Apple appears to be working on a new battery charging feature for iPhone that will show users how much time it will take for their device to reach a full charge.
Code unearthed in the latest iOS 18.2 beta by 9to5Mac references a new "BatteryIntelligence" framework that apparently allows the system to calculate estimated charging completion times. While the feature has yet to be enabled, if Apple does implement it in the public release, iOS 18.2 may be able to notify users about how long it will take their iPhone to reach a specific charge level.
While the underlying framework exists in iOS 18.2 beta 2, it's unclear whether the associated feature will be included in the final release or reserved for a future update. Apple is still releasing a course of iOS 18.2 betas to developers for testing in preparation for a planned release in early December.
Apple appears to be planning an activity challenge to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which was released in 2015. In the latest iOS 18.2 beta, there's a mention of a "Ten Year Celebration" with references to an activity achievement, so it sounds like something is in the works.
While the Apple Watch was introduced at Apple's September 2014 iPhone event, it was not released until April 2015. The delay between the device's introduction and its launch have raised questions about whether the Apple Watch 10th anniversary is in 2024 or 2025.
Apple celebrated the 10th anniversary of the iPhone with the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, and this year, the company highlighted the 10th anniversary of Apple Pay. Apple does see 10th anniversaries as notable, so we can expect something for the Apple Watch.
Back in 2023, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claimed that Apple was planning a complete revamp of the Apple Watch for its 10th anniversary, complete with a magnetic band attachment system and a slimmer design. In September 2024, the Apple Watch did get a design update with larger displays and a thinner chassis, but the device was not branded the "Apple Watch X" as Gurman said it would be, nor did it have a new band attachment system.
It is possible that those updates that Gurman talked about in 2023 will actually come in 2025 as part of an anniversary celebration for the device, but it is unclear because the slimmed down look that Gurman mentioned has already been implemented.
Next year will also mark the 10th anniversary of the Apple Music streaming service, which came out in June 2015. Apple could also have something planned for that anniversary.
Apple and Masimo are back in a California court this week for a bench trial that will see Masimo arguing that Apple illegally poached its employees and stole trade secrets when developing the Apple Watch.
Masimo first filed the trade secret lawsuit against Apple in 2020, and there was a jury trial in April 2023. During that trial, the court threw out more than half of Masimo's trade secret claims, but the judge ultimately declared a mistrial because the jury was not able to come to a final decision. Six of seven jurors sided with Apple, while one Masimo holdout would not change her opinion.
Apple and Masimo were slated to retry the case with another jury, but Masimo abandoned all claims asking for monetary compensation in order to get a bench trial instead. Masimo originally requested $1.85 billion in damages, along with reasonable royalties, lost profits, and a penalty for willful trade secret appropriation.
With the bench trial, Masimo is no longer claiming any monetary damages, but it wants an injunction against the Apple Watch. The bench trial will first determine if there were any trade secret violations, and then the court will consider Masimo's argument for an injunction. It is unclear what injunctive relief Masimo could ask for in this situation, especially as many of the claims in this case have now been thrown out.
During the case, Masimo accused Apple of infringing on 17 patents. After an ITC review, 15 of the 17 patents were invalidated, with two remaining. The patent portion of the trade secret case is on hold.
Note that the Masimo trade secret lawsuit against Apple is separate from both an ITC injunction preventing the sale of Apple Watch models with a blood oxygen sensor and a patent infringement case that Apple filed against Masimo.
Apple is appealing the ITC's Apple Watch injunction, but it has been able to continue selling the Apple Watch by disabling the blood oxygen sensor that allegedly infringes on Masimo's technology. To get the sales ban in the first place, Masimo had to prove that it was using the patents that Apple was infringing, so Masimo rushed to create its own smart watch in 2022, deliberately copying several of Apple's patents.
Masimo's W1 Freedom smart watch was the subject of the patent lawsuit that Apple filed against Masimo, and just last week, a jury decided that Masimo's devices had infringed on Apple Watch patents. Apple says that it only asked for $250 in damages, as the goal of the lawsuit wasn't profit, it was to get Masimo to stop copying the design of the Apple Watch.
The ITC order is the most damaging to Apple because Apple is prevented from selling Apple Watch models with blood oxygen sensing in the United States. Apple believes the appeals court will overturn the ITC's ruling, and the company said this week that it is exploring all possible methods to get blood oxygen sensing back in U.S. Apple Watch models.
