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In 2025 an unprecedented talent exodus decimated Apple’s leadership ranks, with Meta Platforms emerging as the primary beneficiary of the iPhone maker’s retention struggles. The social media giant has successfully lured away four high-profile executives from Apple’s artificial intelligence and design divisions, raising serious questions about the Cupertino company’s competitive position in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Find out more about the top executives left Apple for Meta below.

Meet Steve Lemay, the new head of user interface design at Apple — the highest-profile software design job at the giant company, and possibly the world.

Unfortunately for Lemay, who has worked at Apple since 1999, he shares the same first name as the late Steve Jobs, who nicknamed him “Margaret” — a name that reportedly stuck.

Aside from being called “Margaret” internally at Apple, Lemay has a long and stellar design record at the company. He’s helped shape everything from OS X to visionOS. He is named on hundreds of patents and helped develop one of Apple’s most highly celebrated UI tricks.

Apple’s set to lose yet another top executive as Alan Dye, the company’s head of user-interface design, departs for Meta Platforms, according to a new report Wednesday. While some view this as a coup for Meta, others seem tickled pink to see Dye head for the exit.

This major news instantly inspired Liquid Glass-fueled snark over whether Dye’s departure is really such a big loss for the iPhone giant.

Apple on Wednesday seeded the iOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2 release candidates to developers and public testers, a move that typically signals the software is just about ready. The final versions are expected to arrive next week.

There is a useful change to AirDrop file sharing, improvements to Sleep Score for Apple Watch wearers, a prominent tweak to Liquid Glass and more.

Release candidates for iPadOS 26.2, watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2 and visionOS 26.2 also went out on Wednesday.

Apple may ship a whopping 247 million iPhones in 2025 thanks to the “phenomenal success” of iPhone 17. The new iPhones have also led to Apple reclaiming its lost market share in China.

Post the launch of iPhone 17, Apple grabbed 20% market share in China, “miles ahead of the competition,” says an IDC report.

Your next Mac might run on an Intel processor, which is a gigantic surprise, considering Apple dropped the chipmaker years ago in favor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

But there’s a standout reason why Apple needs Intel — and it might not be what you think.

While Apple reportedly readies its first foldable iPhone for 2026, Samsung is aiming higher. On Tuesday, the company unveiled its first multifolding device, the aptly named Galaxy Z TriFold. 

“Through years of innovation in foldable form factors, Galaxy Z TriFold solves one of the mobile industry’s longest-standing challenges — delivering the perfect balance between portability, premium performance and productivity all in one device. Galaxy Z TriFold now expands the boundaries of what’s possible for mobile work, creativity and connection,” said Samsung’s mobile division CEO TM Roh.­

The innovative handset comes at an eye-watering price, though.

John Giannandrea, the man responsible for making Apple Intelligence what it is today, is out. It’s an expected change, as senior management reportedly didn’t think Giannandrea could provide the leadership needed to develop critical AI products.

Amar Subramanya, who Apple poached from Microsoft, will replace Giannandrea. Prior to his short stint at Microsoft, Subramanya spent many years at Google — most recently as head of engineering for the Gemini AI chatbot.

Plenty of Apple fans miss red iPhones, if responses to an X.com post Monday from Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak is anything to go by.

He talked about the company’s donations on World AIDS Day through customer purchases. Joswiak didn’t even mention hardware, but the commenters sure did. 

iPhone has the Files app. Windows has File Explorer. macOS has … Finder? The Mac’s file manager got that odd name decades ago, and it made sense back then. Today, it’s an anachronism. It’s time to rename the macOS Finder to something less silly.

I’m not suggesting Apple remove the Mac’s file manager. There is a far better name for it, though.

Apple may turn to Intel to fabricate its low-end M-series Apple silicon chips. Such SoCs could debut as early as 2027.

Intel-fabricated Apple silicon chips will find their way inside the MacBook Air and iPad Pro.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple reportedly plans to focus on squashing bugs in iOS 27 and the rest of next year’s new operating systems. Sounds like Snow Leopard redux … and we couldn’t be happier. New features be damned!

Also on The CultCast:

• Android devices get a delicious dose of AirDrop.
• As usual, Apple’s Black Friday deals don’t knock us out. But plenty of other big discounts do. We discuss some of the best sales we’ve seen.
• Griffin shows how you can give your Mac a makeover in macOS Tahoe. The new customization options look rad — and functional!
• And finally, Griffin reviews the ViewSonic VP2788-5K, a Mac-ready, 27-inch 5K monitor with great features (and a regrettable name).

