Apple rumors

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Apple rumors:

Redesign could give Apple M3 Ultra processor wicked performance boost

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Apple M3 Ultra chip
The M3 Ultra could be the high-performance chip that so many professionals need.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple’s upcoming M3 Ultra chip won’t consist of two M3 Max processors merged together, according to information leaking out of Cupertino. The change from its predecessors would free up designers to make the next-gen Apple silicon even more powerful.

It even raises the possibility of an M3 Extreme, a workstation-level processor that would give the Mac Pro a reason to exist.

Apple Maps might gain customizable routes, topographic maps in iOS 18

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Apple Maps
Useful new features are reportedly coming to Apple Maps in iOS 18.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple Maps could receive a pair of big updates this year: “Custom routes” and topographic maps. A developer from Argentina spotted the two new features recently in Apple code, saying they could arrive in iOS 18 and macOS 15.

If true, the changes will make Apple’s navigation application more useful for both drivers and hikers.

iOS 18 could introduce more customizable iPhone Home Screen

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iOS 18 concept video
iOS 18 could finally let you create a blank Home Screen row.
Concept: Kevin Kall

Apple will allow for greater iPhone Home Screen customization in iOS 18, including the ability to place app icons anywhere on the screen, according to a new report.

iPhone owners also supposedly will gain the flexibility to create blank rows and columns, though the icons will still snap to a grid.

Good news for AirPods, bad news for Apple [The CultCast]

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The CultCast episode 639: AirPods rumors for 2024.
Even the latest AirPods rumors can't cheer us up this week.
Image: Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumors indicate 2024 will bring big changes to the AirPods lineup. In fact, Apple’s ramping up for “the biggest AirPods launch to date.”

But even this fantastic news can’t cheer us up after the Department of Justice files a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit against Apple. We recorded this episode of The CultCast right after news of the DOJ’s suit broke, and some of us are fuming!

Also on The CultCast:

  • So … Apple might lean on Google Gemini to power iOS 18 features? Good luck with that.
  • iPhone 17 could bring a major upgrade in the display department.
  • The next-gen Vision Pro headset might drop the price to something much more approachable.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Wait for OLED iPad Pro might stretch into April [Updated again]

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Wait for OLED iPad Pro might stretch into April
An OLED screen should make the 2024 iPad Pro the best-looking ever ... when it finally arrives.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly still working on the version of iPadOS needed for the first iPad Pro with a OLED screen. The software development process might delay the launch until well into April.

Previous leaks previously pointed at a March debut, and that’s still possible. But those eager for Apple’s next premium tablet should also be prepared to wait as much as another month.

And apparently the launch date won’t be March 26, despite a recent rumor.

Get ready for ‘the biggest AirPods launch to date’

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Apple needs to take the frustration out of AirPods firmware updates
With ANC, AirPods 4 might be a significant jump up from its predecessor.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple suppliers are reportedly preparing for “the biggest AirPods launch to date.” The company is supposedly planning to produce between 20 million and 25 million units of AirPods 4, a significant jump from previous models.

Apple could launch the AirPods 4 in two flavors later this year: one with ANC and another without. Alongside updated internals, the new earbuds purportedly will sport a sleeker new design.

OLED iPad Air might be on hold until 2028

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OLED iPad Air preview
An iPad Air with an OLED display might be four years away.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

While the first iPad Pro with an OLED display is expected any day now, iPad Air fans will have a much longer wait. Possibly until 2028. That’s what an analyst predicted, anyway.

However, this contradicts a previous report that said an OLED iPad Air would be out in 2026.

iOS 18 could bring hearing aid functionality to AirPods Pro

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iOS 18 could bring hearing aid functionality to AirPods Pro
Conversation Boost in current AirPods Pro acts like a hearing aid but Apple reportedly wants to go farther.
Graphic: Apple

AirPods Pro might be able to act more like a hearing aid with the release of iOS 18, according to an Apple tipster.

The additional audio function would benefit those with slight hearing loss who aren’t ready for more serious hearing assistance.

Apple expects 13-inch OLED iPad Pro to outsell smaller version

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2024 OLED iPad Pro mockup
Apple expects the larger 2024 iPad Pro model to be the more popular.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly ordered 8.5 million OLED screens for the iPad Pro models it’s expected to launch soon. More of these panels are for the 13-inch version of the tablet than they are for the 11-inch one.

Leaks indicate the next generation iPad Pro will reach store shelves later this month. Possibly even next week.

MacBook with 20-inch folding screen still on track for release

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MacBook with 20-inch folding screen still on track for release
This concept could be an early glimpse of the MacBook of the future.
Concept: Atro HQ

Apple continues to work on a MacBook with a 20-inch folding screen, according to a reliable source of insider information. It could set a new pattern for notebooks for the coming decade.

The product has been on the drawing board for quite some time, but isn’t scheduled for release until 2027.

How indecision and hubris killed the Apple car

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A Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle
One Apple car prototype reportedly looked something like one of Canoo's microbus-style vehicles.
Photo: Canoo

The history of the Apple car is littered with wild prototypes, astonishing hubris and a deadly dose of crippling indecision, according to a damning report that offers the best picture yet of the secretive Project Titan.

It sounds like many Apple employees — and even key execs — viewed the self-driving car project as a doomed effort nearly from the start.

“The big arc was poor leadership that let the program linger, while everyone else in Apple was cringing,” said an anonymous Apple executive who worked on Project Titan.

If you want to know how a massive research and development project can crash and burn, this new behind-the-scenes account of Project Titan will show you how. It’s filled with gory details of unachievable goals, chaotic management, bad decisions (and sometimes no decisions at all).

