MacRumors

It has been nearly three years since Apple released the Studio Display. Below, we recap rumors about a potential next-generation model.

Apple released the Studio Display in March 2022 alongside the Mac Studio. The standalone display features a 27-inch LCD screen with 5K resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, up to 600 nits brightness, a built-in camera and speakers, one Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB-C ports. In the U.S., the Studio Display continues to start at $1,599.

There have been on-again, off-again rumors about Apple planning a new 27-inch external display with mini-LED backlighting, which would allow for increased brightness and higher contrast ratio compared to the current Studio Display. In April 2023, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the display was slated for mass production in 2024 or early 2025. However, it is unclear if that remains Apple's plan.

In November 2024, an anonymous listener of the Relay FM tech podcast "Upgrade" claimed that Apple was developing 90Hz display technology that could be used for the next Studio Display. This higher refresh rate would make content like videos and text while scrolling look smoother to the eye, but 90Hz would stop short of the 120Hz refresh rate that iPhones and Macs with ProMotion support can achieve. It would nonetheless be an improvement.

It is not clear to us if the anonymous tipster has a proven track record with Apple rumors.

That's all we have currently for Studio Display rumors. Given that Apple's higher-end Pro Display XDR was released in 2019, and still has not received any hardware upgrades, it is quite possible that the Studio Display could also linger without upgrades for at least a few more years. Hopefully, though, Apple delivers something sooner.

Earlier this week, Woot brought back a massive sale on the Braided Solo Loop and Solo Loop bands for Apple Watch, and the sale is set to end later tonight. All bands are in brand new condition and come with a one year Apple limited warranty.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Woot says the sale will end at 11:59 p.m. Central Time tonight, although there is a chance it could be extended due to its popularity. Either way, some colors and sizes of the Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop are selling out, so be sure to place your order soon if you want one of these cheap bands.

You can get the Solo Loop for just $19.99 ($29 off) and the Braided Solo Loop for $29.99 ($69 off) in this sale.

Shoppers should note that this sale is focused on colors of the Braided Solo Loop and Solo Loop that Apple has stopped selling, and it doesn't include any of the new band colors. That being said, all of the bands in this sale are in new condition.

The entire sale is focused on Solo Loop and Braided Solo Loop Apple Watch bands, so you'll need to know the size that works best for you before you buy. Apple has a measurement tool on its website that you can use to determine your exact size.

Solo Loop

• Black/White Hues - $19.99, down from $49.00
• Blue Hues - $19.99, down from $49.00
• Green Hues - $19.99, down from $49.00
• Purple Hues - $19.99, down from $49.00
• Red/Orange/Yellow Hues - $19.99, down from $49.00

Braided Solo Loop

• Black/White Hues - $29.99, down from $99.00
• Blue Hues - $29.99, down from $99.00
• Green Hues - $29.99, down from $99.00
• Purple Hues - $29.99, down from $99.00
• Red/Orange/Yellow Hues - $29.99, down from $99.00
• Pride - $29.99, down from $99.00

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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Amazon today has the USB-C AirPods Max on sale for $449.99 in every color, down from $549.00. This is a new all-time low price on the USB-C headphones, and the first time in 2025 that we've tracked any notable sale.

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.

Colors available on sale include Blue, Midnight, Orange, Starlight, and Purple. Some colors are still available to be delivered in January, but others have started slipping into a February delivery estimate, so be sure to place your order soon if you're interested.

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 has launched its dedicated Apple Store app in India, marking another increase in the company's presence in the country (via TechCrunch).

The app builds upon Apple's existing retail infrastructure in India, which includes its online store, which launched in September 2020, and its first physical retail locations that opened in Mumbai and New Delhi in 2023.

The ‌Apple Store‌ app is available in most major markets across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America, but there are still some notable exceptions such as South Korea.

Apple has confirmed plans to open four additional retail stores in Bengaluru, Pune, and other parts of Delhi and Mumbai by 2025. The company has also steadily increased its manufacturing footprint in India, starting with iPhone assembly in 2017 and expanding to include the production of "Pro" ‌iPhone‌ models in 2024.

2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year.

Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could update some products that have not received any hardware refreshes in at least a few years, including the iPhone SE, AirTag, Apple TV, HomePod mini, and Mac Pro.

Below, we recap what to expect from Apple this year.

First Half of 2025

The following products are rumored to launch before the end of June.

• MacBook Air models with M4 chip
• A new iPhone SE (or "iPhone 16E")
• A new AirTag
• A new iPad Air
• iPad 11
• Powerbeats Pro 2
• Mac Studio with M4 Max and M4 Ultra chips

Second Half of 2025

The following products are rumored to launch from September through December.

• iPhone 17
• "iPhone 17 Air"
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• Apple Watch Series 11
• Apple Watch Ultra 3
• Apple Watch SE 3
• A new Apple TV
• A new HomePod mini
• MacBook Pro models with M5 chips

Timing Less Clear

The following products are expected to launch at some point in 2025, but the exact timeframe has yet to be narrowed down for these.

• An all-new smart home hub
• Mac Pro with M4 Ultra chip
• iPad Pro with M5 chip (rumored for late 2025 or early 2026)
• Apple Vision Pro with M5 chip (rumored for late 2025 or 2026)

For more details, read our Upcoming Apple Products Guide: What's Coming in 2025.

The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report.

The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire ‌iPhone 17‌ lineup, consisting of the ‌iPhone 17‌, ‌iPhone 17‌ Air, ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro, and ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader.

Vapor chamber technology is already used in many high-end Android devices. Vapor chambers work by spreading heat evenly across a larger surface area, preventing thermal throttling and maintaining consistent performance, which is particularly beneficial in slim devices.

While the notorious thermal issues of the iPhone 15 Pro were seemingly resolved thanks to the iPhone 16 Pro's new aluminum thermal substructure, graphene sheet, and back glass, the report claims that the device still struggles under intense thermal load. A vapor chamber heatsink would apparently resolve this and allow for better sustained performance.

Last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the ‌‌iPhone 17‌‌ Pro Max will also have an exclusive cooling system that combines vapor chamber technology with graphene sheets. Contrary to the latest report, Kuo said that the other new iPhone models launching in 2025 will continue to rely solely on graphene sheets.

The supply chain for Apple's upcoming HomePod or smart home "Command Center" with an LCD display is increasingly visible as launch approaches, DigiTimes reports.

The paywalled report claims that the device's 7-inch LCD panel will be exclusively supplied by Tianma Microelectronics in China, corroborating other reports dating back to early 2023.

The display panels are believed to cost just $10 each, undercutting other suppliers. Tianma doesn't currently make any displays for existing Apple products, with the company usually opting for the likes of Samsung Display, LG Display, and BOE.

DigiTimes adds that Taiwan's Radiant Optoelectronics will handle backlight module production, while China's BYD will be the sole assembly partner.

The device was originally rumored launch in early 2024, but faced repeated delays, initially to late 2024. Supply chain sources claim that Apple issued a shipment schedule targeting a launch in March 2025, but this timeline may have now slipped to the second half of 2025.

Apple is planning to introduce a new version of the iPhone SE this year, and alleged dummy models are starting to leak out. Sonny Dickson today shared some images of an ‌iPhone SE‌ 4 dummy model, giving us insight into what it could look like.

For those unfamiliar with dummy models, they are non-functional mockups of new devices that case makers create based on information that leaks out of Apple's partner factories. There is big money in being the first to have a case for a new device, and over the years, leaked dummy models have turned out to be accurate in most cases.

Rumors have suggested the next ‌iPhone SE‌ will look like the iPhone 14, and that seems to be accurate based on the images. There's an iPhone-14 style chassis with an aluminum band, a glass back, and a single-lens rear camera.

There have been suggestions that the ‌iPhone SE‌ 4 could get an Action Button or the Camera Control button that's available on iPhone 16 models, but neither of those features is depicted on these dummy models. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but it does make it less likely because case makers would need to accommodate these features.

The upcoming ‌iPhone SE‌ has been largely referred to as the ‌iPhone SE‌ 4, but there was a recent rumor indicating that Apple might call it the iPhone 16E. Along with the visible features from the dummy model, the ‌iPhone SE‌ is expected to include a faster A17 Pro chip that supports Apple Intelligence, an Apple-designed modem chip, and 8GB RAM. While it will only have that single camera, the camera is the same 48-megapixel Wide camera in the current ‌iPhone 16‌.

We are expecting to see Apple debut the next ‌iPhone SE‌ sometime in March or April, and it will continue to be the company's lowest-cost device. It could go up in price a bit, but Apple is said to be aiming to keep it below $500.

The second season of hit television show Severance is set to be available to stream starting tomorrow, and Apple is continuing to promote the show. The company's main Apple.com website now has a section dedicated to Lumon Industries, the fictional business that "innies" work for in Severance.

On Tuesday, several key Severance actors attended a promotion at Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The team sat at workstations modeled after the workstations they use on the show, and sat in a glass cube for several hours as part of a live-action Severance event attended by the public and members of the press.

Severance actors have also been attending talk shows. Adam Scott, one of the main characters of the show, visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Scott said that during the promotion at Grand Central Terminal, the actors were locked in the cube for several hours. "None of us peed at all, for three hours," he said. "Didn't leave a glass cube for three hours." Scott went on to say it was a lot of fun, though.

Members of the media have already been able to watch the second season of Severance, and it is so far receiving rave reviews.

The show is available on Apple TV+, Apple's streaming service that's priced at $9.99 per month.

Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.

Notification Summary Changes

Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.

• For now, summaries for apps in the News and Entertainment category have been disabled. Apple Intelligence will no longer summarize news notifications, but this is temporary and will be reinstated in a future update when Apple has made some changes.
• In the Settings app, the Notifications Summaries section makes it clear that this is a beta feature and that errors are a possibility.
• During setup, Apple has added the following wording for Notification Summaries: "Summarization may change the meaning of the original headlines. Double check important information."
• Summarized notifications are now shown with the text italicized to distinguish them from standard notifications.
• Notification Summaries can be disabled on a per-app basis directly from the Lock Screen by swiping on a notification and tapping on the "Options" button to get to an interface for turning off summaries.

