News - page 20

If you rely on your MacBook to handle serious workloads — think 3D renders, Xcode builds or 200-tab research sessions — you know the right machine doesn’t come cheap. Luckily, you can finance MacBooks with Upgraded, a convenient upgrade program that makes it easy to get the exact laptop you need, when you need it … without paying thousands upfront. 

With 0% interest financing over 36 months and the option to upgrade every 24 months, the subscription-based service is an ideal option for power users who want the latest Apple silicon without paying a fortune upfront.

Xfinity customers can enjoy the action of Sunday Night Soccer for no extra charge starting this week. The show brings a weekly, featured Major League Soccer game throughout the season.

The same games are also available for Apple TV+ subscribers, as well as those with an MLS Season Pass from Apple.

Two stylish new Seenda keyboard and mouse combos offer seamless compatibility with Mac, iPad and iOS devices, the company said Thursday. The premium SKM64-3 Bluetooth combo and budget-friendly Creative SK73-3 wireless combo both deliver style and functionality for Apple users seeking alternatives to Apple’s peripherals.

By E.U. law, Apple must let iPhone applications include payment systems other than Apple’s own. But in a move that seems calculated to convince customers and developers to avoid these alternatives, there’s now a “scare screen” on applications that do not offer Apple’s payment system in the European Union version of the App Store.

After a five-month delay from its original timeline, Apple’s next-generation CarPlay experience is finally hitting the road. Dubbed “CarPlay Ultra,” the deeply integrated system that Apple first previewed in 2022 has begun rolling out to Aston Martin vehicles in the United States and Canada, with more automakers soon to follow.

President Donald Trump made it clear Wednesday he doesn’t want Apple to manufacture its products in India.

“I don’t want you building in India,” Trump reportedly told Apple CEO Tim Cook during a phone call Wednesday.

A new tool from Apple will make it easier to import your playlists and library from Spotify to Apple Music. As part of a limited rollout, the company currently offers this feature in Australia and New Zealand.

Apple joined forces with SongShift, a popular playlist transfer tool, to bring this feature to life.

The listings in Apple Maps for restaurants, hotels, golf courses and more got rankings and reviews from expert sources starting on Wednesday. This includes information from Michelin Guide, Golf Digest and others.

These join the reviews already in the app that were submitted by regular users, and the ones brought over from Yelp.

The next major update to visionOS could include eye scrolling, for navigating long lists and webpages entirely hands-free. The Vision Pro already uses eye- and hand-tracking for navigating its interface; if true, this would take it to the next level.

Scrolling is one of the most fundamental interactions with a smartphone. But it hasn’t translated as well to the Vision Pro, where you need to pinch two fingers together and move your hand.

If visionOS 3 lets you scroll simply by looking at the bottom of a window, that could be a powerful new feature of the headset.

Apple reportedly plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the iPhone with a new model that introduces some of the most significant design changes to the handset since the iPhone X. That includes saying goodbye to the Dynamic Island.

The upcoming model should break the iPhone design out of the rut it’s been in for too many years.

Rumors point to iPadOS 19 blurring the line between the iPad and Mac. With Apple reportedly focusing on “productivity, multitasking and app window management,” we put together a very specific iPadOS 19 wish list for features that could unlock the full potential of Apple’s tablets.

With WWDC25 just around the corner, here’s what we want to see in iPadOS 19.

In partnership with Universal Music Group, Apple Music on Tuesday launched Sound Therapy, a collection of specially enhanced tracks designed to help listeners achieve wellness through better focus, deeper relaxation and improved sleep.

It combines the power of your favorite music with cognitive science to improve daily well-being, the companies said in a press release.

“Given Apple’s leadership at the intersection of health and technology, the launch of Sound Therapy represents an important validation of our innovative, science-led Sollos initiative,” said Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president and chief digital officer. “We look forward to working closely with the team at Apple to expand the ways that music can be harnessed to improve the wellness benefits for its users.”

If your job or your dream setup requires connecting five external monitors to your Mac, you need Plugable’s UD-7400PD. It supports up to four 4K displays and one 8K display… even on MacBooks that are supposed to be limited to one external screen. No rival dock can match that.

As a bonus, the dock adds USB-A ports, an Ethernet port and more.

A tiny new silicon micro-speaker could transform future wearables — like Apple Watch and other smartwatches — by dramatically reducing thickness while improving audio quality, xMEMS Labs said Tuesday. It unveiled Sycamore-W, an ultra-thin micro speaker engineered for wrist-worn devices. It could make more room in devices as new features like AI interactions become more prevalent.

