MacRumors

Popular camera app Halide was today updated with new features for the Camera Control button available on the new iPhone 16 models. Halide already supported opening the app with Camera Control, but now users can also make adjustments.

halide camera app
Using the Camera Control's touch and swipe-based gesture support, Halide users can adjust focus and exposure, and lock their settings in place. The dedicated "Locked" adjustment makes sure that no settings can be disturbed from accidental swipes on the Camera Control button, and it is designed for people who do not want to use manual adjustments.

The Exposure setting allows users to set an exposure bias that exceeds what's possible with Apple's Camera app (-/+ 6 EV vs. 2), and Focus allows for manual focusing on a subject or scene using the Camera Control button. Halide says that Focus provides a smooth manual focus experience with the iPhone.

In addition to these changes, Halide has added a quicker way to capture a photo. Halide takes the photo when the Camera Control button is pressed, while the Camera app from Apple takes the image when the button is released. The difference is minor, but fractions of a second can sometimes make a difference.

Halide says that the quick snap feature works well with the 48-megapixel ProRAW Zero Shutter Lag feature in the app, as well as with Process Zero, an option that Halide added to take 12-megapixel images with no AI and minimal processing.

Halide can be downloaded from the App Store. The app is priced at $2.99 per month, $19.99 per year, or $59.99 for a one-time purchase. [Direct Link]

Tag: Halide

Over the past year and a half or so, some owners of the 24-inch iMac with the M1 chip have encountered horizontal lines abruptly appearing on the computer's screen. There are complaints about this issue across the Apple Support Community, MacRumors Forums, Reddit, iFixit Answers, and several other websites, but it is unclear how many customers are affected in total, or what the underlying cause of the problem is.

M1 iMac Horizontal Lines
The lines continue to appear on the screen even after the iMac is restarted, and no other solutions have been identified, according to the complaints.

Many affected users said the lines began appearing on the screen around 18 to 24 months after they purchased the iMac. As a result, the affected iMac units are often no longer covered by Apple's standard one-year warranty at the time the issue begins, unless the customer purchased extended AppleCare+ coverage. Some customers who contacted Apple about the issue said the company offered them an exemption, resulting in their iMac being repaired for free, but other customers said they had to pay for service.

One symptom commonly mentioned is the top-right corner of the iMac becoming hot to the touch after the issue begins, but there is no confirmed cause.

Given that these complaints have been continuously popping up for nearly two years now, there may be a hardware issue with this particular iMac model, which launched in May 2021. We have not seen widespread complaints about this issue affecting the iMac with the M3 chip, although that model was released less than a year ago.

Apple offers service programs for some hardware issues, but it is unclear if it will ever launch one for this iMac issue. We have reached out to Apple for comment on this matter, and we will update this story if we receive a response.

Related Roundup: iMac
Buyer's Guide: iMac (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iMac

We're just one week out from Amazon Prime Day, and today we're already tracking a big collection of deals from popular brands including Anker and Jackery on Amazon. These deals include portable power stations, which are high-capacity portable batteries that can provide backup power to a wide variety of devices, from laptops to RVs.

anker jackery blueNote: 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.

For the Anker deals, you'll need to have a Prime membership in order to see some of these discounted prices, while others require an on-page coupon to be clipped before you see the final deal price. In regards to the Jackery discounts, some of these also require an on-page coupon in order to see the deal prices.

Anker

Jackery

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

When you shoot video on iPhone 16 models, multiple formats like Spatial Audio and Stereo are recorded to allow more audio customization. If you record video with Spatial Audio turned on, you can later edit the video sound — to reduce background noise to focus on the person speaking on camera, for example.

audio mix iphone 16
Spatial Audio is automatically enabled on all iPhone 16 models when you record video. Spatial Audio produces a more realistic and immersive audio recording, but it also allows you to edit the sound of your video later in the Photos app using the new Audio Mix feature.

