Apple’s iOS 26 and watchOS 26 introduced a new fitness companion called Workout Buddy. This feature uses Apple Intelligence to provide spoken feedback during workouts and give motivation based on your activity history. Workout Buddy analyzes your pace, heart rate, distance and other metrics to deliver real-time encouragement and performance insights directly through connected Bluetooth headphones. It works in conjunction with the Workout app on Apple Watch and is partially controlled through the Fitness app on iPhone. This guide walks you through everything needed to set up and use Workout Buddy effectively during workouts.
What Workout Buddy does
It’s important to note that Workout Buddy is not a full coaching program. Instead, it adds to your workout with spoken cues that reflect how your session is going. Workout Buddy can remind you of your weekly activity totals, alert you to personal bests or performance milestones and provide an overview when you’re finished. It is designed to feel like a supportive training partner rather than a strict coach.
The feature operates in English by default and uses a text-to-speech model trained on voices from Apple Fitness+ trainers. It is available for a subset of workout types, including running, walking, cycling, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and strength training. It requires on-device Apple Intelligence, which means you’ll need to keep one of the latest iPhones running updated software nearby during workouts.
Supported models include iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and any iPhone 16 model. You’ll also need an Apple Watch running watchOS 26.
Requirements before you begin
Before Workout Buddy appears in your Fitness app or Workout app you must ensure a few things are in place. First, your Apple Watch must be running watchOS 26 or later and paired to an iPhone with iOS 26 installed. Second, your iPhone must be capable of on-device Apple Intelligence, meaning you must own one of the supported iPhone models we mentioned above and have Apple Intelligence enabled in the phone’s settings.
You’ll also need Bluetooth headphones paired with either your iPhone or your Apple Watch. Workout Buddy’s audio feedback cannot play through the watch speaker so headphones are essential. Lastly, your device language must be set to English, at least initially. If any of these things are missing, the option to enable Workout Buddy may not appear.
How to turn on Workout Buddy from iPhone
While much of the interaction with Workout Buddy happens on Apple Watch during workouts, you can enable it and choose voice options from the Fitness app on iPhone.
Open the Fitness app on your iPhone and tap the Workout tab at the bottom. Scroll through the list of workout types until you find one you plan to use with Workout Buddy. Tap the waveform bubble icon associated with that workout. This will bring up settings where you can turn on Workout Buddy. Flip the toggle to enable it and choose a voice from the available options. Once you have selected a voice, close that screen and your choice is saved. When you start this workout type on Apple Watch, Workout Buddy will activate.
Enabling Workout Buddy for a workout type on iPhone means you do not need to toggle it on separately on Apple Watch each time for that specific workout. However, you may still adjust it from the watch interface for more granular control.
How to turn on Workout Buddy on Apple Watch
To use Workout Buddy during a session, open the Workout app on your Apple Watch. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll through and select the workout you want to do, such as Outdoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Cycle, HIIT or Strength Training. If you want to see all available workouts, tap the Add button at the bottom.
Once the workout type is selected, look for the Alerts button on screen. Tap Alerts then scroll until you see Workout Buddy. Tap Workout Buddy and flip the switch to on. You will then be asked to choose a voice if one is not already selected on your iPhone. After selecting the voice, return to the previous screen and tap Start. Workout Buddy will begin working as soon as the workout does.
Using Workout Buddy during a workout
Once you start an exercise on your Watch or iPhone, Workout Buddy will speak to you through your connected headphones. The feedback is designed to be encouraging and relevant to your pace, performance or milestones. It may mention your current progress toward activity goals, pace, splits, personal bests or other highlights from your fitness data. At the end of your session Workout Buddy will offer a summary of key metrics like duration distance and calorie burn.
While a workout is active, you can temporarily mute the audio if you need silence. On Apple Watch during the session, swipe right to reveal controls then tap Mute. This pauses Workout Buddy’s spoken commentary without disabling the feature entirely.
Customizing and managing Workout Buddy settings
Workout Buddy is enabled on a per-workout-type basis. If you prefer voice feedback for running but silence for strength training, you can enable it for one and leave it off for the other. The Fitness app on iPhone allows you to set a default voice preference for each workout type. On Apple Watch you can quickly toggle the feature on or off before starting a session.
If Workout Buddy does not appear as an option for a particular workout type, you may need to check compatibility. Apple’s documentation indicates that only certain types* are supported initially and that the option will not appear for unsupported workouts.
*Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch Series 7, Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch Ultra 3
Troubleshooting common issues
If Workout Buddy fails to activate make sure your devices meet the requirements outlined above. Confirm that your iPhone with Apple Intelligence is nearby and that Bluetooth headphones are connected. If audio feedback is missing, ensure headphones are paired correctly and that the language is set to English. Some users have reported that if the headphones are paired only to the Watch rather than the iPhone, it can interfere with feedback. Switching to the iPhone often resolves that issue.
For workout types where Workout Buddy previously worked but suddenly does not appear, you may try toggling the feature off and on again in the Fitness app or rebooting both devices. In rare cases removing and re-adding the workout type on Apple Watch can refresh the settings.
Apple and Google’s surprise AI partnership announcement on Monday sent shockwaves across the tech industry (and lifted Google’s market cap above $4 trillion). The two tech giants’ deal to infuse Google’s AI technology into Apple’s mobile software, including in an updated version of the Siri digital assistant, has major implications in the high-stakes battle to dominate AI and to own the platform that will define the next generation of computing.
While there are still many unanswered questions about the partnership, including the financial component and the duration of the deal, some key takeaways are already clear. Here’s why the deal is good news for Google, so-so news for Apple, and bad news for OpenAI.
The deal is further validation that Google has got its AI mojo back
When OpenAI debuted ChatGPT in November 2022, and throughout a good part of the next two years, many industry observers had their doubts about Google’s prospects in the changing landscape. The search giant at times appeared to be floundering as it raced to field models that could be as capable as OpenAI’ s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Google endured several embarrassing product debuts, when its Bard chatbot and then its successor Gemini models got facts wrong, recommended glue as a pizza topping, and generated images of historically anachronistic Black Nazis.
But today, Google’s latest Gemini models (Gemini 3) are among the most capable on the market and gaining traction among both consumers and businesses. The company has also been attracting lots of customers to its Google Cloud, in part because of the power of its bespoke AI chips, called tensor processing units (or TPUs), which may offer cost and speed advantages over Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) for running AI models.
Apple’s statement on Monday that “after careful consideration” it had determined that Google’s AI technology “provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models” served as Gemini’s ultimate validation—particularly given that until now, OpenAI was Apple’s preferred technology provider for “Apple Intelligence” offerings. Analysts at Bank of America said the deal reinforced “Gemini’s position as a leading LLM for mobile devices” and should also help strengthen investor confidence in the durability of Google’s search distribution and long-term monetization.
Hamza Mudassir, who runs an AI agent startup and teaches strategy and policy at the University of Cambridge’s Judge School of Business, said Apple’s decision is likely about more than just Gemini’s technical capabilities. Apple does not allow partners to train on Apple user data, and Mudassir theorized that Apple may have concluded Google’s control over its ecosystem—such as owning its own cloud—could provide data privacy and intellectual property guarantees that perhaps OpenAI or Anthropic couldn’t match.
The deal also likely translates directly into revenue for Google. Although the financial details of the were not disclosed, a previous report from Bloomberg suggested Apple was paying Google about $1 billion a year for the right to use its tech.
The bigger prize for Google may be the foot-in-the-door the deal provides to Apple’s massive distribution channel: the approximately 1.5 billion iPhone users worldwide. With Gemini powering the new version of Siri, Google may get a share of any revenue those users generate through product discovery and purchases made through a Gemini-powered Siri. Eventually, it might potentially even lead to an arrangement that would see Gemini’s chatbot app pre-installed on iPhones.
For Apple, the implications of the deal are a bit more ambivalent
Apple’s Tim Cook
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The iPhone maker will obviously benefit from giving users a much more capable Siri, as well as other AI features, at an attractive cost and while guaranteeing user privacy. Dan Ives, an equity analyst who covers Apple for Wedbush, said in a note the deal provided Apple with “a stepping stone to accelerate its AI strategy into 2026 and beyond.”
But Apple’s continuing need to rely on partners—first OpenAI and now Google—to deliver these AI features is a worrisome sign, suggesting that Apple, a champion of vertical integration, is still struggling to build its own LLM.
It’s a problem that has dogged the company since the beginning of the generative AI era: For months last year several Apple Intelligence features were delayed, and the long-awaited debut of an updated Siri has been pushed back numerous times. These delays have taken a toll on Apple’s reputation as a tech leader and angered customers, some of whom filed a class action lawsuit against the company after the AI features promoted in ads for the iPhone 16 weren’t initially available on the device.
When Apple CEO Tim Cook promised an updated version of Siri would be released in 2026, many assumed it would be powered by Apple’s own AI models. But apparently those models are not yet ready for prime time and the new Siri will be powered by Google instead.
Daniel Newman, an analyst at the Futurum Group, said that 2026 is a “make-or-break year” for Apple. “We have long said the company has the user base and distribution that allows it to be more patient in chasing new trends like AI, but this is a critical year for Apple,” Newman said.
Cook has shaken up the ranks, installing a new head of AI who previously worked at Google on Gemini. And, if the delays turn out to be related to Apple’s specific requirements around things like privacy, it may ultimately prove to have been worth the wait. Ideally, Apple would want an AI model that matches the capabilities of those from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google but which is compact enough to run entirely on an iPhone, so that user data does not have to be transmitted to the cloud. It’s possible, said Mudassir, that Apple is grappling with technical limitations involving the amount of power these models consume and how much heat they generate. Partnering with Google buys Apple time to make breakthroughs in compression and architecture while also getting Wall Street “off its back,” he said.
Apple defenders note that the company is rarely a first mover in new technology—it was not the first to create an MP3 player, a smartphone, wireless earphones, or a smart watch, yet it came from behind to dominate many of those product categories with a combination of design innovation and savvy marketing. And Apple has a history of learning from partners for key technology, such as chips, before ultimately bringing these efforts in-house.
Or, in the case of internet search, Apple simply partnered with Google for the long-term, using the Google engine to handle search queries in its Safari browser. The fact that Apple never developed its own search engine has not hurt its growth. Could the same principle hold true for AI?
But the Apple-Google tie up is almost certainly bad news for OpenAI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images
While the Google partnership is not exclusive, meaning that Apple may continue to rely on OpenAI’s models for some of its Apple Intelligence features and OpenAI still has a chance to prove its models’ worth to Cupertino, Apple’s decision to go with Google is definitely a blow. At the very least, it solidifies the narrative that Google has not only caught up with OpenAI, but has now edged past it in having the best AI models in the market.
