We're getting close to the launch of new iPhone 18 Pro models that will replace the iPhone 17 Pro models, so MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera decided to take a look back at the iPhone he's been using for close to 12 months.
Ceramic Shield 2 was the best iPhone upgrade this year. Apple said it's more resistant to scratches, and that turned out to be true. Dan goes caseless, and his iPhone 17 Pro has only faint scratches, while the 16 Pro was scratched after three weeks. The iPhone has also survived facedown drops with no damage, but there are a few chips in the aluminum along the edges. There have been reports of the orange color fading over time, but Dan didn't see that with his device.
Battery life was also a standout on the iPhone 17 Pro. It's able to keep up with a full day of heavy use, which is normally only possible with the larger battery in the Pro Max iPhones. Dan swapped to the smaller iPhone 17 Pro over the 17 Pro Max because the battery lasted longer than the 16 Pro battery.
Apple added vapor chamber cooling in the 17 Pro, and that kept the iPhone cooler than normal for most of the year. Dan said his iPhone is running hotter with minor dips in performance, probably because of the iOS 27 beta. Running beta software can affect battery life and device performance.
Rumors suggest the iPhone 18 Pro isn't going to be a huge upgrade over the iPhone 17 Pro, and it's likely prices are going to go up. It's not the worst idea to buy an iPhone 17 Pro now instead of holding out for the iPhone 18 Pro, especially if you have an older iPhone.
Apple will introduce at least five new devices at its iPhone-centric event next month, and it's also possible we'll get devices waiting on Siri AI like the Apple TV.
iPhone 18 Pro
The iPhone 18 Pro is going to look like the iPhone 17 Pro, but with a smaller Dynamic Island. It's getting some internal updates, including a new Wide camera with a variable aperture for more control over lighting and a faster A20 Pro chip built on a new 2nm process. Battery life could improve with the updated chip and an upgraded LTPO+ OLED display, plus Apple could include a more efficient C2 modem and N2 networking chip. Dark Cherry is supposed to be this year's special color, and there will also be a light blue color.
iPhone 18 Pro Max
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same feature set as the iPhone 18 Pro, but it will have a larger battery and a bigger screen. Multiple rumors indicate the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be slightly thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 18 Pro because it is slated to get a bigger battery than Apple used last year.
Both the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max could be up to $300 more expensive than the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple raised prices on Macs and iPads, but is waiting for the September refresh before upping iPhone prices.
Foldable iPhone
Apple's first foldable iPhone is almost ready to launch. The "iPhone Ultra" is expected to have a ~5.5-inch display when closed and a ~7.8-inch display when open. It'll have a 4:3 aspect ratio like an iPad, so when unfolded, it will be similar to using an iPad mini. Apple is supposedly using a hinge design that minimizes the visibility of the crease, and it'll get the same 2nm A20 chip Apple is using in the 18 Pro models.
The foldable iPhone is expected to have dual batteries with one on each side of the device, but it will be limited to a two-lens rear camera system. The iPhone is too thin for the TrueDepth camera system, so it is rumored to use Touch ID instead of Face ID. The foldable iPhone could cost somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500.
We've seen some reports of foldable iPhone manufacturing issues, and rumors that it could launch after the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple could introduce it in September, and then launch it a bit later, which is what the company did for the iPhone X back in 2017.
Apple Watch Series 12
Apple will refresh the Apple Watch this year, but it's going to be a somewhat boring update. No design changes are expected, but it could get a faster S-series chip, and the upgrade could add improvements to some health and fitness features. It could also have a bigger battery for longer battery life.
Apple Watch Ultra 4
There's going to be an Apple Watch Ultra 4, and it will get the same chip upgrade as the Series 12. DigiTimes claimed the Ultra 4 will be thinner with an upgrade to sensing functions, but the site isn't always accurate and no other rumors have backed up the claim.
Other Possibilities
There are home products and Macs Apple could launch before the end of the year, but it's possible Apple will hold a second event sometime in October or November. There are quite a few home devices in development, plus Apple is expected to introduce an all-new home hub, so a second smart home event would make sense.
Home Hub - Apple is working on a home hub with a 7-inch square display. It can be used to control smart home products, view photos, make video calls, and display information. It will have full Siri AI integration, and it will run Apple apps. The hub could come as soon as 2026, but Apple might also hold it until early 2027.
