This week, Samsung showed off , its Vision Pro-troubling headset, and you can bet we’ve done a deep dive. .
The headset is lighter, more comfortable and easier to live with than Apple’s Vision Pro, even if it lacks many of its headline features. The software ecosystem is already pretty broad, thanks to Google making a real effort with Android XR, but dedicated apps are still a bit rare.
Samsung’s entry into the market might provide some much-needed impetus for this type of augmented reality headset. That it’s half the price of Apple’s Vision Pro may also loosen some wallets eager to get into this world.
But it’s hard not to see this as Samsung running down the same cul-de-sac Apple is now lurking at the end of. It has allowed other companies, like Meta, to waltz in and grab an early lead in the much more useful smart glasses market.
Apple’s online-only announcement of the new vanilla M5 MacBooks might have been a sign the new models were no big deal. But , and the M5’s faster GPU has the chops to go toe-to-toe with a gaming PC.
It wants to offer a better alternative to your smartphone.
Toyota isn’t happy folks just default to CarPlay or Android Auto for their in-car infotainment. That’s why it’s chosen to Tim Stevens has ridden the new whip and has plenty of opinions on whether it’s worth your time or, you know… you’ll just default to CarPlay or Android Auto.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
As much as I may want an iPad Pro, it wouldn’t play a role in my life that would get anywhere near to justifying its extortionate price. Consequently, I shall just live vicariously through Nathan Ingraham, who . But, you know, it has a price so eye-watering that nobody who’s on the fence about owning one should bother. Then, Nate pivoted to writing about how the .
It plans to replace more than half a million employees.
Amazon may be planning to use automation to eliminate more than half a million jobs in the next few years. The New York Times claims to have seen and the PR operation that’ll get underway ahead of time to quell public anger.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Maybe there’s nothing interesting about the fact despite pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. I mean, yes, Zhao has ties to World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture linked to the Trump family. But that’s not uncommon, is it? Surely everyone would use the privilege of high office to exonerate people with whom they potentially have fruitful relationships. Right?
Apple will owe money to UK users after losing an App Store antitrust lawsuit there on Thursday, according to Financial Times. The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled that the iPhone maker abused its dominant market position to inflate developer fees.
The tribunal found that the company has “near absolute market power” for iOS app distribution and in-app payments. The decision declared that Apple has been “abusing its dominant position by charging excessive and unfair prices.” FT reports that Apple will appeal the decision.
The class action claimants said damages of about £1.5bn would be split between 36 million consumers. A subsequent hearing to determine the process for “resolving any questions relating to the calculation” of damages could come as soon as next month.
Apple has an increasingly strained relationship with the tighter regulations across the Atlantic. Earlier this week, the company stepped up its attacks on the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law designed to protect consumers from Big Tech dominance. And on Wednesday, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed that Apple has “strategic market status” in the country’s equivalent of the DMA. That gives the CMA authority to “ensure that mobile platforms are open to effective competition.”
Apple provided the following statement in response to the ruling:
“We thank the tribunal for its consideration but strongly disagree with this ruling, which takes a flawed view of the thriving and competitive app economy. The App Store has benefited businesses and consumers across the U.K., creating a dynamic marketplace where developers compete and users can choose from millions of innovative apps. This ruling overlooks how the App Store helps developers succeed and gives consumers a safe, trusted place to discover apps and securely make payments. The App Store faces vigorous competition from many other platforms — often with far fewer privacy and security protections — giving developers and consumers many options in how they build, share, and download apps. We intend to appeal.”
Update, October 23, 2025, 5:30PM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Apple on today’s ruling.
More companies are naming chief A.I. officers as A.I. becomes central to strategy, reshaping corporate power and leadership structures. Unsplash
When A.I. moved from academia to corporate America, it didn’t just change how companies operate—it reshaped what leadership looks like. A title that barely existed a few years ago is now spreading fast: the chief A.I. officer (CAIO). The role signals how deeply A.I. has become embedded in corporate strategy and identity.
According to IBM’s 2025 survey, 26 percent of global enterprises now have a chief A.I. officer, up from 11 percent two years ago. More than half (57 percent) were promoted internally, and two-thirds of executives predict that nearly every major company will have one within the next two years.
The title first appeared in the early 2010s, as deep learning began to take off, but it truly gained momentum after 2023 with the rise of generative A.I. The U.S. government cemented its importance in 2024 through Executive Order 14110, which required every federal agency to appoint a CAIO to oversee A.I. governance and accountability.
The private sector quickly followed suit. A.I. strategists began moving into the C-suite, marking a new kind of leadership role for the algorithmic age.
“A.I. was often a specialist function living under the CTO. Organizations realized A.I. was too strategic to be managed as a side project,” Baris Gultekin, software giant Snowflake’s vice president of A.I., told Observer. “In addition to CAIOs, we often hear that Snowflake customers now also have large internal A.I. councils made up of individuals across departments to strategically and effectively facilitate enterprise-wide A.I. adoption.” Gultekin reports through Snowflake’s product leadership to the CEO.
Some of the most influential chief A.I. officers are already reshaping Big Tech. At Meta, Alexandr Wang, former Scale AI CEO, took on the role in mid-2025, co-leading Meta Superintelligence Labs alongside Nat Friedman, former GitHub CEO. Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman, DeepMind co-founder and former Inflection AI CEO, now heads Microsoft AI, overseeing the company’s long-term infrastructure push. At Apple, veteran A.I. leader John Giannandrea, continues to guide the company’s A.I. direction, reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Companies beyond tech are also joining the trend. Lululemon appointed Ranju Das as its first chief A.I. and technology officer in September to boost personalization and innovation. Consulting giant PwC recently appointed Dan Priest, former VP and CIO at Toyota Financial Services, as its first CAIO for the U.S. market. Even universities, such as UCLA and the University of Utah, have added CAIOs to coordinate campuswide A.I. strategy.
From CIO to CDO to CAIO
In the 1980s, chief information officers (CIOs) led the IT revolution; in the 2010s, chief data officers (CDOs) rose with big data; now, CAIOs embody the institutionalization of A.I.
“CAIOs are responsible for exploring what parts of the business can be safely delegated to A.I. agents, how teams can properly govern A.I. decisions, the types of infrastructure needed to serve context-rich data to A.I. systems, and much more,” Sean Falconer, head of A.I. at data streaming platform Confluent, told Observer. “CDOs ensure the data is clean, while CIOs ensure it’s accessible. CAIOs ensure data becomes actionable and capable of reasoning, predicting and taking autonomous steps on behalf of the business.”
In industries like banking, health care and retail, CAIOs often act as translators, turning complex A.I. potential into practical results. “They navigate complex legacy processes and cultural resistance, making upskilling and securing organizational willingness to change as critical as building the models themselves,” Snowflake’s Gultekin said.
