News - page 21

Apple just gave new subscribers an extended opportunity to try its music streaming service, offering three months of Apple Music completely free. The promotion to get three months of Apple Music free — which runs through February 24 — greatly expands the standard one-month trial period.
The new offer coincides with Apple’s sponsorship of the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show with musical act Bad Bunny.

With the launch of Apple Creator Studio Wednesday, Apple also updated its suite of productivity apps otherwise known as iWork. That’s Keynote, Pages and Numbers, which were always free and are now “freemium.” Some features will only work for Creator Studio subscribers, but others work for anyone using free versions of the productivity apps.

Seven out of the ten bestselling smartphones in 2025 were iPhones, reports a market research firm, including all of the top four. But it’s not a Pro model that was the No. 1 seller, nor was it the cheapest. It was the base iPhone 16.
Those strong sales powered iPhone to the top of the global market overall. Apple outsold all rival smartphone makers last year, according to a separate report.

An AirTag 2 teardown video reveals Apple’s second-gen AirTag packs major internal changes. From the outside, though, the tracking tag looks identical to its predecessor. 
Internally, Apple has used a thinner PCB and revamped the speaker assembly to make it louder. The latter will also help avoid unwanted tampering with the tag.

Apple released significant updates to Final Cut Pro alongside the debut of Apple Creator Studio software bundle for creatives Wednesday. And in a new feature story, it showed how video director, dance choreographer and Blackpink collaborator Kyle Hanagami uses new AI-powered tools for video editing.

Despite a steep rise in NAND and RAM prices, Apple will supposedly not increase iPhone and Mac prices. Instead, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will take the hit to its gross margins to increase market share. 
The supply-crunch has already forced Apple to negotiate prices with its vendors every quarter, rather than the usual six-month cycle.

The first new Sonos hardware product in over a year is the Sonos Amp Multi, a professional-grade multi-channel streaming amplifier designed specifically for large-scale residential audio installations, the company said Tuesday.
“Sonos Amp is the most widely used two-channel streaming amplifier in residential installation because it’s powerful, dependable, and intuitive,” said Tom Conrad, CEO of Sonos. “Amp Multi takes that same philosophy and applies it to larger systems. It makes ambitious designs more efficient to build and install, and easier to live with.”
The announcement marks a significant expansion of Sonos’ product lineup into the custom integration market, targeting professional installers rather than typical consumers. And it’s the first hardware to come out in a while following shakeups at the company.

The OhSnap Mcon mobile gaming controller magnetically attaches to an iPhone to add joysticks, buttons, triggers and a D-pad. It’s very portable and uses an innovative design that includes flip-out grips for more comfortable play.
OhSnap unveiled the Mcon a year ago, and it finally reached customers on Tuesday.

Get set for Apple to report boffo results from its latest financial quarter on Thursday. Wall Street expects Apple’s earnings report to reflect a record-breaking holiday season, with analysts anticipating significant growth driven by strong iPhone 17 demand.
Revenue may be up as much 11% year over year. Apple hasn’t seen revenue growth that strong since 2022. This should lead to truly stellar earnings per share.

When Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler gave ChatGPT access to a decade of his Apple Watch data, he expected useful insights. Instead, the AI delivered wildly inconsistent health assessments that left him questioning the readiness of AI-powered health tools.

Apple will introduce a new privacy feature in iOS 26.3 exclusive to iPhones with its C1x or C1 modems. The feature will prevent cellular carriers from seeing iPhone owners’ precise location data.
“With the limit precise location setting, you can limit some information that cellular networks may use to determine your location,” says Apple in its support document.

Apple made the third betas of iOS 26.3 and macOS 26.3 available to developers on Monday. This comes two weeks after the second round, double the usual time between new versions. 
The same goes for iPadOS 26.3 beta 3, watchOS 26.3 beta 3, tvOS 26.3 beta 3 and visionOS 26.3 beta 3.

On the latest Cult of Mac podcast: Details emerge about Apple’s work on an AI pin, and we’re all wondering the same thing. What the heck will it do?

