Yesterday, Apple.proshared a pair of photos that had appeared on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, purportedly showing the rear of Apple's rumored plastic low-cost iPhone with a Lightning cable plugged into the bottom. The two pictures show a glossy curved shell and have been picked up by numerous sites today.
Our first thought upon seeing the photos was that it is likely simply an iPhone 5 in a plastic case. A lack of an Apple logo or discernible text on the back of the device is unlike many Apple prototypes, and the Lightning cable looked to us to be plugging into a recessed case rather than a flush port on a device.
French site NowhereElse.fr apparently had similar thoughts [Google translation] and performed some analysis of one of the images. Adjusting exposure and contrast on the photo better reveals the bottom of the device, and it certainly does appear that the Lightning cable is plugged into a hole in a case rather directly into a device. Other features along the bottom of the device are also consistent with the iPhone 5: speaker, microphone, and headphone jack.
As a result, we believe these photos are almost certainly an iPhone 5 in a nondescript plastic case rather than an actual low-cost plastic iPhone or a rear shell from such a device.
Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by Joe Rossignol
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more.
Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically.
The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged.
The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions.
Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...