Deprived of built-in distribution through Apple’s customer base, OpenAI may find it harder to grow its own user base. The company currently boasts more than 800 million weekly users, but recent reports suggest that the rate of usage may be slowing. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has noted that many people currently see ChatGPT as synonymous with AI. But that perception could fray if Apple users find delight in using Gemini through Siri and come to see Gemini as the better model. . Altman told reporters last month that he sees Apple as his company’s primary long-term rival. OpenAI is in the process of developing a new kind of AI device, with help from Apple’s former chief designer Jony Ive, that Altman hopes will rival the phone as the primary way consumers interface with AI assistants. That device may debut this year. As long as Apple was dependent on ChatGPT to power Siri, OpenAI had a good view into the capabilities its new device would be competing against. OpenAI is unlikely to have as much insight into Apple’s AI capabilities going forward, which may make it harder for the upstart to position its new device as an iPhone killer.
OpenAI has to hope its new device is a hit that may enable it to cement users into a closed ecosystem, not dissimilar to the one Apple has built around its hardware device and iOS software. This “walled garden” approach is one way to keep users from switching to rival products when they offer broadly similar capabilities. OpenAI will also have to hope its AI researchers achieve breakthroughs that give it a more decisive and long-lasting edge over Google. That might convince Apple to rely more heavily on OpenAI again in the future. Or, it could obviate the need for OpenAI to have distribution on Apple’s devices at all.
A while back, we stopped paying for Spotify. It wasn’t out of protest or principle—it was just one of those decisions you make when you realize how many monthly charges have crept into your life. We already have Apple Music as a part of the Apple One bundle, so it made sense to stop paying for one more thing.
In practice, though, it was kind of annoying. The problem isn’t the catalog or interface. In fact, there are a lot of things I prefer about Spotify over Apple Music. The real problem, however, was the decade of carefully built playlists. Rebuilding them manually in Apple Music would take hours. Having to add every song, one at a time, meant enough friction that, for a while, we just… didn’t do it.
Sure, there are services you can pay for to move your Spotify playlists to Apple Music, but I’m not sure how I feel about random third-party services that require you to sign into your Spotify and Apple accounts. Actually, I know exactly how I feel about them, and it’s just not something I’m going to do.
Then, almost accidentally, I found what might be the most genuinely useful thing I’ve done with ChatGPT on an iPhone yet.
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Recently, the ChatGPT iOS app added app integrations, including the ability to interact directly with Apple Music. That alone sounded mildly interesting. I played around with it long enough to connect my Apple Music account and ask ChatGPT to make me a Christmas Playlist. What I really wanted, though, was the playlist I’ve been listening to for years–the one I made in Spotify.
Then I realized that ChatGPT could probably just recreate that playlist, but I didn’t want to have to type up the whole list. Instead, I opened Spotify, pulled up my Christmas playlist, and took a few screenshots. Then I opened ChatGPT and said, essentially: “Create this playlist in Apple Music.”
That was it. ChatGPT read the screenshot, identified every song, matched them in Apple Music, and built the playlist automatically. There was no manual searching or copy-pasting track names. And, most importantly, there were no sketchy third-party migration tools involved.
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The food coma may be strong right now, but it’s wise to check out the internet for the best Thanksgiving Black Friday deals you can get this year. With Black Friday no longer being a one-day affair, that means you can find excellent discounts online even on Thanksgiving when all brick-and-mortar locations are closed. It’s also wise to shop early for anything you think might sell out — that category typically includes a lot of tech, like AirPods, game consoles, new video games and more. Check out our curated list of the best Thanksgiving deals you can get right now below.
Best Thanksgiving Black Friday deals
Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $220 ($29 off): Apple’s latest flagship wireless earbuds are the ones to get if you have an iPhone and any other Apple gear. They have improved sound quality, impressive ANC improvements, extra features like Live Translation and even better battery life. Most other AirPods are also on sale, including the AirPods 4 and AirPods Max.
iPad A16 for $274 (21 percent off): The entry level iPad doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, but that didn’t bother us when we reviewed the new slate. We found the speed to be plenty for what most people need an iPad for: casual gaming, streaming, browsing, answering some emails. We wish the display was laminated and had some anti-glare coating. But this is the lowest-priced way to get your hands on a current-model iPad. Also at Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Disney+ Hulu bundle — $60 for one year: The Disney+ and Hulu (with ads) bundle is on sale for $5 per month for one year (for a total of $60) through December 1. New and eligible returning subscribers can take advantage of this deal, and considering the bundle typically costs $13 per month, this deal represents more than a 50 percent discount on the standard monthly price.
Apple TV+ — 6 months for $36: Apple TV+ is offering six months of access for only $36 for Black Friday, which comes out to a discounted price of $6 per month for the six-month period. The deal is live now for new and eligible returning subscribers and runs through December 1, giving you a chance to stream shows like Silo, The Morning Show and For All Mankind for less. The biggest caveat to the deal is that you must subscribe directly through Apple and not through a third-party service.
Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle for $499: Black Friday Nintendo sales were announced and, unsurprisingly, there aren’t many true deals out there this year. There are no straight discounts on the Switch 2 console, so your best bet is to pick up a bundle that saves you some cash on a Switch 2 game. One of the best is the Mario Kart Wold bundle, but Pokémon fans should consider the Pokémon Legends: Z-A bundle, too. Also available at Walmart.
Amazon Smart Plug for $13 (48 percent off): Those who use Alexa often will get the most out of this smart plug. We like that it’s super simple to set up and can turn almost anything with an on-off switch “smart,” allowing you to control it via your phone or with Alexa voice commands.
Philips fabric shaver for $13 (32 percent off): Consider this the Black Friday tech deal you didn’t know you needed. If you have shirts, sweaters, pants, even blankets that have pilled over time, this handy little fabric shaver can get them looking more like new again. I bought this on a whim after wishing I could refresh some of my most-loved wardrobe staples without spending hours pulling pills off myself. Philips’ fabric shaver has delivered and then some, and my clothes look much fresher than before.
Meta Quest 3S VR headset for $250 ($50 off): We consider this to be the best VR headset for newbies or those on a budget. It’s comfortable to wear for long sessions, has solid performance, comes with excellent controllers and you’ll have access to a large app library with it.
Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones for $248 ($158 off): While the new XM6 headphones have replaced these as Sony’s flagship cans, that doesn’t mean the XM5 aren’t worth buying. They were our top pick for the best wireless headphones for years before the XM6 came around, and they still have excellent ANC, great sound quality, long battery life, a comfortable fit and handy extra features like multipoint connectivity.
Anker Laptop Power Bank (25K, 100W) for $88 (35 percent off): A top pick in our guide to the best power banks, this Anker brick is kind of a one-and-done device. It has enough capacity to charge all sorts of devices from smartphones to laptops to handheld gaming consoles, and it has two built-in USB-C cables so you don’t even have to remember to bring your own to use it. Also available at Anker.
The company’s September quarter revenue hit $102.5 billion, an 8 percent increase year over year, driven by record iPhone and Services sales. iPhone revenue grew 4 percent to $209.6 billion for the year, while Services jumped 14 percent to $109.2 billion. The number that really matters—gross margin—reached 47 percent, which is close to a record high.
The one thing that isn’t actually making Apple any money—at least, not right now—is its artificial intelligence push. But if you listened to Apple’s earnings call, you’d think the company’s future depends on its version of AI, or what it calls Apple Intelligence. In many ways it does, but there’s a difference between the hype and the real story here.
Tim Cook couldn’t stop talking about how the iPhone 17 Pro and its “A19 Pro” chip were built for Apple Intelligence, or how the new Macs are “supercharging AI workflows,” with fancy technology like “neural accelerators.” Even the Apple Watch now uses machine learning to detect and send hypertension alerts. According to Cook, AI will make every Apple product “more personal, capable, and effortless.”
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That might be true, but Siri still can’t do most of the things the company promised a year and a half ago. Apple’s competitors are moving much faster and more aggressively–spending billions on AI infrastructure and models. The story for Apple isn’t the technology the company says it’s building. The story is the business it’s already built.
That’s never been more clear than yesterday when, for the first time, Apple Services revenue passed $100 billion for the full year. The company wants to shift the narrative from Services to AI, but it’s still the Services business that quietly prints money.
About three-quarters of Apple’s $416 billion in total revenue came from hardware—the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and everything else. The rest came from Services: things like iCloud storage, Apple Music, the App Store, AppleCare, and Apple TV.
Well, let’s be honest—as much as Apple wants to talk about Apple TV winning Emmy awards, its Services business is mostly App Store commissions and the $20-ish billion that Google pays to be the default search engine in Safari. It turns out that selling Services is a very good business to be in, even if it’s not nearly as interesting or exciting as talking about AI.
The reason should be obvious: Hardware sales come in spikes. People buy iPhones or new laptops every few years when they upgrade. But they pay for app subscriptions and AppleCare every month. It’s predictable. And they’re growing twice as fast as hardware—with margins that are twice as high.
While Services are roughly a quarter of Apple’s revenue, they contribute a far larger share of its profit. That’s what makes this milestone—$100 billion in Services revenue—so important. It’s not just that Apple found a new way to make money off iPhone customers, it’s that it found a way to make money over and over again without needing to sell you something new.
Listening to its earnings call, Apple wants to sound like an AI-first company, but it still behaves like a business dependent on 30 percent commissions. Contrast that with Google, which recently reported its first $100 billion quarter, and announced that it is pouring its search-ad profits into AI infrastructure. Google will spend more than $90 billion on GPUs, data centers, and model training.
Apple, on the other hand, wants to talk about how its products are being built with AI in mind, but that looks a lot different from its competitors. It’s spending a lot of energy talking about AI, but far less money actually building it. Apple Intelligence may be the headline, but Services are still the business.
Don’t get me wrong, that $100 billion it made from Services is very good for business. It’s the thing that has fueled Apple’s growth so far, and will continue to be its most important business for the foreseeable future. The only problem is whether its business will be able to catch up with the hype.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Just about a month after being accused of using pirated books to train its AI, Apple is facing another similar proposed class action lawsuit. As first reported by Bloomberg Law, two neuroscience professors from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY, claimed that Apple used their “registered works without authorization.” The neuroscientists, Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macknik, said Apple trained its AI models using “shadow libraries” and “web-crawling software” that provide access to pirated, copyrighted books, including two of their own.
