News - page 32

President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs will hit Apple hard. The president slapped all major manufacturing countries that Apple operates in with heavy import tariffs Wednesday in a bid to reshape international trade.

“It’s our declaration of economic independence,” Trump said during a speech at the White House announcing the tariffs. “Today we are standing up for the American worker and we are finally putting America first.”

This move undermines Apple’s efforts in recent years to diversify its supply chain away from China. The White House says the reciprocal tariffs will go into effect on April 9.

Apple once again released an AirPods Max firmware update that adds support for 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio and ultra-low-latency audio to the USB-C headphones.

Apple originally said it would release the free update on Monday, but it didn’t actually become available until late Wednesday.

Billing it as “the world’s first truly portable network attached storage (NAS) device,” StationPC launched PocketCloud NAS on Kickstarter this week. The compact device blew through its crowdfunding goal with more than 40 days still to go, virtually assuring it will go into production, according to a StationPC representative.

So PocketCloud, available at a steep discount to early buyers, offers Apple enthusiasts a way to manage their growing media libraries and important files without relying solely on iCloud or external hard drives.

“PocketCloud revolutionizes portable data management with a sleek, compact design that eliminates the complexities of traditional NAS systems,” StationPC said. “Its modular backup system ensures secure on-the-go storage and seamless synchronization when docked. With intuitive controls, robust durability, and high-speed transfers up to 800 MB/s, it’s ideal for photographers, content creators, and everyday users.”

Apple’s smart glasses are years from launch. But Meta plans to roll out a more sophisticated version of its popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses later this year.

It will reportedly support hand gestures and feature a screen to display pictures and apps.

Visa reportedly wants to take over Mastercard’s partnership on the Apple Card. The company has allegedly offered Apple $100 million to make it happen.

Apple ended its partnership with Goldman Sachs over the Apple Card. It currently seeks a new banking partner and card issuer.

Apple Watch users can now install watchOS 11.4, an update that improves wake-up alarms and makes a few other tweaks.

Apple announced on Monday that the update was available, but didn’t actually release it until Tuesday.

Popular iOS game emulator Delta released version 1.7, bringing live online multiplayer functionality to Nintendo DS games, the app said Thursday. Delta emulator with online multiplayer makes for a significant development for retro mobile gaming enthusiasts. Anyone who loves playing classic titles like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown and Mario Kart should be delighted.

An apparent Apple Watch Series 10 prototype with a significantly different health sensor surfaced online Monday. Speculation suggests the prototype version might indicate work on advanced health monitoring capabilities like blood glucose monitoring — an Apple goal for many years.

Apple may drop support for the iPhone XS and iPhone XR with iOS 19 this year. This contradicts previous rumors, which indicated iOS 19 may work with the same set of iPhones as iOS 18.

The iPhone XS lineup launched in September 2018, running iOS 12 out of the box.

Apple rolled out its visionOS 2.4 update as a bit of a surprise Monday. It marks a significant spatial computing platform update, introducing Apple Intelligence features and new content discovery tools for Vision Pro users.

Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.4 for Mac users around the world Monday. The upgrade brings AI-powered automatic categorization of emails in Apple’s Mail app, among other things. Plus, it makes Apple Intelligence available in many more languages and regions.

The launch came earlier than expected — Apple previously said the next macOS version would debut in April.

iPadOS 18.4 also launched Monday with the same mail categorization. Plus, iOS 18.4 reached iPhone users, and visionOS 2.4 arrived as well.

iOS 18.4, which Apple released Monday, brings several significant new features to iPhones. It is one of the biggest updates to the operating system since the initial public release of iOS 18 in September 2024.

Among other things, the update will also introduce a key Apple Intelligence feature that Apple showcased at WWDC24. Keep reading to learn about all the new features in iOS 18.4 — or watch our video. (Apple also released iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4 and visionOS 2.4, which include similar upgrades, on Monday.)

Apple’s move to build satellite connectivity into the iPhone reportedly faces pushback from Elon Musk, owner of the rival Starlink satellite service.

Competition between similar services is nothing unusual, but the twist here is that Musk is the world’s richest man by a wide margin and has become extraordinarily powerful in President Donald Trump’s administration, to the point where some critics call him an unelected co-president. He’ll be a tough foe for Apple.