Audio Mix uses machine learning to identify and separate background audio and speech, allowing you to choose one of the following options to remix your video's sound:

  • Standard: Play the original audio you recorded.
  • In-Frame: Reduce sounds and voices from sources not visible in the video frame.
  • Studio: Reduce background sounds and reverb, to make it sound more like you’re recording in a professional studio.
  • Cinematic: Put all the voices onto a front-facing track and leave environmental noises in surround, like the audio in movies.

Editing With Audio Mix

The following steps show you how to edit the audio of a video captured on iPhone 16:

  1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
  2. Open a video, then tap the Edit icon (it looks like three sliders).
  3. Tap Audio Mix, then choose one of the following: Standard, In-Frame, Studio, and Cinematic.
  4. Drag the slider below the mix options to increase or decrease the effect and background noise levels.
  5. Tap Done to finish.

photos

That's all there is to it. On iPhone 16 models, when you record video with Spatial Audio or Stereo, wind noise is automatically reduced while recording. You can turn off this this setting by going to Settings ➝ Camera ➝ Record Sound, then turning off Wind Noise Reduction.

Related Roundups: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro

Apple's budget-friendly iPhone SE is set for a major overhaul with a fourth generation model expected to launch in spring 2025. The upcoming model will mark a significant departure from its predecessors, adopting several features from higher-end iPhones while maintaining its position as the most affordable new model in Apple's lineup.

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 2
According to recent reports, the iPhone SE 4 will sport a design reminiscent of the iPhone 14, featuring a larger 6.1-inch OLED display. This marks a substantial increase from the current model's 4.7-inch LCD screen and brings the SE line in line with Apple's flagship devices in terms of display technology.

The move to OLED is part of Apple's broader strategy to phase out LCD displays across its iPhone lineup. This shift will impact longstanding suppliers like Japan Display and Sharp, who have primarily provided LCD panels for previous SE models.

In terms of performance, the iPhone SE 4 is rumored to be powered by the A18 chip, which debuted in the iPhone 16 series last month. The device is also expected to make the switch from Touch ID to Face ID, marking the end of the road for the iPhone's physical Home button.

Other notable upgrades include:

  • USB-C port, replacing the Lightning connector.
  • Action button, a feature introduced with the iPhone 15 Pro.
  • Apple-designed 5G modem.
  • 48MP rear camera, up from the current 12MP sensor.
  • 8GB of RAM, double the current model's 4GB.

The increase in RAM is particularly significant, as it will enable the iPhone SE 4 to support Apple Intelligence, the company's suite of AI features, which are expected to begin rolling out with the release of iOS 18.1 later this month. This inclusion would make the SE 4 the most affordable iPhone capable of running these advanced AI features (something last year's standard iPhone 15 models are unable to do).

Despite these substantial upgrades, Apple is expected to maintain the iPhone SE's position as a budget-friendly option. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests the device will likely be priced between $400 and $500, in line with previous models.

As for timing, multiple sources, including Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, point to a spring 2025 release. Given that all previous iPhone SE models were announced in March, a March 2025 launch seems highly probable. Apple suppliers are reportedly gearing up to begin mass production in October of this year, setting the stage for an early 2025 release.

Related Roundup: iPhone SE
Buyer's Guide: iPhone SE (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPhone

One of the major new software-based camera features in the iPhone 16 models is support for a wider range of Photographic Styles, complete with more granular controls to make for a setup where you can create a customized look for all of your images.

photographic styles iphone 16
Photographic Styles isn't a feature that's quite as easy to use as something as simple as a filter, so we thought we'd delve into how it works and how to get the most from it.

Available Photographic Styles

Photographic Styles aren't new, but with prior iPhone models, there were only four options: Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool. On the ‌iPhone 16‌, there are several more pre-set styles to choose from.

  • Cool Rose
  • Neutral
  • Rose Gold
  • Gold
  • Amber
  • Standard (No edits)
  • Vibrant
  • Natural
  • Luminous
  • Dramatic
  • Quiet
  • Cozy
  • Ethereal
  • Muted Black and White
  • Stark Black and White

All of the styles have varying Tone, Color, and Palette settings, that correspond to brightness, saturation, and effect intensity.

