Apple committed to a major White House initiative aimed at revolutionizing how Americans access and manage their healthcare data. The federal government partnered with more than 60 technology and healthcare companies in an ambitious effort to create a “smarter, more secure and more personalized healthcare experience,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said Wednesday during a White House “Make Health Tech Great Again” event.

The Health Technology Ecosystem plan looks like one of the most significant federal pushes to modernize U.S. healthcare infrastructure in decades. Alongside Apple, major participants include Amazon, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, signaling broad industry support. Apple will develop apps for the plan’s “Kill the Clipboard” initiative.

And as expected, the prospect of government and major corporations handling healthcare data raises privacy concerns for patients.

Apple Pencil Pro may have all the bells and whistles, but a lot of average users don’t really need those. For a solid premium iPad stylus that does all the basic tasks like signing documents, note-taking and sketching, Apple Pencil (USB-C) gets the job done just fine. And right now you can get the stylus on sale with a Apple Pencil (USB-C) deal at Amazon, making it even more affordable.  It’s just $69.

July 31, 2012: The Daily, the world’s first iPad-only newspaper, lays off almost a third of its staff, signaling the demise of a bold publishing experiment.

The deep cuts — The Daily fires 50 of its 170 employees — affect mainly sports and editorial page staffers, although some production and design employees get the ax, too. The ominous move comes as News Corp places the iPad app “on watch” due to disappointing readership numbers.

Dropbox will shut down its password manager, Dropbox Passwords, in late October. However, it will begin winding down support well before then.

Dropbox says it is doing this to focus on its core product: cloud storage service. To reduce inconvenience to its users, the company will discontinue the service in a phased manner.

When Apple reveals the financial details of the spring 2025 quarter, Wall Street analysts expect solid, if not spectacular, growth from the Mac maker.

It’s not what some analysts feared would happen earlier this year, especially after a warning from Apple CEO Tim Cook in the spring that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on iPhones and Macs produced in Asia and then imported into the United States would cost the company about a billion dollars during the April-through-June quarter.

July 30, 1979: Apple engineers begin work on the Lisa computer, the company’s first machine to come with a graphical user interface and mouse.

Incorporating technology Steve Jobs saw at Xerox PARC, the Lisa looks like a surefire hit for Apple. Things don’t turn out exactly like that, however.

Today’s featured Mac Studio setup may win the external display arms race — for bigger monitors and for more of them. A 4-display setup displayed on social media is not super rare, but one sporting such large screens is. This one pushes the limit of too much screen space with two stacked 57-inch curved ultra-wide Samsung displays bookended by two 32-inch Samsungs in portrait (vertical) orientation. Yikes, that’s a lot of screen.

A couple of things immediately catch the eye about the Ultra-Nano Qi2 3-in-1 Travel Charger. One, you can make it into a convenient stand or lay it out flat when charging your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. And the second? Wow, this thing is a deal.

I tried it out with all my Apple devices. There are a lot of features to like here, but also a quirk in the design that Apple Watch wearers need to know about.

Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass will once again serve as the exclusive global streaming destination for the Leagues Cup, North America’s premier cross-league soccer tournament that kicked off Tuesday and runs through August.

The monthlong competition brings together clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX in what organizers call the first in-season club tournament across all men’s professional sports in North America.

Tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump placed on China imports will push up the price of three iPhone 17 series models, according to an industry analyst. A $50 hike is predicted.

It could be worse.

Leaked iPhone 17 dummy units give us a look at the lineup’s potential color palette. If accurate, Apple will supposedly offer the iPhone 17 Pro lineup in a bold orange color this year.

The iPhone 17 Air and base iPhone 17 will seemingly come in more muted shades.

Apple faces big challenges in its artificial intelligence efforts as another key researcher leaves the company to join Meta’s ambitious superintelligence project, according to a new report Tuesday. The departure marks the fourth AI expert to leave Apple’s foundation models team in just one month, raising questions about the future of Apple Intelligence and the company’s AI strategy.

Apple introduced iOS 18.6 and macOS Sequoia 15.6 on Tuesday with the goal of clearing out bugs. iPadOS 18.6, watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6 and visionOS 2.6 are also available.

While these patches are about fixing problems rather than adding features, they are still very much worth installing.

