iOS 19 will feature a redesigned Camera app inspired by visionOS, according to a new video from Jon Prosser, host of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech.
A re-created render of iOS 19's redesigned Camera app (Credit: Front Page Tech)
Prosser obtained video of the alleged new Camera app, but he elected to share his own re-created images to protect his sources. The images reveal that the app will allegedly gain translucent menus for various camera controls, with the design of these menus looking very similar to the visionOS interface on the Apple Vision Pro headset.
The camera controls are split into photo and video categories, with options for recording spatial video, turning on a timer for a photo, and more. Additional controls for video resolution and frame rate pop over at the top of the screen as necessary.
Overall, the new design has a cleaner aesthetic, with more of the Camera app's viewfinder visible on the screen compared to iOS 18.
It is possible the visionOS-like design changes could extend to other iOS 19 interfaces and built-in apps, but this is purely speculation. For example, Prosser visualized the translucent design extending to Home Screen widgets.
iOS 19 should be announced at WWDC 2025 in June, and released in September.
With TikTok on track to be banned from U.S. app stores starting on Sunday, Instagram is adding new features to Reels, its video-based feature that's modeled after TikTok.
Going forward, there will be a new Reels feed that includes videos that your friends have liked or commented on, so you can see what your friends have watched and what they like. Your friends will also be able to see the videos that you have liked, which is something to be aware of.
In this new Reels feed filled with friend recommendations, there will be an option to "start a conversation" with someone over a reel that they've liked.
"We want Instagram to not only be a place where you consume entertaining content, but one where you connect over that content with friends," Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a video announcing the change.
Instagram used to have a dedicated Activity feed that offered up this information, but it was removed several years ago. It is not yet known if Instagram plans to provide an opt-out for the new feed.
The new feed is rolling out in a handful of countries right now, with Instagram set to expand it in the future.
Instagram competitor TikTok could be unavailable to use starting on Sunday, which is the day U.S. app stores will be prohibited from distributing the app. Instagram could absorb some displaced TikTok users if that ends up happening.
Rock Paper Pencil is an all-in-one kit that features a textured screen protector and Apple Pencil tip. The two components of the kit make writing and drawing on the iPad feel like you're writing on a piece of paper instead of on a glossy display.
Writing or drawing on an iPad feels distinctly different from writing or drawing with a paper and a pen, and Rock Paper Pencil does a great job at making you forget you're using a tablet. It feels like writing on paper, and it also sounds like writing on paper.
The screen protector uses NanoCling technology so it adheres to an iPad using static cling, and it can be taken off and put back on as needed with no residue left on the iPad's screen. With NanoCling, the screen protector fits right up to the display of the iPad to provide a flat surface with no gaps or ridges. Because of the slight friction from the texture of the screen protector, there's much more control over stroke output.
Rock Paper Pencil's pencil tip fits on the Apple Pencil Pro (and other Apple Pencil models) and it can hold up to heavy daily use. The tip features a wear-resistant copper alloy core with a palladium exterior coating, and it is equivalent to an 0.7mm ballpoint pen for precision writing and sketching. Astropad includes two pencil tips with the kit, along with a protective storage sleeve so you can tuck away the screen protector when you're not using it.
Priced at $45, the Rock Paper Pencil kit works with all of Apple's modern iPads, including the iPad Air, both iPad Pro models, the sixth-generation iPad mini, and the 7th-generation and later iPad.
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Amazon this week dropped the Apple Pencil Pro back down to $99.00, a match of the accessory's all-time low price. We're still tracking this deal, plus solid savings on MacBook Air, AirTag, and more.
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Apple Pencil Pro dropped to $99.00 on Amazon this week, and it's still available today at this record low price. This is the first major discount on the stylus that we've tracked in 2025.
Amazon and Best Buy introduced solid $200 discounts across the M2 and M3 MacBook Air lineup this week, starting at just $799.00 for the 13-inch M2 MacBook Air at Best Buy.
Jackery has quite a few big discounts across its portable power station lineup this week, available only on Amazon. All of these deals require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the final sale price at checkout.
Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2025? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!
On Sunday, January 19, Apple will need to remove TikTok from the U.S. App Store, because the app will be officially banned in the United States. On the 19th, app distributors and websites will be prohibited from distributing, maintaining, or updating the TikTok app, though the app itself could continue to function on devices where it has already been downloaded. TikTok has said, however, that it plans to shut down the app when the ban begins.
TikTok did not receive a delay or reprieve from the United States Supreme Court, which today said [PDF] that it is upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. TikTok can avoid a ban by severing its U.S. operations from Chinese control, which means that Chinese TikTok parent company ByteDance must divest the U.S. version of the app in order for it to continue to operate.
