An iPhone 17 Pro Max in Cosmic Orange has been sealed inside a 250 year time capsule as part of America's Semiquincentennial celebrations, with the device not due to be seen again until the 23rd century.
America250, the congressionally appointed nonprofit leading the 250th anniversary celebrations, announced that "America's Time Capsule" was officially sealed and buried at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026, to be reopened in 2276.
The iPhone was included through America250's "America Innovates" initiative as a representative of the cutting edge of American innovation and technology in 2026, with the device showcasing advances in handheld computing, imaging, and connectivity that have transformed how people work, communicate, and create in the 21st century. The device contains "digital artifacts" in the Notes app, intended to give whoever opens the capsule in 2276 a small window into everyday life in 2026.
The capsule itself was built to give the iPhone and everything else inside it the best possible chance of surviving intact. Developed with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and preservation experts at the Library of Congress, it uses a 900 pound, precision milled stainless steel cylinder sealed with indium, a soft metal that deforms under compression to fill microscopic imperfections in the sealing groove. It was covered with a 1,100 pound stainless steel bell jar that creates a protective air pocket to keep the vessel dry underground.
Beyond the iPhone, the capsule holds contributions from all 56 states and territories and all three branches of the federal government, including a feather from Civil War era bald eagle mascot "Old Abe" (Wisconsin), fabric from the Wright brothers' 1903 aircraft (Ohio), and an AI generated response from Anthropic's Claude submitted by California imagining the state 250 years from now.
Anker's popular Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station has dropped to $99.74 on Amazon, down from $149.99. This is one of Anker's newest accessories, and Amazon's sale today is a match of the all-time low price that we last tracked during Prime Day.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The Prime 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station features Qi2.2 support, which lets a compatible MagSafe iPhone charge at up to 25W. It's the same speed as Apple's MagSafe charger, and it is 10W faster than the standard Qi2 MagSafe chargers. You can also simultaneously charge an Apple Watch and AirPods with the device.
Below you'll find a list of the best Anker discounts on Amazon this week, also including wall chargers, portable batteries, and more. There are a few more accessories that are matching their Prime Day prices, including Anker's Nano USB-C Wall Charger with Smart Display. You can get this accessory for $25.99, down from $39.99.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
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Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September. The devices will have a lot in common, but the latest leak suggests that the Pro Max model will take an even bigger step forward in regards to battery life.
According to new filings in a Chinese regulatory database, it appears that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with a 5,567mAh battery in the U.S., while the iPhone 18 Pro will seemingly have a 4,288mAh battery. It is no surprise the Pro Max has a larger battery, but its year-over-year gains in battery life look to be particularly significant this year.
If the leaked capacities are accurate, the iPhone 18 Pro Max would have nearly a 10% larger battery compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max, while the size of the iPhone 18 Pro's battery would only increase by less than 1% over the iPhone 17 Pro.
It was previously rumored that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be thicker than the iPhone 18 Pro. If so, that might be to accommodate the larger battery.
In some years, the Pro Max gets some camera features before the Pro, but that is not expected to be the case this year. The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera is rumored to get variable aperture on both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Of course, the Pro Max will remain larger and heavier than the Pro, but the devices should be identical beyond that and the bigger gap in battery life.
Broadcom has agreed to extend its chip partnership with Apple through 2031, expanding a deal that covers the development and supply of a wide range of custom chips, Reuters reports.
Today's extension builds on an existing supply relationship between the two companies, which have worked together for years. Apple is one of Broadcom's largest customers, believed to account for about 20% of its annual revenue.
Apple has been steadily bringing chip design in-house, such as with its own C1 and C1X cellular modems, but many of Broadcom's wireless connectivity and radio frequency components remain in use. Broadcom's chips cover custom radio frequency components, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and other networking semiconductors found throughout Apple's lineup.
Apple and Broadcom signed a multibillion-dollar agreement in 2023 covering 5G radio frequency components manufactured in the United States. Broadcom shares rose nearly 4% in premarket trading today on the news.