Over the last five years, Masimo has been fighting three separate cases with Apple. Masimo did win the ITC ban of the blood oxygen sensing feature, but it ultimately had no material impact on Apple's business because Apple was able to simply disable the feature and continue selling the device. So far, Masimo has not gained much in its legal battle with Apple, and it isn't looking like the trade secret case will go in Masimo's favor.
Apple's new Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip and MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips feature support for the faster Thunderbolt 5 specification, and reputable accessory maker OWC is ready with a new external SSD.
Announced in September, OWC's Envoy Ultra external SSD is compatible with Apple's latest Macs, and it has Thunderbolt 5 support for advertised data transfer speeds of more than 6GB per second. That is up to double the speeds that OWC's previous high-end external SSDs with Thunderbolt 3/Thunderbolt 4 support can achieve.
The external SSD has a built-in Thunderbolt 5 cable, and it is powered by the Mac that it is connected to, rather than an external power supply.
Unsurprisingly, these impressive speeds come at a steeper price compared to the average external SSD. OWC is now accepting pre-orders for the Envoy Ultra through its online store in the U.S., with 2TB and 4TB storage capacities available for $399.99 and $599.99, respectively. Orders are estimated to begin shipping in early November.
OWC plans to announce a Thunderbolt 5 dock with an array of ports later in November.
The European Commission plans to fine Apple for not adequately complying with Digital Markets Act (DMA) requirements for the App Store, reports Bloomberg. Regulators apparently believe that Apple did not implement changes that allowed developers to steer users to cheaper prices outside of the App Store.
Back in June, the EU said that Apple was in breach of the DMA due to its anti-steering rules. The European Commission said that developers should be able to inform their customers of alternative purchasing options, steer them to offers, and allow them to make purchases outside of the App Store.
In August, Apple again changed its App Store rules in Europe to satisfy regulators. Apple began allowing EU developers to communicate and promote offers that would direct customers outside of the App Store, and it marked a significant loosening of Apple's prior rules. Developers are able to communicate discounts and deals without opting into Apple's new developer terms or paying the Core Technology Fee, but Apple is requiring developers to report external purchase transactions and pay an initial acquisition fee and a store services fee.
It is not clear when the European Commission will announce the fine, but it could happen before current competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager leaves the position later this month. It could also be pushed back to later in the year, though.
Exactly how much Apple will have to pay is unknown at this time, but earlier this year, the EU fined Apple $2 billion for anticompetitive behavior against third-party music services. Under the DMA, the European Union can fine Apple up to 10 percent of its global annual sales.
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.
Apple this week announced that its retail store at La Encantada in Tucson, Arizona will be moving to a temporary location that opens Saturday, November 9 at 10 a.m. local time. Apple says the temporary store will be located on the second level of the outdoor shopping center, just in front of the stairs and escalator leading to that level.
Apple will likely renovate its original store at La Encantada while operating out of the temporary location, but the company did not share details or a timeframe. Apple first opened a store there in 2004, and its interior design is now dated.
Last week, we reported that Apple would be opening a relocated store in Fairfax, Virginia, and a temporary store at Roosevelt Field on Long Island in New York. Apple has since announced that both of these stores will open on November 9 as well. Overall, it will be an eventful weekend for Apple retail in the U.S., with three stores on the move.
Apple is planning an Apple Watch Activity Challenge to honor Veterans Day, which takes place next Monday in the United States. Apple Watch owners are tasked with doing any workout for 11 minutes or more on November 11.
Apple Watch owners who complete the challenge will win an Apple Watch activity award in the Fitness app.
Earn this award on November 11 by doing any workout for 11 minutes or more. Record your time with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to Health.
Like all of Apple's Activity Challenges, the Veterans Day event will come with animated stickers that can be found in the Messages app.
Apple's Veterans Day Activity Challenge is offered on an annual basis, and the company often includes other Veterans Day-themed content in the App Store, Apple TV app, Books app, and more.
The first developer beta of visionOS 2.2 came out yesterday, and it includes a much anticipated new feature for Vision Pro users. When using the Vision Pro as a display for a Mac, there are now options to use wide and ultrawide layouts in addition to the standard virtual display.
We thought we'd check out the new display settings for those who might be interested in seeing how this changes the Vision Pro Mac workflow.
With the wide display option, there's enough screen real estate to use four apps at once without compromising on window size. Ultrawide bumps up the available space even more, and it's almost too much display space.