No Apple March event for new iPad and MacBook [Update]

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Get ready for new MacBook and iPad models at Apple March 2024 event
No March Apple event in the pipeline for new iPads and Macs?
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is preparing to launch new M3 iPads and MacBooks this month. But don’t expect an Apple March event for their unveiling. Instead, the company reportedly will announce the devices through a “series of online videos and marketing campaigns.”

Update: This is now confirmed, as Apple unveiled the M3-powered MacBook Air on Monday via a press release.

Vision Pro returns aren’t as bad as we feared

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Apple Vision Pro: Side View
It seems way, way fewer people return Vision Pro than you might think.
Screenshot: Apple

Very few Vision Pro units are being returned to Apple, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He pegs the Vision Pro return rate at less than 1%, which flies in the face of previous reports that many of the headsets bought by early adopters would wind up in the refurbished bins.

The reason Kuo states for a large percentage of those Vision Pro returns is even more surprising!

Apple engineers reportedly explored working on a smart ring

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Apple Ring is the health accessory we need
Apple Ring, AirPods with advanced health sensors, smart glasses — Apple considered working on such smart wearables.
Concept: Victor Soto/BluePoly

Apple’s industrial design team reportedly proposed working on a smart ring a few years ago. The ring would have apparently packed all the health-tracking features of the Apple Watch.

Additionally, Apple engineers recently discussed working on smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans. In both cases, though, the devices are just an idea, with the company not actively working on them.

Apple continues plugging away at HomePod with large display

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HomePod with a larger Display concept
A HomePod with a larger touchscreen -- perhaps something like this concept -- is supposedly on the drawing board at Apple.
Concept: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly hasn’t given up on the idea of a HomePod smart speaker with a built-in display. It’s supposedly still in development in Cupertino.

There have been leaks and rumors of such a smart home device since at least 2021.

Wild iPhone and iPad rumors, plus some Vision Pro sob stories [The CultCast]

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Mockup of purple iPhone 16 Pro with a rumored camera module.
Will Apple really give the iPhone 16 Pro camera module a radical redesign like this?
Image: Majin Bu

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest iPhone 16 Pro rumor comes with a mockup that looks like a fidget spinner. Will Apple really do that? On the other hand, the latest iPad rumors sound totally believable.

Also on The CultCast:

  • There’s an iOS trojan in the wild that steals your face to drain your bank accounts.
  • Apple is hard at work future-proofing iMessage to keep it safe from quantum computer attacks.
  • We discuss the new Apple Sports app, including one of its weirdest features: betting odds. (Supporting gambling seems like a strange move for the normally vice-averse Apple.)
  • Erfon recounts his Vision Pro return experience, with some interesting behind-the-scenes intel.
  • Also on the Vision Pro return front, Griffin tells us his sob story about parting ways with the expensive headset. (Don’t miss the surprise twist ending!)
  • And finally, Griffin raves about a new wireless microphone in an Under Review segment.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Apple’s 2024 OLED iPad Pro could be crazy thin

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OLED iPad mockup
OLED iPad Pro could stand out with its slim design.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s rumored OLED iPad Pro will reportedly be significantly thinner than existing models. The switch to slimmer Organic Light-Emitting Diode panels will make this possible.

Besides the thinner chassis, the 2024 OLED iPad Pros will have slightly bigger dimensions than its predecessors.

Woah! Is this the new iPhone 16 Pro camera?

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A mockup illustrates the latest iPhone 16 Pro camera rumor with a camera module that looks like a tricorne hat.
This mockup illustrates a radical redesign purportedly coming to the iPhone 16 Pro's camera module.
Image: Majin Bu

The latest iPhone 16 Pro camera rumor comes with an image that shows a radically redesigned lens module. It looks like a fidget spinner, or an 18th-century tricorn hat seen from above, and would represent a striking departure from Apple’s current design language.

If the iPhone 16 Pro actually looks like this, it would instantly put to bed perennial complaints that the new iPhone looks just like the old one.

Xcode could soon gain generative AI tools to write code and test apps

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iPad should run Mac apps, like Xcode.
Xcode could use generative AI to help you write code.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly working on a major Xcode update with artificial integration. This functionality will apparently emulate Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, generating code based on text input.

Work on the tool has been ongoing since last year, and its testing is now expanding internally inside Apple.

Apple preps pair of super-thin folding iPhone prototypes

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Concept folding iPhone
Apple won't release a folding iPhone until it can make a good one.
Concept: Ran Avni

One of the design goals of a folding iPhone is a unit no thicker than one of Apple’s current handsets when folded closed, according to information leaking out of the company. In fact, a pair of incredibly thin folding iPhone prototypes already exist, according to a new report.

Cupertino’s efforts in this area have supposedly been going on since 2018, but available components haven’t been up to making the device the company wants to build.

OLED iPad Pro won’t cost an arm and a leg

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OLED iPad mockup
Apple isn't about to price the OLED iPad Pro out of the reach of most consumers.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Early reports may have overstated the cost increase resulting from adding an OLED display to the first iPad Pro. New information indicates the price jump will be less than half of what had been previously rumored.

The high-end tablet is expected to launch in March/April.

iPhone 16 renders bring latest leaks to life

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iPhone 16 renders bring latest leaks to life
This might be a very early image of iPhone 16 in green
Image: Majin Bu

The iPhone 16 camera bump will shrink considerably, according to new CAD renders that supposedly show the future device. The customizable Action button from the iPhone 15 Pro models will appear on entry-level iPhones as well.

In addition, simulated images based on the renders show possible color options for the upcoming handset.