Amazon today has a few deals on the Apple Watch Ultra 3, providing $99 discounts on select models. We did track these models at $149 off during Prime Day this year, but those discounts are long gone and Amazon's prices today are still solid second-best options for anyone who missed those sales in June.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You can get the Apple Watch Ultra 3 for $699.99 in Natural and Black color options, down from $799.00. There are also a few Milanese Loop models on sale for $799.99, down from $899.00.
We've collected some of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 models currently on sale on Amazon in the list below. Amazon provides an estimated delivery date of July 11 for most of the watches, although Prime members should see same-day delivery in many locations.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
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New Chinese regulatory certification filings appear to confirm the battery capacities of Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models.
According to new filings in China's C3 database, spotted by the leaker known as "Digital Chat Station" on Weibo, the iPhone 18 Pro is seemingly rated for 4,056mAh in China and 4,288mAh in the U.S., up modestly from the iPhone 17 Pro's 3,988mAh and 4,252mAh. The iPhone 18 Pro Max shows a bigger jump, rated for 5,391mAh in China and 5,567mAh in the U.S., compared with 4,823mAh and 5,088mAh on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, an increase of nearly 500mAh.
The devices in the filings are not directly named the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but are highly likely to relate to these models.
The China and U.S. capacities differ because Apple has continued to include a SIM tray on iPhones sold outside the United States, while U.S. models have been eSIM only since the iPhone 14 lineup. Without a physical tray taking up internal space, Apple can fit a slightly larger battery into the U.S. version of each device.
The certification listings cover battery models S2232 and S2233 for the iPhone 18 Pro and 2235L/2235 and 2236L/2236 for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and also show rated energy figures of up to 21.751Wh and a 4.520V charge limit voltage, and list all four batteries as valid through May or June 2031.
The numbers line up with Digital Chat Station's report from June, which gave identical figures for the iPhone 18 Pro.
In a separate post the same day, Digital Chat Station said supply chain information from months earlier had already pointed to the China model landing in the "5,000mAh" range, and suggested that a 5391mAh cell paired with the 2nm A20 Pro chip could deliver a noticeable battery life improvement.
The iPhone 18 Pro models are rumored to feature a smaller Dynamic Island, a variable aperture main camera, the C2 modem outside of the U.S., and more. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected to launch in September alongside Apple's first foldable iPhone.
Apple's Mac mini and Mac Studio have become the machines of choice for running AI agents, according to Doug Brooks, Apple's senior product manager of Apple silicon.
Brooks made the claim while discussing Apple's chip strategy in a newly published interview with The Deep View conducted just prior to WWDC 2026 in June.
Brooks says that the company has seen "incredible demand" for the two desktop Macs. When it comes to agentic workloads, "people often want a system that's under their control, isolated from their primary machine, and capable of running 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Brooks.
"A Mac mini is an amazing system for that," he added.
Many AI tools are also Mac-first or Mac-only, which Brooks says has helped cement the Mac's standing among developers, including those at frontier AI labs where Macs are said to be a common sight.
The Apple executive also conceives of agentic AI as a whole-chip problem rather than a GPU one. "It's not just about the GPU crunching on an LLM anymore," he said. "It's about the whole chip contributing to different parts of the task, tool-calling, and the things that are happening around those workflows. It really plays to the strengths of Apple silicon."
Brooks links Apple's position of strength in modern AI back to chip decisions made long before LLMs like ChatGPT arrived. He points to the Neural Engine, which is built for power-efficient matrix math, along with lesser-known neural accelerators inside the CPU that handle time-sensitive tasks like speech.
Apple more recently added neural accelerators to the GPU, which has extended AI performance across the board from iPhone-class parts up to the Mac's largest silicon. Brooks ties that progress to Apple's design method, where a chip is built for a specific machine, and the hardware and software are developed in tandem.
He also described a shift toward running AI locally rather than in the cloud – a move motivated by privacy, security, and the rising cost of inference as agents consume more tokens. However, Brooks envisions a hybrid future in which agents decide what runs on-device and what gets sent to the cloud.