Using the ultrawide setting is like having multiple curved Mac displays in front of you to handle your Mac apps, and then you can also add in visionOS apps to better utilize the virtual space around you. The larger screen sizes for the Mac do improve productivity because there's so much more space to work with.
Note that you still can't use multiple Mac windows when mirroring your Mac display to your Vision Pro, but the wide and ultrawide provide so much space that it's essentially the same function. Apple says that the ultrawide mode is equivalent to using two 4K monitors side by side.
In addition to adding these display modes, Apple improved the quality of the virtual displays so they're crisper and higher resolution, plus audio plays from the Vision Pro rather than the Mac so it sounds better.
visionOS 2.2 is in beta right now, but it will see a launch alongside macOS Sequoia 15.2 and iOS 18.2 in early December.
MacRumors readers can get 20 percent off a collection of Anker's best chargers, power banks, cables, hubs, and docks this month, just in time for holiday shopping. In order to get this deal, head to Anker's website and add an accessory to your cart, then enter the code akmacrumors20ch at checkout to see the discount.
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Our exclusive 20 percent off code works on most accessories sitewide, including Anker's new line of MagSafe-compatible products. Our code does not stack with any existing offers, including any early access Black Friday deals. We've collected some of the best accessories to use our code on in the list below. In some cases Anker's own on-page coupons are better, so we have marked them as such.
Anker is also currently hosting a new Black Friday event where you can buy two accessories to get 20 percent off, or buy three for 25 percent off, so if you plan on buying in bulk this may be a better offer. There are also mystery boxes where you can spend up to $79.99 in order to win a piece of gear worth as much as $799.00.
Don't forget that our exclusive code works with even more devices sitewide. All prices listed below will appear after you enter the code akmacrumors20ch at the checkout screen on Anker's website.
Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.
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Apple's employee count grew in 2024, despite reports that the company had at least four incidents of smaller-scale layoffs this year.
As of late September, Apple had approximately 164,000 full-time employees worldwide, the company disclosed in a filing last week. That's up from the 161,000 full-time employees that Apple reported a year ago. These figures include corporate employees, such as software engineers, and retail employees at its stores.
Apple now has as many employees as it did in 2022, following a slight decrease last year.
Apple's full-time employee counts by year, per the company's filings:
While some other tech companies like Google and Microsoft have laid off tens of thousands of employees over the past two years, Apple has managed to avoid larger-scale layoffs in that time. With its employee count once again at an all-time high, and its quarterly revenues in record territory again, Apple is heading into 2025 on a good note.
When choosing a new Mac, one of the most important decisions you'll make is how much memory to configure. This guide helps you to work out how much RAM you need.
With the advent of Apple silicon and its unified memory architecture in 2020, the traditional understanding of RAM has evolved, leading to new considerations for users when selecting a memory option. Unlike traditional PC RAM, where separate components like the CPU and GPU each have their own dedicated memory pools, Apple's unified memory architecture allows all processing units to access a single, shared pool of high-bandwidth, low-latency memory.
As a result, in Apple silicon systems, data doesn't need to be copied between multiple memory areas, significantly improving speed and power efficiency. By uniting memory, Apple devices with this technology theoretically deliver superior performance across multitasking, creative workflows, and demanding applications while minimizing the latency typically associated with data transfer between separate memory types. With the optimizations of macOS, this means that less memory can go further than before, for most Mac users.
All Mac models now start with 16GB of memory, up from 8GB, with the option to upgrade to higher configurations with build-to-order models. However, choosing to do so can add considerable cost to the base price of a new Mac.
To help you make the best choice for your workflow and budget, here's a breakdown of who should choose each memory tier currently available in the entire Mac lineup and why it may be the right fit for you:
16GB: General users, students, and professionals with standard workloads should opt for 16GB. This configuration is perfect for those who primarily browse the web, stream content, use productivity apps, and perform multitasking. Thanks to the performance of Apple silicon and the efficiency of macOS, 16GB is more than sufficient for a smooth experience with everyday tasks.
24GB: Users who need slightly more headroom for multitasking and moderate creative work should consider 24GB. This tier is ideal for those who work with slightly heavier applications such as video editing, gaming, graphic design, or coding but do not push these tasks to the absolute extreme. It provides an additional buffer for users who run multiple intensive apps simultaneously and perform more multitasking than what 16GB can handle comfortably.
32GB, 36GB, or 48GB: Professionals engaging in intensive creative workflows, such as video editing in 4K, music production with multiple tracks, or large-scale coding projects, should opt for 32GB, 36GB, or 48GB. These configurations suit users who frequently use memory-heavy applications like Adobe Creative Cloud apps, Xcode, or virtual machines. It provides sufficient power for consistent performance without frequent reliance on disk swapping, even under substantial workloads.