The rise of the chief A.I. officer also parallels the growing influence of data engineers. A study by Snowflake and MIT Technology Review Insights found that 72 percent of global executives now view data engineers as essential to business success. More than half said data engineers play a major role in shaping A.I. deployment and determining which use cases are feasible.
“Businesses will always require a CIO, which has also evolved over the years into providing strategic guidance to the business rather than just simply an IT function. Where we see overlap (with CAIOs) are areas that are critical to a company, like governance, tech enablement and strategic alignment,” Bhaskar Roy, chief of A.I. & product solutions at business automation platform Workato, told Observer. “The mandate for CAIOs is clear: continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible with A.I., and ensure the organization remains at the forefront of technological change, all while listening to customers’ needs and concerns.”
OpenAI’s relentless push for growth took another turn on Thursday when the company said it had bought Software Applications Incorporated. The company is perhaps best known for making Workflows. Apple bought that iOS automation app in 2017 and turned it into Shortcuts.
This year, though, Software Applications Incorporated unveiled Sky, a new automation app for Mac. Given its focus on agentic AI — artificial intelligence systems that carry out actions on your behalf — it’s easy to see why OpenAI would be interested in scooping that up.
“Whether you’re chatting, writing, planning, or coding, Sky understands what’s on your screen and can take action using your apps,” Software Applications said. “Now, we’re joining OpenAI to bring these capabilities to even more people. We can’t wait to share more.”
OpenAI plans to incorporate “Sky’s deep macOS integration and product craft” into ChatGPT. All of the Software Applications team will join the company.
Apple has been working on integrating similar features into a new version of Siri. The company first demoed those in 2024, but the overhauled Siri is not expected to arrive until spring 2026. Reports suggest that Apple wants the new Siri to carry out actions in third-party apps. OpenAI recently announced third-party app integration for ChatGPT.
News of the acquisition comes just days after OpenAI released ChatGPT Atlas, its first web browser. The app is available on macOS now, and it’s coming to iOS, Android and Windows soon. OpenAI also bought AI-powered personal investing app Roi earlier this month.
We love a good apple dessert and this one is a great one! It’s simple to make in an iron skillet but you could also make it in an a 2 quart baking dish. This is a versatile dish since we added in some great spices but you could mix it up and make it your own. You can also use any apples you like in this dish.
SWAPS& ADDITIONS
We used cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in this dessert but you can easily switch that up. Add in some allspice or top it with cinnamon sugar if you like. Caramel sauce is always a good addition too! Some people love cheese on apple cobbler, so if you are one of those, then definitely add it to this one.
OTHER DELICIOUS APPLE RECIPES
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This spiced apple cobbler has all the wonderful seasonings that go with apples. Made in an iron skillet or a 2 quart baking dish and comes together quickly.
Prep Time 15 minutesmins
Cook Time 45 minutesmins
Total Time 1 hourhr
Course Cobbler, Dessert
Cuisine American
6 to 8cupsapplespeeled and chopped (I used 8 small Gala apples)
3/4cupbrown sugar
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1/4teaspoonground cloves
1/4teaspoonnutmeg
Topping for chopped apples:
1 1/3cupsall-purpose flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
1/2teaspoonsalt
3/4cupwhite granulated sugar
1/2cupevaporated milkcould use regular milk
4tablespoonsbuttermelted
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1egg
Whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a bowl. Toss the chopped apples in the sugar and spice mixture. Add apples to the bottom of a 10 inch iron skillet or 2 quart baking dish.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl. Stir in milk, butter, vanilla extract and egg. Spread over apples in dish. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 45 to 50 minutes until crust is done and brown on top. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream on top.
I usually sprinkle on some extra cinnamon before cooking just because my family loves it and cannot get enough of it. You could sprinkle some cheese on the apples before adding the topping if you like cheese but we like it as stated above and it is one of our favorites.
So Samsung made a “Vision Pro Lite.” That was my immediate takeaway after this week’s debut of the Galaxy XR, the first Android XR device to hit the market. While Samsung deserves credit for offering something close to the Vision Pro for nearly half the price, an $1,800 headset still won’t get mainstream consumers rushing out the door to experience the wonders of mixed reality. And with the limited amount of content in Android XR at the moment, the Galaxy XR is in the same position as the Vision Pro: It’s just a well-polished developer kit.
The only logical reason to buy a Galaxy XR would be to test out apps for Android XR. If you just want to experience VR and dabble in a bit of augmented reality, you’re better off spending that money on a gaming laptop and the excellent $500 Meta Quest 3. (The Meta Quest Pro, the company’s first high-end mixed reality device, was unceremoniously killed after launching at an eye-watering $1,500.)
But even for developers, the Galaxy XR feels like it’s lacking, well, vision. Samsung has done an admirable job of copying almost every aspect of the Vision Pro: The sleek ski goggle design, dual micro-OLED displays and hand gesture interaction powered by a slew of cameras and sensors. But while Apple positioned the Vision Pro as its first stab at spatial computing, an exciting new platform where we can use interactive apps in virtual space, Samsung and Google are basically just gunning to put Android on your face.
There aren’t many custom-built XR apps, aside from Google’s offerings like Maps and Photos. (Something that also reminds me of the dearth of real tablet apps on Android.) And the ability to view 360-degree videos on YouTube has been a staple of every VR headset for the last decade — it’s not exactly notable on something that costs $1,800. Samsung and Google also haven’t said much about how they plan to elevate XR content. At least Apple is attempting to push the industry forward with its 8K Immersive Videos, which look sharper and more realistic than low-res 360-degree content.
For the most part, it seems as if Google is treating Android XR as another way to force its Gemini AI on users. In its press release for the Galaxy XR, Samsung notes that it’s “introducing a new category of AI-native devices designed to deliver immersive experiences in a form factor optimized for multimodal AI.”
…What?
In addition to being a crime against the English language, what the company is actually pitching is fairly simple: It’s just launching a headset that can access AI features via camera and voice inputs.
Who knows, maybe Gemini will make Android XR devices more capable down the line. But at the moment, all I’m seeing in the Galaxy XR is another Samsung device that’s shamelessly aping Apple, from the virtual avatars to specific pinch gestures. And Google’s history in VR and interactive content doesn’t inspire much hope about Android XR. Don’t forget how it completely abandoned Google Cardboard, the short-lived Daydream project and its hyped up Stadia cloud service. Stadia’s death was particularly galling, since Google initially pitched it as a way to revolutionize the very world of gaming, only to let it fall on its face.
There’s no doubt that Samsung, Apple and Meta have a ton of work left ahead in the world of XR. Samsung is at least closer to delivering something under $1,000, and Meta also recently launched the $800 Ray-Ban Display. But price is only one part of the problem. Purpose is another issue entirely. After living with the Vision Pro since its debut, I can tell that Apple is at least thinking a bit more deeply about what it’s like to wear a computer on your face. Just look at the upgrades its made around ultra-wide Mac mirroring, or the way Spatial Personas make it feel as if you’re working alongside other people. With Android XR, Google seems to just be making a more open Vision Pro.