Apple TV 4K - The Apple TV 4K is finally getting an update with a faster processor, more RAM, and a new networking chip.
HomePod mini - Apple will refresh the HomePod mini this year, adding a faster chip and new color options.
HomePod - The full-size HomePod could also get a new chip.
Smart Home Camera - Apple has its own security camera in development, and it could launch alongside the home hub.
Other late 2026 possibilities include an OLED iPad mini, a refreshed 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip, an iMac with an M6 chip, a high-end OLED MacBook Pro with touchscreen, a new Mac mini, and a new Mac Studio, but it's very doubtful these products would debut at the September iPhone event.
What's Not Launching
Apple isn't going to release a standard iPhone 18 in September 2026. The lineup will instead focus on more expensive iPhones. The iPhone 18, iPhone 18e, and iPhone Air 2 will come out in spring 2027 instead. Apple does not plan to refresh the Apple Watch SE this year.
Hello, Ternus. Goodbye, Cook
Tim Cook is stepping down from his role as CEO on September 1 to become Apple's executive chairman, and John Ternus is taking over. Ternus will lead Apple's September iPhone event, and it's likely we won't see Cook during Apple's presentation.
Likely Event Dates
Given historical iPhone event dates, this year's presentation is most likely going to happen on Tuesday, September 8 or Wednesday, September 9. September 7 is Labor Day, and Apple may not want to make members of the media travel on a holiday.
Australia's ChannelNews said Apple's event will take place on September 8, but it's not clear if that's accurate information.
If the event is on September 8 or September 9, pre-orders would normally be on Friday, September 11. That date marks the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so Apple might avoid holding pre-orders on that day. Instead, we could get pre-orders on Saturday, September 12, which is what Apple did when the iPhone 6s pre-order date fell on 9/11 in 2015.
The Ted Lasso season 4 premiere was Apple's most popular TV show debut to date, according to Nielsen viewing data Apple sent to Deadline. The show racked up 296.6 million viewing minutes in the United States across the August 4 and August 5 launch window. It beat the premieres of prior seasons of Ted Lasso, plus the Severance and Pluribus premieres.
On just August 5, the first episode was the most-streamed program in the United States with more than 200 million viewing minutes.
Season 4 premiered more than three years after the season 3 finale aired, but the long break doesn't appear to have soured Ted Lasso fans. It initially seemed like season 3 might be the final season for the series, so a season 4 was more of a surprise than a wait.
In the fourth season, the show returns to its underdog roots with Ted Lasso moving back to Richmond to coach a second-division women's football team.
There are two episodes of season 4 available now, and new episodes come out every Wednesday.
Apple TV is priced at $12.99 per month, and it can be watched across Apple devices, on popular smart TVs, on set-top boxes like Roku, on gaming consoles, and on the web. Apple TV is also included in Apple One subscription bundles. New subscribers can get a seven-day free trial.
Apple today submitted a court-ordered proposal outlining the commission it believes is reasonable to collect from U.S. apps that link to purchase options outside of the App Store.
Apple is asking for half of its commission on standard apps, so apps that would pay 30 percent for an in-app purchase would pay 15 percent when linking to a web purchase option. Small Business Program participants that would normally pay 15 percent would pay 5 percent.
15 percent - Standard apps.
10 percent - Apps that are part of the News Partner Program, Video Partner Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, and subscription renewals.
5 percent - Apps that qualify for the Small Business Program. Apps qualify if they earn under $1 million per year.
These proposed fees are what developers would pay when someone uses their app, taps a link in the app, and then makes a purchase on the website in the link. So if someone using the Spotify app clicked a link in the app to go to the Spotify website and then purchased a subscription, Spotify would owe Apple a 15 percent fee. Apple says the fees were calculated based on expert analysis, and they are lower than the link-out rates Google is charging in the Epic v. Google case.
Apple submitted the proposal to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has been tasked with determining a reasonable fee for Apple to charge for its intellectual property.
The appeals court suggested the commission could be limited to the direct costs of facilitating link-outs, and under that approach, the fee would be zero. Apple says a zero commission would not reflect the value that it provides developers, and its suggested commission gives it fair compensation for the App Store platform.