64GB: Power users and creative professionals who manage high-resolution media and extensive multitasking should choose 64GB. It is ideal for those working on large 3D modeling projects, editing 8K video, or handling complex simulations and data analysis. This memory quantity should support running multiple virtual machines or advanced software development environments without any slowdown.
96GB: High-end creative professionals and developers handling intensive projects involving large datasets or media should consider 96GB. This tier offers significant overhead for those who need more than 64GB, ensuring seamless performance when editing multiple streams of high-resolution video, detailed 3D rendering, or working with substantial datasets that need to be kept in active memory.
128GB: Professionals in specialized fields like film editing, data science, or engineering should look at 128GB. This memory configuration is designed for workflows that involve extremely large projects and require vast amounts of data to be kept in active memory. It is perfect for those working on high-resolution visual effects in cinema, simulation-based software, or advanced scientific computations, providing robust multitasking and peak performance across demanding tasks.
192GB: Enterprise-level users, researchers, and industry professionals dealing with mission-critical, memory-intensive applications should opt for 192GB. This option is suitable for large-scale data processing, machine learning, or AI development, ensuring maximum efficiency and reducing the need for data swapping between RAM and storage. It is also ideal for developers working on complex server-side projects requiring powerful single-machine testing.
With Apple silicon's Unified Memory Architecture and macOS's efficient memory management, the base 16GB configuration now meets the needs of most users, providing a good balance of cost and performance for everyday computing tasks and moderate creative work.
The increasing importance of demanding artificial intelligence features like Apple Intelligence and the potential for more intensive applications over time mean that those with more demanding workflows or plans for longevity should consider upgrading the memory. Opting for 24GB or 32GB can provide an added buffer for the future, supporting heavier multitasking, creative software, and emerging AI features. Higher configurations, such as 64GB or more, are better for professionals in fields that require significant data handling, including video production, 3D rendering, and machine learning.
For users who already own an Apple silicon Mac, it will be worthwhile to evaluate your current system's performance to determine whether you'll need more memory next time around. Consider whether your current memory configuration handles your typical workload efficiently or if you experience slowdowns during multitasking or when using resource-intensive applications. Ultimately, your decision should balance your current workload, any anticipated future requirements, and cost—especially since adding memory can be expensive and it cannot be changed after purchase.
American automaker General Motors (GM) last year announced it would be phasing out support for CarPlay and Android Auto in its new electric vehicles, in favor of its own software platform called Ultifi. The decision has been very controversial, as many drivers consider CarPlay to be a must-have feature in a new vehicle. In 2022, for example, Apple said 79% of U.S. buyers would only consider a vehicle that works with CarPlay.
To make matters worse, GM's rollout of Ultifi went rather poorly, with some early reviewers of the Chevrolet Blazer EV last year experiencing technical issues with the platform. Some of those problems have since been resolved, but it is clear that the automaker might not be as effective at developing software as a tech company like Apple.
In a statement shared with MacRumors last year, GM said its software strategy is "driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles." In other words, the automaker wants to control the entire in-vehicle experience, which is both a reasonable and a risky decision.
In a recent interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel, GM's senior vice president of software Baris Cetinok further attempted to defend the automaker's decision to phase out CarPlay. Cetinok worked at Apple between 2012 and 2021, helping to spearhead the launch of Apple Pay, Find My, iCloud Drive, and more, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Cetinok joined GM months after it announced its decision to phase out CarPlay and Android Auto, but unsurprisingly he stands by the automaker's decision. He told Patel that GM believes with "strong conviction" that creating its entire in-vehicle experience provides "a better customer experience" with "end-to-end magic."
2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV with GM's Ultifi software platform
"But we have a strong conviction that effort pays off in a better customer experience," said Cetinok, speaking on the Decoder podcast. "You get the most out of your vehicle because now we're the company that builds the vehicle and is also creating the infotainment experience, the cluster experience, the app, and everything. We're going to build that one day and maybe a voice assistant on top of it. The only way you can create that end-to-end magic is to have a strong conviction that you want to own all of these."
He said GM wants to offer a seamless experience that does not require having to switch in and out of phone mirroring systems like CarPlay and Android Auto.