Honestly, it’s unclear if normal users will ever want to use any sort of XR headset regularly, no matter how cheap they get. The experience making these headsets could help Google, Apple and Meta develop future AR glasses, or eyewear that offer some sort of XR experience (Samsung already has something in the works with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster). But while Apple and Meta have broken new ground in XR, Google and Samsung just seem to be following in their footsteps.
Apple has removed dating apps Tea and TeaOnHer from the App Store for violating rules related to content moderation and user privacy. The company told TechCrunch that it pulled the apps as they broke several of its rules, including one mandating that apps can’t share or otherwise use an individual’s personal info without getting their permission first.
Apple said they also violated a rule concerning user-generated content, which stipulates that apps need to allow for reporting offensive or concerning material, an option to block abusive users and the ability to filter “objectionable material from being posted.” In addition, Apple claimed the apps broke rules related to user reviews. It told TechCrunch they had an “excessive” volume of negative reviews and complaints from users, including ones related to minors’ personal details being shared. The company noted that it raised these issues’ with the apps’ developers, but they were not resolved.
As it stands, both apps are still available on Android through the Google Play Store. Tea (which is formally called Tea Dating Advice) enables women to post details about men they’ve met or dated. It allows them to post and comment on photos, look up public records on individuals, carry out reverse image searches, share their experiences and rate or review men. Users can, for instance, say whether they’d give a man a “green flag” or a “red flag.”
TeaOnHer flips that format on its head, with men sharing info about women. Both are pitched as dating safety apps, with Tea telling users they can “ask our anonymous community of women to make sure your date is safe, not a catfish and not in a relationship.”
Tea first emerged in 2023 and it went viral this year. In July, hackers breached the app and leaked tens of thousands of images, including around 3,000 selfies and photo IDs that users submitted to verify their accounts. The other images included posts, comments and private messages. A second hack exposed more than a million private messages.
Days after TeaOnHer went live in August (ripping off text from Tea’s App Store description in the process), it emerged that app had its own security issues. It was possible to view photo IDs and selfies that users had submitted for account verification, as well as their email addresses.
Stella’s crisis of conscience reaches its boiling point during a high-stakes presentation of said AI technology that goes off the rails, with the chatbot disclosing personal—and very damaging—information about Stella, leading her to resign from UBN. In voiceover, Stella maligns her descent from “smart, hardworking, steady” to “someone who does the job without expecting credit, who will shrink herself when asked, who won’t cause any trouble” at the helm. “Be who they want you to be until you can’t,” she says.
Says Lee, “The network broke her, but in all fairness, she’s not a victim. She’s someone who entered this position, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, full of ambition and drive. She was reimagining what the news could be. But the world was not moving in the same direction. I mean, here we are now, it’s 2025 and DEI is considered, like, a slur.”
Following her network fall from grace, Stella passes the baton to her trusted former colleague Mia (Karen Pittman), who managed to rise in the corporate ranks without getting consumed by the pressure to conform. “We ugly cried our way through that scene for hours. We have so much love for each other,” says Lee, growing visibly emotional. “Karen and I are both mothers. Both women of color. We have had to navigate certain spoken and unspoken challenges within the world, and there’s so much that is unsaid between Stella and Mia in every moment that is completely understood without it being articulated. I still get teary when I think about that.”
After the AI incident, Stella and Miles decide to run away together to Italy, but he stands her up at the airport after Celine gives him an ultimatum. But Lee has higher hopes for her character. “I want her to be on a beach having a nice, tall tiki drink. Maybe I’m projecting something,” she admits, smiling. Still, “The ultimate liberation is to fail and to be unburdened by the weight of carrying the torch.”
On the other hand, the fact that the M5 is kind of boring doesn’t mean it’s bad. It just means that it might just be Apple’s most underrated product in years. Here’s what I mean:
Right now, the laptop I’d recommend most people buy is the M4 MacBook Air. It’s great. It’s lightweight, powerful, and meets most of the needs of most people.
This, of course, isn’t a review of the M4 MacBook Air. It’s a review of the M5 MacBook Pro. But, the more time I spent thinking about it, the more I thought about the idea that the base M5 MacBook Pro isn’t really meant to be compared to the higher-spec’d models that are certainly coming early next year. Instead, I think you should be thinking about it in comparison to the MacBook Air.
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For example, once you upgrade the storage on the MacBook Air (which you absolutely should do), the new M5 MacBook Pro is $400 more. I understand that $400 is many more than zero dollars, but the real question is, what do you get for $400?
The answer is, a lot more than you might think. First you get a much brighter, Mini-LED display. You also get about 33 percent better battery life, along with an extra USB-C port, an HDMI port, and an SD card reader. This year’s model also has a 2X faster SSD, 25 percent faster memory bandwidth, and what Apple calls “Neural Accelerators.”
Oh, and you get a fan—which isn’t normally something I’d say is a benefit, except I never once heard the fan on this model. The fact that it isn’t annoying, but can maximize the power of the M5 is nice bonus.
You’ll probably hear a lot of people tell you that you should wait for the M5 Pro or M5 Max version of the MacBook Pro, but keep in mind that most of those people make YouTube videos for a living. I’m not knocking them, I’m just pointing out that video is one of the things that benefits from the increased capabilities of the more powerful chips.
I spent the last week with a review unit from Apple, and put it through all the same tasks I regularly do on my M4 MacBook Air. I also compared it closely to an Mac mini with an M4 Pro. Those are the two computers I use every day, and I wanted to get a good feel for how the M5 stacks up.
I found that in tasks like Whisper Transcription and DiVinci Resolve, the M5 was notably faster than the M4, and on par, if not better than the M4 Pro. I also culled, edited, and exported 150 photos in Lightroom and found the M5 to not only handle it with ease, but the export time—which is the real test—was about five percent faster than the M4 Pro.
Yes, those tasks will be much faster on the forthcoming versions of Apple Silicon, so if those are things you do all the time, sure, your workflow will benefit from waiting. I just know that most people aren’t doing those things. Most people just want a great computer for sorting through their photos, browsing the internet, and maybe work or school.
Even Apple’s touting of the M5 as a great laptop for AI isn’t really that useful for most people who would consider buying this Mac. If all you’re doing is using ChatGPT, all of that compute is happening on Nvidia chips somewhere out there in the cloud. There’s very little happening on device.
But none of that means that the M5 isn’t an excellent computer. It is. In fact, it’s probably a lot better than you’ve ever given it credit for. The better display and battery life are things you’ll notice every day. Faster storage and memory bandwidth will make almost everything you do feel more responsive.