How Photographic Styles Work

According to Apple, on the ‌iPhone 16‌ models, Photographic Styles adjust specific colors in select parts of your photos to adjust the overall look.

The first five Photographic Styles are tuned for skin undertones, including Cool Rose, Neutral, Amber, Rose Gold, and Gold. Cool Rose accentuates cool pinkish undertones, while neutral neutralizes warm undertones. Amber, Rose Gold, and Gold accentuate those specific tones. These can be fairly subtle, depending on the settings you choose.

Other Styles are closer to what you get with a filter, adding more dramatic effects that impact the mood of the image.

Setting Up and Customizing Your Style

When you've taken at least four photos with the ‌iPhone 16‌ camera, you can go to Settings > Camera > Photographic Styles to set the base tone that you want to use for all of your images.

You can pick from the skin tone-focused options, which include Cool Rose, Neutral, Amber, Rose Gold, and Gold. You'll see the different effects across four images, and you can adjust the intensity to begin with.

After you've selected a favorite undertone, you can further refine the look by dragging a finger over the touchpad, which changes the brightness and saturation. The slider changes the overall intensity.

Once you've set your Photographic Style, it's automatically applied to all of your images and it is the default value for your photos.

If you want to turn it off, you can go to Settings > Camera > Photographic Styles > Reset to Standard.

Real-Time Previews

In the Camera app when you go take a photo, if you tap on the touchpad icon, you can select a different undertone or mood style. Swiping changes the Photographic Style, and the controls below can be used to customize the look.

The option to use customized Photographic Styles in real-time lets you preview what an image will look like with different effects before you even take it.

You can access Photographic Styles from the Camera Control button too. Press Camera Control once to open the Camera app, then light press to bring up the Camera Control menu. Swipe until you get to Styles or Tone, then light press again to select it. From there, you can make adjustments by swiping. To get back to the menu to select another option, use a light double press.

Editing After a Shot

You can add or adjust a Photographic Style after an image has been captured, so it's not something that you need to do in the moment. This is the first time that Apple has allowed Photographic Styles to be edited after the fact - earlier versions of this feature only allowed the Style to be applied when taking an image.

To edit a Photographic Style, go to the Photos app, tap on the three bars to enter the editing interface, and then tap on Styles. You can select any of the styles and then adjust it using the touchpad.

The touchpad's X axis adjusts color, while the Y axis adjusts tone. The slider adjusts overall intensity or Palette. A Tone setting of 0, a Color setting of 0, and a Palette setting of 0 result in a "Standard" photo that has no Photographic Style applied, so that's a good starting point to better understand exactly what each style is changing.

Adjusting the Color to the left desaturates, while dragging it to the right deepens color. Dragging Tone up makes the image brighter, while dragging it down makes it darker.

You can change the Photographic Style setting at any point, and it is a non-destructive edit so it's not permanent. If you want to get back to a normal, unedited photo, choose the Standard setting.

Photographic Styles are entirely distinct from the ‌Photos‌ app Adjust section where you can tweak exposure, brilliance, highlights and shadows, contrast, brightness, saturation, vibrance, warmth, tint, and more.

HEIF Only

If you have your ‌iPhone‌ set to take JPG images instead of HEIF, you won't be able to use Photographic Styles. You need to have HEIF turned on. In the Camera section of the Settings app, HEIF can be enabled by going to Formats and choosing "High Efficiency" instead of "Most Compatible."

Preserve Settings

By default, the Photographic Style that you set up using the Settings app will be used automatically. If you select a different Photographic Style when you're taking a photo, it will use that only until you close the Camera app.

If you want the Photographic Style you selected in the Camera app to be the new default, you need to go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and toggle on Photographic Style. With this turned on, your ‌iPhone‌ will preserve your last used Photographic Style rather than reset to your default.