As a recap, Apple was ordered to change its App Store rules to allow developers to link to purchase options outside of the App Store way back in 2021 during its legal dispute with Epic Games. Appeals delayed the App Store update for several years, but Apple eventually implemented a 12 to 27 percent fee that was nearly identical to its regular App Store fees when taking into account fees from third-party payment processors.
Epic Games complained about Apple's fee structure, and Judge Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in contempt of court. In April 2025, she barred Apple from charging any fee on links, and since then, Apple has collected no money when an app sends users to a website to make a purchase. Apple appealed the ruling, and the appeals court upheld the contempt ruling, but said Apple was entitled to be compensated for its intellectual property. The appeals court sent the case back to the district court and Gonzalez Rogers to determine an appropriate fee.
With a loss on the contempt finding from the appeals court, Apple appealed to the Supreme Court. The justices agreed to hear the case in the term that starts in October. Apple tried several times to get the fee calculation paused until the Supreme Court rules on the case, but it was not successful.
The district court will now evaluate Apple's fee proposal and hear a response from Epic Games, and Apple will need to implement the fee the court sets. Apple wanted to pause fee calculations because if the Supreme Court decides the appeals court erred when upholding the contempt ruling, it could nullify the district court's ruling barring Apple from charging fees.
Samsung launched new foldable smartphones earlier this month, including the Galaxy Z Fold8. If you didn't know it was a Samsung device, you might look at it and think it's Apple's foldable because it matches rumors about the iPhone Ultra so well.
The Z Fold8 is likely to be the closest competitor to the foldable iPhone Ultra, which makes iFixit's teardown of Samsung's smartphone an interesting read. Will Apple's foldable have some of the same troubles as the Z Fold8, or has Apple solved the issues plaguing foldable smartphones?
Hinges have been a failure point on foldable smartphones, and it's a design problem Samsung hasn't been able to solve. The Fold8 has a dust-and-water ingress rating of IP48, so it's resistant to water, but not to dust. It's hard to keep dust away from a smartphone, and when dust gets inside, it gums up the hinge mechanism and it fails.
iFixit did a dust test on the Z Fold8, putting particulates in the hinge. It resulted in "truly awful crunching and grinding noises" and then the device stopped opening normally. Dust that made its way into the hinge did stay out of many of the sealed portions of the phone, but if a foldable smartphone isn't folding, there's still a major issue.
An IP4X dust rating means the Z Fold8 is resistant to particles 1mm in size and greater, but as iFixit found, many sand and dust particles are smaller than that. iFixit said beach sand measured 0.16mm, and the powder it used was 0.04mm.
Samsung used a new hinge design for the Z Fold8 and added a titanium-reinforced display structure that helps the screen open flatter, but it couldn't get rid of the crease entirely. Creases in foldables can become more visible over time as the device is opened and closed, and a recent Tom's Guide review said the crease in the Z Fold8 became more visible after just seven days.
iFixit was not impressed with the repairability of the Z Fold8, and it earned a repairability score of 4/10. The bezel around the inner display broke into pieces as it was removed, and there's no way to get to the hinge without removing the display. Batteries also aren't easy to replace because doing so requires removing the outer display. "It's an expensive, painful repair even when everything goes right," said iFixit.
The Z Fold8 has a tablet-like look and feel with a 5.5-inch screen when closed and a 7.6-inch screen when open. Most of Samsung's prior foldables have been tall and narrow, but this one is closer to an iPad mini, and its dimensions nearly match those rumored for Apple's foldable.
Apple waited to make a foldable iPhone because it wanted a device that had a minimal crease. Rumors suggest it is using a display panel created by Samsung Display and liquid metal for the hinge, along with optically clear adhesive to make the crease disappear as much as possible.
iFixit will likely do the same hinge test when the foldable iPhone comes out, and we'll know whether Apple "solved" the crease and hinge issue or will be dealing with the same problems. The foldable iPhone Ultra will be introduced at Apple's annual September event alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Google's new Pixel 11 Pro Fold has an IP68 dust-and-water-resistance rating with a gearless hinge design, so it will presumably fare better than the Z Fold8 in a dust exposure test. It launches on August 20.
Apple today added the iPhone X and the 2018 model of the 15-inch MacBook Pro to its obsolete products list, according to an updated support document.