Maybe you don’t care about any of that. Maybe the extra battery life and killer display aren’t worth the extra weight that comes with the MacBook Pro. That’s a perfectly valid reason to go for the notably lighter MacBook Air, but to be honest, the display alone is probably worth the increased price.
The truth is, the M5 MacBook Pro isn’t flashy, but I think that’s the point. It’s not the computer Apple wants you to obsess over—it’s the one you’ll quietly depend on every day. It doesn’t need to reinvent anything to be great; it just needs to be better where it counts. For all the hype Apple pours into its biggest upgrades, sometimes the most meaningful performance comes from its most underrated Mac laptop.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Apple is back with the latest version of the iPad Pro, and like the iPad Air earlier this year the surface-level changes are minimal. Like that iPad Air, there’s a new chip on board here. It’s the M5, which was also added to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and Vision Pro. There are new Apple-designed networking chips: the N1 handles Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread, while the C1X handles 5G connectivity. Both of those chips debuted in the iPhone Air last month, so this is the first time they’re in an iPad. Finally, the iPad Pro supports fast charging for the first time; you can get to a 50 percent charge in about 30 minutes using a 60W power adaptor.
Compared to the redesign Apple introduced with the M4 iPad Pro in 2024, this is very much a minor spec bump. It makes sense for Apple to ensure the iPad Pro has its most performant chips as soon as they are released. If you’re charging customers upwards of $1,000 for an iPad Pro, it had better be on the bleeding edge. (The 13-inch iPad Pro I’m testing with 1TB of storage and 5G connectivity costs $2,099, plus the $349 Magic Keyboard.)
As such, the iPad Pro M5 is fairly easy to understand. Want a new iPad Pro? You’re now getting exactly what Apple offered a week ago, plus some impressive performance gains for specific tasks. Almost no one who bought an M4 iPad Pro should upgrade to this one, but anyone using an older model will find a ton to appreciate here.
And while the hardware hasn’t radically changed, iPadOS has. The recent iPadOS 26 release introduced an entirely new multitasking system, a significantly improved Files app and more support for background processes, to name just a few of the highlights. Those things are best appreciated on a powerful device with a large screen like the 13-inch iPad Pro M5 I’m reviewing here. For years, the question that has dogged the iPad Pro is when its software would match up to its undeniably impressive hardware. I think the combo of iPadOS 26 paired with this hardware is a winner, but as always the price is going to be a sticking point.
Apple / Engadget
The iPad Pro remains perhaps the most impressive piece of hardware Apple sells, and it’s more powerful and capable than ever. Too bad it’s so incredibly expensive.
Pros
M5 chip is a significant update for some GPU-powered tasks
Possibly the best screen I’ve ever seen
Extremely thin and light
First iPad with fast charging
iPadOS 26 is a major improvement
Cons
Prohibitively expensive
Accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro make it cost even more
As mentioned, the M5 chip is the big change for the iPad Pro, and if you’re coming from a device older than last year’s M4 model you can expect a big performance increase when you start pushing the envelope of what you can do.
Before getting into the nitty gritty, here’s a rundown of what’s different from last year. Probably the most significant change is that the M5’s GPU now includes a “neural accelerator” on each of its 10 cores, an architectural tweak that’ll unsurprisingly give the chip more muscle when using the GPU for AI-related tasks. Beyond the neural accelerators, the GPU is also up to 30 percent faster in graphics performance, and the third-generation ray-tracing engine here is up to 45 percent faster in apps using ray tracing.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
The standard CPU cores (four performance, six efficiency) are also faster than last year’s model, though less dramatically so. That’s not a surprise, as each successive M-series chip has gotten similar modest performance gains over the years. (Note that the iPad Pros with 256GB or 512GB of storage only get three performance cores. They also come with 12GB of RAM compared to the 16GB in configurations with more storage, but that’s more than the 8GB of RAM in the last generation’s equivalent options.) The Neural Engine has been upgraded, as well. Apple is also promising big gains in memory bandwidth, which now hits 153GB/s (nearly 30 percent higher than on the M4). Finally, read/write speeds to storage are up to two times faster than in last year’s model.
Doing some benchmarking with the Geekbench 6 and Geekbench AI apps show the expected major gains for GPU and AI performance. Single-core and multi-core CPU tests with Geekbench 6 come in at about 15 percent and 10 percent better than the iPad Pro M4, but GPU performance has increased more than 32 percent.
Things are more dramatic when you look specifically at the Geekbench AI results. The app offers three scores (single precision, half precision and quantized) and can be run on three different chip backends (CPU, GPU and Neural Engine). When running the CPU- and Neural Engine-based benchmarks, the M5 only bested the M4 by single-digit percentages. But when using the GPU, the M5’s single-precision score was 22.4 percent better than the M4. Half precision and quantized performance was even more impressive — the M5 scored 85 percent and 101 percent better than the M4, respectively.
The story this tells is that unless you’re hitting your GPU hard with AI tasks, the M5 isn’t massively better than the M4. Not a huge surprise, and most people who shelled out for an iPad Pro in the last 18 months should still be plenty happy with their purchases. But those GPU scores show off exactly where the M5 can stretch its wings compared to its predecessor.
As I’ve only had the iPad Pro M5 for less than a week, I’m still comparing the M4 to M5 iPad Pro on specific AI-focused tasks and in certain apps and will update this review with more details later this week.
The caveat with all of this is that while the M5 is incredibly powerful, it’s also overkill for most things that people are going to use an iPad for. An iPad Pro with the M2 chip from 2022 still feels plenty responsive for most standard tasks that don’t require exceptional speed or power. Yes, there are definitely people buying an iPad Pro and maxing out its impressive capabilities, and those who do so will appreciate the performance here. But for everyone else, the M5 alone isn’t going to change how you use the iPad Pro on a day-to-day basis.
Apple’s 13-inch iPad Pro M5 is on the left; the 11-inch iPad Pro M4 is on the right.
(Nathan Ingraham for Engadget)
Hardware and display are still stunning
Anyone upgrading from an iPad Pro older than last year’s M4 model is in for a treat far beyond sheer performance. The iPad Pro M5 is physically identical to the prior one, but that doesn’t matter because I think this is still the single most impressive device Apple makes. I went deep into the many changes Apple made last year in my review of the iPad Pro M4, and everything I said there still applies.
But to recap, the iPad Pro is extremely portable despite its performance chops. Apple made it about 20 percent thinner and about a quarter-pound lighter than the iPad Pro models Apple sold from 2018 through 2023. This radically improves the experience of using it. If you’re holding it like a tablet, the 13-inch model is now light and thin enough to be comfortable for extended use without having to put it down. Doing anything with the on-screen keyboard while holding it is still pretty awkward and the 11-inch option still feels like the best size for hand-held tasks. But the 13-inch iPad Pro I’m reviewing is noticeably easier to hold than the iPad Air because of its reduced weight and slimmer profile.