He also singled out what he calls "transparent AI" on iPhone and iPad, referring to features scattered throughout the operating system and third-party apps that work quietly without announcing themselves as AI.
Some of the examples he cited include Draw Things, an image generator that runs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and SwingVision, which analyzes tennis and pickleball gameplay in real time using the iPhone's cameras.
"The speed of AI development right now is just crazy," Brooks said. "I can't imagine where we're going to be a year from now, three months from now, or even a month from now," he added.
WhatsApp appears to be introducing a new visual indicator that shows when a contact is online, according to WaBetaInfo.
The feature adds a small green circle to a contact's profile photo when they're active in the app, and which disappears the moment they leave, all updated in real time. The indicator is now being tested for the WhatsApp iPhone app in TestFlight after it debuted on Android last month.
As it currently works, the dot only surfaces in the chat info screen (the page that opens when you tap a contact's name at the top of a conversation). It doesn't yet appear in the chat list or the conversation view itself, but that could change in the future.
The change appears to stick to WhatsApp's existing privacy rules, so if someone has specifically chosen to hide their last seen and online status, the green dot won't show up for them.
Green dot for online contacts shown (image: WaBetaInfo)
The indicator is live in the WhatsApp beta for iOS 26.26.10.72. WABetaInfo reports that it's available to some beta testers now, with a wider beta rollout expected over the coming weeks. There's no word yet on when the green dot will reach the stable version for everyone, though.
Apple will likely "repeat the iPhone X story" by unveiling its foldable iPhone at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but starting foldable iPhone pre-orders at a later date, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo today said manufacturing challenges have limited early production of the foldable iPhone, which will reportedly be named iPhone Ultra. As a result, he believes the device may launch at some point after the iPhone 18 Pro models.
In 2017, Apple unveiled the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X on September 12. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus pre-orders began just three days later, while iPhone X pre-orders began six weeks later on Friday, October 27. Likewise, Kuo believes the foldable iPhone may not be available to pre-order until the fourth quarter of 2026.
Kuo estimated that the foldable iPhone could have a starting price of around $2,299 to $2,499 in the U.S., and he believes that the device "could sell out immediately after pre-orders open, with delivery lead times quickly stretching to 4-6 weeks or longer."
Apple's suppliers will ship roughly 7–8 million foldable iPhones in 2026, compared to 20–22 million for the iPhone 18 Pro models combined, he said.
If this information proves to be accurate, expect the foldable iPhone to be unveiled in September, but you may not be able to order it until at least October.
Apple recently introduced major price hikes across a number of products, including Macs, iPads, and more. This week, Apple's newly increased prices have begun to hit third-party retailers like Amazon, but there are a few select MacBook Pro models that are retaining original prices, which now represent solid discounts on each device.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
14-Inch MacBook Pro
There are now just two models left of the 14-inch MacBook Pro at notable low prices in the wake of Apple's price hikes. Prices start at $2,549.99 for the 15-Core/24GB/2TB 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro, now a $449 discount on the new price of this model. A similar 18-Core configuration is on sale for $2,749.99 as well, another $449 discount on the new price.
In terms of the larger display models, we're tracking four total discounts on Amazon. These start at $2,649.99 for the 24GB/1TB M5 Pro configuration ($349 off), and reach up to $4,349.99 for the 48GB/2TB M5 Max device ($649 off). If you're interested in any of these MacBook Pro notebooks, we recommend purchasing soon as these big markdowns aren't expected to last much longer.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
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After last week's craziness around Apple's major price hikes, things returned to a bit more of a normal flow this week, with the rumor mill offering up tidbits about the long-rumored touchscreen MacBook, the iPhone 18 lineup, and more.
This week also saw minor updates for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS that included a surprising number of security fixes, while a cyberattack at an Apple manufacturing partner has the company concerned about leaked confidential information, so read on below for all the details!