“Sycamore-W redefines audio for smart watches, combining compact design with robust performance to meet the demands of next-generation wearables,” said Mike Housholder, xMEMS VP of Marketing and Business Development. “As the wrist becomes a key interface for ears-free, hands-free AI interactions, Sycamore-W empowers manufacturers to deliver premium audio in smaller, lighter more durable devices.”

iPad shipments shot up 14% year over year during the first three months of 2025, according to a market analysis firm. That marks the fourth quarter in a row with an increase in iPad demand.

Replacing tablets bought years ago during the pandemic is only one of the reasons for the continuing strong growth.

A comprehensive suite of new Apple accessibility upgrades relying on Apple silicon and machine learning to enhance usability across products and services will launch later this year, the iPhone giant said Tuesday.

The innovations aim to make Apple devices more usable for people with various disabilities. Those include visual impairments, hearing loss, mobility challenges and cognitive differences.

“At Apple, accessibility is part of our DNA,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Making technology for everyone is a priority for all of us, and we’re proud of the innovations we’re sharing this year. That includes tools to help people access crucial information, explore the world around them, and do what they love.”

Apple informed developers of a major pasteboard change coming with macOS 16. It will alert users when apps read the pasteboard without direct user interaction.

The move will ensure apps cannot silently read the pasteboard in the background without you knowing about it.

Samsung jumps on the super-slim phone bandwagon ahead of Apple with the Galaxy S25 Edge, arriving months before its rival’s release. It’s the company’s slimmest Galaxy phone yet, with a waistline of 5.8mm.

Despite its slim profile, the phone packs high-end flagship internals. The Galaxy S25 Edge will take on the iPhone 17 Air when Apple’s slim model launches in fall 2025.

Rather than building a bigger battery into the iPhone 17 to extend battery life, Apple reportedly plans to use a smarter power source to achieve the desired result. The company reported is creating an AI system for iOS 19 to “analyze how a person uses their device and make adjustments to conserve energy,” according to a report published Monday.

It could be one of many AI-powered features in the version of the iPhone’s operating system expected to launch this autumn.

Mac users can now install macOS Sequoia 15.5… but there’s really no hurry. This new version is especially light on new features.

It seems clear that much of Apple’s attention is on upcoming AI features, macOS 16, and other enhancements coming later in the year.

After over a month of beta testing, iOS 18.5 is now available for all compatible iPhones. Unlike previous point iOS 18 releases, the new build does not pack any significant new features.

The update mainly includes minor changes, but older iPhones will receive one major new feature. Keep reading to know about everything new in iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5.

Tariffs might force Apple to increase the prices of the iPhone 17 lineup. The company reportedly will highlight the new designs and features of this year’s models to justify the price increase.

Without raising prices, Apple can’t offset the increased tariffs on Chinese-imported products sold in the United States.

A new feature in iOS 19 reportedly will sync public Wi-Fi login and captive portal details across your Apple devices.

iPhones already sync Wi-Fi network details across all devices connected to the same Apple ID. However, with public networks, a captive portal introduces additional steps. While small, the feature should make logging into hotel Wi-Fi networks more convenient.

Epic Games recently promised to resubmit the hugely popular game Fortnite to the U.S. App Store, and it carried through with the promise Friday. It’s now up to Apple whether the application will be approved.

The move came after a U.S. judge blasted Apple for willfully violating the court’s 2021 order, and ordered Apple to comply with earlier App Store changes effective immediately. These are changes that Epic fought for, and relate to Apple policies that got Fortnite banned in the first place.

Sonos and Ikea loved to make speakers that look like other things. They launched the Symfonisk table lamp speaker, bookshelf speakers and a picture frame, among other products. But now the Sonos-Ikea partnership ends, according to reports.

The Symfonisk line of speakers, which also includes a bookshelf speaker that can hold books and a picture frame speaker that looks like wall art, is designed to blend in with your home decor.

Update: Sonos and Ikea just ended their lengthy partnership on the popular Symfonisk speakers, which included a table lamp and a picture frame, according to various reports.

“Over the past eight years, we’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Ikea and are proud of what we’ve achieved,” Sonos told The Verge. “Although our work together has largely wound down and we won’t be releasing new products as partners, we’ll continue to support every existing Symfonisk product so customers can keep enjoying great sound in their homes for many years to come.”