Released in November 2017, the iPhone X was the first iPhone with an OLED display and Face ID. The lack of a Touch ID home button resulted in the device having a more edge-to-edge screen with a notch for the front camera and Face ID sensors. The device featured a premium design with a glass back and a stainless steel frame.
When an iPhone becomes obsolete, it is no longer eligible for repairs or other hardware service at Apple Stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers.
Apple considers a product to be obsolete once seven years have passed since it stopped distributing the product. Apple stopped selling the iPhone X in September 2018, but the device remained available at select resellers for longer.
iOS 16 was the final major software version compatible with the iPhone X.
Apple today opened its Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) in Houston, Texas. It's located in the same Houston facility where Apple makes AI servers and will start manufacturing the Mac mini this year.
Small and medium businesses can visit the 20,000-square-foot facility for free training and educational sessions, taking advantage of interactive labs, tools, and equipment, including a holographic lab table. Apple says participants can learn the "same innovative processes" used to make Apple devices.
"In less than nine months, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this Houston facility. We stood up a factory, started production, and shipped the first advanced AI servers off the line. Today, we're thrilled to open our new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a place where businesses, workers, and students can learn the same innovative processes that we use to make Apple's most groundbreaking products. And we're pleased to begin Mac mini production later this year," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We believe in American workers and American ingenuity, and we are moving at an incredible pace because we want to build more than great products. We want to build the future of American manufacturing."
Apple experts will hold sessions on topics like advanced manufacturing principles for final assembly and design considerations for printed circuit board assembly, and lead interactive workshops that use the site's representative production facility and equipment. Apple says participants will learn to identify and adapt to production challenges in real time.
In the future, the AMC will offer hands-on training to local college students.
The location is part of Apple's pledge to spend $600 billion to support manufacturing in the United States. Businesses interested in visiting the AMC can sign up for notifications about future sessions on Apple's website.
It is now mid-August, meaning that Apple's annual iPhone event is just around the corner. Below, we take a look at when the event might be held this year.
This September, Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and an all-new foldable iPhone that will reportedly be named the iPhone Ultra. The regular iPhone 18, a lower-end iPhone 18e, and the iPhone Air 2 are not expected to be announced until around March 2027, as part of a new launch strategy.
Australian media outlet ChannelNews today published an "exclusive" report claiming that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra event will take place on Tuesday, September 8. However, this date is questionable, as Apple has never held its iPhone event one day after Labor Day. Historically, there has always been at least a two-day gap between the holiday and the event, so it is more likely to fall on Wednesday, September 9 or later this year.
If the event were to fall on Tuesday, September 8 or Wednesday, September 9 this year, pre-orders would ordinarily begin on Friday, September 11. However, that Friday will mark the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so Apple may want to avoid starting pre-orders that day out of respect. Perhaps for this reason, when the iPhone 6s event fell on Wednesday, September 9 in 2015, pre-orders began on Saturday, September 12.
It would be a lot smoother for Apple to skip the week of Labor Day and the 9/11 anniversary entirely and hold its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra event the following week instead. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the event will take place in the first half of September, which would make Tuesday, September 15 the latest possible date.
If the event falls on Monday, September 14 or Tuesday, September 15, then pre-orders would likely begin on Friday, September 18, and the devices would likely launch Friday, September 25. It remains to be seen if the iPhone Ultra is available at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro models, but it might be limited to the U.S. at first either way.
Since 2020, iPhone event videos have been pre-recorded, but in recent years Apple has invited select reporters to the Steve Jobs Theater to watch the video in person. Afterwards, attendees receive hands-on time with the new devices.
The table below provides an overview of dates for the last six iPhone events, with 2020 being an outlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Towards the end of July, we began tracking major discounts on the 2026 MacBook Pro, with up to $500 off select models on Amazon. These sales are still available right now, and Amazon has even sweetened the pot for select devices with sales that are better than we saw during the July event.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
14-Inch MacBook Pro
Prices start at $2,259.99 for the 24GB/1TB 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro, down from $2,499.00. Amazon is also providing $300 off the 15-Core/24GB/2TB model, as well as $500 off the M5 Max 26GB/2TB model, both of which are solid low prices in the wake of the recent price hikes.
In terms of the larger display models, we're tracking discounts on all four models on Amazon. These start at $2,759.99 for the 24GB/1TB M5 Pro configuration ($239 off), and reach up to $4,499.00 for the 48GB/2TB M5 Max device ($500 off).
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
Deals Newsletter
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Apple has again added a collection of classic movies to Apple TV that subscribers can now stream at no extra cost.
The films are located in a new "Great Movies Available Now on Apple TV" carousel inside the Apple TV app. So far, free titles are showing up for subscribers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with the exact selection differing by country. In the U.S., 19 movies are available:
21 Jump Street
Arrival
The Aviator
A Beautiful Mind
The Bourne Identity
Charlie's Angels
E.T.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Gone Girl
I, Robot
Looper
The Martian
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The Proposal
The Rookie
The Sixth Sense
Titanic
Zodiac
Zoolander
Other countries such as the United Kingdom appear to have much smaller collections of movies, with only six titles available.
These licensed titles sit alongside Apple's own catalog, which now includes more than 300 original productions.
It is not clear whether this is a lasting change to the catalog or a short-term feature. Apple added 51 licensed films under a "Great Movies on Apple TV+" label in March 2024, then followed up with roughly 30 more titles the next month, and neither run lasted more than a few weeks.
Apple's upcoming foldable "iPhone Ultra" may see a staggered country-by-country launch over several months, with initial availability limited to the U.S. market, according to an Australian publication.
In a report labeled "exclusive," ChannelNews said today it has been told by local carriers and one major retailer that Apple's first foldable iPhone will be a "no show" when the iPhone 18 Pro models launch in September, despite being unveiled together. Instead, Apple will release the book-style device in the U.S. market first, followed by key markets including China over two or three months.
The staggered launch is said to be due to supply setbacks and "pricing problems." The publication's sources also claim that Apple is "having testing issues with production models that have already been built."
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed last month that Apple would unveil its first foldable iPhone at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but that iPhone Ultra pre-orders would start at a later date than the latter models.
Kuo said manufacturing challenges have limited early production, but this is the first time we have heard that a staggered country rollout could be another consequence of continuing supply issues.
Vision Pro All Over Again?
It wouldn't be the first time Apple has launched a new product in a staggered manner. When the Vision Pro launched in February 2024, it was only available in the U.S. initially. The headset was later launched in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore in June, followed by Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK in July.
The reasons for the Vision Pro's staggered launch came down to low volume production, retail store readiness, and the fact that it was an entirely new category for Apple. All three could arguably apply to the company's first foldable.
Multiple reports have suggested the iPhone Ultra's production has faced hurdles because of the complexity of the device, with the hinge structure and display durability testing having been the principal bottlenecks. However, those issues were thought to have been resolved during trial production at Foxconn, with Apple subsequently raising its order to around 10 million units, up from 7-8 million units for the year, according to Nikkei Asia.
That said, 10 million units amounts to only a third of Kuo's forecast of 20-22 million units for iPhone 18 Pro models this year. Meanwhile, Kuo still believes Apple's supplier will ship only 7-8 million foldable iPhones in 2026. At such a relatively small number, Apple would presumably struggle to stock 40+ countries on launch day.
It's worth bearing in mind that a staggered market launch is a claim made by the report's sources, and remains uncorroborated. Either way, we should know for sure soon enough. The iPhone Ultra's unveiling is only a matter of weeks away, and we're expecting it to feature an inner display of around 7.7 to 7.8 inches, a 5.5-inch cover screen, a thickness of roughly 4.5mm, and a starting price above $2,000. Apple's iPhone event is most likely going to happen on Tuesday, September 8 or Wednesday, September 9.
Apple today confirmed that its Apple Festival Place store in Basingstoke, England will permanently close in November 2026, while a nearby store in Reading undergoes a major expansion and will reopen with a new design in the following month (via 9to5Mac).
Apple The Oracle will become the closest replacement at around 18 miles from the old Basingstoke location, with Apple WestQuay in Southampton roughly 30 miles away and Apple Bentall Centre about 35 miles away as the next closest alternatives.
Apple Festival Place opened in August 2011, while Apple The Oracle first opened in the Oracle Shopping Centre in June 2011, so both stores are marking just over 15 years in operation as one closes and the other is rebuilt. Apple Festival Place will continue operating normally until November, and its staff will have the opportunity to move to Apple The Oracle or another location once it shuts.