Top Stories
Apple's OLED 'MacBook Ultra' Will Stick With M5 Pro and M5 Max Chips
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Apple will be accelerating development of its M7 family of chips to deliver greater AI-focused capabilities sooner, but it also means Apple will not be releasing M6 Pro and M6 Max chips.
That revelation left open the question of which chips Apple is planning on using in its highly anticipated touchscreen "MacBook Ultra" rumored for release late this year or early next year, and Bloomberg now says Apple will be using M5 Pro and M5 Max chips for that product.
The news is likely to disappoint some who have been waiting for the new high-end MacBook, considering the M5 Pro and M5 Max have been used in the current MacBook Pro models since March, so the chips could be approaching a year old by the time the MacBook Ultra debuts.
As for the base MacBook Pro currently powered by the regular M5 chip, Bloomberg says there is an M6 model coming late this year, with a redesigned M7 model matching the upcoming MacBook Ultra to follow relatively soon after in the first half of 2027.
2027 iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e to Get 9GB RAM and A20 Chip
Apple is unsurprisingly "concerned" about the leak from its Indian manufacturing partner, as the files include detailed information about parts and suppliers for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
iPhone 18 Pro is Just a Few Months Away With These 10 New Features
Even aside from the Tata leak, a lot of information is already known about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which are expected to debut in September, so be sure to check out our overview.
Potential buyers should also be prepared for the possibility of a price shock, considering Apple's recent price increases across its iPad and Mac lineups. One market intelligence firm believes Apple could raise prices by up to $200 compared to the current iPhone 17 Pro lineup.
Play was a Mac and iPhone app that allowed designers to prototype iPhone app interfaces using Apple's SwiftUI frameworks, and then send them to Xcode. In 2025, the app won an Apple Design Award for innovation, but it is no longer available in the App Store and it is unclear what Apple's plans are for the intellectual property associated with it.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
The lower-end iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e will be equipped with 9GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a social media post, Kuo said the 1GB increase in RAM will ensure that Apple Intelligence features continue to run smoothly on the pair of devices.
The higher-end iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable "iPhone Ultra" will each have the same 12GB of RAM as the iPhone 17 Pro models, added Kuo.
Apple is expected to release the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Ultra in September this year, while the iPhone 18, iPhone 18e, and a second-generation iPhone Air will reportedly be released around March 2027.
Even with an increased 9GB of RAM, two new Apple Intelligence features coming with iOS 27 will not be available on the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e, including the ability to customize the expressiveness and pace of Siri's voice and a "major boost in accuracy" for speech-to-text dictation. This is because the latest advanced on-device Apple Intelligence model powering those two features requires a minimum of 12GB of RAM.
Here are the confirmed RAM amounts for the iPhone 17 series:
iPhone 17e: 8GB
iPhone 17: 8GB
iPhone 17 Pro: 12GB
iPhone 17 Pro Max: 12GB
The rumored RAM amounts for the iPhone 18 series and iPhone Ultra:
iPhone 18e: 9GB
iPhone 18: 9GB
iPhone 18 Pro: 12GB
iPhone 18 Pro Max: 12GB
iPhone Ultra: 12GB
The second-generation iPhone Air will presumably have 12GB of RAM, too.
RAM and NAND storage chips are currently expensive due to a supply shortage, resulting in Apple raising prices on more than a dozen products last month. For now, iPhones avoided price increases, but analysts have estimated that the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e could cost $100 to $200 more than the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e.
Tata Electronics, one of Apple's manufacturing partners in India, was hit by a ransomware attack that resulted in more than 200,000 internal files being posted online, including component lists, supplier data, and images of iPhone 18 Pro test units. The material was obtained illegally, and MacRumors has not seen the stolen files directly.
Among the leak's more surprising details is that the C2 modem may be limited to international models, succeeding the C1 and C1X modems already used in the iPhone Air, iPhone 17e, and M5 iPad Pro. A bill of materials for the U.S. variant instead lists Qualcomm components, including the SDX80M and other parts associated with mmWave 5G, a feature Apple's C-series modems still lack. U.S. carriers have spent years building out mmWave networks, making it a harder feature to drop from the Pro lineup than it was from the iPad Pro or a rumored cellular MacBook.
On the camera side, the rumored variable aperture main camera is this year's headline upgrade, though it's unclear how much of a real-world difference it will make compared to genuinely transformative jumps in past generations, like the 8x telephoto lens introduced on the iPhone 17 Pro or the and 48-megapixel sensor from the iPhone 14 Pro.
Pricing looms over rumors about the device. Apple has now raised prices across much of its lineup, citing a global memory chip shortage driven largely by AI data center demand. The Apple TV and HomePod price hikes drew particular criticism, since both products are several years old with no accompanying hardware changes.
Estimates for the iPhone 18 Pro itself point to a starting price as high as $1,399, up from $1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro, an increase weighed against a modest RAM and battery bump, a smaller Dynamic Island, and a more capable N2 chip. A rumored 5G-via-satellite feature will likely offer limited access to specific services like Siri or Maps rather than full Safari browsing.
If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion about potential price rises for the iPhone 18 lineup following Apple's wave of hikes yesterday, as well as plans for the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and camera-equipped AirPods.
The MacRumors Show is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also email us at podcast@macrumors.com or head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.
The Apple Watch Series 12 could ship with a new health sensor built directly into one of its bands, according to a sketchy rumor from a known leaker.
The leaker known as "Kosutami" says the sensor will be injection-molded into a silicone band, and only a silicone band, apparently because Apple has not yet solved how to embed similar hardware in bands made from other materials. No detail was given on what the sensor is actually meant to measure.
[Censo-Wat]ch Series 12 gonna have a sensor on band, injection molded(to the silicon band, they hasn't yet figured out how to putting a sensor on band with other materials now.).
— Kosutami (@Kosutami_Ito) July 3, 2026
This is not the first time band-based sensing has been floated for Apple Watch, and the idea has reappeared repeatedly over the years, mainly as a result of Apple's patent filings. Back in 2017, a patent for modular band links that could each house a different function emerged, including blood pressure monitors and sweat sensors, followed later that year by a self-adjusting band patent that Apple said could also improve the accuracy of onboard biometric sensors by ensuring a snugger fit.
In 2019, a batch of smart band patents covered skin-texture authentication and other embedded functionality, and in 2021 a dedicated hydration sensor patent proposed the use of electrodes against the skin to measure electrolyte concentration in sweat. None of that patent activity has led to a shipping product so far, and Apple routinely files patents for concepts that never reach customers.
Kosutami's credibility as a source is mixed. While Apple has clearly researched adding sensors to Apple Watch bands extensively, the rumor is new, uncorroborated, and should be taken with a heavy pinch of salt for now.
The Apple Watch Series 12 is likely to be a minor upgrade featuring a new chip and little else is known about the device. It's expected to launch this fall alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple's first foldable iPhone, continuing to use the same design introduced with the Series 10.
The code mentions a product codenamed B790 that can relay "two images from cameras on either side of [a] user's head." Gold speculated that the code could be referring to Apple's rumored smart glasses, but a more likely possibility is AirPods with cameras, which are reportedly further along in development compared to the glasses. AirPods Pro 3 were codenamed B788, while the smart glasses are reportedly codenamed N50.
Apple is rumored to be working on both "AirPods Ultra" and smart glasses with cameras, and Visual Intelligence is expected to be a core feature of these products. While wearing the camera-equipped AirPods or glasses, you would be able to look at something such as a house plant and have Siri provide you with information about it.
The code appears to instruct Visual Intelligence on how to function on the mystery device. It says the feature works with landmarks, text, and known objects, with the Eiffel Tower in Paris and a coffee mug cited as two examples.
/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_IF_PlannerOverrides/purpose_auto/9aaa6a204118137235983cc3f1eecae8a125c550.asset/AssetData/PCC/system_prompt_metadata/system_prompt.json seems to hint at some smart glasses codenamed B790 pic.twitter.com/IEmbfleth4
— sam henri gold (@samhenrigold) July 3, 2026
The code does not reveal much else, but it serves as yet another indication that Apple is actively developing more camera-equipped wearables.
According to the latest reporting from Bloomberg, both the "AirPods Ultra" and the smart glasses are currently slated to launch in late 2027.
This week's best deals include ongoing all-time low prices on AirTag 2, plus great discounts on the previous-generation M3 iPad Air, for anyone who wants to avoid price hikes on the M4 models. We're also tracking Fourth of July savings from popular accessory makers this weekend.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Fourth of July Deals
It's Fourth of July weekend, and we're tracking numerous sales across popular accessory companies right now. This includes sitewide deals at Anker, B&H Photo, Best Buy, OtterBox, ZAGG, and more. Many of these savings events will end on Sunday, July 5, so be sure to shop them this weekend before they're gone.
Apple's AirTag 2 is still available for the all-time low price of $89.00 this week, down from $99.00. This sale is on the 4-Pack of the AirTag 2, and it's one of the very few Prime Day deals that's stuck around since the event ended last week.
M3 iPad Air
What's the deal? Save on previous generation iPad Air tablets
Best Buy's Fourth of July sale is currently running, and it features a big sale across Apple's previous generation M3 iPad Air tablets. You can find up to $400 off these devices during the event, and they're particularly notable when compared to the recently increased prices of the 2026 M4 iPad Air.
Samsung's newest monitors have been further discounted this week, with big savings on the Odyssey G8, ViewFinity S8, and Movingstyle Essential. All of these have discounts that have been applied automatically.
Amazon is offering the AirPods 4 for $99.00 this week, down from $129.00. This is another Prime Day deal that's stuck around all week, and it's an overall solid second-best price on the earbuds.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
Deals Newsletter
Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2026? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!
Apple will release iOS 27 in September, and despite the company's focus this year on refining its flagship operating system and nixing bugs, there are still many additional features on the way, not least of which is Apple's new context-aware Siri, re-tooled for the generative AI era.
This year's major iPhone software update isn't all about AI, though, as the following feature list testifies. iOS 27 remains in developer beta, while a public beta is expected to arrive this month.
Extend Your Photos and Lock Screen Wallpaper
A new wallpaper extension feature in iOS 27 uses Apple Intelligence to automatically expand a photo beyond its original boundaries so it fills the entire Lock Screen more naturally. If a photo is cropped too tightly, doesn't match your iPhone's aspect ratio, or it leaves empty space when positioned on the Lock Screen, iOS 27 can generate additional image content around the edges with the "Extend" option. It will analyze the existing image and create matching background details that blend with the original photo, so there's no need for aggressive cropping. The Extend option can also be found in the Photos app.
Organize Your Safari Tabs
Safari uses Apple Intelligence to automatically organize your open tabs into related topics, making them easier to browse and manage. For example, if you're shopping for a new refrigerator while planning a vacation, Safari groups tabs for each activity into separate topic-based collections. You can enable this feature by opening Tab View, tapping the three-line icon in the top-right corner, and turning on Automatically Create Topics.
Use Natural Language for Reminder and Calendar Entries
In the Reminders app, you can now create reminders using natural language, and Apple Intelligence will automatically fill in details such as the date, time, and location. For example, if you type "Pick up Dad at 6 p.m. tonight" or "Send the photos to Eric tomorrow at 3 p.m.," Reminders extracts the relevant information and adds it to the reminder automatically.
The Calendar app also supports natural language input, identifying people, dates, and locations as you type. You can then tap the suggested information to quickly add it to your event.
Inline Reply to Messages From Android Users
In the Messages app, you can now long press on a specific message from an Android user (a green chat bubble) and get an option to reply to it. That contrasts with iOS 26, where inline replies are limited to blue bubbles sent over Apple's iMessage platform.