"When you want to create something so seamless, it's hard to think about getting into a car and going, 'Okay, so I'm doing highway trailering, but let me flip to a totally different user interface to pick my podcast,'" said Cetinok. "By the way, it's a single app-obsessed interface — it's still hard to believe. So I pick my podcast, flip back to trailering. Oh, now I can also do Super Cruise trailering. Let me manage that. Then, wait, we're now getting into potentially Level 3, Level 4 autonomy levels that should be deeply integrated with talking to the map where the lanes lie. But wait a minute, the map that I'm using doesn't really talk to my car."
The full transcript of the interview with more CarPlay commentary is available on The Verge.
Black Friday is still a few weeks away, but you can already find great prices on numerous iPads, including the 9th generation iPad, 10th generation iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Of course, there is a chance that we could see better deals on these iPads arrive as Black Friday gets closer. This is a risk anyone has to take while shopping during the holidays, so with that in mind, many of the deals shared below are currently their best prices ever seen. More information on these sales can be found in our Black Friday Roundup.
Unless otherwise noted, all the deals in this guide will be found on Amazon.
We've been tracking a great all-time low discount on the ninth generation iPad since Prime Day, and that discount is still around in November. You can get the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad for $199.99, down from $329.00. At this price, the iPad is a perfect entry-level tablet for a kid or family member who doesn't need the tablet for work-intensive projects.
Apple's 64GB Wi-Fi iPad from 2022 is being discounted to the all-time low price of $299.00 right now on Amazon, from $349.00. This upgraded model comes with a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, A14 Bionic chip for a performance boost, Wi-Fi 6, and more.
Update: This deal has expired. If it returns, we'll be sure to update this section.
Apple's new 8.3-inch iPad mini 7 is down to $399.99 on Amazon, down from $499.00. You'll need to clip an on-page coupon in order to see this deal. This iPad mini has an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display, A17 Pro chip, Wi-Fi 6E, and more.
Update: This deal has expired. If it returns, we'll be sure to update this section.
For the latest iPad Air models, Amazon has a few all-time low prices, including the 256GB Wi-Fi 11-inch iPad Air for $596.00 ($103 off) and the 128GB Wi-Fi 13-inch iPad Air for $691.00 ($108 off). There are a few cellular discounts as well on select M2 iPad Air tablets.
We've begun tracking all of the season's best deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, so be sure to bookmark the page and visit it throughout the season as you do your online shopping. Our roundup mainly focuses on Apple products and related tech accessories.
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Apple on Monday seeded the first beta of tvOS 18.2 to developers for testing, and the upcoming update includes hidden code-level references to new screen savers coming soon, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.
Snoopy
The code shows there will be four categories of screen savers added to the Apple TV, including Snoopy, TV and Movies, Music, and Soundscapes.
TV and Movies
Music
Soundscapes
The new screen savers will likely become visible in a later tvOS 18.2 beta version. Apple's website indicates that the Snoopy and TV and Movies options are "coming late 2024," and the Music and Soundscapes options will likely be available then too. We expect tvOS 18.2 to be released to the public in December, in line with the late 2024 timeframe.
At least some of the new screen saver options, including Snoopy, will require a second-generation Apple TV 4K or newer, according to Apple.
Existing screen saver categories on the Apple TV include Aerials and Memories, along with a Portraits option with clocks added in tvOS 18.0.
Apple News is providing Live Activities support for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing iPhone and iPad users to track electoral results in real time directly from their Lock Screen.
The feature is rolling out for U.S. users over the course of Election Day, November 5, providing continuous updates of the electoral count. So if you're interested, you don't need to repeatedly check news websites or unlock your device.
If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or later model running iOS 16.1 or newer, or an iPad running iPadOS 17 or later, you can activate the feature through the Apple News app. Setting it up in advance ensures you won't miss any updates when coverage begins. Open the Apple News app and tap the prominent "Follow Live" button when prompted.
When active, the Live Activity will appear as an interactive widget on your Lock Screen – you can quickly access detailed coverage with a tap. For iPhone 14 Pro and newer models, updates will also be visible in the Dynamic Island at the top of the display, even if you're doing something else on your iPhone.
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.
A new rumor suggests Apple is developing 90Hz display technology that could make its way to future versions of the Studio Display, iPad Air, and 24-inch iMac, all of which currently feature 60Hz refresh rates.
The claim, spotted by 9to5Mac, comes from an anonymous source who contacted the Upgrade podcast, hosted by Myke Hurley and Jason Snell. According to the source, Apple is working on "a higher refresh rate LCD display with a new liquid motion panel fixed at around 90Hz," with plans to implement the technology across multiple products.