The only complaint I might have about that thinness is it prevents Apple from shoving a bigger battery in here. The iPad Pro M5 gets the same 10-hour battery life rating (for surfing the web or watching videos) that every iPad has gotten since the tablet was released in 2010. But in recent years, Apple has, to some degree, stopped focusing on making every device as thin as possible at the potential expense of things like performance or battery life. Clearly, performance isn’t an issue here. But the same people who value extended battery life in a thicker device when using things like the MacBook Pro might feel the same here.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
That’s a valid opinion, but a tablet is meant to be held in your hands and carried around with you even more so than a laptop, so I understand why Apple values portability over extending the iPad Pro’s battery life. Plus, the iPad Pro M5’s fast-charging capabilities make it pretty easy to extend its life. Using Apple’s new 40W Dynamic Charger that can automatically step up to 60W, I got from 23 percent to 70 percent in 35 minutes. That’s a tad slower than the 50 percent charge in 30 minutes Apple claims, but we’re well within the “close enough” range.
One thing I didn’t get to test last year with the iPad Pro M4 was its durability. The tablet’s extremely thin design reminded people of past Apple devices that had had some issues with flexing. After over a year with the previous iPad Pro, I’m not at all worried about this one. I’ve taken an iPad Pro M4 all around the US and internationally with no issues. Granted, it’s usually in its keyboard case, but I’ve also traveled with it in the basic Smart Folio Apple sells and have seen no evidence of bending. I also don’t remember seeing any reports about durability issues from owners over the last 18 months, so I wouldn’t worry about its long-term durability.
I don’t have a great read on how long the iPad Pro M5 lasts away from its charger just yet — in the first few days with a new device it’s often downloading a lot of data from backups and doing some optimizing, thus not giving you a great feel for how long it’ll usually last. But so far, performance seems similar to the iPad Air M3 and iPad Pro M4 I’ve reviewed recently. I was getting between seven and eight hours while using the Magic Keyboard, and I’m guessing that I’ll blow past the 10-hour estimate when watching locally-stored video. More details on that to come.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Performance, check. Design, check. The third thing that continues to impress me about the iPad Pro is its screen. It quite simply has the nicest display I have ever seen on a portable device, be it a laptop, phone or tablet. Apple’s tandem OLED display (two OLED panels layered on top of each other) is the same in all respects as it was last year. That means the 13-inch screen has a 2,752 x 2,064 resolution (264 ppi) and standard brightness that can hit 1,000 nits, or up to 1,600 nits peak for HDR content. Aside from the OLED display, the only display improvements the iPad Pro has that the iPad Air doesn’t is ProMotion support for 120Hz refresh rates as well as a nano-texture glass option for the 1TB and 2TB models.
To be clear, though, the iPad Pro’s screen is in a completely different ballpark than the one on the iPad Air. Between the much faster refresh rate, high brightness levels, completely dark blacks and wonderful contrast, there’s no question this screen far surpasses what you’ll find on any other iPad. Professionals who do detailed work in video, photography, drawing with the Apple Pencil Pro or graphic design will appreciate all of these features. But it also makes something like kicking back on a plane to watch a movie more enjoyable.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
iPadOS 26
In last year’s iPad Pro M4 review, I wrote: “Apple has shown no indication it’s going to make iPadOS more like a Mac.” As such, I recommended people not buy an iPad Pro unless they were happy with the limitations that have been inherent to iPadOS for a long time. It took Apple until this summer, but its latest updates rendered my earlier words invalid. With iPadOS 26, Apple pretty much said “screw it” and addressed nearly every big software complaint users have had.
As a quick refresher: apps still open in full screen by default, but you can now grab the corner and resize it to any shape you see fit; you can then stack up as many windows as you want in that view. Apps are also much better at remembering their size and position on your screen than ever before. If you swipe up and dismiss all the apps you’re working with and then re-open one, it’s right in the same place you left it. If you want to throw something back in full-screen, the familiar “stoplight” controls from the Mac are available for easy window management.
You can swipe up and hold for a second from the bottom of the screen to enter Expose, which shows every open window in your view. Swiping right shows all the full-screen apps you have open. If you have an app in full screen, you can switch back to a windowed app that’ll just float on top of what you’re working in. There’s also a menu bar at the top of the screen that makes it easy to access advanced controls for whatever you’re using.
As I said when I first started testing out iPadOS 26 in the summer, the end result of all these changes is that your iPad (no matter which kind) will feel significantly more capable with this software update. And there are other features that power users will appreciate, like a significantly improved Files app. Since it’s easier to have multiple windows, moving things around or dragging and dropping things into apps is a lot simpler. And there are improved sorting options as well, while PDFs finally open in the new Preview app rather than within Files .
Background task capabilities have also been significantly expanded. For example, Final Cut Pro can now render video in the background, whereas before, switching to a different app would put the lengthy and intensive process on pause. And developers can tap into this API to use it for their own apps, too.
I can’t say for sure that this will answer all the complaints of various iPad Pro owners out there, but I think Apple has gotten about as close as it can without just putting macOS on the device and calling it a day. Even with the big updates to iPadOS, an iPad Pro isn’t for everyone. Plenty of people will still choose a traditional laptop. But the iPad has always offered a pretty unique blend of power and portability, and with better software it’s a more viable option than ever.
Nathan Ingraham for Engadget
Wrap-up
My viewpoint on the iPad Pro hasn’t changed since last year. I still find it a wildly impressive device that is unlike much else you can buy. Just like the last model, it has Apple’s newest chip, the best display Apple has made (aside from its $5,000 Pro XDR monitor) and a physical design that feels almost impossible given how much technology is crammed inside. It’s truly delightful, and it’s even more capable than before thanks to the combination of iPadOS 26 and the M5 chip.
However, I still can’t stomach that price. $1,299 for a 13-inch iPad with 256GB of storage, no 5G connectivity and no Magic Keyboard is a lot of money, even if it is as capable as a similarly-priced laptop. Given the incredible technology inside of the iPad Pro, I can understand why it’s so expensive. And it’s powerful enough that some buyers will be able to use it for three, four, even five years before they feel the need to update, which makes the up-front investment a little less burdensome. It’s not the kind of device you need to replace annually, that’s for sure. But unless you are going to use it as your main computer — all day, every day — and know exactly what benefits you’ll get from the iPad over a more traditional laptop, you’re probably better off buying an iPad Air and saving yourself a lot of money.
If you’re not a big fan of the, well, glass in iOS 26’s Liquid Glass interface, Apple has apparently heard you. The latest iOS 26.1 Beta 4 has a new toggle that lets you apply a “tinted” setting to boost the opacity of elements and add contrast, making them stand out better against the background, MacRumors reported. “Choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. Clear is more transparent, revealing the content beneath. Tinted increases opacity and adds more contrast,” the description states.