In the previous class action lawsuit, a separate pair of authors also alleged that Apple committed copyright infringement when using published works to train Apple Intelligence models without consent. Apple isn’t the only tech giant facing copyright lawsuits related to its AI, as OpenAI is in a similar situation after being sued by The New York Times for similar accusations. While these AI models are relatively new, there’s already a case that may have set some precedent. Earlier this year, Anthropic settled a class action lawsuit by agreeing to pay $1.5 billion to 500,000 authors involved in the case, which revolved around copyright claims.
With iOS 26, Apple has expanded its native call recording feature with transcripts, Live Translation, summaries and tighter integration with Notes. It’s a more polished and useful tool than before, especially if you rely on your iPhone for interviews, meetings or important conversations.
Call recording itself first arrived with iOS 18.1 in October 2024. The feature has always been region- and language-dependent, and that hasn’t changed. If it’s available where you live, you can capture calls directly from the Phone app without third-party apps or hardware. If it’s not, there are still alternative methods worth knowing about. Here’s how it works, plus what to do if the option isn’t available in your country.
How to check if call recording is available
First, confirm that the feature is supported in your region. Apple maintains a feature availability page that lists countries where call recording isn’t offered, including the European Union, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. If your country is on that list, you won’t see the option in the Phone app.
Before recording your phone call, you’ll need the consent of the person on the other end of the line. When you start recording, both parties hear an audio notice stating that the call is being recorded.
How to record a call on iPhone
Recording a call is straightforward:
During the call, tap the More button.
The call continues as normal, but the iPhone automatically saves the audio once you hang up or tap Stop. You’ll find all recordings in iOS’ native Notes app, inside a folder called Call Recordings.
How to play back, manage and delete recordings
To listen back, open Notes, go to the Call Recordings folder, and tap the file you want. Tap Play to hear it.
From here, you can:
Search: Tap the More button and select Find in Transcript.
Copy: Tap the More button and select Add Transcript to Note or Copy Transcript.
Save: Tap the More button and select Save Audio Files, then select where you want to save recording (another folder or app).
Share: Tap the More button and select Share Audio, then select how you want to share the recording
Delete: Tap the More button and select Delete. This deletes the recording and any related transcript.
How to transcribe your calls
If your region and language are supported, iOS 26 also transcribes calls. Open a recording in Notes, then tap Show Transcript and Summary. Processing might take a few moments, but once it’s ready, you’ll see the conversation broken down by speaker. From there, you can search the text, copy it into another note or tap a line to jump to that part of the audio. Apple warns transcripts may not be flawless, so double check to make sure important details are correct.
Apple Intelligence summaries
With Apple Intelligence switched on, you’ll also get a generated summary of the call. This is handy if you only need the highlights — for example, the action items from a meeting or the main points of an interview. Summaries appear alongside the transcript in Notes.
How to turn off call recording
By default, call recording is enabled on supported devices. If you don’t want the option at all, navigate to Settings, select Apps, then Phone, tap Call Recording and toggle it off.
Alternatives if call recording isn’t available
If you’re in a region where the built-in feature doesn’t appear, or you’re running a previous version of iOS, there are still other ways to record calls.
In the US, federal law dictates one-party consent. This means you can record a phone call as long as you are actively participating in the conversation. However, it is important that you check state laws (in the US) or relevant laws in your country before recording a phone call. Note that these options don’t integrate with Apple Notes or Apple Intelligence, but they give you a backup if the official method isn’t supported where you live.
Rev Call Recorder (US only) is free to use on your iPhone. There are no in-app ads or time constraints, allowing you to record high-quality audio via the app.
Google Voice (US only) lets you record incoming calls via the app by pressing “4” on the keypad. The audio file appears in your Google Voice inbox afterward. The function is restricted to incoming calls, and features will depend on the account you have.
External recorders: You can connect a small recorder to your iPhone through USB-C or Lightning, or place a digital recorder next to your phone on speaker mode. This keeps everything offline, but audio quality can vary.
Speakerphone: If you have access to multiple devices, you can place your call on speakerphone and simultaneously use a separate device with the Voice Memos app open to record your call. While the sound quality is unlikely to be on par with other alternatives, it is a feasible option.
Now that we know October Prime Day is on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about what you may want to snag at a discount during the sale. If you pay the $139 annual fee for Prime, sale events like these are a great time to stock up on essentials and cross things off your wishlist while you can save some money.
Most discounts will be exclusively available to Prime subscribers, but there are always a few that anyone shopping on Amazon can grab. Similarly, there are always early deals in the days and weeks leading up to Prime Day, and this year is no different. Here, we’ve collected the best October Prime Day deals you can shop for right now and we’ll keep updating this post as we get close to Prime Day proper.
Best Prime Day deals: Engadget’s top picks
Apple
Apple MagSafe charger (25W, 2m) for $35 (30 percent off): The latest version of Apple’s MagSafe puck is Qi2.2-certified and supports up to 25W of wireless power when paired with a 30W adapter. The two-meter cable length on this particular model gives you more flexibility on where you can use it: in bed, on the couch, at your desk and elsewhere.
Apple iPad (A16) for $299 ($50 off): The new base-model iPad now comes with twice the storage of the previous model and the A16 chip. That makes the most affordable iPad faster and more capable, but still isn’t enough to support Apple Intelligence.
Apple Mac mini (M4) for $499 $100 off): If you prefer desktops, the upgraded M4 Mac mini is one that won’t take up too much space, but will provide a ton of power at the same time. Not only does it come with an M4 chipset, but it also includes 16GB of RAM in the base model, plus front-facing USB-C and headphone ports for easier access.
Apple iPad Air (11-inch, M3) for $449 ($150 off): The only major difference between the latest iPad Air and the previous generation is the addition of the faster M3 chip. We awarded the new slab an 89 in our review, appreciating the fact that the M3 chip was about 16 percent faster in benchmark tests than the M2. This is the iPad to get if you want a reasonable amount of productivity out of an iPad that’s more affordable than the Pro models.
Jisulife Life7 handheld fan for $25 (14 percent off, Prime exclusive): This handy little fan is a must-have if you life in a warm climate or have a tropical vacation planned anytime soon. It can be used as a table or handheld fan and even be worn around the neck so you don’t have to hold it at all. Its 5,000 mAh battery allows it to last hours on a single charge, and the small display in the middle of the fan’s blades show its remaining battery level.
Leebein 2025 electric spin scrubber for $40 (43 percent off, Prime exclusive): This is an updated version of my beloved Leebein electric scrubber, which has made cleaning my shower easier than ever before. It comes with seven brush heads so you can use it to clean all kinds of surfaces, and its adjustable arm length makes it easier to clean hard-to-reach spots. It’s IPX7 waterproof and recharges via USB-C.
Shark AI robot vacuum with self-empty base for $230 (58 percent off, Prime exclusive): A version of one of our favorite robot vacuums, this Shark machine has strong suction power and supports home mapping. The Shark mobile app lets you set cleaning schedules, and the self-empty base that it comes with will hold 30 days worth of dust and debris.
Levoit LVAC-300 cordless vacuum for $250 ($100 off, Prime exclusive): One of our favorite cordless vacuums, this Levoit machine has great handling, strong suction power for its price and a premium-feeling design. Its bin isn’t too small, it has HEPA filtration and its battery life should be more than enough for you to clean your whole home many times over before it needs a recharge.
JBL Go 4 portable speaker for $40 (20 percent off): The Go 4 is a handy little Bluetooth speaker that you can take anywhere you go thanks to its small, IP67-rated design and built-in carrying loop. It’ll get seven hours of playtime on a single charge, and you can pair two together for stereo sound.
Shark Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo for $300 (57 percent off, Prime exclusive): If you’re looking for an autonomous dirt-sucker that can also mop, this is a good option. It has a mopping pad and water reservoir built in, and it supports home mapping as well. Its self-emptying base can hold up to 60 days worth of debris, too.
Nintendo Switch 2 for $449: While not technically a discount, it’s worth mentioning that the Switch 2 and the Mario Kart Switch 2 bundle are both available at Amazon now, no invitation required. Amazon only listed the new console for the first time in July after being left out of the initial pre-order/availability window in April. Once it became available, Amazon customers looking to buy the Switch 2 had to sign up to receive an invitation to do so. Now, that extra step has been removed and anyone can purchase the Switch 2 on Amazon.
Now that we know October Prime Day is on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about what you may want to snag at a discount during the sale. If you pay the $139 annual fee for Prime, sale events like these are a great time to stock up on essentials and cross things off your wishlist while you can save some money.
Most discounts will be exclusively available to Prime subscribers, but there are always a few that anyone shopping on Amazon can grab. Similarly, there are always early deals in the days and weeks leading up to Prime Big Deal Days, and this year is no different. Here, we’ve collected the best Prime Day deals you can shop for right now and we’ll keep updating this post as we get close to Prime Day proper.
Best Prime Day deals: Engadget’s top picks
Apple
Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $239 ($10 off): The latest version of Apple’s most advanced wireless earbuds, the AirPods Pro 3 support Live Translation, heart rate monitoring and improved sound quality and ANC. If you have an iPhone, you’ll be hard pressed to find a pair of wireless buds that provide better performance and handy extra features for the money.
Apple MagSafe charger (25W, 2m) for $35 (30 percent off): The latest version of Apple’s MagSafe puck is Qi2.2-certified and supports up to 25W of wireless power when paired with a 30W adapter. The two-meter cable length on this particular model gives you more flexibility on where you can use it: in bed, on the couch, at your desk and elsewhere.
Apple iPad (A16) for $299 ($50 off): The new base-model iPad now comes with twice the storage of the previous model and the A16 chip. That makes the most affordable iPad faster and more capable, but still isn’t enough to support Apple Intelligence.
Apple Mac mini (M4) for $499 $100 off): If you prefer desktops, the upgraded M4 Mac mini is one that won’t take up too much space, but will provide a ton of power at the same time. Not only does it come with an M4 chipset, but it also includes 16GB of RAM in the base model, plus front-facing USB-C and headphone ports for easier access.
Apple iPad Air (11-inch, M3) for $449 ($150 off): The only major difference between the latest iPad Air and the previous generation is the addition of the faster M3 chip. We awarded the new slab an 89 in our review, appreciating the fact that the M3 chip was about 16 percent faster in benchmark tests than the M2. This is the iPad to get if you want a reasonable amount of productivity out of an iPad that’s more affordable than the Pro models.
Jisulife Life7 handheld fan for $25 (14 percent off, Prime exclusive): This handy little fan is a must-have if you life in a warm climate or have a tropical vacation planned anytime soon. It can be used as a table or handheld fan and even be worn around the neck so you don’t have to hold it at all. Its 5,000 mAh battery allows it to last hours on a single charge, and the small display in the middle of the fan’s blades show its remaining battery level.
Leebein 2025 electric spin scrubber for $40 (43 percent off, Prime exclusive): This is an updated version of my beloved Leebein electric scrubber, which has made cleaning my shower easier than ever before. It comes with seven brush heads so you can use it to clean all kinds of surfaces, and its adjustable arm length makes it easier to clean hard-to-reach spots. It’s IPX7 waterproof and recharges via USB-C.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $40 (33 percent off): Amazon’s most powerful streaming dongle supports 4K HDR content, Dolby Vision and Atmos and Wi-Fi 6E. It also has double the storage of cheaper Fire TV sticks.
JBL Go 4 portable speaker for $40 (20 percent off): The Go 4 is a handy little Bluetooth speaker that you can take anywhere you go thanks to its small, IP67-rated design and built-in carrying loop. It’ll get seven hours of playtime on a single charge, and you can pair two together for stereo sound.
Levoit Core 200S smart air purifier for $75 ($15 off with clippable coupon): This compact air purifier cleans the air in rooms up to 140 square feet and uses a 3-in-1 filter that removes microscopic dust, pollen and airborne particles. It has a mobile app that you can use to set runtime schedules, and it works with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.
Amazon Fire TV Cube for $100 (29 percent off): Amazon’s most powerful streaming device, the Fire TV Cube supports 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision content, Dolby Atmos sound, Wi-Fi 6E and it has a built-in Ethernet port. It has the most internal storage of any Fire TV streaming device, plus it comes with an enhanced Alexa Voice Remote.
Shark AI robot vacuum with self-empty base for $300 (54 percent off): A version of one of our favorite robot vacuums, this Shark machine has strong suction power and supports home mapping. The Shark mobile app lets you set cleaning schedules, and the self-empty base that it comes with will hold 60 days worth of dust and debris.
Nintendo Switch 2 for $449: While not technically a discount, it’s worth mentioning that the Switch 2 and the Mario Kart Switch 2 bundle are both available at Amazon now, no invitation required. Amazon only listed the new console for the first time in July after being left out of the initial pre-order/availability window in April. Once it became available, Amazon customers looking to buy the Switch 2 had to sign up to receive an invitation to do so. Now, that extra step has been removed and anyone can purchase the Switch 2 on Amazon.
Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event is kicking off today at 1 p.m. ET, and yes, it will be livestreamed: You can watch it on Apple’s official YouTube channel, the Apple TV app, and Apple’s Events website—but, and I say this with love, unless you’re working remotely, you might want to be careful about watching videos at work. If you get caught, that’s on you. On the other hand, your boss lovesFortune. We promise. (If they’re confused or try to protest, simply show them this article.)
Apple throwing a launch party for its new iPhones has become as synonymous with September as pumpkin spice everything, but this event is not quite like the others. Despite solid financial results, including record revenue in Q3, up 10% year-over-year, Apple’s had a mixed year in the markets as investor concerns about Apple’s AI capabilities have applied pressure on its stock. Apple, for some context, has chosen to pursue baking AI into its full software ecosystem that extends across devices rather than create a standalone app like ChatGPT or Claude or Perplexity, which you can access in dedicated apps and websites including, notably, on non-Apple devices. On top of that, Apple admitted earlier this year at its Worldwide Developers Conference that its promised Siri overhaul for this year wouldn’t arrive until 2026. That delay cost Apple roughly $75 billion in market value in a single day and prompted some analysts to question CEO Tim Cook’s leadership.
All of this to say: Wall Street is absolutely zeroed in on the AI gold rush right now and has grown impatient with Apple’s timeline on this front, so you can bet analysts will be watching this event closely and counting the number of times Apple says “AI” or “Intelligence.”
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that Apple will unveil the iPhone 17 Air, representing the company’s most dramatic iPhone redesign in years. The device is expected to measure approximately 5.5mm thick compared to the iPhone 16’s 7.8mm profile. Achieving this ultra-thin form factor will likely require significant engineering trade-offs, including a single 48-megapixel rear camera system and reduced battery capacity, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Multiple reports suggest the device will gain ProMotion 120Hz display technology previously exclusive to Pro models, marking the first time this feature would appear in Apple’s mid-tier lineup. Pricing is rumored to start at $949, positioning the Air between the base iPhone 17 and Pro models. Wall Street analysts expect the Air could drive upgrade cycles among users with iPhone 13 or older devices, who represent roughly 40% of Apple’s installed base.
iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro: First price increases in seven years expected
Industry sources suggest Apple plans to raise iPhone prices for the first time since 2018 across most of its lineup. The base iPhone 17 is expected to maintain its $799 starting price, but the iPhone 17 Pro could increase to $1,199—a $200 jump from the current model, according to Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodring. The price adjustment would reportedly come with doubled base storage at 256GB and improved camera systems featuring new 48-megapixel telephoto lenses with up to 8x optical zoom.
Reports from supply-chain sources indicate the Pro models may introduce aluminum backs instead of glass, reducing weight while maintaining durability. New color options are rumored to include orange and blue variants alongside traditional options. Apple’s pricing power stems from its 90% customer retention rate, providing flexibility that competitors lack. Consumer acceptance of higher prices amid economic uncertainty remains a key variable for Apple’s fiscal 2025 performance.
Apple Watch Series 11: Enhanced health-monitoring rumored
According to Bloomberg, the Apple Watch Series 11 is expected to add blood-pressure trend tracking, which would monitor patterns over time rather than providing precise medical readings. The feature could detect trends that might indicate hypertension and prompt users to consult healthcare professionals. An updated S11 chip is anticipated to enable better performance and potentially improved battery life.
WatchOS 26 is rumored to introduce new fitness features, including something called “Workout Buddy” designed to enhance exercise motivation. The Series 11 may also gain 5G RedCap connectivity from MediaTek, providing faster data speeds than current LTE-only models. These updates would represent meaningful improvements to a device that already commands roughly 50% of the global smartwatch market.
Apple Watch Ultra 3: Satellite connectivity expected
Industry reports suggest the Apple Watch Ultra 3 could become Apple’s first standalone satellite-enabled wearable, offering emergency SOS functionality and potentially text messaging in areas without cellular coverage. The feature would extend capabilities introduced on iPhone 14 and later models to Apple’s wearable lineup.
Additional rumored improvements include enhanced 5G connectivity through RedCap technology and faster charging that could reach 80% capacity in 30 minutes. The Ultra 3 is expected to feature the largest Apple Watch display to date with improved brightness and viewing angles. These upgrades would address previous limitations while maintaining the Ultra’s focus on outdoor and adventure applications.
AirPods Pro 3: Health sensors may enter earbuds
Apple’s third-generation AirPods Pro are rumored to introduce heart-rate monitoring through LED optical sensors that track blood flow in the ear canal. The technology, previously tested in Powerbeats Pro 2, could provide more accurate readings than wrist-based monitoring due to superior blood flow detection in ears, according to industry sources.
Temperature-monitoring capabilities may also debut, potentially offering more precise readings than Apple Watch sensors since ear canals maintain more consistent temperatures. The AirPods Pro 3 are expected to feature improved Active Noise Cancellation, enhanced audio quality through a faster H3 chip, and studio-quality microphone recording. Some features may arrive through software updates after launch, following Apple’s typical rollout strategy.
AirTag 2: Enhanced range and privacy features expected
The second-generation AirTag is rumored to address key limitations through an upgraded Ultra Wideband chip that could triple Precision Finding range from roughly 30 meters to potentially 90 meters. Privacy improvements are expected to make the speaker more difficult to remove, addressing stalking concerns that have affected the first-generation product.
The AirTag 2 is anticipated to maintain compatibility with existing accessories while adding improved battery management and low-power alerts. The device would represent Apple’s response to criticism about the original AirTag’s potential for misuse, though law enforcement data indicates such cases affect a small percentage of total units sold.
The wider implications, and what’s at stake for Apple
These expected product announcements occur as Apple manages multiple business pressures. The company faces an estimated $1.1 billion impact from tariffs in fiscal Q4 2025, adding cost pressures as it navigates component price increases. Goldman Sachs expects iPhone sales to grow 5% in fiscal 2025 and accelerate to 7% in 2026, assuming successful execution of today’s rumored product launches.
Analyst sentiment remains mixed. While Goldman maintains its buy rating with a $266 target, MoffettNathanson argues that 30 times next year’s earnings is expensive for a company with “solid but not exceptional” growth prospects. The consensus among 31 Wall Street analysts shows a moderate buy rating with an average price target of $239—roughly flat from current levels.
Apple’s strategy appears centered on hardware innovation bridging the gap until AI capabilities mature in 2026. But this approach carries inherent risks: if these products fail to drive expected upgrade cycles, the company could face continued underperformance relative to its AI-obsessed peers in Silicon Valley, many of whom are advancing their strategies and technologies more aggressively than Apple. Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft and others are pouring billions into AI facilities, and talent—and soon, hardware. Success for Apple would depend on whether consumers will accept higher prices for incremental improvements while Apple develops its next generation of software capabilities.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
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Two authors have filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of infringing on their copyright by using their books to train its artificial intelligence model without their consent. The plaintiffs, Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson, claimed that Apple used a dataset of pirated copyrighted books that include their works for AI training. They said in their complaint that Applebot, the company’s scraper, can “reach ‘shadow libraries’” made up of unlicensed copyrighted books, including (on information) their own. The lawsuit is currently seeking class action status, due to the sheer number of books and authors found in shadow libraries.
The main plaintiffs for the lawsuit are Grady Hendrix and Jennifer Roberson, both of whom have multiple books under their names. They said that Apple, one of the biggest companies in the world, did not attempt to pay them for “their contributions to [the] potentially lucrative venture.” Apple has “copied the copyrighted works” of the plaintiffs “to train AI models whose outputs compete with and dilute the market for those very works — works without which Apple Intelligence would have far less commercial value,” they wrote in their filing. “This conduct has deprived Plaintiffs and the Class of control over their work, undermined the economic value of their labor, and positioned Apple to achieve massive commercial success through unlawful means.”
This is but one of the many lawsuits filed against companies developing generative AI technologies. OpenAI is facing a few, including lawsuits from The New York Times and the oldest nonprofit newsroom in the US. Notably, Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude chatbot, recently agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action piracy complaint also brought by authors. Similar to this case, the writers also accused the company of taking pirated books from online libraries to train its AI technology. The 500,000 authors involved in the case will reportedly get $3,000 per work.
Apple continues to seek a foothold in the artificial intelligence race, and its next effort could bring the company into web search. Mark Gurman at reports that Apple is building a search platform that it may incorporate into its AI-driven overhaul of Siri. Sources said the tool, internally called World Knowledge Answers, could also be added to the Safari web browser and the Spotlight smartphone search interface.
Apple’s efforts in AI have been under the microscope since the of Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024. Since then, the company appears to still be foundering, with its revitalized and AI-empowered Siri now not due to arrive . This proposed search tool would be part of that planned Siri re-launch next spring.
Some core aspects of Siri are still up in the air. The company has reportedly trialed to power a version of the AI assistant, although it hasn’t committed to using that approach. Considering an outside partnership for this critical feature is one path Apple could take to bolstering its AI offerings. CEO Tim Cook has also said the company is to pursue its current roadmap. There were even rumors that the company snapping up Perplexity.
Apple has historically avoided getting involved in search, but this development could reflect how more of its potential customers are turning to AI chatbots to access information online. And particularly if the company brings an AI option to Safari, Apple might be able to compete more directly to other tech majors that offer their own-branded chatbots, such as Google with Gemini or Microsoft with Copilot. It could also draw closer to parity with AI companies that are entering the browser game, such as and .
Apple‘s much-awaited Sept. 9 event is finally in the rearview mirror, and it would be safe to say that there was nothing much to be surprised about. The technology giant revealed a new generation of iPhones that will support generative artificial intelligence (AI).
The new iPhone 16 lineup will get its first batch of generative AI features next month through a software update. It appears that the company will be gradually introducing AI tools from its Apple Intelligence suite of generative AI features as it looks to make a dent in an emerging smartphone niche that’s expected to take off big-time in the long run.
Market research firm IDC is forecasting a 364% year-over-year increase in shipments of generative AI smartphones this year to 234 million units. More importantly, the generative AI smartphone market is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 78% through 2028, clocking annual shipments of 912 million units as per IDC.
So, Apple is moving into the generative AI smartphone market at an opportune time when the demand for these devices is booming. That explains why Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expects Apple’s latest iPhones to kick off a solid upgrade cycle, with shipments expected to increase in the double digits in 2024 compared to last year’s near-4% increase in shipments. The company is expected to ship 240 million iPhones in fiscal 2025 thanks to the growing adoption of AI smartphones.
Now, it remains to be seen if the AI-enabled iPhones are good enough to give Apple’s top and bottom lines a nice boost. However, there’s one company that could be a bigger beneficiary of Apple’s iPhone 16 launch than the Cupertino-based tech giant itself — Arm Holdings(NASDAQ: ARM). Let’s look at the reasons why.
iPhone 16 lineup could boost Arm Holdings’ revenue and margins
Apple points out that its latest smartphones are “built for Apple Intelligence.” To make that happen, the company developed a new smartphone chip — the A18. The iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16 Plus will be powered by the A18 chip, while the Pro and Pro Max versions will have the A18 Pro chip inside them.
Apple has reportedly designed this chip using Arm Holdings’ Armv9 architecture, according to the Financial Times. Announced in 2021, the Armv9 architecture places emphasis on AI, security, and performance upgrades over the previous generation Armv8 architecture that was launched in 2011. So, it is not surprising to see Apple has reportedly decided to opt for this architecture to develop its latest iPhone processors so that they can support AI functions.
For comparison, Apple was using the Armv8 architecture until last year when it launched the iPhone 15 models. While the transition to Armv9 could be good news for iPhone users as they will be able to finally use AI features, apart from witnessing a potential jump in performance, it could be even better news for Arm investors.
That’s because Armv9 “commands a higher royalty per chip than prior architectures,” as pointed out by management in a recent earnings presentation. Arm CEO Rene Haas has said that the royalties from the Armv9 architecture could be double that of its predecessor, the Armv8. A closer look at the management commentary on Arm’s July earnings conference call indeed suggests that Armv9 is driving the needle in a bigger way for the company.
In the words of Haas:
Every chip being designed today requires a CPU, and these are being designed with Arm in mind, with our strong tie into all-the-world software … [T]hat has driven significant royalty revenue growth, more value per chip … [In fact, the] v9 [is] up to 25% … [of] royalty revenue of overall.
That’s up 20% from the previous quarter. More importantly, our smartphone royalty revenue was up 50% year on year. That’s against a single-digit increase in units.
Clearly, the adoption of Armv9 has led to a much stronger increase in Arm’s revenue against the number of units that the company has been shipping. As a result, the company’s total revenue shot up an impressive 39% year over year in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 to $939 million. More importantly, Arm’s remaining performance obligations also increased 29% from the same quarter last year as the company sold more licenses to customers looking to develop AI chips.
And now that Apple’s iPhone shipments are expected to jump following the release of its latest lineup, it won’t be surprising to see Arm’s royalty revenue also go up substantially thanks to Armv9. The important thing to note here is that even if Apple doesn’t witness a meaningful increase in shipments on the back of the iPhone 16 launch, Arm Holdings would still remain a winner because of the potentially higher royalties it is set to receive from Cupertino.
Bigger royalties could translate into terrific earnings growth
Apple isn’t the only smartphone stakeholder to have switched to the Armv9 architecture. Leading smartphone processor company Qualcomm has already been using this architecture, as has Chinese chip giant MediaTek. So, Arm Holdings is well positioned to make the most of the booming demand for generative AI smartphones, and the growing demand for the Armv9 architecture will allow the company to generate fatter margins because of stronger royalties.
This probably explains why analysts are forecasting an acceleration in Arm’s bottom-line growth. The company ended fiscal 2024 with $1.27 per share in earnings, which means that its bottom line could jump 23% in the current fiscal year to $1.57 per share as per consensus estimates. The earnings estimate of $2.07 per share for the next fiscal year indicates that Arm’s earnings could increase at a much healthier pace of 32%, which is why investors looking to benefit from Apple’s latest iPhones in particular and AI smartphones in general can consider buying Arm Holdings as its long-term prospects appear to be solid.
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Apple unveiled its new iPhone 16 at the tech giant’s “It’s Glowtime” event Monday, at which it touted upgraded capabilities and designs for its new phones and other devices. The event, held at Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters, also marked the tech giant’s foray in earnest into generative AI.
Called Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI is designed to help simplify everyday tasks, like taking notes, composing emails, and sorting photos.
“The next generation of iPhone has been designed for Apple Intelligence from the ground up,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said. “It marks the beginning of an exciting new era. iPhone 16 raises the bar for what an iPhone can do.”
The new iPhone 16 is water and dust resistant, and comes in five different colors, Apple said. Among the upgrades from the last generation are a bigger battery and larger display sizes — the iPhone 16’s display measures 6.1 inches, while the iPhone 16 Plus measures 6.7 inches.
The new iPhone models also feature a new and improved camera and control button that makes it easier to capture photos. These and other upgrades are powered by the new A18 chip, Apple said. The chip is capable of running large generative AI models, like Apple Intelligence, which is integrated across multiple apps.
The iPhone 16 starts at $799 while the iPhone Plus costs $899 and up.
The iPhone 16 Pro, the more premium model, features a 6.3 inch display, while the Pro Plus measures 6.9 inches. The phones come in four titanium finishes: black, white, natural and a new desert shade. The devices will be available for pre-order beginning on Friday and will hit store shelves on September 20. The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199, Apple said.
Apple said its iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Plus models comes in four titanium finishes: black, white, natural and a new desert shade.
Apple
Apple Intelligence will be available via a software update, iOS 18, set to arrive by October, the company previously said.
The iPhone 16 Pro models revealed at the Apple event have 48 megapixel fusion cameras that allow users to capture high-resolution images with ease through a redesigned capture button, Apple said.
Apple provided a sample image taken with its new iPhone 16 Pro phone’s camera.
Apple
Apple Intelligence also adds new camera capabilities, including what the company calls Visual Intelligence. For example, a new feature lets users point their camera at a dog, click and hold the control button, and Apple Intelligence will provide information about its breed. Use the same tool to point at a restaurant for information about its opening hours and menu.
It’s similar to what the Shazam app does with music — users open the app, which listens to songs playing in the background, and identifies them.
Consumer Reports tech expert Nicholas De Leon told CBS MoneyWatch that the first consumers to get their hands on the new iPhone 16 models and test Apple Intelligence features will be the real judges of whether these functions add significant value.
“If nothing else, it’s a big deal because this is the first iPhone of the generative AI era,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.
But the new iPhone launch also comes as many consumers appear content to keep their older phones, given the costs of upgrading, and amid ongoing debate over the impact of technologies such as mobile devices and social media on our health.
“We are on our phones 24/7, and people are examining their relationship with these tools,” De Leon said.
New watches
Cook kicked off the event by presenting new base and “Ultra” Apple Watch models, which start at $399 and $799, respectively. The new series 10 watch can be pre-ordered immediately and will be available on September 10. The Ultra can also be pre-ordered for delivery September 20.
The Apple Watch Series 10 features the company’s biggest display and thinnest design to-date.Cook called them “the most beautiful and capable watches we’ve ever created.”
Notably, the new watch has a tool that can detect sleep apnea, a condition that often goes undiagnosed and that can cause fatigue and irritability. It has the ability to measure a metric that detects breathing disturbances, when users wear it during their sleep.
Cook also pulled back the curtain on the company’s latest ear buds — the AirPods 4, plus AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max 2, with some models featuring health tech tools.
Apple presents the new Apple Watch Series 10 at an event on Sept.9, 2024, at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images
AirPods Pro 2 incorporate an over-the-counter, professional grade hearing aid, Apple said.
The event marks what Wedbush Securities technology analyst Dan Ives called Apple’s “biggest upgrade cycle in its history.”
“It’s a historic event that kicks off the consumer AI revolution, now coming to Apple,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “About 20% of the world will ultimately interact with AI through an Apple device, and it all starts today.”
Ives predicts it will take until the end of the year for Apple Intelligence to fully function on phones. He also says the AI will compel Apple customers who haven’t upgraded their iPhones in some time to purchase the latest model.
The iPhone accounted for roughly 60% of Apple’s $39 billion in sales last quarter.
“Three-hundred-millions iPhones haven’t upgraded in four years, so that creates what we believe is going to be the strongest iPhone unit year in Apple’s history,” Ives said. He added that consumers with an aversion to AI can just turn the features off. Still, not all experts see the need for users with older iPhones to upgrade just yet, even with the advent of Apple Intelligence.
“While I agree that Apple Intelligence has long-term potential, I’m not convinced that its first iteration will deliver the game-changing usability that many anticipate,” wrote Jason Perlow, senior contributing writer at ZDNet in a recent article.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple on Monday is set to unveil its iPhone 16 lineup, focusing on how its flagship device’s features have been infused with artificial intelligence, rather than its usual emphasis on hardware upgrades.
The event at the tech giant’s Apple Park headquarters at 10 a.m. PDT (1700 GMT) follows its developer conference in June during which the company unveiled Apple Intelligence, its take on generative AI that can conjure text, images and other content on command.
It had also showed off an improved version of voice assistant Siri, featuring an integration with ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
The refresh comes as iPhones face stiff competition from Huawei in China, where consumers are hankering for more AI features and are willing to pay for them. Huawei itself has scheduled its own product announcement mere hours after Apple’s event.
Apple Intelligence must be approved by Beijing in order to be released in the Chinese market. In July, OpenAI blocked access to ChatGPT in China, a move that could impact the chatbot’s integration into Siri.
“The Chinese market is hungrier for AI features than the U.S. market,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies. “It will be very difficult to bring it to China immediately, so they’ll be going off the merits of the hardware.”
IPhones accounted for more than half of Apple’s $383 billion sales last year, and the new devices are an important update for the Cupertino, California-based company that is betting the AI feature will drive consumers to upgrade amid a slowdown in iPhone sales.
In China, Apple aggressively slashed prices earlier this year, prompted by government restrictions and increased domestic competition.
The iPhone 16 lineup will be the first Apple smartphones designed around these AI features, though those will also be available on iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, the top-end versions of the previous-generation devices. New versions of the Apple Watch and AirPods are also expected.
“The software side, and how Apple frames it, is the biggest question,” said Bajarin. “Investors will look for if it’s compelling enough to have a larger than normal upgrade cycle.”
Rivals including Alphabet’s Google are also showcasing AI features to try to upend Apple’s dominance in the high-end smartphone market.
Google, developer of the Android operating system which competes with Apple’s iOS, traditionally announced its Pixel smartphones in the autumn. This year, it pushed the event to August ahead of Apple’s announcement.
Google focused on AI features including Gemini Live, which allows users to hold live voice conversations with a digital assistant. Many of the AI features Google announced were also rolled out to the Android-based devices made by manufacturers such as Samsung and Motorola.
“The question is who is going to be the first to combine a truly personal AI assistant with knowledge and information that is accurate and personalized,” said Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst for TECHnalysis Research.
Apple has so far shared a timeline for the release of Apple Intelligence only in the United States, where it is slated to launch on compatible devices in the autumn.
In June, one week after its developer conference, Apple said it would delay the release in Europe due to European Union tech rules.
(Reporting by Kenrick Cai in San Francisco, Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis)
It’s WWDC 2024 keynote time! Each year Apple kicks off its Worldwide Developers Conference with a few hours of just straight announcements, like the long-awaited Apple Intelligence and a makeover for smart AI assistant, Siri. We expected much of them to revolve around the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions (and here), and Apple didn’t disappoint. We also bring you news about Vision Pro and lots of feature refreshes.
Spotlight Search gets better at natural language queries in iOS 18
Apple is making it easier for people to discover the content inside their apps using natural language — or “semantic” — queries. Already, Spotlight has been able to search for content in developers’ apps, but it would only return results when search terms matched exactly. With this year’s addition of semantic search capabilities, people will be able to search for content in apps using search terms that are just similar in meaning. Read more
Here are the best WWDC 2024 features you missed
Now that people are using developer betas and exploring the sessions at the event, more features that were not announced onstage are surfacing. Remember that only certain devices will be compatible with iOS 18 when it’s released later in the fall. Read more
iOS 18 cracks down on apps asking for full address book access
Instead, Apple is adding a new two-step permissions pop-up screen that will first ask users to allow or deny access to their contacts, as before, and then, if the user allows access, will allow them to choose which contacts they want to share, if not all. Read more
Apple Watch is finally adding a feature I’ve been requesting for years
Image credit: AppleImage Credits: Apple
Brian Heater writes about consistently requesting this certain feature from Apple: the ability to pause your activity rings. If you’re down due to a cold, on an international flight, or find that you’re vigorously shaking your wrist at 9 p.m. just to finish closing your rings, you can now pause progress via the Watch or through the connected iPhone app. Read more
The apps that Apple Sherlocked at WWDC 2024
Apple has been on a spree of late, announcing a host of new features for its various devices earlier this week. But a lot of those features were already available to some extent on Apple devices through third-party apps. So, just like the past few years, we will examine the ideas that Apple “Sherlocked” in this year’s updates. Read more
Why Apple is taking a small-model approach to generative AI
The company has since revealed some of what makes its approach to generative AI different. First and foremost is scope. Many of the most prominent companies in the space take a “bigger is better” approach to their models. Read more
Apple’s AI, Apple Intelligence, is boring and practical — that’s why it works
Instead of trying to overwhelm users with too many AI features to count, the Cupertino tech giant is carefully rolling out AI where it believes it could be useful. That means the tech won’t be included where it could be much of a threat to the carefully crafted consumer experience of using an Apple device. Read more
Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts
Apple delivered two of the biggest features iMessage and its Messages app that consumers were wanting for a long time: the ability to schedule messages to send at a later date and time and support for RCS, the next-gen messaging standard and replacement for SMS that will make texting with Android folks much less painful. Is it the end of the green bubbles? Read more
More App Store improvements
Apple is giving developers more tools to increase their app revenues and promote their apps with win-back offers and the release of a new commerce API. Read more
iOS 18 compatible devices
Among the highlights of the new operating system version are a set of customization options, such as being able to arrange apps and widgets on the Home Screen and customize buttons. Other features include new text effects, the ability to lock and hide apps, new ways to manage your Mail inbox, the introduction of iMessages over satellite, a significant redesign of the Photos app and more. Now let’s see if your device is compatible. Read more
All the Apple Intelligence news
There was a lot, wasn’t there? Apple’s AI push was at the heart of WWDC 2024, and our AI expert Kyle Wiggers took some time to process all of the announcements before bringing together a guide to all of the news across Siri, Genmoji, ChatGPT integrations, photo editing and beyond. Read more
Apple to work with AI partners beyond OpenAI
In a post-keynote event, Apple SVP Craig Federighi confirmed that the company would work with other third-party models beyond OpenAI, with Google’s Gemini model being highlighted as the first example. He clarified that Apple had “nothing to announce right now, but that’s our general direction.” Read more
Elon Musk lumps OpenAI, Apple together
Tesla, SpaceX and xAI exec Elon Musk took to X to continue his campaign against rival OpenAI, threatening to ban Apple devices from his businesses “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level,” among other responses and reactions to the conversations around WWDC on X. Read more
Apple Intelligence’s (limited) availability
Before you get too excited about putting Apple Intelligence to the test, check if your devices are new enough. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, along with iPads and Macs with M1 or newer chips, will be able to run the new features coming alongside Apple’s AI push. Read more
ChatGPT in Siri
Apple is bringing ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot experience, to Siri and other Apple apps, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other generative AI models. Read more
Apple Intelligence is an image and emoji playground
Image Credits: Apple
One of the Apple Intelligence-powered features coming in iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to create AI images of people they’re messaging with — a feature that works something like an AI-upgraded Bitmoji. The goal, of course, is to make your “everyday conversations more enjoyable.”
Apple Intelligence will have an understanding of who you’re talking with in a messaging conversation, so if you want to personalize that chat with a custom AI image, you can create one on the fly. Read more
Apple TV+
Image Credits: Apple
For those of you who use Apple TV+, there is a new feature called InSight. The feature will allow viewers to learn actor names and song titles as they appear on the screen. Lauren Forristal writes that it’s similar to Amazon’s X-Ray technology, where Fire TV users get an overview of actor bios and behind-the-scenes information while watching TV shows and movies.
What stands out about InSight, however, is its Shazam-like functionality, which highlights the song playing in the TV show or movie and gives users the option to add it to an Apple Music playlist to listen to later. Read more
Siri
Image Credits: Apple
Apple also made some enhancements to its smart assistant, Siri. These include adding some generative AI features that make Siri seem more natural and more personal. There’s also a new glowing light. And, Siri can also handle stumbles in speech and better understand context. Plus, for those who would rather type, you can do that now. Read more
Apple Intelligence is here
Image Credits: Apple
The new feature is called Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?). The company promised the feature will be built with safety at its core, along with highly personalized experiences.
“Most importantly, it has to understand you and be grounded in your personal context, like your routine, your relationships, your communications and more,” CEO Tim Cook noted at WWDC Monday. “And of course, it has to be built with privacy from the ground up together. All of this goes beyond artificial intelligence. It’s personal intelligence, and it’s the next big step for Apple.” Read more
That covers the consumer side of things, but WWDC is a conference for developers, and Apple revealed how developers will soon be able to bring the Apple Intelligence experience into their software. A number of AI features will be added to existing SDKs, allowing for generative AI image generation, or new prompts to Siri, to allow devs to expand the Apple Intelligence footprint. Read more
Apple’s new Passwords app
Image Credits: Apple
While you can already use your iCloud account to store and sync passwords across your devices, it wasn’t easy to figure out. Now, the company introduced a Passwords app. Some of the features include a new column on the left that lets you more easily navigate your password collection. For instance, you can view all your passwords or just Wi-Fi passwords (a new addition), passkeys or codes that aren’t related to a website or service. Read more
Smart Script in iPad
Image Credits: Apple
A new “Smart Script” feature will clean up your handwriting when using an Apple Pencil to write in Notes. Apple says it’s making handwriting your notes even smoother and straighter. The feature improves the appearance of your writing as you write by using on-device machine learning to recreate your handwriting from your notes. You’ll see your own handwriting, just smoother and more legible. Read more
Calculator for iPad
Image Credits: Apple
Who would have thought a calculator would liven up a developer’s conference? Well, Apple’s new Calculator for iPad app got everyone excited.
iOS’ perennial tips calculating app is finally coming to the larger screen. The feature utilizes the additional screen real estate to bring new features that the company couldn’t really jam into the iPhone. The biggest arrival here is the addition of Math Notes. The additional feature does the math for you. Read more
macOS Sequoia
Image Credits: Apple
The latest operating system version is called macOS Sequoia.
One of the biggest features of this new OS is iPhone mirroring. Now, through macOS’ Continuity feature, you can mirror your iPhone’s screen and control it right from your Mac. Notifications on Mac pop you into iPhone mirror mode, and iPhone audio comes through the Mac as well, but the paired iPhone stays locked while in mirror mode. Read more
OK, let’s do a little deeper dive into iPhone mirroring. While Apple didn’t detail many use cases for the feature, Sarah Perez writes that it seems it would make it easier to demo apps over video calls or in person, as users could move between a slideshow presentation and a live demo of the iPhone app by launching it as if it’s another app on your Mac. Read more
Messages via Satellite
Image Credits: Apple
This new feature works much like Apple’s emergency SOS feature. When you have no signal, you’ll be given the option to find a satellite to relay the data. You’ll have to keep the phone pointed in the right direction while you do it, however, there’s an overlay above your messages to remind you. Read more
Photos app
Image Credits: Apple
Apple showed off the new Photos app as it will appear in the upcoming release of the iOS software. The new app introduces new navigation, new organizational features and other ways to discover your favorite photos, including those of friends, family, pets, trips and more.
Some things to know: The new design will lead to less time searching for photos as it puts everything you need within easy reach.
One major change involves how the app has been unified into a single view with the photo grid at the top and the library, organized by theme, below. Read more
Tap to Cash
One of the more interesting additions is Tap to Cash, which is more or less what it sounds like, letting users pay for things by tapping together a pair of iPhones.
As Brian Heater writes, the feature is effectively an outgrowth of Apple Pay’s longstanding Tap to Pay feature. Similarly, the new addition likely uses the device’s NFC functionality. Apple notes that the feature transfers money without having to share any personal info — a nice added privacy element. Read more
iOS 18
Image Credits: Apple
Users will now be able to lock an app when they hand over their phone to do things like show someone a picture or let them play a game. When you lock an app, if someone tries to tap your phone, they will be required to authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID or their passcode. While you have the app lock feature enabled, information from inside the app won’t appear in other places, like search and notifications. Read more
Apple also shared some initial details for the upcoming major release of iOS, which is its operating system specifically designed for the iPhone. As expected, much of this involves artificial intelligence. Remember when icons were locked to the grid? Well, they can now be laid out however you want on your home screen so that they don’t hide your background photos.
“iOS 18 is a big release that delivers more ways to customize your iPhone, stay connected and relive special moments,” Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi said. Read more
Speaking of icons, most of these updates are those long-requested functionalities, like the ability to set app icons and widgets wherever you want on the Home Screen, plus support for dark mode icons with different color schemes. Read more
visionOS 2
Image Credits: Apple
visionOS 2 brings with it productivity enhancements and “new immersive experiences.” One lets you “spatialize” photos from regular photos, leveraging AI tech. Another is a new navigation option: visionOS 2 lets you switch to the home screen by just tapping, or flip your hand over to bring up the control center with notifications, shortcuts and more. Read more
One of the bigger announcements with this includes the ability to turn existing images into spatial photos. The new feature utilizes machine learning to build out additional angles, marking a change from the existing method, which required images to be shot on an iPhone 15 Pro or the Vision Pro itself. Read more
For those of you outside of the U.S., the Vision Pro headset will be available in eight new countries. Read more
Useful AI, not flashy AI
Apple has fallen behind its peers in the AI race, and it probably feels like it needs to pull out all the stops to impress fans and shareholders. But that shouldn’t mean overpromising on features. Read more
Generative AI
For smart assistants: While rumors point to the company transitioning a number of employees to generative AI operations following its electric car implosion, all signs point to Apple having ceded a significant head start to the competition. As such, its most logical play is a partnership with a reigning powerhouse like OpenAI. Read more
Maybe not for iPhone 15: Some other rumors say that when this generative AI comes into play, a limited number of older devices will also be able to run the system, including iPads and Macs running an M1 chip or higher and the iPhone 15 Pro. That means the standard iPhone 15 may be left out in the cold on this one. Read more
It’s WWDC 2024 keynote time! Each year Apple kicks off its Worldwide Developers Conference with a few hours of just straight announcements, like the long-awaited Apple Intelligence and a makeover for smart AI assistant, Siri. We expected much of them to revolve around the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions (and here), and Apple didn’t disappoint. We also bring you news about Vision Pro and lots of feature refreshes.
Apple’s Messages app will support RCS and scheduling texts
Apple delivered two of the biggest features iMessage and its Messages app that consumers were wanting for a long time: the ability to schedule messages to send at a later date and time and support for RCS, the next-gen messaging standard and replacement for SMS that will make texting with Android folks much less painful. Is it the end of the green bubbles? Read more
More App Store improvements
Apple is giving developers more tools to increase their app revenues and promote their apps with win-back offers and the release of a new commerce API. Read more
iOS 18 compatible devices
Among the highlights of the new operating system version are a set of customization options, such as being able to arrange apps and widgets on the Home Screen and customize buttons. Other features include new text effects, the ability to lock and hide apps, new ways to manage your Mail inbox, the introduction of iMessages over satellite, a significant redesign of the Photos app and more. Now let’s see if your device is compatible. Read more
All the Apple Intelligence news
There was a lot, wasn’t there? Apple’s AI push was at the heart of WWDC 2024, and our AI expert Kyle Wiggers took some time to process all of the announcements before bringing together a guide to all of the news across Siri, Genmoji, ChatGPT integrations, photo editing and beyond. Read more
Apple to work with AI partners beyond OpenAI
In a post-keynote event, Apple SVP Craig Federighi confirmed that the company would work with other third-party models beyond OpenAI, with Google’s Gemini model being highlighted as the first example. He clarified that Apple had “nothing to announce right now, but that’s our general direction.” Read more
Elon Musk lumps OpenAI, Apple together
Tesla, SpaceX and xAI exec Elon Musk took to X to continue his campaign against rival OpenAI, threatening to ban Apple devices from his businesses “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level,” among other responses and reactions to the conversations around WWDC on X. Read more
Apple Intelligence’s (limited) availability
Before you get too excited about putting Apple Intelligence to the test, check if your devices are new enough. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, along with iPads and Macs with M1 or newer chips, will be able to run the new features coming alongside Apple’s AI push. Read more
ChatGPT in Siri
Apple is bringing ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot experience, to Siri and other Apple apps, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other generative AI models. Read more
Apple Intelligence is an image and emoji playground
Image Credits: Apple
One of the Apple Intelligence-powered features coming in iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to create AI images of people they’re messaging with — a feature that works something like an AI-upgraded Bitmoji. The goal, of course, is to make your “everyday conversations more enjoyable.”
Apple Intelligence will have an understanding of who you’re talking with in a messaging conversation, so if you want to personalize that chat with a custom AI image, you can create one on the fly. Read more
Apple TV+
Image Credits: Apple
For those of you who use Apple TV+, there is a new feature called InSight. The feature will allow viewers to learn actor names and song titles as they appear on the screen. Lauren Forristal writes that it’s similar to Amazon’s X-Ray technology, where Fire TV users get an overview of actor bios and behind-the-scenes information while watching TV shows and movies.
What stands out about InSight, however, is its Shazam-like functionality, which highlights the song playing in the TV show or movie and gives users the option to add it to an Apple Music playlist to listen to later. Read more
Siri
Image Credits: Apple
Apple also made some enhancements to its smart assistant, Siri. These include adding some generative AI features that make Siri seem more natural and more personal. There’s also a new glowing light. And, Siri can also handle stumbles in speech and better understand context. Plus, for those who would rather type, you can do that now. Read more
Apple Intelligence is here
Image Credits: Apple
The new feature is called Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?). The company promised the feature will be built with safety at its core, along with highly personalized experiences.
“Most importantly, it has to understand you and be grounded in your personal context, like your routine, your relationships, your communications and more,” CEO Tim Cook noted at WWDC Monday. “And of course, it has to be built with privacy from the ground up together. All of this goes beyond artificial intelligence. It’s personal intelligence, and it’s the next big step for Apple.” Read more
That covers the consumer side of things, but WWDC is a conference for developers, and Apple revealed how developers will soon be able to bring the Apple Intelligence experience into their software. A number of AI features will be added to existing SDKs, allowing for generative AI image generation, or new prompts to Siri, to allow devs to expand the Apple Intelligence footprint. Read more
Apple’s new Passwords app
Image Credits: Apple
While you can already use your iCloud account to store and sync passwords across your devices, it wasn’t easy to figure out. Now, the company introduced a Passwords app. Some of the features include a new column on the left that lets you more easily navigate your password collection. For instance, you can view all your passwords or just Wi-Fi passwords (a new addition), passkeys or codes that aren’t related to a website or service. Read more
Smart Script in iPad
Image Credits: Apple
A new “Smart Script” feature will clean up your handwriting when using an Apple Pencil to write in Notes. Apple says it’s making handwriting your notes even smoother and straighter. The feature improves the appearance of your writing as you write by using on-device machine learning to recreate your handwriting from your notes. You’ll see your own handwriting, just smoother and more legible. Read more
Calculator for iPad
Image Credits: Apple
Who would have thought a calculator would liven up a developer’s conference? Well, Apple’s new Calculator for iPad app got everyone excited.
iOS’ perennial tips calculating app is finally coming to the larger screen. The feature utilizes the additional screen real estate to bring new features that the company couldn’t really jam into the iPhone. The biggest arrival here is the addition of Math Notes. The additional feature does the math for you. Read more
macOS Sequoia
Image Credits: Apple
The latest operating system version is called macOS Sequoia.
One of the biggest features of this new OS is iPhone mirroring. Now, through macOS’ Continuity feature, you can mirror your iPhone’s screen and control it right from your Mac. Notifications on Mac pop you into iPhone mirror mode, and iPhone audio comes through the Mac as well, but the paired iPhone stays locked while in mirror mode. Read more
OK, let’s do a little deeper dive into iPhone mirroring. While Apple didn’t detail many use cases for the feature, Sarah Perez writes that it seems it would make it easier to demo apps over video calls or in person, as users could move between a slideshow presentation and a live demo of the iPhone app by launching it as if it’s another app on your Mac. Read more
Messages via Satellite
Image Credits: Apple
This new feature works much like Apple’s emergency SOS feature. When you have no signal, you’ll be given the option to find a satellite to relay the data. You’ll have to keep the phone pointed in the right direction while you do it, however, there’s an overlay above your messages to remind you. Read more
Photos app
Image Credits: Apple
Apple showed off the new Photos app as it will appear in the upcoming release of the iOS software. The new app introduces new navigation, new organizational features and other ways to discover your favorite photos, including those of friends, family, pets, trips and more.
Some things to know: The new design will lead to less time searching for photos as it puts everything you need within easy reach.
One major change involves how the app has been unified into a single view with the photo grid at the top and the library, organized by theme, below. Read more
Tap to Cash
One of the more interesting additions is Tap to Cash, which is more or less what it sounds like, letting users pay for things by tapping together a pair of iPhones.