Such a development would be particularly noteworthy for the Studio Display, which hasn't received any hardware updates since its March 2022 launch. Many Apple users had hoped to see a refreshed model before the end of 2024, amid on-again, off-again rumors about a potential upgrade featuring mini-LED technology and ProMotion support. Apple's higher-end Pro Display XDR has also remained unchanged since its 2019 debut.
Display analyst Ross Young, who is known for accurate predictions about Apple's display technology, reported in April 2023 that Apple had abandoned plans for a 27-inch monitor with mini-LED backlighting. That canceled project, which could have been a next-generation Studio Display, was said to include the use of ProMotion technology with refresh rates up to 120Hz. Earlier, Young had anticipated such a display launching in 2022, but the release never materialized.
According to the anonymous source, the 90Hz display technology will debut first in the next-generation M3 iPad Air, expected in early 2025, before expanding to other products. The 24-inch iMac, which just received an M4 update, likely wouldn't see this display improvement until late 2025 at the earliest.
The current Studio Display features a 27-inch 5K LCD panel with 60Hz refresh rate, P3 wide color support, and up to 600 nits brightness, starting at $1,599.
Apple has proposed investing nearly $10 million in Indonesian manufacturing operations in an effort to lift the country's recent ban on iPhone 16 sales, according to sources familiar with the matter (via South China Morning Post).
The investment would establish a factory in Bandung, near Jakarta, where Apple would partner with its suppliers to produce accessories and components for Apple devices. The proposal has been submitted to Indonesia's Ministry of Industry for review.
The manufacturing investment comes in response to Indonesia blocking iPhone 16 sales last month, after it was determined that Apple's local unit failed to meet the country's requirement for 40% domestic content in smartphones. The ban is part of broader protectionist policies implemented under new President Prabowo Subianto's administration, which has also restricted sales of Google's Pixel phones for similar reasons.
Indonesia represents a significant market for Apple, with the country's population of 280 million operating some 354 million active mobile phones. Apple has established four developer academies in Indonesia to train students and engineers, but the country's officials have pressed for more substantial manufacturing investments.
The proposed $10 million facility would mark Apple's first manufacturing presence in Indonesia, potentially helping the company comply with local content requirements. The Ministry of Industry is currently reviewing the proposal and is expected to make a decision soon.
About 9,000 iPhone 16 units have entered Indonesia through personal imports, but these devices are restricted to personal use and cannot be sold commercially under the current ban.
Apple is working on more advanced Siri functionality as part of its Apple Intelligence feature set, and to prepare, it has been providing developers with App Intent APIs so apps will be ready for the new capabilities.
With the latest wave of betas, Apple has a new API that lets developers make onscreen content in their apps available to Siri and Apple Intelligence. From Apple's documentation:
When a user asks a question about onscreen content or wants to perform an action on it, Siri and Apple Intelligence can retrieve the content to respond to the question and perform the action. If the user explicitly requests it, Siri and Apple Intelligence can send content to supported third-party services. For example, someone could view a website and use Siri to provide a summary by saying or typing a phrase like "Hey Siri, what's this document about?"
In the iOS 18.2 beta, ChatGPT integration with Siri allows users to ask questions about photos and documents, such as PDFs and presentations, and get information about them. You can, for example, ask Siri "what's in this photo?" and Siri will take a screenshot and hand it over to ChatGPT. ChatGPT then relays what's in the image, and the same feature works for PDFs and other documents.
It does not seem that the iOS 18.2 ChatGPT integration is the onscreen awareness functionality that Apple has planned for Siri, but it could be related. Apple describes onscreen awareness as the ability for Siri to understand and take action on things on the screen. If someone texts you an address, for example, you'll be able to say "Add this address to their contact card," and Siri will do it. This functionality is not available in iOS 18.2, and ChatGPT is limited to assessing screenshots, but it is somewhat confusing.
Onscreen awareness, like personal context and in-app actions, is a feature that Apple has planned for Siri, but it's probably not something that we're getting this year. Many of the Siri features are coming in a future version of iOS 18, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said we can expect to see them in iOS 18.4, an update set to be released in the spring of 2025.
While there are multiple Siri features that won't be coming until next year, Apple is providing developers with APIs in advance so that developers have several months to prepare and so the features are ready for the public when the updates actually come out.
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2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV with GM's Ultifi software platform
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Snoopy
TV and Movies
Music
Soundscapes