The AirTag-size device that Apple’s testing reportedly packs multiple cameras and microphones. And it will work with the new, chatbot-style Siri that’s also in the works.

We all saw how miserably Humane’s Ai Pin failed. What could possibly go wrong with Apple’s AI pin?

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• We might get our first look at (and first earful of) the new, super-chatty Siri at WWDC26 in June. Please, for the love of all that’s holy, let’s hope it works (and that it ships in a timely fashion).
• Uh-oh. It looks like price hikes for iPhones and Macs might be in the works. Who can you blame? AI, of course.
• Griffin walks us through the benefits of using Hot Corners on your Mac, including some masterful techniques that simplify his workflow.
• And we wrap up the show with a look at some cool setups that show the importance of lighting.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast 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.

There’s a fresh round of system software updates for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch on Monday. Apple released iOS 26.2.1, iPadOS 26.2.1 and watchOS 26.2.1 to support AirTag 2, a tracker tag also introduced on Monday.
Note that Mac users didn’t get an equivalent macOS 26.2.1 update — likely because Macs and AirTags aren’t truly intended to be used together.

The new Apple Watch Unity Connection Braided Solo Loop honors Black History Month, coming up in February, while celebrating themes of human connection and community bonds, Apple said Monday.

Apple launched the second-generation AirTag on Monday, upgrading the tracking tag with a new Ultra Wideband chip and improved Bluetooth connectivity so it can be located from much farther away. Apple also built in a louder speaker.

Like its predecessor, you can use AirTag 2 to find lost items — and get reminders if you inadvertently leave items behind.

Apple’s M5-powered Macs might have a short shelf life, with the M6 chip possibly debuting “in the near future,” according to a new report. 
But first, Apple will unveil MacBook Pros, Mac Studio and MacBook Air equipped with the M5 chip in the first half of 2026.

Apple’s attempt to keep online advertisers from tracking Safari users had the unintended effect of completely throwing off reporting on iOS 26 adoption.

Rather than only a small percentage of iPhone users installing some version of Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 26 adoption is only a bit below average.

Apple could take the wraps off the Google Gemini-powered Siri update as early as the second half of February. It’s unclear if Apple will hold a major event or a small media briefing to unveil the next-gen assistant.

The public release likely will happen in late March or early April with iOS 26.4.

Apple Cash’s updated fee structure will make instant transfer pricier for users who want quick access to their money. The change goes into effect in less than a month from now, on February 18, 2026. 
From that day, Apple will charge a 1.7% fee for an Instant Transfer.

After Apple invited a select group of content creators to an “Apple Experience” in Los Angeles, speculation arose Friday that the company will use the event to launch an upgraded MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max processors.
Appel scheduled its mysterious event for January 27 through January 29 — exactly the time many expect the refreshed Mac laptop to arrive.

As a major winter storm barrels across the United States this weekend, iPhone users have once again noticed something peculiar. Well ahead of the actual precipitation, Apple’s Weather app seems to predict wildly different snowfall totals from day to day. It might forecast 18 inches of snow one day, then drop that to 8 inches the next. What’s up with how weather apps mislead users? A new report sheds some light. 

A Chinese tech shop has done what Apple chose not to: add a physical SIM card slot to the iPhone Air. There’s a catch, though: to make internal space for the SIM card tray, they removed the vibration motor.
While a notable trade-off, it’s the only way to add a physical SIM card to the iPhone Air.

The new Pisen Qi2 8-in-1 140W Mega Charging Hub — just launched on Amazon — offers Apple users a comprehensive desktop charging solution that combines wireless charging for iPhone and Apple Watch with high-power wired charging for MacBooks and iPads, the company said Thursday. 
It features not only a Qi2 MagSafe charging platform for recent iPhones, but a magnetic Apple Watch charger, USB ports and even power outlets for plugs. And you can get it not only in basic black, but in a surprising yellow!

John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, reportedly just added an even more critical role at the company, being put in charge of design for the first time.
The intent of the change might be to give Ternus the experience needed to someday become Apple CEO.