ML organization. It will instead be under the hardware division, which is led by John Ternus.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple invests quite a bit of time, money, and effort into its environmental initiatives, but it's hard to see whether or not its efforts are making an impact.


The saying goes, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." It's very possible to do a lot of harm while attempting to do a lot of good.

In 2020, Apple announced "Apple 2030;" a highly ambitious goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral by 2030. While Apple has already been carbon neutral on the global corporate level, the company wants to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

"Sunderfolk," a new couch co-op game, has arrived for multiple platforms. While it doesn't run on Mac, it does require players to use iPads or iPhones as a controller for game night.


The developers over at Secret Door are looking to redefine game night with Sunderfolk, a turn-based, tactical RPG. What sets it apart from others in its class is that it's a couch co-op game that incorporates your smartphone into the experience.

To play, players will need an iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet. Then, they'll scan a QR code and use the Sunderfolk app to interface with the game.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's shift to a more Mac-like experience in iPadOS 19 and iOS 19 is rumored to introduce features such as a menu bar — but there are reasons to doubt the latest "leak."


Despite repeated calls over the years for the iPad to run macOS and be more like the MacBook Pro in usage, Apple has resisted making that move. However, that hasn't stopped rumors from surfacing about changes that bring the operating systems much closer together.

According to a source of serial leaker Majin Bu, Apple will be shrinking the gap between macOS, iPadOS, and iOS when it comes to iOS 19 and iPadOS 19.


Rumor Score: 🙄 Unlikely


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Years after rumors started, months after it was announced, and a week after preorders began, the Apple Watch became a reality for millions of users, starting on April 24, 2015.


Unless you were seriously into Rolex, there's a decent chance that you had stopped wearing a watch once your iPhone had become part of your life. It's not true that everyone stopped, but a noticeable number did — and then it seemed as if they all came back in 2015.

For years before then, the very idea of an "iWatch" was both mocked and longed for. After it was launched in 2015, after Apple Watch became a reality, it was still mocked a little, and it was still longed for a lot.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Celebrate "Global Close Your Rings Day" by earning Message app stickers and badges, a limited-time Apple Watch activity award, and score a commemorative pin at retail stores.


April 24 is "Global Close Your Rings Day," and to celebrate, Apple is challenging users to get up, get out, and close their rings. This one-day challenge is available to anyone using an Apple Watch running watchOS 5 or later.

Those who close all three Activity rings will receive a limited edition reward, as well as 10 animated stickers and an animated badge for Messages. Apple also encourages participants to share their achievements on social media using the tag #CloseYourRings.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Amazon and B&H are embroiled in a MacBook price war, with the latest M4 MacBook Air dropping to a record low of $899.


A new record low price of $899 is in effect at B&H on Apple's latest MacBook Air release — the M4 line — which comes standard with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The $90 discount applies to the Starlight and Midnight colorways, but you can also grab the new Sky Blue finish for only $2 more.

Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple's supply chain diversification plans are rolling on, albeit slowly, with its expansion of iPhone production out of China and into India still running into stumbling blocks.


Apple is currently on a multi-year journey to expand the reach of its supply chain. What was once a China-centric approach has become one that involves iPhone production in India and operations in Vietnam and other countries.

The changes are intended to minimize the risk of global or international events impacting Apple's ability to make products to sell to consumers. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing factory issues and the continuing threat of disruption by trade wars, Apple's need to diversify its production base is greater than ever.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

TSMC has confirmed the existence of a 1.4-nanometer process, that will be used to make future Apple Silicon chips starting in 2028.


The performance improvements of Apple's hardware is largely down to improvements in its chip designs, with newer versions getting faster over time. Another component is how the chips themselves are made, which is down to the efforts of Apple chip partner TSMC.

On Wednesday, TSMC used its North America Technology Symposium to unveil its A14 process. An improvement on the 2-nanometer N2 process, the A14 is anticipated by TSMC to help push forward artificial intelligence on servers, as well as on smartphones like the iPhone.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Switching to an M4 Max Mac Studio was the most expensive Apple purchase I've ever made, but one month in, it is definitely the best.


You're not going to get specifications and timings with tape measures, because I've never been swayed by a Geekbench score. What I look for, and what I've got with my Mac Studio, is an appreciable difference in my work.

In case you can read a spec sheet better than I can, though, let me tell you that I'm now using an M4 Max Mac Studio with 48GB RAM and 2TB SSD. It's replaced my office M1 Mac mini, which had 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Images of another set of iPhone 17 dummies have leaked, and this time they together emphasize just how thin the expected iPhone 17 Slim, or iPhone 17 Air, really will be.


There are now so many dummies of the iPhone 17 range being shown in leaks that, for one thing, it's as certain as it can be that the camera arrangement will be different to previous iPhone models. But where most dummies concentrate on either the cameras or on the rumored glass and metal design, this latest one is just about size.



Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The White House has described the European Union's fining of Apple and Meta as extortion and called the Digital Markets Act discriminatory.


When the EU fined Apple $570 million for alleged non-compliance with its Digital Markets Act (DMA), it came after reports the Union was delaying its fines in order to appease Trump. It was also reported that the amount of the fine was far lower than the DMA allows, for the same reason.

It does not appear to have worked, however. Trump has yet to comment beyond his 2024 remarks about not letting the EU take advantage of US companies.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

By default, macOS Sequoia leaves a neat gap between windows when they are tiled — but if you don't like that, it's easy to change it.


If you use Apple's new Window Tiling feature in macOS Sequoia to just tile one window over the side of your screen, you'll never notice this. But as soon as you tile two next to each other, you'll see a gap.

It's the same kind of gap that Apple imposes when you drag widgets onto the Mac screen, the same kind of thing where it's trying to make things neat. It isn't a mistake, it's a conscious choice by Apple — but you can still change it if you like.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The lack of strategy in the Trump administration's execution of tariffs continues, as the President promises to "set the tariff" on entities that don't make deals in the "next couple of weeks."


After historic ups and downs in the market, things flattened out a bit while President Trump paused the extreme tariffs levied on "Liberation Day." Markets actually closed slightly up on Wednesday due to signs of the US planning to ease pressure off of China, but that stress relief has only lasted a few hours as things have changed again.

According to a report from CNN based on remarks President Trump made in the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, the 90-day pause will end sooner for select entities. Specifically, any country or company not actively trying to reach a deal with the Trump administration, or those unable to accept offered terms of a deal, will have tariffs set for them.


Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums