xMEMS Labs is bringing what it calls breakthrough technology to the wireless earbuds market late next year after a CES 2024 debut — the Cypress ultrasonic speaker. It turns ultrasonic waves we normally can’t even hear into full-frequency, hi-res audio with remarkable detail, the California-based semiconductor company said Tuesday.

The solid-state microspeaker, which will find its way into various companies’ earbuds and headphones — hello, AirPods? — generates low-frequency sound pressure for a full bass response, according to xMEMS Labs.

That makes the ultrasonic speaker a true replacement for legacy speaker technology that has only been refined, not replaced, since your great-grandparents rocked the Victrola.

Bans on Apple Watch imports and sales could take effect the day after Christmas unless President Joe Biden steps in, after the International Trade Commission ruled Thursday that Apple infringed on medical technology patents held by Masimo Corp. and its sibling company, Cercacor Laboratories.

So unless the president vetoes the bans or Apple somehow strikes a deal in a fight that has dragged on for years — neither seems likely — most Apple Watches could go off the market because some of their components violate patents.

The California Institute of Technology got what it wanted out of a years-long patent-infringement lawsuit against Broadcom and (peripherally) Apple. Caltech filed paperwork in a California court dismissing its case.

It’s not clear at this point whether or how much Broadcom and Apple paid the university as part of a settlement. It could be hundreds of millions, though.

Apple is looking into innovative ways to charge iPad accessories, and that includes sending wireless power through the screen.

If the company adopts the idea and expands on it, charging a pair of AirPods would be as simple as putting the case down on an iPhone.

If you haven’t looked at any of Apple’s accessibility features because you’re not blind or deaf, and don’t think they would make your life easier, you might be surprised.

Apple built a handful of accessibility features into iOS 17 that let people with various disabilities use the iPhone in new and unexpected ways. However, absolutely anyone can take advantage of these tools, which prove surprisingly helpful in certain situations.

You can already get live captions to watch videos silently, lock your phone into one app to keep people from snooping around, play soothing ocean or forest sounds and more.

In iOS 17, five accessibility features take things even further. Assistive Access simplifies your phone to its bare features to make it easier to use; Live Speech and Personal Voice let you type on the keyboard to speak using your own voice; Detection Mode and Point and Speak help you get around using your iPhone camera.

Our hands-on demo will show you what these features can do for you.

Humane, a startup founded by Apple veterans, will unveil its “Ai Pin” on November 9, the company said Friday. The press release offered no further details about the launch.

Last week, the company teased the Ai Pin at Paris Fashion Week. Photographers shot pictures of supermodel Naomi Campbell wearing the device — the first person to wear it in public, Humane said.

Update: We embedded a video below showing Humane’s device up close. You probably won’t be very surprised by how Apple-like it looks, given its pedigree.

This post’s headline sounds like a joke, invoking technology used in antique radios, TVs and amplifiers, but the wireless headphones behind it seem entirely serious.

“écoute: the world’s only vacuum tube headphones, designed to compensate for the deficiencies of digital listening,” say the Indiegogo and Kickstarter funding-campaign pages. The French word “écoute” translates to “listen” in English.

Apple has renewed its agreement with Qualcomm to use its 5G modems until 2026. The current deal would have expired at the end of 2023.

The three-year deal signals Apple’s in-house modem is still far from ready. Qualcomm itself was expecting Apple to switch to its modem in 2024.

According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s 5G modem will debut in 2025. The Cupertino giant has been working on its in-house modem for a few years now.

Qualcomm currently supplies Apple with 5G basebands for its entire product lineup. But the company knows Apple is developing its own cellular modem, and it will be ready sooner than later.

Labor Day weekend is always a great time to find deals on tech gear, including Apple computers, gear and accessories. And shockingly, some of those great Labor Day deals are still available from the Cult of Mac Store, Amazon.com and Woot!

Still, we don’t know how long all of these will last, so have at it!