As Brian Heater writes, the feature is effectively an outgrowth of Apple Pay’s longstanding Tap to Pay feature. Similarly, the new addition likely uses the device’s NFC functionality. Apple notes that the feature transfers money without having to share any personal info — a nice added privacy element. Read more
iOS 18
Image Credits: Apple
Users will now be able to lock an app when they hand over their phone to do things like show someone a picture or let them play a game. When you lock an app, if someone tries to tap your phone, they will be required to authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID or their passcode. While you have the app lock feature enabled, information from inside the app won’t appear in other places, like search and notifications. Read more
Apple also shared some initial details for the upcoming major release of iOS, which is its operating system specifically designed for the iPhone. As expected, much of this involves artificial intelligence. Remember when icons were locked to the grid? Well, they can now be laid out however you want on your home screen so that they don’t hide your background photos.
“iOS 18 is a big release that delivers more ways to customize your iPhone, stay connected and relive special moments,” Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi said. Read more
Speaking of icons, most of these updates are those long-requested functionalities, like the ability to set app icons and widgets wherever you want on the Home Screen, plus support for dark mode icons with different color schemes. Read more
visionOS 2
Image Credits: Apple
visionOS 2 brings with it productivity enhancements and “new immersive experiences.” One lets you “spatialize” photos from regular photos, leveraging AI tech. Another is a new navigation option: visionOS 2 lets you switch to the home screen by just tapping, or flip your hand over to bring up the control center with notifications, shortcuts and more. Read more
One of the bigger announcements with this includes the ability to turn existing images into spatial photos. The new feature utilizes machine learning to build out additional angles, marking a change from the existing method, which required images to be shot on an iPhone 15 Pro or the Vision Pro itself. Read more
For those of you outside of the U.S., the Vision Pro headset will be available in eight new countries. Read more
Useful AI, not flashy AI
Apple has fallen behind its peers in the AI race, and it probably feels like it needs to pull out all the stops to impress fans and shareholders. But that shouldn’t mean overpromising on features. Read more
Generative AI
For smart assistants: While rumors point to the company transitioning a number of employees to generative AI operations following its electric car implosion, all signs point to Apple having ceded a significant head start to the competition. As such, its most logical play is a partnership with a reigning powerhouse like OpenAI. Read more
Maybe not for iPhone 15: Some other rumors say that when this generative AI comes into play, a limited number of older devices will also be able to run the system, including iPads and Macs running an M1 chip or higher and the iPhone 15 Pro. That means the standard iPhone 15 may be left out in the cold on this one. Read more
It’s WWDC 2024 keynote time! Each year Apple kicks off its Worldwide Developers Conference with a few hours of just straight announcements, like the long-awaited Apple Intelligence and a makeover for smart AI assistant, Siri. We expected much of them to revolve around the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions (and here), and Apple didn’t disappoint. We also bring you news about Vision Pro and lots of feature refreshes.
In a post-keynote event, Apple SVP Craig Federighi confirmed that the company would work with other third-party models beyond OpenAI, with Google’s Gemini model being highlighted as the first example. He clarified that Apple had “nothing to announce right now, but that’s our general direction.” Read more
Elon Musk lumps OpenAI, Apple together
Tesla, SpaceX and xAI exec Elon Musk took to X to continue his campaign against rival OpenAI, threatening to ban Apple devices from his businesses “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level,” among other responses and reactions to the conversations around WWDC on X. Read more
Apple Intelligence’s (limited) availability
Before you get too excited about putting Apple Intelligence to the test, check if your devices are new enough. Only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, along with iPads and Macs with M1 or newer chips, will be able to run the new features coming alongside Apple’s AI push. Read more
ChatGPT in Siri
Apple is bringing ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot experience, to Siri and other Apple apps, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 and other generative AI models. Read more
Apple Intelligence is an image and emoji playground
Image Credits: Apple
One of the Apple Intelligence-powered features coming in iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to create AI images of people they’re messaging with — a feature that works something like an AI-upgraded Bitmoji. The goal, of course, is to make your “everyday conversations more enjoyable.”
Apple Intelligence will have an understanding of who you’re talking with in a messaging conversation, so if you want to personalize that chat with a custom AI image, you can create one on the fly. Read more
Apple TV+
Image Credits: Apple
For those of you who use Apple TV+, there is a new feature called InSight. The feature will allow viewers to learn actor names and song titles as they appear on the screen. Lauren Forristal writes that it’s similar to Amazon’s X-Ray technology, where Fire TV users get an overview of actor bios and behind-the-scenes information while watching TV shows and movies.
What stands out about InSight, however, is its Shazam-like functionality, which highlights the song playing in the TV show or movie and gives users the option to add it to an Apple Music playlist to listen to later. Read more
Siri
Image Credits: Apple
Apple also made some enhancements to its smart assistant, Siri. These include adding some generative AI features that make Siri seem more natural and more personal. There’s also a new glowing light. And, Siri can also handle stumbles in speech and better understand context. Plus, for those who would rather type, you can do that now. Read more
Apple Intelligence is here
Image Credits: Apple
The new feature is called Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?). The company promised the feature will be built with safety at its core, along with highly personalized experiences.
“Most importantly, it has to understand you and be grounded in your personal context, like your routine, your relationships, your communications and more,” CEO Tim Cook noted at WWDC Monday. “And of course, it has to be built with privacy from the ground up together. All of this goes beyond artificial intelligence. It’s personal intelligence, and it’s the next big step for Apple.” Read more
That covers the consumer side of things, but WWDC is a conference for developers, and Apple revealed how developers will soon be able to bring the Apple Intelligence experience into their software. A number of AI features will be added to existing SDKs, allowing for generative AI image generation, or new prompts to Siri, to allow devs to expand the Apple Intelligence footprint. Read more
Apple’s new Passwords app
Image Credits: Apple
While you can already use your iCloud account to store and sync passwords across your devices, it wasn’t easy to figure out. Now, the company introduced a Passwords app. Some of the features include a new column on the left that lets you more easily navigate your password collection. For instance, you can view all your passwords or just Wi-Fi passwords (a new addition), passkeys or codes that aren’t related to a website or service. Read more
Smart Script in iPad
Image Credits: Apple
A new “Smart Script” feature will clean up your handwriting when using an Apple Pencil to write in Notes. Apple says it’s making handwriting your notes even smoother and straighter. The feature improves the appearance of your writing as you write by using on-device machine learning to recreate your handwriting from your notes. You’ll see your own handwriting, just smoother and more legible. Read more
Calculator for iPad
Image Credits: Apple
Who would have thought a calculator would liven up a developer’s conference? Well, Apple’s new Calculator for iPad app got everyone excited.
iOS’ perennial tips calculating app is finally coming to the larger screen. The feature utilizes the additional screen real estate to bring new features that the company couldn’t really jam into the iPhone. The biggest arrival here is the addition of Math Notes. The additional feature does the math for you. Read more
macOS Sequoia
Image Credits: Apple
The latest operating system version is called macOS Sequoia.
One of the biggest features of this new OS is iPhone mirroring. Now, through macOS’ Continuity feature, you can mirror your iPhone’s screen and control it right from your Mac. Notifications on Mac pop you into iPhone mirror mode, and iPhone audio comes through the Mac as well, but the paired iPhone stays locked while in mirror mode. Read more
OK, let’s do a little deeper dive into iPhone mirroring. While Apple didn’t detail many use cases for the feature, Sarah Perez writes that it seems it would make it easier to demo apps over video calls or in person, as users could move between a slideshow presentation and a live demo of the iPhone app by launching it as if it’s another app on your Mac. Read more
Messages via Satellite
Image Credits: Apple
This new feature works much like Apple’s emergency SOS feature. When you have no signal, you’ll be given the option to find a satellite to relay the data. You’ll have to keep the phone pointed in the right direction while you do it, however, there’s an overlay above your messages to remind you. Read more
Photos app
Image Credits: Apple
Apple showed off the new Photos app as it will appear in the upcoming release of the iOS software. The new app introduces new navigation, new organizational features and other ways to discover your favorite photos, including those of friends, family, pets, trips and more.
Some things to know: The new design will lead to less time searching for photos as it puts everything you need within easy reach.
One major change involves how the app has been unified into a single view with the photo grid at the top and the library, organized by theme, below. Read more
Tap to Cash
One of the more interesting additions is Tap to Cash, which is more or less what it sounds like, letting users pay for things by tapping together a pair of iPhones.
As Brian Heater writes, the feature is effectively an outgrowth of Apple Pay’s longstanding Tap to Pay feature. Similarly, the new addition likely uses the device’s NFC functionality. Apple notes that the feature transfers money without having to share any personal info — a nice added privacy element. Read more
iOS 18
Image Credits: Apple
Users will now be able to lock an app when they hand over their phone to do things like show someone a picture or let them play a game. When you lock an app, if someone tries to tap your phone, they will be required to authenticate using Face ID, Touch ID or their passcode. While you have the app lock feature enabled, information from inside the app won’t appear in other places, like search and notifications. Read more
Apple also shared some initial details for the upcoming major release of iOS, which is its operating system specifically designed for the iPhone. As expected, much of this involves artificial intelligence. Remember when icons were locked to the grid? Well, they can now be laid out however you want on your home screen so that they don’t hide your background photos.
“iOS 18 is a big release that delivers more ways to customize your iPhone, stay connected and relive special moments,” Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi said. Read more
Speaking of icons, most of these updates are those long-requested functionalities, like the ability to set app icons and widgets wherever you want on the Home Screen, plus support for dark mode icons with different color schemes. Read more
visionOS 2
Image Credits: Apple
visionOS 2 brings with it productivity enhancements and “new immersive experiences.” One lets you “spatialize” photos from regular photos, leveraging AI tech. Another is a new navigation option: visionOS 2 lets you switch to the home screen by just tapping, or flip your hand over to bring up the control center with notifications, shortcuts and more. Read more
One of the bigger announcements with this includes the ability to turn existing images into spatial photos. The new feature utilizes machine learning to build out additional angles, marking a change from the existing method, which required images to be shot on an iPhone 15 Pro or the Vision Pro itself. Read more
For those of you outside of the U.S., the Vision Pro headset will be available in eight new countries. Read more
Useful AI, not flashy AI
Apple has fallen behind its peers in the AI race, and it probably feels like it needs to pull out all the stops to impress fans and shareholders. But that shouldn’t mean overpromising on features. Read more
Generative AI
For smart assistants: While rumors point to the company transitioning a number of employees to generative AI operations following its electric car implosion, all signs point to Apple having ceded a significant head start to the competition. As such, its most logical play is a partnership with a reigning powerhouse like OpenAI. Read more
Maybe not for iPhone 15: Some other rumors say that when this generative AI comes into play, a limited number of older devices will also be able to run the system, including iPads and Macs running an M1 chip or higher and the iPhone 15 Pro. That means the standard iPhone 15 may be left out in the cold on this one. Read more