The new toggle (Settings > Display and Brightness on iPhone or iPad and System Settings > Appearance macOS) is a rare instance of Apple altering course on a design based on user input. The company said the setting was added as many beta users desired a more opaque option for Liquid Glass. That’s putting it mildly, as you may have noticed on social media or Reddit.
The setting is more noticeable on some areas of iOS than others. Toggling it from clear to tinted changes everything throughout iOS and affects apps and lock screen notifications as well. Other new changes in the latest beta include a Camera swipe toggle, a new slide-to-stop feature for alarms and timers, Settings updates, new Apple Intelligence languages and a new Apple TV app icon. If you’re in the beta program, you can download the latest version now.
But—believe it or not—there was a time before the iPhone when Apple was known for something else. And it’s latest ad is a telling reminder of what might be its best era.
The company’s latest ad isn’t about the iPhone. Technically, it’s about the Mac, but really, it’s about Apple and what the company wants you to think about what it stands for. And, it’s a reminder of a very different era for the company.
The ad opens with the flicker of a cursor on a blank screen and a voice that sounds both familiar and true.
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“Every story you love, every invention that moves you, every idea you wished was yours, all began as nothing. Just a flicker on the screen asking a simple question: What do you see?”
The voice is Jane Goodall’s.
If you’ve followed Apple for long enough, that name already connects a few dots. Goodall was one of the people featured in Apple’s original Think Different print ad campaign in 1997—the one that marked Steve Jobs’ return to the company he co-founded and, in many ways, saved. The one that wasn’t really about computers at all, but about creativity. It was about imagination and people who “see things differently.”
And that’s what makes this new spot, Great Ideas Start on Mac, feel like a callback to Apple’s best era—the one before the iPhone, before the trillion-dollar valuation, before Apple became the most valuable company on earth. The one when Apple’s identity wasn’t tied to growth curves or quarterly revenue, but to the artists and dreamers who used its tools to make something new.
I have always loved that version of Apple.
Before the iPhone, Apple’s entire story—its entire brand—revolved around creativity. It was a company for artists, designers, writers, and musicians. The Mac wasn’t just a computer—it was a tool just as much as a pencil or guitar or paintbrush. You bought one because you wanted to make something beautiful, and you believed that tools should serve creativity, not the other way around.
Jobs made that belief central to Apple’s DNA. He often said that Apple existed at “the intersection of technology and the liberal arts,” and he meant it. He saw computers not as boxes of circuits but as something that could unlock the greatest forms of human expression.
That’s why the Think Different campaign worked so well. It wasn’t just an ad; it was a manifesto. It told the world that Apple was for people who imagined something that didn’t exist yet. It was about what you could see that others couldn’t.
This new ad doesn’t use those words, but it carries the same spirit. The flicker on the screen is also familiar and true. It reminds us that creativity doesn’t start with code or pixels, but with curiosity.
There’s something poetic about Apple bringing back Goodall. She’s not a celebrity in the traditional sense. She’s a scientist, an activist, and a storyteller. Her work studying chimpanzees wasn’t just groundbreaking—it changed how we think about what it means to be human.
That’s exactly why she was in the original Think Different campaign. She represented the kind of independent creativity and courage that Jobs seemed to admire most: the people who don’t just see the world differently, but act on it.
In this new ad, her voice bridges the gap between Apple’s past and present. When she asks, “What do you see?” it’s a question Jobs himself might have asked. What do you see when you look at a blank page? Or an empty timeline? Or a flickering screen waiting for your next idea?
In 1997, Apple needed to remind the world what it stood for. The company was nearly bankrupt, but the message wasn’t about survival. It was about purpose. That’s what made Think Different so powerful—it was a declaration that creativity mattered.
This new ad feels like a reminder that it still does.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Apple has rolled out a new feature that makes it easier to customize Liquid Glass to your liking. Now, users will be able to set the appearance of Liquid Glass to either Clear or Tinted, with the help of a new setting included in the latest beta update of its mobile and desktop operating systems.
The addition indicates Apple is listening closely to user feedback in these early days of the iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS 26 public launches. Apples likes to push through more significant changes, but it will often offer a fallback option for those who have a hard time adjusting.
That was the case when Apple moved Safari’s address to the bottom of the screen in 2021. After some user backlash over the then controversial decision, the iPhone maker added an option to revert the bar to the top of the screen. (Apple, we’ll concede, was right to make the move; the bar’s location is better when it’s in easier reach of your thumbs.)
Now, Apple is taking a similar approach with Liquid Glass.
Some have said the Liquid Glass design makes various parts of the interface harder to read, including notifications or navigation controls in apps like Apple Music and others. Others have said they love Liquid Glass’s attention to detail and its new look, which felt like a more modern update to an interface that had grown stale over the years.
With another potential divisive response on its hands, Apple is now ceding some control over Liquid Glass’s appearance back to the users.
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The new feature, first spotted by 9to5Mac, arrived in iOS 26.1 beta 4 and the accompanying updates for tablets and desktop computers.
Reached for comment, Apple told TechCrunch that, during the beta period this summer, it heard from some users who wanted the option to set a more opaque look for Liquid Glass. This new setting that lets users personalize Liquid Glass is available in iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1.
To access the feature, beta users can visit the “Display & Brightness” menu under Settings to find the added Liquid Glass menu option. On Mac, it’s under “Appearance” in System Settings. The control lets you choose between two options, Clear and Tinted. The latter increases the opacity of interface elements, making them easier to see.
Though some users had been advocating for a slider that lets them control the opacity more precisely, Apple has opted for a toggle where it specifies the two levels of tint that users can choose from.
Apple told TechCrunch that any developers who have already implemented Liquid Glass in their apps will automatically have the user’s preference applied. Developers are able to test this now in the 26.1 developer beta.
After selecting their preferred option, users will see changes across user interface elements, like the Now Playing controls, Notifications on the Lock Screen, and in Apple’s apps and those from third-party developers.
While the beta feature arrives for developers today, the public beta should arrive over the next few days ahead of the wider public release.
Easing trade tensions and a big gain in Apple shares helped drive stocks back toward records on Monday, the start of a heavy week of corporate earnings.
Indexes opened with gains, with some investors saying sentiment was buoyed by President Trump saying he will soon meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Friday comments that he will meet with his Chinese counterpart in person this week.
There’s yet another streaming bundle in town, and it will be ideal for fans of Ted Lasso and The Office. Apple and Peacock have teamed up to provide both of their streaming services together in a bundle starting at $15 per month. The new Apple TV + Peacock bundle is officially available now for $15 monthly for the ad-supported tier.
This is a mighty fine deal, given that Apple TV recently changed both its name and price. The platform costs $13 per month now on its own. Peacock starts at $11 per month. In other words, this is a discount of around $9 each month. In this economy, we’ll take any savings we can get.
As mentioned previously, the only caveat is that the base tier includes ads. The subscription shoots up to $20 per month for an ad-free version. However, a standalone subscription to ad-free Peacock is $17 on its own. Additionally, Apple One subscribers will get a 35 percent discount on Peacock Premium Plus plans. It’s always nice when two lonely corporations find friendship, isn’t it?
For the uninitiated, Apple TV is the company’s big-wig streaming platform. It’s primarily known for sci-fi like Severance, For All Mankind and the upcoming Pluribus. The platform is also host to plenty of comedy, like The Studio, Shrinking and Ted Lasso.
Peacock is NBC’s streaming service. It streams old-school network programming like The Office, Grimm and Superstore. The service features a stable of original programming like Poker Face, Twisted Metal and the underrated Mrs. Davis. The platform also recently premiered a little show called The Paper, which is a spinoff of The Office. Against all odds, this is actually a great little sitcom and a worthy successor to the original.
Bill Atkinson was a computing pioneer who, in the 1980s, effectively made Apple computers usable for everyday people by transforming code into windows, menus, and graphics.
But few people know that later in life he was a secret advocate of what’s widely considered the world’s most potent psychedelic: 5-MeO-DMT.
The hallucinogen, also called “the God molecule,” is a compound found in the venomous secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad named Incilius alvarius (it’s commonly called Bufo alvarius) and is known to bring about ego death, a total dissolution of the senses, and a euphoric feeling of existential connectedness, all in a roughly 20-minute trip. Atkinson, who died from pancreatic cancer on June 5 at the age of 74, was a member of a close-knit, private online community of 5-MeO-DMT enthusiasts called OneLight, where he went by the alias “Grace Within.”
Several of Atkinson’s friends and fellow psychonauts tell WIRED their “beloved” Atkinson played a key role in helping people access smaller doses of 5-MeO-DMT, which can be made synthetically, as he believed it would maximize the benefits of the potentially dangerous drug while minimizing harm. “The same creative mind who affected personal computers so profoundly continued to influence human evolution through his efforts to make the miracle of ‘bufo’ safer and more manageable,” says friend Charles Lindsay, an artist who has worked with the SETI Institute, which works to find signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. “He truly pushed boundaries. That requires a willingness to consider what might easily be deemed ridiculous.” Or, he adds, “risky.”
Many people have reported benefits to their mental health thanks to smoking 5-MeO-DMT, and biotech companies are preparing advanced trials to test the drug as a treatment for depression and addiction. Former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, longevity guru Bryan Johnson, and podcaster Joe Rogan have told of transcendent, life-changing experiences under the influence of the powerful drug.
But 5-MeO-DMT remains illegal in the US, and while underground options exist, people often go to legal centers and retreats in Mexico to take strong doses.
Atkinson took “many hundreds” of 5-MeO-DMT trips, according to friend Jamis MacNiven, the founder of popular Silicon Valley diner Buck’s of Woodside. “Nobody hit it harder than Bill,” he says.
The 5-MeO-DMT experience, with its daunting ego death awaiting within seconds of smoking the molecule, can be discombobulating, and a sometimes fraught period afterward can lead to serious destabilization and lasting trauma. Comedian Chelsea Handler had a “scary” trip, which she said left her “feeling as sick as I’ve ever felt.”
OpenAI might be the center of the AI development world these days, but the competition has been heating up for quite a while. And few competitors are bankrolled on the same level as Meta. With a market capitalization of more than $1.75 trillion and a CEO who’s not afraid to spend heavily, Meta has been on a hiring spree in the AI world for months, poaching top tier talent from a variety of competitors.
It appeared recently that the wave of high-profile (and high-dollar) recruitments was coming to an end. In August, Meta quietly announced a freeze on hiring after adding roughly 50 AI researchers and engineers. This month, though, two more big names have joined the Meta roster.
While Meta might have a gap to close with its AI rivals, the company has assembled an all-star team to catch up and move forward. Here are some of the most notable experts to come on board.
Andrew Tulloch, co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab
Tulloch partnered with OpenAI’s former chief technical officer Mira Murati to launch Thinking Machines Lab in February of this year. Now he’s returning to his roots. Considered a leading researcher in the AI field, Tulloch previously spent 11 years at Meta, leaving in 2023 to join OpenAI, then departing with Murati. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has been chasing Tulloch for a while, reportedly making an offer with a $1.5 billion compensation package at one point, which Tulloch rejected. (Meta has called the description of the offer “inaccurate and ridiculous.”) There’s no word on what Tulloch was offered that made him decide to move.
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Ke Yang, Senior Director of Machine Learning at Apple
Yang, who was appointed to lead Apple’s AI-driven web search effort just weeks ago, is another big October Meta hire. At Apple, his team (Answers, Knowledge and Information, or AKI) was working to make Siri more Chat-GPT-like by pulling that information from the web, making his departure one of Meta’s most notable poachings. Meta convinced him to come over after recruiting several of his colleagues.
Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of OpenAI’s ChatGPT
Zhao joined Meta in June to serve as chief scientist of Meta Superintelligence Labs. Beyond co-creating ChatGPT, he also played a role in building GPT-4 and led synthetic data at OpenAI for a stint. “Shengjia has already pioneered several breakthroughs including a new scaling paradigm and distinguished himself as a leader in the field,” Zuckerberg wrote in a social media post in July. “I’m looking forward to working closely with him to advance his scientific vision.”
Daniel Gross, co-founder of Safe Superintelligence
As it did with Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, Meta tried to acquire Safe Superintelligence, the AI startup co-founded by OpenAI’s former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever. When that offer was rejected, Zuckerberg began looking for talent, luring co-founder and CEO Gross in June. Gross is working on AI products for Meta’s superintelligence group. By joining Meta, he’s reunited with former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, with whom he once created the venture fund NFDG.
Ruoming Pang, Apple’s head of AI models
Pang was one of the first high-profile departures from Apple to Meta, making the jump in July. At the time, he was Apple’s top executive overseeing AI models and had been with the company since 2021. While there, he helped develop the large language model that powers Apple Intelligence and other AI features, such as email and webpage summaries.
Matt Deitke, co-founder of Vercept
Vercept is a start-up that’s attempting to build AI agents that use other software to autonomously perform tasks, something that caught Zuckerberg’s attention. Deitke proved hard to lure, though. He reportedly turned down a $125 million, four-year offer, but a direct appeal by Zuckerberg (and a reported doubling of that offer) convinced him to make the move (with the blessing of his peers). Kiana Ehsani, his co-founder and CEO, announced his departure on social media, joking, “We look forward to joining Matt on his private island next year.”
Alexandr Wang, founder and CEO of Scale AI
Wang left his startup to join Meta after the social media company made a $14.3 billion investment into Scale AI (without any voting power in the company). “As you’ve probably gathered from recent news, opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang wrote in a memo to staff. “In this instance, that cost is my departure.” Wang joined Meta’s superintelligence unit. Scale made its name by helping companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft prepare data used to train AI models. Meta was already one of its biggest customers.
Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub
Friedman was already a part of Meta’s Advisory Group before he was brought on full-time. That external advisory council provides guidance on technology and product development. Now, he’s working with Wang to run the superintelligence unit. Friedman previously was CEO of GitHub, a cloud-based platform that hosts code for software development. Most recently, he was a board member at the AI investment firm he started with Safe Superintelligence’s Gross.
As for what Zuck is going to do with all this talent, the sky’s the limit, but there’s some catchup to do first. The Llama Large Language Model hasn’t quite matched up to those of OpenAI or Google, but with Meta’s gargantuan user base (3.4 billion people use one of the company’s apps each day), Meta’s AI could still be one of the most widely used in the years to come.
One of the most surprising realities of Martin Scorsese’s success is just how often he was on the brink of losing it. The 82-year-old auteur’s setbacks occupy as much real estate as his victories do in Mr. Scorsese, a five-part docuseries covering his film career, now streaming on Apple TV.
Directed by Rebecca Miller, daughter of playwright Arthur Miller and wife of Daniel Day-Lewis (who starred in Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence and Gangs of New York), Mr. Scorsese follows the director from his rough-and-tumble adolescence in New York’s Little Italy neighborhood to his making of the 10-time Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)—touching on every set in between. Scorsese discusses his oeuvre in great detail—with assists from family, friends, and former collaborators such as Day-Lewis, Francesca Scorsese,Robert De Niro,Leonardo DiCaprio,Mick Jagger, Steven Spielberg,Jodie Foster, and Cate Blanchett, as well as Casino’s Sharon Stone and The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie, both of whom speak candidly about working on their respective male-dominated Scorsese projects.
After exploring the Mob violence he grew up near on film, Scorsese was often reduced to his gangster dramas (Mean Streets, Goodfellas), but nearly as much of the filmmaker’s work is rooted in his Catholic religion (The Last Temptation of Christ, Silence). Even Scorsese’s otherwise secular titles ponder questions like, “Who are we? What are we, I should say, as human beings?” as he says in the series’ opening. “Are we intrinsically good or evil?… This is the struggle. And I struggle with it all the time.”
That dichotomy is reflected in some of Scorsese’s darker chapters, which range from a drug addiction during the 1970s to four divorces before his marriage to his current wife, Helen Morris, in 1999. “The problem is that you enjoy the sin!” Scorsese says in the series. “That’s the problem I’ve always had! I enjoy it. When I was bad, I enjoyed a lot of it.” Ahead, some of the most revealing moments from Mr. Scorsese.
Scorsese credits his childhood asthma with facilitating his love of cinema.
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” Ray Liotta’s character memorably declares at the end of Goodfellas’ opening scene. But Scorsese himself actually pursued the priesthood before his love of movies took root. He grew up first in Corona, Queens, then in New York City’s Lower East Side after witnessing an altercation between his father, Charles, a Garment District worker, and their landlord. “There was an axe involved. I remember seeing an axe,” Scorsese says in the doc, without elaborating much further. “Violence was imminent all the time.”
When not braving the mean streets or finding refuge in the Catholic Church, an asthmatic Scorsese often visited air-conditioned movie theaters and engaged in people-watching from his apartment window. In the series, Scorsese even credits that particular vantage point with instilling his love of high-angle shots in movies. “Marty’s life depended upon going to movies,” says Goodfellas and Casino screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi. “That’s where he could breathe.” Or as Spike Lee more colorfully puts it: “Thank God for asthma!”
Scorsese fantasized about destroying the rough cut of Taxi Driver after it received an X rating.
After helming the Roger Corman–produced exploitation film Boxcar Bertha (1972), his first De Niro gangster epic, Mean Streets (1973), and Ellen Burstyn’s Oscar-winning turn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Scorsese had his major industry breakthrough with Taxi Driver in 1976—which had a fraught journey to the screen.
Apple announced on Friday that it had signed a five-year deal to bring Formula 1exclusively to Apple TV in the U.S. The deal had been rumored for a while, but now it’s official: Apple just landed one of the world’s most popular—and fastest-growing—sports.
As Apple continues to build out its Apple TV subscription, sports are the obvious place to turn. Apple has dabbled in sports with its MLS package and Friday Night MLB, but this is different. In fact, buried in the press release was something I didn’t expect: Some of it will be free.
Specifically, the company says all practice sessions and select races will be available in the Apple TV app, even for people who don’t pay for an Apple TV subscription. That might sound small, but it completely changes what this deal is really about. Apple didn’t just buy the rights to show F1 races in the U.S., it’s using them to build a funnel.
Look, tech companies have been trying to buy up sports streaming rights every chance they can. The NFL has games on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube. The NBA, which starts its season soon, split its distribution rights across a handful of different platforms. Every one of those platforms hopes to use their slice of the pie to entice customers to sign up for their service.
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Basically, they pay billions to lock something behind a subscription and force you to pay. But Apple isn’t doing that here. At least, not entirely. A lot of the overall F1 content will be available for free in the Apple TV app.
There are a few reasons for that, but the most obvious is that F1 races are currently on ESPN, which is available to millions of people who either get it through their cable bundle or who subscribe to the Disney+ bundle. The sport has exploded in popularity in the U.S., largely thanks to Drive to Survive and the fact that it’s pretty easy to get ESPN. I can’t imagine Formula 1 wanted to cut off that much distribution by locking it all inside an Apple TV subscription.
Apple’s decision to make some of it free solves that. It keeps casual fans in the loop while offering something ESPN never could—a fully integrated experience that spans Apple devices and services.
And it gives F1 something just as valuable: reach. The free sessions will show up in the Apple TV app, which is already installed on millions of devices. That keeps F1 visible even to people who weren’t looking for it.
This deal isn’t structured like Apple’s MLS package, which is a separate subscription. This time, Apple made Formula 1 part of its base Apple TV service and sprinkled in free access for everyone else.
It’s also worth noting that this is Apple’s first move that looks more like ESPN than Netflix. It’s the company’s biggest step yet toward becoming a full-fledged sports network, but one built entirely around Apple’s ecosystem. Formula 1 won’t just live on Apple TV—it’ll show up in Apple News, Maps, Music, Fitness+, and the new Apple Sports app, which will feature real-time leaderboards, standings, and widgets for your iPhone’s home screen. Even F1’s own streaming service, F1 TV Premium, will stay alive and become free for subscribers.
What looked like a sports-rights announcement is really a play for attention. Apple isn’t trying to own sports—it’s trying to own how people experience them. By making part of Formula 1 free, Apple gets the best of both worlds: expanded reach for the sport, and added value for its customers.
The company knows that in an era where everything is behind a paywall, the smartest way to sell exclusivity might be to give a little of it away. And when you think about it that way, the free part of Apple’s F1 deal isn’t surprising at all. It’s inevitable.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
