Elon Musk Pledges to Build iPhone Rival If Apple Ousts Twitter
Elon Musk has pledged to offer an "alternative phone" if Apple and Google remove Twitter from their app stores, adding to long-standing rumors about an iPhone rival from Tesla.
Modified iPhone 11 Pro in the style of the Tesla Cybertruck, by Caviar.Musk's remark came after being asked about the potential scenario of Twitter being removed from app stores, which could conceivably happen if the social media network fails to sufficiently moderate content posted on its platform. Twitter has undergone considerable changes since Musk
acquired the company in October,
losing hundreds of employees and offering
verification via a paid subscription. The questions around the future of Twitter's moderation emerged since Musk has repeatedly expressed his desire to promote free speech, reinstate suspended accounts, and make the platform more open.
While Musk affirmed that he hopes no such clash with Apple and Google will occur, he recently signaled displeasure with Apple's App Store fees and, in light of his plans to significantly expand the Twitter Blue subscription service, further conflict in the future seem likely. Musk's other companies, such as Tesla, have a strained relationship with Apple, and are reluctant to integrate features like Apple Music or CarPlay. There were even rumors that Musk demanded to become Apple CEO in talks over Apple potentially acquiring Tesla.
Musk is behind influential companies such as PayPal, SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and, now, Twitter, so the prospect of him initiating a project to offer a new consumer smartphone to rival the iPhone seems plausible, especially if his companies' relationships with Apple worsen in the future. Tesla making a phone has long been an unsubstantiated rumor on account of its experience with hardware and software, but it may now be more likely given Musk's growing propensity to publicly disagree with Apple.
Popular Stories
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016.
The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...
Between around 2009 and 2011, it was repeatedly rumored that Apple would be releasing a TV, but that obviously never happened.
Now, a decade-and-a-half later, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the idea is back on the table.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman briefly mentioned that Apple has been "evaluating" the "idea of making an Apple-branded TV set." He did not provide any further...