Photographic Styles and Older iPhones

Older iPhones do not support the new touchpad and adjustment settings for Photographic Styles, but if you take an image on an ‌iPhone 16‌ and then edit it on an older phone, you can see the touchpad to make further adjustments.

Related Roundups: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser that was first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ to allow users to test features that are planned for future release versions of the Safari browser.

Safari Technology Preview Updated Feature 1
‌Safari Technology Preview‌ 204 includes fixes and updates for Accessibility, CSS, Forms, JavaScript, Service Workers, Web API, Web Driver, Web Extensions, and Web Inspector.

The current ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release is compatible with machines running macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia, the newest version of the Mac operating system.

The ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser from Apple's website. Complete release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple's aim with ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. ‌Safari Technology Preview‌ can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while it is designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download and use.

Fortnite creator Epic Games today filed a lawsuit against Google and Samsung, accusing the two companies of anticompetitive behavior that discourages Android users from downloading games and apps outside of the Google Play Store.

play store google
At issue is a Samsung feature called Auto Blocker, which is designed to prevent Galaxy devices from installing applications from unauthorized sources. Enabled by default, Samsung says that Auto Blocker keeps users safe from unknown apps and malware, but it does disable sideloading.

With Auto Blocker, when users attempt to install an app from an unknown or unauthorized source, they'll receive a pop-up alert letting them know that installation was prevented. Auto Blocker can be overridden during the setup of a Galaxy device, and there is also an option to temporarily remove it. Auto Blocker was first introduced last October, and ‌Epic Games‌ says that the feature is in fact a "coordinated effort" to block competition in app distribution.

"Auto Blocker cements the Google Play Store as the only viable way to get apps on Samsung devices, blocking every other store from competing on a level playing field," says ‌Epic Games‌.

‌Epic Games‌ is accusing Samsung and Google of creating Auto Blocker with the purpose of undermining the result of the Epic Games v. Google lawsuit, where a nine-member jury agreed that Google had an app store monopoly and that Google's agreements with OEMs were anticompetitive.

When speaking to journalists earlier today (via The Verge), ‌Epic Games‌ CEO Tim Sweeney said that he did not have proof that Google and Samsung had colluded on the Auto Blocker feature, but he is hoping to find evidence during the document discovery process. He also did not ask Samsung to make ‌Epic Games‌ an authorized source for games.

Further, Sweeney claimed that Epic was filing the lawsuit on behalf of all developers, and not just to get ‌Epic Games‌ special treatment. "If we'd fought Epic v. Apple and Epic v. Google solely on the basis of Epic getting special privileges, perhaps settlement discussions with Apple and Google might have been fruitful," said Sweeney. "But if we did that, we'd be selling out all developers."

Evidence from the Epic v. Apple trial suggests that Sweeney did, at that time, seek a special deal with Apple that would not have been available to all developers. In 2020, Sweeney wrote a letter to Apple asking for permission to add support for third-party payment processors in Fortnite, and it's only when Apple said no that Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple. When questioned about this letter at trial, Sweeney confirmed that he was seeking a special deal for Fortnite and would have accepted it even if Apple didn't offer the same deal to other developers.

Sweeney has suggested multiple times that the lawsuits Epic is filing against Apple, Google, and Samsung are for all developers, but realistically, ‌Epic Games‌ is looking out for its own interests.

‌Epic Games‌ is aiming to have the court force Samsung to remove Auto Blocker as a default device setting. Samsung in a statement to The Verge said that Auto Blocker is a security and privacy feature that users can disable at any time. "We plan to vigorously contest Epic Game's baseless claims," said Samsung. Google called the lawsuit "meritless."

Verizon is currently experiencing a major outage that is affecting many customers across the U.S., including iPhone users. Affected users may be unable to send or receive phone calls, send or receive text messages, or use cellular data.

ios 17 iphone 15 pro status bar sos crop feature2
As a result of the network being down, many affected iPhone users are seeing "SOS" displayed in their device's status bar. In a support document, Apple says that an iPhone displays "SOS" when the device is not connected to a network, but it should still be possible to make emergency calls in the U.S., Australia, and Canada.