The law, which passed in April, requires TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company. ByteDance was given nine months to sell the app prior to when the ban was scheduled to go into effect, but the company has focused on appealing the ruling. ByteDance argued that the law was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment, but the Supreme Court maintains that ByteDance does not have First Amendment rights as a Chinese company.
ByteDance has claimed that it is technologically impossible to divest TikTok, both due to the complexity of the code and the rearchitecture needed to uncouple it from ByteDance's software tools. ByteDance does not intend to hand over its proprietary algorithm, and the Chinese government has also opposed a sale so far. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against TikTok, ByteDance and China may reconsider selling the app.
There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights. The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.
Should ByteDance sell TikTok to a U.S. company, TikTok will be able to continue to operate as normal.
The TikTok ban will go into effect one day before Donald Trump takes office, and it is not clear how the administration change will impact the outcome. In a statement to CNN, Trump said "It ultimately goes up to me, so you're going to see what I'm going to do." He went on to say "Congress has given me the decision, so I'll be making the decision."
Trump asked the Supreme Court to delay making a decision and to delay TikTok's ban, but the court declined to do so. It will be up to Trump's administration to enforce the law going forward, and there are avenues that would allow Trump to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling so that TikTok remains operational, including an executive order that delays the ban.
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
It has been nearly three years since Apple released the Studio Display. Below, we recap rumors about a potential next-generation model.
Apple released the Studio Display in March 2022 alongside the Mac Studio. The standalone display features a 27-inch LCD screen with 5K resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, up to 600 nits brightness, a built-in camera and speakers, one Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB-C ports. In the U.S., the Studio Display continues to start at $1,599.
There have been on-again, off-again rumors about Apple planning a new 27-inch external display with mini-LED backlighting, which would allow for increased brightness and higher contrast ratio compared to the current Studio Display. In April 2023, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the display was slated for mass production in 2024 or early 2025. However, it is unclear if that remains Apple's plan.
In November 2024, an anonymous listener of the Relay FM tech podcast "Upgrade" claimed that Apple was developing 90Hz display technology that could be used for the next Studio Display. This higher refresh rate would make content like videos and text while scrolling look smoother to the eye, but 90Hz would stop short of the 120Hz refresh rate that iPhones and Macs with ProMotion support can achieve. It would nonetheless be an improvement.
It is not clear to us if the anonymous tipster has a proven track record with Apple rumors.
That's all we have currently for Studio Display rumors. Given that Apple's higher-end Pro Display XDR was released in 2019, and still has not received any hardware upgrades, it is quite possible that the Studio Display could also linger without upgrades for at least a few more years. Hopefully, though, Apple delivers something sooner.
Earlier this week, Woot brought back a massive sale on the Braided Solo Loop and Solo Loop bands for Apple Watch, and the sale is set to end later tonight. All bands are in brand new condition and come with a one year Apple limited warranty.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Woot says the sale will end at 11:59 p.m. Central Time tonight, although there is a chance it could be extended due to its popularity. Either way, some colors and sizes of the Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop are selling out, so be sure to place your order soon if you want one of these cheap bands.
You can get the Solo Loop for just $19.99 ($29 off) and the Braided Solo Loop for $29.99 ($69 off) in this sale.
Shoppers should note that this sale is focused on colors of the Braided Solo Loop and Solo Loop that Apple has stopped selling, and it doesn't include any of the new band colors. That being said, all of the bands in this sale are in new condition.
The entire sale is focused on Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop Apple Watch bands, so you'll need to know the size that works best for you before you buy. Apple has a measurement tool on its website that you can use to determine your exact size.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
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With so much hype surrounding the return of Severance, it can be easy to forget that another Apple TV+ hit show, Silo, is wrapping up its second season.
Silo follows the lives of 10,000 people living in an underground bunker to escape the seemingly toxic wasteland outside. The people are unaware of why the silo was built, and those who seek the truth face deadly consequences. Rebecca Ferguson stars as Juliette Nichols, an engineer who attempts to unravel the mysteries surrounding the silo following a loved one's murder. The show is based on Hugh Howey's best-selling book series.
Apple says the season two finale of Silo is available to stream starting today, although eagle-eyed fans will know it was actually released at 9 p.m. Eastern Time last night. Severance's season two premiere was released at the exact same time.
Apple recently announced that Silo will be a four-season show, allowing for the complete story from Howey's book series to be acted out.
Severance, meanwhile, is a critically-acclaimed workplace thriller revolving around the mysterious company Lumon Industries. The company's employees cannot recall any memories about their personal lives while they are at work, and likewise they cannot remember anything about the workplace when they leave the office. The series has an ensemble cast that includes Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, and others.
In the second season, Apple says the employees "learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe."