Apple may take a significant leap forward in its health initiatives within about a year, completely revamping its Health app and adding an Apple AI health coach, according to a new report.

With more resources trained on the goal, called Project Mulberry, the iPhone giant gets closer to delivering on CEO Tim Cook’s vision that Apple’s greatest contribution to society will be in health care.

Apple’s M5-equipped iPad Pros reportedly already entered “late testing” stages inside the company and should go into mass production in the second half of 2025.

And, sticking to its regular upgrade cycle, Apple also will refresh the MacBook Pro lineup with the M5 chip later this year.

In the week of its season 2 finale,  Severance stayed near the top of the lists of most-watched streaming series, according to a pair of companies that track ratings. Week after week, the weird workplace drama on Apple TV+ keeps beating almost everything on any streaming service.

Plus, the new comedy The Studio became one of the popular series on streaming last week.

Starting Friday, iPhone users who love Google Maps can make it the default navigation application. It replaces Apple Maps, the current default.

But there is an important caveat. While the option is reportedly available for European iPhone users, those in the United States got left out.

Apple seeded second release candidates of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 on Friday, a day after releasing a second release candidate for macOS 15.4. These follow-up releases likely do nothing but fix bugs discovered in the first release candidates of these operating systems, which Apple released Monday.

When the final versions go live sometime in April, the OS updates will give millions of people around the world their first access to Apple Intelligence (and bring other improvements to boot). But they won’t include the much-anticipated smarter version of Siri that Apple promised last year.

Big updates across Apple’s Final Cut Pro video-editing software lineup introduce AI-driven Image Playground integration, plus improved workflows and enhanced recording options.

Apple released Final Cut Pro updates Thursday that add Image Playground for Mac and iPad users. Plus, iPad users can use the software in portrait orientation for the first time.

A smart new water bottle called Reevus integrates with Apple’s Find My network so you never leave it behind at the gym, and it doubles as an iPhone stand and camera gimbal for steady photos and videos on your adventures, Journey said Friday. It called the water bottle the first of its kind.

“As eco-conscious people increasingly favor bottle monogamy, they’re investing in better quality bottles,” Journey said. “This is intensifying their dependence on un-losable bottles — because it’s too costly and disruptive to lose or misplace a bottle when you rely on it all day and every day.”

Google Maps on iPhone can now identify locations from your screenshots and add them to a list. This should make your vacation planning easier, as you can take a screenshot and let Google Maps do the rest.

The feature leverages Gemini to identify text and location details in your screenshots, which Google Maps then processes to extract relevant information.

For the first time on an iPhone, you can set WhatsApp as the default calling and messaging app. The feature remains exclusive to the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS, but should soon expand to the public build.

WhatsApp is the first major app to adopt the necessary APIs, enabling you to replace Apple’s Phone and Messages apps on your iPhone.

Clip the latest Backbone One iPhone controller to your iPhone to assemble what’s essentially an Xbox you can take anywhere. Press a dedicated button on the controller to dive into Xbox Cloud Gaming or Remote Play.

The gaming accessory launched Thursday.

Like many viewers, I’m a big fan of hit Apple TV+ gaming office comedy Mythic Quest (especially the first couple of seasons). But the trailer for limited-series spinoff Side Quest, below, doesn’t exactly look like the stuff of myth. It doesn’t exactly fill me with breathless anticipation. But now the show is out, so you can judge for yourself.

The entire four-episode anthology series debuts on March 26, alongside Mythic Quest‘s season four finale. Hard to tell from a trailer, but it might amount to bonus points for super-fans of the main show who are sad to see it go at the end of a season.

Update: As of Wednesday, Side Quest now streams on Apple TV+. Reviews so far sound positive, though not ecstatic. The Hollywood Reporter called the limited anthology series “a pleasant but aimless ramble through the Mythic Quest universe,” for example.

TSMC, the Taiwanese company that makes all Apple’s processors, reportedly starts building its third chip foundry in Arizona this year. It could be finished in as little as two years, much quicker than the first one.

The company is already using its initial U.S. factory to make chips for Apple, while the second is still under construction.