In a statement, Verizon said it is "aware of an issue impacting service for some customers" and working to identify and implement a fix.

With any iPhone 14 model or newer, you can use Apple's helpful Emergency SOS via satellite feature to text emergency services when you are in a supported area in the U.S. that lacks cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

Update 5:00 p.m Eastern Time: Verizon has started restoring service for customers, though it could take some time for the carrier to resolve the issue for all users.

Update 7:18 p.m. Eastern Time: Verizon says the outage has been fully addressed, and all VZW customers should now have service.

Tag: Verizon

Apple's iOS 18 update brings powerful new search functions to the Photos app, allowing you to find specific images with unprecedented precision. Here's how to make the most of its new capabilities.

iOS 18 Photos Feature Chromatic
In iOS 18, the key to effective searching in Photos is using natural language. Instead of simple keywords, try describing the photo you're looking for in detail. The app can now understand complex queries and find images based on specific elements within them.

For example, if you've previously identified friends and family using the People and Pets features, you can search for "Dad smiling" or "Snowy sleeping." The more specific you are, the better your results will be. You can even search for actions or emotions, like "kids laughing at swings" or "couple dancing at wedding."

ios 18 photos search
The new search function is also pretty handy at finding objects and scenes. Try queries like "car next to lake" or "sunset over city skyline." You can combine multiple elements in your search, such as "yellow flowers in vase by window."

For food lovers, searches like "pizza with mushrooms" or "steak and chips on table" can help you find culinary inspirations from your photo library. When searching for people, you can now include details about their appearance or actions. "Mum in green hat with wine glass" or "Emma in wedding dress" are examples of how specific you can get.

photos
The Photos app can even search within videos. If you remember a specific moment in a video but can't recall which one, try describing the scene. For instance, "baby crawling" or "fireworks over lake" can take you directly to that moment.

Note that for these advanced search features to work, the Photos app needs time to index your library. This process happens on your device to protect your privacy, so be patient if searches aren't immediately accurate after updating to iOS 18.

With practice, you'll find that the new search function in Photos can help you rediscover forgotten memories and locate specific images with ease. Don't be afraid to get creative with your searches – you might be surprised at what the app can find.

Today we're tracking big discounts across the entire M4 iPad Pro lineup on Amazon, with up to $200 in savings available during this sale. We're focusing on the Wi-Fi models of the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro in this article, but you can also find numerous cellular tablets on sale at this time.

m4 ipad pro orangeNote: 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.

Sale prices start at $929.00 for the 256GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M4 iPad Pro, down from $999.00, which is a solid second-best price on the tablet. Overall, you'll find every Wi-Fi model of both sizes available at a discount on Amazon, with multiple record low prices available on both tablets.

11-Inch

13-Inch

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

While a Chinese regulatory filing showed that all iPhone 16 models are rated for up to 45W charging speeds, tests have since shown that the devices do not actually charge this fast. However, there are still improvements.

iphone 16 pro colors 1
ChargerLAB last week tested the iPhone 16 Pro Max with a variety of Apple and third-party chargers, and it found that the device achieved maximum sustained charging speeds of around 30W. In one image, the website showed the iPhone 16 Pro Max reaching a peak charging speed of 37W with Apple's 140W USB-C power adapter, but it is unclear how long the device kept charging at that speed. Overall, this seems to be an improvement over the reported 27W peak charging speed for iPhone 15 Pro models, but it is clear that iPhone 16 models are not actually reaching the theoretical 45W ceiling that was rumored.

ChargerLab iPhone 16 Pro Max Large
PhoneArena saw similar results with the standard iPhone 16. In its review last week, it said the device reached a peak charging speed of 38W only when it was "under extremely heavy loads such as benchmark testing or playing games." The website said the iPhone 16 achieved a sustained charging speed of closer to 20W.