Severance was created by Dan Erickson, and Ben Stiller serves as an executive producer.
Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year in the U.S., and the streaming service is also included in all Apple One subscription bundles.
Amazon today has the USB-C AirPods Max on sale for $449.99 in every color, down from $549.00. This is a new all-time low price on the USB-C headphones, and the first time in 2025 that we've tracked any notable sale.
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.
Colors available on sale include Blue, Midnight, Orange, Starlight, and Purple. Some colors are still available to be delivered in January, but others have started slipping into a February delivery estimate, so be sure to place your order soon if you're interested.
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
Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2025? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!
Apple has launched its dedicated Apple Store app in India, marking another increase in the company's presence in the country (via TechCrunch).
The app builds upon Apple's existing retail infrastructure in India, which includes its online store, which launched in September 2020, and its first physical retail locations that opened in Mumbai and New Delhi in 2023.
The Apple Store app is available in most major markets across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America, but there are still some notable exceptions such as South Korea.
Apple has confirmed plans to open four additional retail stores in Bengaluru, Pune, and other parts of Delhi and Mumbai by 2025. The company has also steadily increased its manufacturing footprint in India, starting with iPhone assembly in 2017 and expanding to include the production of "Pro" iPhone models in 2024.
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year.
Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could update some products that have not received any hardware refreshes in at least a few years, including the iPhone SE, AirTag, Apple TV, HomePod mini, and Mac Pro.
Below, we recap what to expect from Apple this year.
First Half of 2025
The following products are rumored to launch before the end of June.
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report.
The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader.
Vapor chamber technology is already used in many high-end Android devices. Vapor chambers work by spreading heat evenly across a larger surface area, preventing thermal throttling and maintaining consistent performance, which is particularly beneficial in slim devices.
While the notorious thermal issues of the iPhone 15 Pro were seemingly resolved thanks to the iPhone 16 Pro's new aluminum thermal substructure, graphene sheet, and back glass, the report claims that the device still struggles under intense thermal load. A vapor chamber heatsink would apparently resolve this and allow for better sustained performance.
Last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will also have an exclusive cooling system that combines vapor chamber technology with graphene sheets. Contrary to the latest report, Kuo said that the other new iPhone models launching in 2025 will continue to rely solely on graphene sheets.
The supply chain for Apple's upcoming HomePod or smart home "Command Center" with an LCD display is increasingly visible as launch approaches, DigiTimes reports.
The paywalled report claims that the device's 7-inch LCD panel will be exclusively supplied by Tianma Microelectronics in China, corroborating other reports dating back to early 2023.
The display panels are believed to cost just $10 each, undercutting other suppliers. Tianma doesn't currently make any displays for existing Apple products, with the company usually opting for the likes of Samsung Display, LG Display, and BOE.
DigiTimes adds that Taiwan's Radiant Optoelectronics will handle backlight module production, while China's BYD will be the sole assembly partner.
The device was originally rumored launch in early 2024, but faced repeated delays, initially to late 2024. Supply chain sources claim that Apple issued a shipment schedule targeting a launch in March 2025, but this timeline may have now slipped to the second half of 2025.
Apple is planning to introduce a new version of the iPhone SE this year, and alleged dummy models are starting to leak out. Sonny Dickson today shared some images of an iPhone SE 4 dummy model, giving us insight into what it could look like.
For those unfamiliar with dummy models, they are non-functional mockups of new devices that case makers create based on information that leaks out of Apple's partner factories. There is big money in being the first to have a case for a new device, and over the years, leaked dummy models have turned out to be accurate in most cases.
Rumors have suggested the next iPhone SE will look like the iPhone 14, and that seems to be accurate based on the images. There's an iPhone-14 style chassis with an aluminum band, a glass back, and a single-lens rear camera.
There have been suggestions that the iPhone SE 4 could get an Action Button or the Camera Control button that's available on iPhone 16 models, but neither of those features is depicted on these dummy models. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but it does make it less likely because case makers would need to accommodate these features.
The upcoming iPhone SE has been largely referred to as the iPhone SE 4, but there was a recent rumor indicating that Apple might call it the iPhone 16E. Along with the visible features from the dummy model, the iPhone SE is expected to include a faster A17 Pro chip that supports Apple Intelligence, an Apple-designed modem chip, and 8GB RAM. While it will only have that single camera, the camera is the same 48-megapixel Wide camera in the current iPhone 16.
We are expecting to see Apple debut the next iPhone SE sometime in March or April, and it will continue to be the company's lowest-cost device. It could go up in price a bit, but Apple is said to be aiming to keep it below $500.
The second season of hit television show Severance is set to be available to stream starting tomorrow, and Apple is continuing to promote the show. The company's main Apple.com website now has a section dedicated to Lumon Industries, the fictional business that "innies" work for in Severance.
On Tuesday, several key Severance actors attended a promotion at Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The team sat at workstations modeled after the workstations they use on the show, and sat in a glass cube for several hours as part of a live-action Severance event attended by the public and members of the press.
Severance actors have also been attending talk shows. Adam Scott, one of the main characters of the show, visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Scott said that during the promotion at Grand Central Terminal, the actors were locked in the cube for several hours. "None of us peed at all, for three hours," he said. "Didn't leave a glass cube for three hours." Scott went on to say it was a lot of fun, though.
Members of the media have already been able to watch the second season of Severance, and it is so far receiving rave reviews.
The show is available on Apple TV+, Apple's streaming service that's priced at $9.99 per month.
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
For now, summaries for apps in the News and Entertainment category have been disabled. Apple Intelligence will no longer summarize news notifications, but this is temporary and will be reinstated in a future update when Apple has made some changes.
In the Settings app, the Notifications Summaries section makes it clear that this is a beta feature and that errors are a possibility.
During setup, Apple has added the following wording for Notification Summaries: "Summarization may change the meaning of the original headlines. Double check important information."
Summarized notifications are now shown with the text italicized to distinguish them from standard notifications.
Notification Summaries can be disabled on a per-app basis directly from the Lock Screen by swiping on a notification and tapping on the "Options" button to get to an interface for turning off summaries.
All of the Notification Summary changes have been made in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3.
Camera Control
On iPhone 16 models, the Camera Control section in the Settings has a renamed toggle. The toggle for AE/AF lock has been renamed to "Lock Focus and Exposure," which would be clearer to non-photographers who do not know what AE/AF Lock is.
Lock Focus and Exposure is an optional setting that lets you lock your settings with a light press and hold on the Camera Control button, and it is meant to work similarly to a DSLR camera.
Messages
In the Messages sidebar that's accessible by tapping on the "+" button in any conversation, there is now a Genmoji entry, and tapping it takes you to the Genmoji creation interface.
This is simply another way to get to the Genmoji creation tools, which have previously been available by tapping on the emoji keyboard button.
PDF Editing
When editing a PDF through the screenshot interface, if you crop content out, Apple now provides a warning that cropped content is not removed from the PDF.
"Content outside the cropped area won't be visible in most PDF viewers, but it can be made visible in some apps," reads the message.
More Features
Know of something new in the latest iOS 18.3 beta that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.
A minor software update for the Apple TV was released today.
tvOS 18.2.1 is now available for all Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K models. It can be installed on the Apple TV by opening the Settings app and selecting System → Software Updates. It is a minor update with a data syncing bug fix.
According to Apple's release notes, the tvOS 18.2.1 update "addresses an issue where data may not sync correctly across devices."
tvOS 18.2.1 follows tvOS 18.2, which was released in December with a Snoopy screen saver option on the second-generation Apple TV 4K and newer, along with support for ultra-wide 21:9 content with a home theater projector on the third-generation Apple TV 4K.
Next up is tvOS 18.3, which is currently in beta and likely to be released in late January. The update might introduce robot vacuum support in the Home app by time it is released, but otherwise it is shaping up to be a very minor update.
With the iOS 18.3 update, Apple made several changes to the Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries feature that aggregates incoming notifications into a single quick-access message.
For now, Notification Summaries for the News and Entertainment category have been temporarily disabled, and Apple is working on improvements. Notification Summaries for news will return in a future software update.
In the Settings app, when a user activates Notification Summaries, Apple has added a warning that this is a beta feature and that there could be errors.
For summaries that are still available through Apple Intelligence, the text is now italicized as a way to distinguish them from traditional notifications.
There is also now an option to manage whether notifications are summarized for an app right from the Lock Screen. To turn off summaries from the Lock Screen, swipe to the left on a Notification Summary and then tap on options to get to the menu to disable it on a per-app basis.
Apple is making changes to Notification Summaries following complaints that the way Apple Intelligence aggregated news notifications could lead to false headlines and confused customers. Several BBC notifications, for example, were improperly summarized, providing false information to readers.
After BBC News complained, Apple said that it would update Apple Intelligence to cut down on confusion caused by inaccurate summaries. Apple said that a future software update would clarify when notifications were summarized by Apple Intelligence.
Available on compatible devices in iOS 18.1 and later, Apple Intelligence notification summaries are designed to group multiple notifications from the same app together, providing a one-sentence overview of the content. These short summaries can cause problems when AI pulls the wrong details from news stories.
While summaries have been disabled for news for the time being, the feature is still available for other types of apps. Notification Summaries can be turned off entirely in the Notifications section of the Settings app.