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 Black Friday deals are now live on the Apple Store. The promotion runs from November 28 through December 1.

Depending on the device you purchase, you can get up to a $250 Apple Gift Card.

Apple’s smallest tablet may be getting a significant upgrade soon, with iPad mini 8 expected to adopt OLED display technology by late 2026, according to Chinese leaker Instant Digital. The third quarter of next year at the earliest, they said.

Liven up your Thanksgiving week with woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. The next chapter in the Apple TV award-winning natural history series Prehistoric Planet leaves dinosaurs behind in favor of megafauna that lived during the last ice age, when glaciers covered much of the Earth’s surface.

The streaming service premiered Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age on Wednesday.

Apple will reportedly surpass Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone maker this year. The strong sales of Phone 17 will help the company reclaim the crown in more than a decade.

Strong consumer interest in the new iPhones has led to double-digit growth in sales, which will make this achievement possible.

Apple’s iOS 27 developers have reportedly been tasked with bringing to iPhone a feature many users have asked for, and every one actually wants. And it’s not AI. No, it seems the focus of the next major upgrade will be on removing bugs and improving the performance of the operating system.

The same supposedly goes for the next major version of macOS, iPadOS and other Apple OSs.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumor about Apple CEO Tim Cook‘s retirement says he could step down as early as next January. We discuss the likelihood of that, and Apple’s succession plans, as we debate the company’s future.

Also on The CultCast:

• Soon, iPhones will let users trigger voice assistants other than Siri (at least in some countries).
• It sounds like Apple might kill the Mac Pro. We pour one out for the distinguished line of high-powered computers — but recognize that maybe their time has come.
• Against all odds, the iPhone Pocket is a hit! Time to eat some crow.
• You won’t believe what London phone thieves do when they find out they’ve got an Android on their hands.
• And finally … we marvel at some super-high-end Apple setups.

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.

Retired secret assassin Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg) and his now-the-wiser wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) lead the Morgan family to Europe for the holidays, only to find a gun-toting Irish villain from the past — played by English actor Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) — haunting them. And by “haunting” we mean trying very, very hard to rip off and probably kill Dan. It’s Apple Original Films’ first sequel, The Family Plan 2, and it’s now streaming November 21 on Apple TV, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Reviews so far suggest it could be perfect for that holiday down time. The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “dumb-fun sequel that clears a low bar.” The New York Times says it’s a “better executed, equally goofball sequel about a family’s tangles with organized crime.” But some reviews get a little more Grinch-y, with Collider calling the film “lackluster” and Screen Rant fuming that it’s “mind-numbingly boring and unfunny.” But still, gathering in front of the screen could be better than talking to certain relatives, right?

Spotify just made it easier to import your music library from other streaming services. And you can do this directly from its mobile app. 

The company has partnered with popular third-party service TuneMyMusic to integrate this functionality into its app.

Sharing holiday pictures with the whole family just got easier. Google found a way to make Android’s Quick Share feature cross-compatible with Apple AirDrop. This means Android and iPhone users can wirelessly transfer images and other files between their handsets.

The feature was announced Thursday, and currently only works with a few Android handsets, but Google promised wider availability is in development.

Apple Music crowned rapper Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year on Thursday, honoring the hip-hop innovator’s remarkable creative output and cultural influence over the past 12 months. With streaming minutes numbering in the billions, the guy gives new meaning to “off the charts.”

This year has been Tyler’s most successful to date across Apple Music’s platform. Between November 2024 and October 2025, fans worldwide streamed his music for more than 4.5 billion minutes, marking career highs in plays, listeners and total listening hours on the service.

Apple is kicking off the holiday shopping season with a Black Friday promotion: from November 28 through December 1, customers who purchase select Apple products will receive an Apple Gift Card worth up to $250.

While that sounds sweet, you might want to shop elsewhere.

In what may be the strangest twist in the ongoing smartphone wars, London phone thieves have developed a strong brand loyalty to iPhone. Some phone thieves return Androids, literally giving the handsets like Samsung phones back to their victims, according to a new investigation. Now why would they do that? Well, it’s mainly about economics. And good taste, of course. 

When will you be able to add your driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet on your iPhone? In the United States, it varies by where you live. It’s not up to Apple: Each state and territory maintains a completely independent registry of drivers and identification cards, so each one must independently pass legislation and implement digital IDs.

If you live in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto Rico or West Virginia, you can do it today. (Our guide will show you how to add your driver’s license to Apple Wallet.) Otherwise, check our map and lists below to see how likely your state is to let you add your ID to Apple Wallet, and when it might happen.