July 29, 1993: Apple releases the Macintosh Centris 660av, a computer packed with innovative audiovisual features. These include an AppleVision monitor with microphone and speakers, and a port that can work as a modem with a telecom adapter. It also comes with PlainTalk, the first Apple software to recognize and synthesize speech.

At the relatively low price of $2,489, this was one of the first great affordable multimedia Macs.

An iOS 26 anti-spam feature intended to protect iPhone users from junk texts is causing a furor among politicians. They point out that political fundraising texts automatically go into a folder where the user might not see them.

“That change has profound implications for our ability to fundraise, mobilize voters, and run digital campaigns,” reads a memo sent by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Apple’s Safari web browser packs loads of privacy features that will keep your online activity hidden from ad networks, user tracking and data farms. But are you sure you have everything turned on? Some of Apple’s most important privacy-protecting features don’t come enabled by default.

In light of Google baking ever-more invasive user tracking into Chrome, there are even more reasons to use Safari instead. If you want to make the most out of the best and most secure mainstream browser, here’s how.

Apple launches its new Manufacturing Academy in Detroit on August 19, offering free training programs designed to help American businesses adopt advanced manufacturing techniques, the iPhone giant said Tuesday.

“Apple works with suppliers in all 50 states because we know advanced manufacturing is vital to American innovation and leadership,” said Sabih Khan, Apple’s chief operating officer. “With this new programming, we’re thrilled to help even more businesses implement smart manufacturing so they can unlock amazing opportunities for their companies and our country.”

Whether you’re navigating a noisy commute, seeking focus in a bustling office, trying to unwind during air travel or simply blissing out to your favorite tunes, the right pair of noise-canceling headphones can transform your audio experience. These sophisticated devices do more than just play music — they create a mobile personal sanctuary.

Active noise cancellation (ANC) technology has evolved dramatically in recent years, with options ranging from premium over-ear headphones to compact wireless earbuds. The best models excel not just at blocking out unwanted noise, but also deliver exceptional sound quality, comfortable fit and long battery life.

Our comprehensive guide discusses key factors like a model’s noise-reduction capabilities, audio performance, comfort during extended wear and additional features that enhance the user experience. Find help navigating the options to find your perfect audio companion below.

iPhone shipments in the US declined by a whopping 11% to 13.3 million units. This is despite the market itself growing by a modest 1% annually.

Samsung made the most of the slowdown in iPhone sales, with its shipments growing by 38% YoY.

An alleged iPhone 17 Pro prototype may have just made its first real-world appearance. Blurry images shared online show what looks like a masked iPhone — one that closely matches the design rumors for the iPhone 17 Pro.

While the authenticity is hard to verify, the timing and details point to this possibly being a late prototype unit.

July 28, 2012: Apple buys biometrics company AuthenTec, acquiring the technology that will power Touch ID for authentication and secure payments on the iPhone and other devices.

With a price tag of $356 million, the deal gives Apple the right to use AuthenTec hardware, software and patents. In the short term, Apple engineers start working to build Touch ID sensors into the iPhone 5s. Longer-term, AuthenTec’s mobile wallet tech paves the way for Apple Pay.

Big smart TVs crop up in computer setups online as external displays with increasing regularity. That includes today’s featured M2 Mac mini rig with a 55-inch Hisense smart TV as well as a 32-inch LG 4K monitor that looks tiny by comparison.

And the setup’s audio is no slouch. It features excellent Audioengine bookshelf speakers, a dedicated digital-to-audio converter (DAC) plus a wireless subwoofer for a big low end. Most setups stop at speakers on the desk.

As a power user, I find Mac window management clunky and broken when using the options built into macOS. Switching between apps, and snapping apps into desired screen locations, should not be so frustrating.

So, I took matters into my own hands — streamlining how I snap, switch and manage windows to finally make macOS work for me, not against me.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 Pro may pack bigger camera changes than initially rumored. It could sport a higher resolution 8x zoom camera, a new pro camera app with advanced manual controls, and another Camera Control button on the phone’s top edge.

The information comes from a tipster working for a company producing an iPhone 17 Pro commercial.

July 27, 1955: Joanna Hoffman, who will join the original Macintosh and NeXT teams and become Steve Jobs’ first right-hand woman, is born in Poland.

Six months younger than Jobs, the marketing executive is one of the few people willing and able to stand up to the oftentimes-fierce Apple co-founder during the first part of his career.