Apple merely says that all iPhone 16 models can achieve up to a 50% charge in around 30 minutes with a 20W or higher USB-C charger, which is exactly the same claim that it advertised for all iPhone 15 models.

All in all, just because all iPhone 16 models safely support the USB-C Power Delivery 3.0 protocol of 15V/3A = 45W, it has been proven that the devices do not actually charge at 45W speeds. The rumor was wrong, or at least misinterpreted. However, modestly faster charging speeds still seem to occur in certain scenarios.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16 Pro

In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple will be making a donation of an undisclosed amount to Hurricane Helene relief efforts.

Apple Logo Top Half
"We're thinking of all those facing the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Helene," said Cook. "Apple will be making a donation to help with relief efforts on the ground."

Hurricane Helene made landfall at Florida's Big Bend on late Thursday, before carrying on through several southeastern U.S. states such as Georgia and North Carolina, resulting in catastrophic damage and reportedly more than 100 deaths.

Apple has donated to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts in the past.

Apple is retreating from its ambitious plans for wide theatrical movie releases after several of its high-budget films failed to meet box office expectations, Bloomberg reports.

Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Dark Teal
Apple is believed to have initially set aside $1 billion annually to produce big-budget films for cinemas, aiming to compete with traditional Hollywood studios. The company's goal was ostensibly to release a series of blockbuster movies that could drive ticket sales, win prestigious awards, and elevate its profile in the film industry.

Films such as Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Ridley Scott's Napoleon, and Matthew Vaughn's Argylle were expected to perform strongly at the box office, but each delivered disappointing results. As a result, Apple is now said to be scaling back these plans with a growing emphasis on using limited theatrical windows to qualify for awards while primarily marketing its films as streaming titles.

One of the biggest signs of this shift was the cancellation of the wide global release of Wolfs, an action comedy starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The film had originally been slated for a broad theatrical debut in thousands of cinemas around the world. Instead, it was released in a limited number of theaters before becoming available for streaming on Apple TV+ on September 27.

Apple's leadership has reportedly been seeking to rein in costs across its entertainment division. While the company is said to remain committed to its $1 billion annual film budget, it will now focus on producing fewer high-budget films, reducing the number of theatrical releases, and scaling down the average production cost of its movies. According to sources familiar with the company's plans, Apple will continue to produce about a dozen films per year, most with budgets under $100 million.

Only one or two major titles each year will be given larger budgets and wide theatrical releases, such as the upcoming film F1, starring Brad Pitt, which is set for a global release in June 2025. F1 is expected to be Apple's most expensive movie to date, with a reported production budget of over $300 million.

The slow death of the Beddit sleep monitoring accessory continues.

bedditsleeptrackerbox
Apple last week removed the iPhone apps for Beddit models 3.0 and 3.5 from the App Store, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.

Apple acquired Beddit in 2017, and it has gradually reduced hardware and software capabilities and support for the accessory since. Apple removed cloud syncing from the original Beddit app in 2018, released an updated version of the accessory with fewer features in 2019, and stopped selling the accessory entirely in 2022.

Beddit's thin, flexible sensor strip could be placed on a mattress for sleep tracking purposes. It is likely that Apple acquired Beddit to bolster development of sleep tracking on the Apple Watch, which debuted as part of watchOS 7 in 2020.

We have not confirmed if the Beddit apps still function for existing customers.

Tag: Beddit

Apple has reportedly exited negotiations to invest in OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT AI chatbot, according to The Wall Street Journal.

iOS 18 ChatGPT
Apple had been in discussions to participate in a funding round for OpenAI that is expected to raise approximately $6.5 billion. However, Apple recently dropped out of the talks for reasons that remain unclear. The funding round is set to close this week.

The development comes just a month after WSJ reported that Apple was considering an investment in OpenAI as part of a fundraising effort that could value the AI company at over $100 billion. The high valuation reflects the intense competition in the artificial intelligence sector that OpenAI helped ignite with ChatGPT's launch in late 2022.