Apple The Oracle is due to reopen in December with the features found in Apple's newest stores, including an experience room for trying out certain products, a dedicated Genius Bar, an Apple Pick Up area for collecting online orders, and free Today at Apple sessions.
The closure and rebuild are part of Apple's ongoing plan to open, relocate, and remodel dozens of stores worldwide. In the UK alone, Apple relocated its Touchwood store in Solihull to a much larger unit last summer and expanded its Trafford Centre store near Manchester earlier this year, while Apple Birmingham is said to be getting a series of upgrades.
The Basingstoke closure follows a more contentious round of U.S. store closures earlier this year, when Apple permanently shut three retail locations, including Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland, the first Apple store in the U.S. to unionize.
The base iPhone 18 model that Apple is expected to release by March 2027 will be equipped with 12GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the iPhone 17, according to analyst Jeff Pu.
Pu's latest assessment, if accurate, would see the iPhone 18 gaining the same amount of memory as the iPhone 17 Pro models. Analyst Dan Nystedt claimed the same RAM upgrade for the iPhone 18 back in April.
That said, their predictions conflict with the most recent report on the subject from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said both the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e would have only 9GB of RAM. This would prevent the devices from supporting some Apple Intelligence features.
However, Pu agrees with Kuo that the lower-cost iPhone 18e – also coming in the spring – will come with 9GB of RAM, based on his own sources and supply chain information. Both models are expected to be powered by the A20 chip.
Interestingly, Pu additionally believes that the regular iPhone 18 will feature a narrower Dynamic Island. Most of the rumors about a smaller Dynamic Island have pertained to the iPhone 18 Pro models, but Chinese leaker Ice Universe has also claimed the smaller Dynamic Island will be adopted across the iPhone 18 lineup.
Following its username feature rollout, WhatsApp is now letting users save a contact's username when they add their name and phone number. The username field is shown between the first and last name fields and the phone number section.
You can add a new contact in WhatsApp by tapping the + button in the navigation bar of the Chats tab. According to WABetaInfo, when usernames become more widely available, WhatsApp will populate the username field automatically when users create a new contact from the chat info screen.
The European launch follows the company's back-to-school promotion rollout in the United States and several other regions and territories last month.
The offer is aimed at college students and educational staff and includes a gift card worth up to £120/€120 with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad. Turkey is the exception, where buyers of eligible Macs and iPads can choose a four-pack of AirTags at no additional charge, or they can pay extra for various AirPods models or (when purchasing an iPad) an Apple Pencil Pro.
Note that the MacBook Neo is not an eligible product in any of the countries, and the iPad mini, entry-level iPad, and desktop Macs are excluded too.
Apple has approached publishers to establish content deals that would give Siri AI access to current news and information, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Apple is proposing multiyear agreements where publishers would receive payment when their content is used, which is different from standard AI deals. Typical deals between AI companies and news organizations have set fees for broad content access. Apple has discussed a nine-figure budget for the payments.
The Wall Street Journal says Apple previously inked deals that included AI training rights. Apple has also worked with publishers for its Apple News+ service since 2019, though some publishers were unhappy with the content deals and ended their partnerships.
Siri AI is set to launch this fall in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. Siri AI is a major departure from the prior version of Siri, and Apple has an incentive to ensure accurate news headlines. An iOS 18 notification summary feature turned out to be an embarrassment after Apple Intelligence generated false headlines that misled users. Apple ended up removing news summaries for more than a year while it made improvements.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan today granted Apple a one-day stay in its legal fight with Epic Games, giving Apple more time to outline the fees it wants to charge developers for linking out to purchase options on the web.
Just yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied Apple's request for a stay in the proceedings, giving Apple 24 hours to deliver its fee proposal. Apple then submitted an emergency filing to the Supreme Court, arguing that fee calculations should be paused until the justices hear the case and make a decision on the contempt ruling. If the contempt ruling is thrown out, fee proceedings won't be necessary.
Bloomberg says the short stay is meant to give the high court more time to consider Apple's request. Without the pause, Apple would have needed to submit its proposed fees to the court by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. Apple now has until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, unless the Supreme Court gives the company a longer reprieve. Kagan already denied a similar stay request earlier this year.
The fight over fees is part of an ongoing dispute with Epic Games that started in 2020. Apple won the initial legal fight and wasn't declared a monopolist, but the company was ordered to change its anti-steering rules to let developers link to non-App Store purchase options. Apple did so, but charged fees that were almost identical to standard App Store fees.
Epic Games accused Apple of violating the injunction, and the court agreed. Apple was found in contempt of court for willfully violating the original ruling, and barred from collecting fees on links in the U.S. App Store.
An appeals court ruling upheld the contempt decision, but said Apple was due reasonable fees for its intellectual property. The case was sent back to district court to determine what a reasonable fee might be. Apple then appealed to the Supreme Court, and the justices agreed to hear it.
Apple wants the Supreme Court to throw out the contempt ruling, negating the order barring it from collecting fees and the subsequent appeals court order mandating reasonable fee calculations. Apple has argued that regulators worldwide are watching to see what a U.S. court considers a reasonable rate, so fee proceedings set a reference point even if the contempt ruling is thrown out.
Apple has not collected fees from link-outs in the U.S. since April 2025, and the company would rather continue to collect no money while it exhausts all appeals than have the court establish a rate.
Google raised the price of its latest smartphones compared to last year, and the increase may hint at what Apple will do with the iPhone 18 Pro models.
All of Google's Pixel starting prices are $100 higher than they were last year.
Pixel 11 - $899, up from $799
Pixel 11 Pro - $1,099, up from $999
Pixel 11 Pro XL - $1,299, up from $1,199
Pixel 11 Pro Fold - $1,899, up from $1,799
The 41mm Pixel Watch 5 is now $399, up from $349, and the 45mm model is now $429, up from $399.
With the price hikes, Google increased the base storage for some of its devices, which Apple did with the iPhone 17 Pro. The Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro now start with 256GB instead of 128GB, so pricing is technically the same as last year's 256GB model. The Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold started with 256GB last year and still do, so those devices have straight price increases.
Google also cut RAM in some models to mitigate costs. The base Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL have 12GB RAM instead of 16GB RAM. Last year, all Pixel 10 Pro devices had 16GB RAM, but this year, Pixel users need to pay at least $1,219 for 11 Pro and $1,419 for the 11 Pro XL to get 16GB RAM.
A customer buying the Pixel 11 Pro will now pay $100 more for a 128GB storage increase and 4GB less RAM than the 10 Pro last year.
Google is heavily emphasizing trade-in offers, which has the effect of distracting customers from the price increase. Google's product page lists trade-in discounts before actual pricing, stating the Pixel 11 Pro is priced "From $499" with trade-in, while the Pixel 11 Pro XL is "From $699." Purchase pages for the new devices don't even reveal full pricing for a chosen model until a customer declines a trade-in. Google also shows carrier discounts and monthly payment options.
Apple already focuses on trade-in offers and monthly financing when launching new iPhones, but whether it will go as far as Google remains to be seen. Apple recently announced the Apple Upgrade program in partnership with Klarna, offering fee-free 12-month through 36-month payment plans for purchases.
Google told Engadget that despite the decrease in RAM, this year's models will perform faster than the comparable 2025 models.
Pixel's full stack approach allows us to optimize the way on-device models load and execute, keeping our hardware lean, fast, and highly responsive. In fact, through software and silicon optimization, you can expect faster and smoother performance from this year's Pro models when compared to last year's comparable 256GB SSD SKUs.
Both Apple and Google have been affected by memory price hikes that Apple CEO Tim Cooklikened to a "100-year flood." He said there have been "exponential increases in memory prices," leading the company to raise the cost of its iPads and Macs. Memory chips for consumer devices are in short supply because chip manufacturers are prioritizing chips for AI data centers. The lack of supply has caused RAM prices to skyrocket.
iPhone prices have not increased yet, even though other manufacturers like Samsung have raised prices. Multiple rumors suggest iPhones will be more expensive starting in September. Apple could use the same tactic as Google and increase base storage while hiking prices, but so far it doesn't look like the company will lower the amount of RAM in the Pro models.
The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max already start with 12GB, and Apple likely can't make major changes without impacting the Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features it is rolling out this fall.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
Following its 
