The European Commission is reportedly getting ready to charge Apple for not following rules laid down by Digital Markets Act that require the iPhone maker to allow third-party software developers to “steer” consumers to offers outside the App Store, free of charge.
If found guilty, Apple faces potentially heavy fines.
iPad never before included a built-in Calculator app because there wasn’t one Steve Jobs felt was worthy of a tablet. That all changes with iPadOS 18, which boasts a new Apple Calculator app that you can write into with Apple Pencil.
Here’s why it’s something Jobs would be proud of.
The AI capabilities Apple announced at WWDC24 are nowhere to be seen in the first round of betas for iOS 18, macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18. This despite the new Apple Intelligence features, like the ability to summarize documents or create new emoji on the fly, are the highlights of the upcoming operating system upgrades.
So those eager to try Apple AI can hold off installing these buggy prerelease versions. It’ll only be a disappointment.
Apple’s Notes app in iPadOS 18 includes a new feature called Smart Script that allows users to handwrite text and then have it smoothed and straightened in real time. It promises to make text scrawled on the tablet with an Apple Pencil more readable and aesthetically pleasing.
I tested Smart Script on my iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. It’s not doing exactly what you might think — let me explain.
Apple rose to once again become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company on Wednesday. Its market capitalization passed $3.3 trillion, once again putting the Mac-maker ahead of Microsoft.
This comes just days after Apple dropped to third place when Nvidia’s share market cap briefly rose ahead. But AAPL has been on a tear since announcing plans this week to integrate AI into iPhone, Mac and other products.
Update: Stocks go down as well as up, and when Wall Street closed on Wednesday, Microsoft’s valuation was slightly higher than Apple’s.
Apple previewed support for RCS messaging in the iOS 18 Messages app at WWDC24. Adding Rich Communication Services will bring enhanced texting between iPhone and Android users, with features not possible before.
It’s a change Apple dragged its feet on for many years. Along with RCS support, Apple is also introducing new features like polls for iMessage, enhancing group chat interactions. Learn more about these changes.
Sending money to another iPhone user is about to get as simple as holding the two handsets near each other. The upcoming feature is called Tap to Cash.
It’s a private and secure payment system. The two users don’t even need to exchange phone numbers.
New features in Apple Maps in iOS 18 will be a boon to hikers. The app is getting topographic maps along with thousands of suggested hikes across national parks in the United States.
The app can also create custom walking routes.
Pigs must be flying and hell has frozen over because the official Apple Calculator application is headed for iPad. It’s a feature missing from the tablet since its launch in 2010 but iPadOS 18 will include one.
It goes beyond simply an expanded version of the iPhone app. Apple built in a Math Notes calculator that allows users to write equations with a stylus and have the iPad solve them.
iPadOS 18 includes many long-requested features, including greater Home Screen personalization options and a Calculator app, at long last. But it’s the many new AI-related enhancements that really stand out.
“Our most versatile device is becoming even more powerful and intelligent than ever with iPadOS 18,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering. “With fun new ways to personalize the Home Screen, a redesigned Photos experience, major updates to the Notes app, the addition of Calculator with Math Notes, and the groundbreaking introduction of Apple Intelligence, iPadOS 18 brings incredible new features designed for the unique capabilities of iPad, making it even easier for users to get tasks done.”
Apple’s much-maligned Siri voice assistant is getting a huge infusion of artificial intelligence. It’s part of a movement to bring AI features to a wide range of iPhone, Mac and iPad applications.
“Thanks to the capabilities of Apple Intelligence, this year marks the start of a new era for Siri,” said Kelsey Peterson, Apple’s Director, Machine Learning and Al, during Monday’s WWDC24 keynote.
Apple Mail for iPhone, Mac and iPad is getting a real dose of artificial intelligence. When it next version launches in the autumn, it will be able to summarize emails, assign them to categories based on their contents, and draft replies to messages so the user doesn’t have to.
“Staying on top of emails has never been easier,” promises Apple.
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 remove many of the previous restrictions on Home screen customization. User now have far more control in placing app icons. And they can even change the color of icons.
