Apple showcased the family-inspired coding work of three Swift Student Challenge winners Wednesday. The iPhone giant changed up its annual coding competition this year by naming 50 students Distinguished Winners among 350 top coders overall. The 50 get to attend a special event at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC24).

“This year’s winning Swift Student Challenge submissions once again demonstrate the breadth and depth of what is possible when talented young people use coding to make their mark on the world,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations.

“We’re also incredibly proud to welcome more outstanding student developers than ever before to Apple Park to connect with our teams and each other as they continue to build apps that will no doubt transform our future for the better,” she added.

Apple has reportedly resumed talks with OpenAI about using its technology to power iOS 18’s AI features. The company will use OpenAI’s LLM model to seemingly power an AI-based chatbot.

OpenAI and Apple are also discussing how they can integrate OpenAI features into iOS 18.

Applications that advertised the ability to use AI to turn regular images into nudes have reportedly been removed from the iPhone App Store.

Apple needed to be notified of their existence, though.

Apple Pencil 3 is apparently right around the corner, and leaks indicate the next iPad stylus will offer several features not in the previous one. That includes a new “squeeze” gesture, haptic feedback and Find My support.

Plus, it might also work as a Vision Pro stylus.

Apple saw iPhone activations decline to 33% of new smartphone activations in the US in Q1 2024, the lowest number in the country since 2017, according to a market-research firm. In the year-ago quarter, iPhones accounted for 40% of new smartphone activations in the US. In just 12 months, the company has seen its share fall by 7%.

The decline doesn’t necessarily stem from a lack of interest in Apple’s products — iPhone’s share of the installed smartphone base has actually increased. Partly it’s because iOS handsets last so long.

Apple lowered production targets as Vision Pro demand drops for the mixed-reality headset in 2024, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. That suggests lower-than-expected demand among consumers as Apple plans to roll out the headset to new countries.

The company now plans to manufacture only 400,000 to 450,000 units this year, significantly lower than the initially anticipated 700,000 to 800,000 units.

In the first quarter of 2024, iPhone sales in China slid 19.1% compared to Q1 2023. And that’s mainly due to competitor Huawei taking a bigger bite in the premium segment, according to new research. And yet analysts indicated possible signs of recovery for Apple, too.

There will never be a version of the Mac mini with the Apple M3 processor, according to a reliable tipster. Instead, the inexpensive desktop will wait for the next-generation chip.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the wait supposedly won’t be terribly long.

The long wait for easy access to AirPlay in hotel rooms is over. Sort of. Apple announced Thursday that a hotel chain is supporting the feature that allows iPhone and iPad users to wirelessly stream content to hotel TVs.

It’s a limited rollout, so travelers are left hoping there’ll be wider adoption.

Mac users won’t need to wait until 2025 for the Apple M4 processor, according to a reputable Apple tipster. The replacement for the current M3 will emphasize AI — and will start appearing in Macs this autumn.

A previous report said improvements in the upcoming Apple A18 iPhone processor, also launching this fall, will focus on artificial intelligence, too.