While Apple has stepped away, other major tech companies remain involved. Microsoft, which has already invested $13 billion in OpenAI, is expected to contribute about $1 billion to this latest round. Nvidia is also reportedly in talks to participate.

The news of Apple's withdrawal may surprise some, given the company's recent moves in the AI space. Apple previously announced plans to integrate ChatGPT into Siri on iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this year. This integration will allow Siri to display ChatGPT responses directly with user permission. However, recent reports of turmoil within OpenAI's ranks as it pursues a for-profit structure, may have factored into Apple's decision not to pursue the investment.

That said, Apple's planned ChatGPT integration for its platforms is still expected to proceed before the end of the year. The company has said that iPhone, iPad, and Mac users will be able to use ChatGPT for free without creating an account, while ChatGPT Plus subscribers will be able to access paid features on Apple devices.

Apple could release an iPad-like smart home accessory based on its homeOS platform as early as next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

iPad iOS 16 WP Display Feature eric edit
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reports that the display will run Apple apps like Calendar, Notes, and Home, and will feature an interface "optimized for controlling home appliances and quickly seeing information."

Apple's existing Apple TV and HomePod lineup already offer home hub functionality, but crucially lack the hardware to run AI models. In contrast, Apple Intelligence will be central to the new home accessory, which is actually a "lower-end companion" to a $1,000+ robotic device for the home, writes Gurman.

Similar devices have been rumored for some time. Prototype designs are said to have resembled a HomePod with a screen (magnetically attaching to walls or sitting atop a desk), and an iPad-like display mounted on a robotic arm. Both accessories are said to be collaborations between Apple's AI and home device hardware engineering groups.

Backend code discovered by MacRumors in January suggested that Apple was continuing work on a homeOS platform, as a variant of tvOS. Another code reference finding in June subsequently confirmed the existence of at least one unreleased home accessory.

More recently, 9to5Mac has claimed that the lower-end smart home device features a "squarish display", an A18 chip, and a built-in camera for FaceTime. The device apparently supports AirPlay, is able to identify hand gestures from afar, and can tell one person apart from another for personalized requests‌. 9to5Mac says Apple could release the home product as early as next spring.

Apple last week released the AirPods 4, and one version of the new earbuds has Active Noise Cancellation included. ANC means the ‌AirPods 4‌ have a feature set that rivals the AirPods Pro 2, so we thought we'd compare the two for those undecided on which to get.


The ‌AirPods 4‌ are Apple's first open-ear earbuds to include ANC, and the major difference between the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 and the ‌AirPods 4‌ is the silicone tips. The ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 have silicone tips for a tighter seal in the ear, while the ‌AirPods 4‌ don't.

You're not going to get the same level of ANC with the ‌AirPods 4‌ that you get with the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 because there's no sealing mechanism to block out noise, but the ‌AirPods 4‌ still perform impressively well. The new earbuds are able to cut down on plane and road noise even without the tight ear seal.

Sound quality is about the same because the ‌AirPods 4‌ now have the same H2 chip as the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2. The ‌AirPods 4‌ have a much smaller case than the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2, but both cases have a speaker that can play a sound when you need to track them down using Find My. MagSafe wireless charging is exclusive to the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2, though. The ‌AirPods 4‌ with ANC can wirelessly charge, but not with the strong magnetic connection available with the ‌AirPods Pro‌.

There are a few other differences that are worth knowing about, which we go over in the video above.

Choosing between the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 and the ‌AirPods 4‌ with ANC mostly comes down to fit. For some people, the silicone tips for the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 are more comfortable, and others find an open-ear design to be better for long wear. Price is also a factor, as the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 4 with ANC are $179 and the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 are $249. Of course, if you don't need ANC at all, you can get the ‌AirPods 4‌ without ANC for $129.

Let us know which earbuds you prefer in the comments below.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Pro
Related Forum: AirPods