Upgrade Your Wallet Passes
Apple has expanded the redesigned pass experience in the Wallet app with iOS 27, bringing the enhanced design introduced for airline boarding passes in iOS 26 to additional pass types. Membership, gift, loyalty, and rewards cards can now use a new Poster Generic layout with a background image, a logo, customizable header and footer fields, main information, and an optional barcode. Passes can also include up to two quick actions at the bottom, such as getting directions to a venue or checking a rewards points balance.
Describe Your Next Shortcut
Apple Intelligence makes creating shortcuts much more accessible by letting you build them with natural language. Tapping New Shortcut in the Shortcuts app opens a Describe a Shortcut interface, where you simply explain what you want the shortcut to do. You can describe a single action or a more complex automation, and Apple Intelligence selects the appropriate actions and assembles the shortcut automatically.
For example, you could create a shortcut that sets tomorrow's alarm based on your first Calendar event, enables Sleep Focus, and dims the bedroom lights each evening, or one that displays your first meeting, the weather, and today's reminders every morning. Like existing shortcuts, these automations can be triggered by factors such as the time of day, your location, app activity, system events like taking a screenshot, incoming notifications, and more.
Get a Better Flyover of Your City
Apple is enhancing the Flyover feature in Maps with iOS 27, using Apple Intelligence models to improve aerial imagery with greater texture and sharper detail. Trees, buildings, and other landmarks appear more realistic, with more accurate geometry and improved lighting effects.
According to Apple, the update makes select cities around the world look more lifelike, from the shape of individual trees to the way light reflects off glass skyscrapers. Flyover already offers detailed 3D views of landmarks, roads, parks, and buildings in more than 350 cities, so iOS 27 is essentially using AI to further improve the quality of those visualizations.
Ask Siri What Your Camera Sees
The iOS 27 Camera app has a new "Siri" mode that is available in addition to the video, photo, and other camera modes. The new mode uses Visual Intelligence to identify objects in the frame and provide information about them. It can be used to identify plants, animals, food, and more. If it's food you want info on, for example, it can tell you what it is, and how many calories are in it.
Other examples Siri mode can be used for include capturing a photo of an event flyer and adding a date to the Calendar app, text translation, splitting a bill, and more.
Make Your Lock Screen Clock More Compact
A new compact clock mode is available as a new Lock Screen layout option in iOS 27. Found in the top-right corner of the Font & Color panel, the option moves the time from its traditional large, centered position to a much smaller format alongside the date and widgets at the top of the screen. It's a nice option to have if you like a cleaner Lock Screen look that shows off your wallpaper more fully, and it's the complete opposite effect introduced in iOS 26 that stretches the clock down the screen.
Generate Photo-realistic Images with Image Playground
Apple's Image Playground has been a bit of an embarrassment up until now, being limited to cutesy re-renderings of actual photos and sketched illustrations. But the app gets a major update in iOS 27. Powered by a new generative model that runs on Private Cloud Compute, it can produce high-quality images in virtually any style, including photo-realistic output for the first time. All generated images automatically carry a hidden SynthID watermark to identify them as AI-generated. The app now also supports photo-based editing in addition to creation.
Tweak Liquid Glass Opacity
If Apple's Liquid Glass UI embrace in iOS 26 wasn't your thing, there's a way to tone it down. In iOS 27, Apple added a full Liquid Glass slider under Settings ➝ Appearance ➝ Liquid Glass. It changes the translucency of Liquid Glass elements, and you can choose a clear version of Liquid Glass that allows some of the background to show through, select a more opaque, tinted version that improves the legibility of text, or choose something in between.
Create a Slideshow from Any Album
In iOS 27, you can create a slideshow from any album, collection, or selection of photos in the Photos app, rather than being limited to Memories. Open an album or select multiple photos, tap the menu button in the top-right corner, and choose Start Slideshow. Slideshows can be customized with different transition styles, slide durations, and background music, and then saved as a video or shared directly to social media.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
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Apple's software engineers recently began testing iOS 27.4, according to the MacRumors visitor logs.
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