New artificial intelligence features are likely to make iOS 18, macOS 15 and iPadOS 18 the biggest upgrades to Apple’s platforms in many years. Leaks say AI enhancements are coming to most of Apple’s standard apps, helping users write, summarize information, clean up images and more. At their announcement coming at next week’s WWDC24, these will all come under the heading of “Apple Intelligence.”
Plus, Siri reportedly will get a significant intelligence upgrade.
WWDC24 kicks off on June 10 but you don’t need to wait until then to find out what’s in store for iPhone, Mac and other Apple computers. Leaks already revealed much of what to expect at Apple’s annual developers conference, at least in broad terms. Here’s your WWDC24 spoiler alert: “Apple Intelligence” in the form of AI, AI and more AI.
Here’s what will be on the agenda when Apple unveils iOS 18, macOS 15 and iPadOS 18 next week.
iPhone users spent almost $25 billion in the App Store during Q1 2024, according to a market research firm. In contrast, Android uses spent only $11 billion on Google Play in the same time period.
This despite the number of downloads from Google Play more than tripling App Store downloads. Clearly, a great many Android users aren’t willing to pay for apps.
Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse from Ubisoft is a deck building game featuring a crazy collection of characters exploring five outlandish universes. It just launched for iPhone, Mac and more.
It is joined by three classic games that are all now playable via Apple Arcade.
The long wait for the port of Assassin’s Creed Mirage playable on iPhone 15 Pro models and top-tier iPads just ended. It is in the App Store now.
This is the latest example of AAA, console-quality games being brought to Apple devices to demonstrate their gaming capabilities.
Apple had a great day in the stock market on Wednesday, with its market capitalization once again surpassing the $3 trillion mark. But chip-maker Nvidia had an even better day and passed Apple’s market cap for the first time ever.
The result is that Apple, which spent years as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, is now in third place. To see how Apple’s apple market cap has evolved over time, check out this detailed analysis.
UPDATE June 6: The funny part about stocks is they go up and down. The market capitalization of both Apple and Nvidia dropped below $3 trillion on Thursday. But NVDA dropped even more so AAPL is once again the second most valuable publicly traded company behind Microsoft.
Those in Europe and Asia eager to get an Apple Vision Pro supposedly won’t have to wait much longer. Consumers in more than half a dozen countries will reportedly be able to buy the AR/VR headset in about a week.
The product launched in the U.S. this winter, but an announcement of broader availability isn’t expected until June 10 at WWDC24.
Apple will add an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI to iPhone and Mac, according to an unconfirmed report. But users of these devices won’t be forced to use it.
And that goes for more than the chatbot. Apparently, Apple will give users the option to pass on all the upcoming artificial intelligence features. The company plans to showcase its big AI push at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week.
Apple Watch shipments dropped almost 20% year over year in the first quarter of 2024. Market analysts blame some of the decline on Apple being temporarily forced to halt sales of its most recent wearables in a patent dispute over blood oxygen monitoring in units sold in the United States.
AirPods sales also declined in Q1 2024 but for a different reason.
Apple Pencil Pro is the latest and greatest iPad stylus coming out of Cupertino. It adds a new “squeeze” gesture, an internal gyroscope, haptic feedback and Find My support. I’m not a digital artist, so for this iPad Pencil review, I tested the stylus by writing notes, entering text with Scribble and doing moderate editing of photographs.
Plenty of artists have reviewed the new accessory, so my goal was to answer the question, “Does a typical iPad user need Apple Pencil Pro?” Or would a cheaper alternative suffice?
The Netflix streaming service will soon stop working on second- and third-generation Apple TV models. It’s not a shocking development as both are over a decade old.
If you’ve been looking for a reason to buy a newer tvOS device, it may have just arrived. (By coincidence, Verizon currently offers the Apple TV 4K for just $89.99.)
Apple TV+ subscribers are just as happy with their streaming service as Netflix subscribers are, according to new data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. That’s after Apple’s offering improved considerably in this year’s rankings.
But neither scored as well on the survey of U.S. consumers as Amazon Prime did.