All of the Notification Summary changes have been made in iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3.

Camera Control

On iPhone 16 models, the Camera Control section in the Settings has a renamed toggle. The toggle for AE/AF lock has been renamed to "Lock Focus and Exposure," which would be clearer to non-photographers who do not know what AE/AF Lock is.

Lock Focus and Exposure is an optional setting that lets you lock your settings with a light press and hold on the Camera Control button, and it is meant to work similarly to a DSLR camera.

Messages

In the Messages sidebar that's accessible by tapping on the "+" button in any conversation, there is now a Genmoji entry, and tapping it takes you to the ‌Genmoji‌ creation interface.

This is simply another way to get to the ‌Genmoji‌ creation tools, which have previously been available by tapping on the emoji keyboard button.

PDF Editing

When editing a PDF through the screenshot interface, if you crop content out, Apple now provides a warning that cropped content is not removed from the PDF.

"Content outside the cropped area won't be visible in most PDF viewers, but it can be made visible in some apps," reads the message.

More Features

Know of something new in the latest iOS 18.3 beta that we left out? Let us know in the comments below.

A minor software update for the Apple TV was released today.

tvOS 18.2.1 is now available for all Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K models. It can be installed on the Apple TV by opening the Settings app and selecting System → Software Updates. It is a minor update with a data syncing bug fix.

According to Apple's release notes, the tvOS 18.2.1 update "addresses an issue where data may not sync correctly across devices."

The update has a build number of 22K160.

Apple also released iOS 18.2.1 and iPadOS 18.2.1 with "important bug fixes" earlier this month.

tvOS 18.2.1 follows tvOS 18.2, which was released in December with a Snoopy screen saver option on the second-generation Apple TV 4K and newer, along with support for ultra-wide 21:9 content with a home theater projector on the third-generation Apple TV 4K.

Next up is tvOS 18.3, which is currently in beta and likely to be released in late January. The update might introduce robot vacuum support in the Home app by time it is released, but otherwise it is shaping up to be a very minor update.

Apple reportedly plans to release the next Apple TV in the later months of 2025, with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip that could add Wi-Fi 6E support to the streaming device. The current Apple TV 4K was released in October 2022.

With the iOS 18.3 update, Apple made several changes to the Apple Intelligence Notification Summaries feature that aggregates incoming notifications into a single quick-access message.

For now, Notification Summaries for the News and Entertainment category have been temporarily disabled, and Apple is working on improvements. Notification Summaries for news will return in a future software update.

In the Settings app, when a user activates Notification Summaries, Apple has added a warning that this is a beta feature and that there could be errors.

For summaries that are still available through ‌Apple Intelligence‌, the text is now italicized as a way to distinguish them from traditional notifications.

There is also now an option to manage whether notifications are summarized for an app right from the Lock Screen. To turn off summaries from the Lock Screen, swipe to the left on a Notification Summary and then tap on options to get to the menu to disable it on a per-app basis.

Apple is making changes to Notification Summaries following complaints that the way ‌Apple Intelligence‌ aggregated news notifications could lead to false headlines and confused customers. Several BBC notifications, for example, were improperly summarized, providing false information to readers.

After BBC News complained, Apple said that it would update Apple Intelligence to cut down on confusion caused by inaccurate summaries. Apple said that a future software update would clarify when notifications were summarized by ‌Apple Intelligence‌.

Available on compatible devices in iOS 18.1 and later, ‌‌Apple Intelligence‌‌ notification summaries are designed to group multiple notifications from the same app together, providing a one-sentence overview of the content. These short summaries can cause problems when AI pulls the wrong details from news stories.

While summaries have been disabled for news for the time being, the feature is still available for other types of apps. Notification Summaries can be turned off entirely in the Notifications section of the Settings app.

Apple today provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming macOS Sequoia 15.3 update, with the third beta coming a week after Apple released the second beta.

Registered developers can opt-in to the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ beta through the Software Update section of the System Settings app. An Apple ID associated with an Apple Developer account is required to get the beta.

‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15.3 brings Genmoji to the Mac, a feature that was previously limited to the iPhone and iPad. With ‌Genmoji‌, Mac users can create custom characters with a text-based prompt, similar to how Image Playground works.

‌Genmoji‌ characters behave just like emoji on devices running iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ 15.1 and later, but on earlier versions of iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and Android devices, ‌Genmoji‌ are sent as images. ‌Genmoji‌ can be added from the emoji interface, and image generation is done on-device.

All macs with an Apple silicon chip support ‌Genmoji‌ and other Apple Intelligence features.

Apple today seeded the third betas of upcoming iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the second betas.

iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software update. Apple has also seeded a new developer beta of visionOS 2.3, which can be downloaded through the Settings app on the Vision Pro.

There are no new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, and few new features. The update is mostly focused on bug fixes, but it will likely bring support for robot vacuums in HomeKit.

Additional ‌Apple Intelligence‌ Siri updates coming in later in iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates that will follow iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. We're expecting to see the new software launch toward the end of January.

The popular weather app CARROT Weather today was updated with two key new features: CarPlay support and automatic Live Activities.

When accessed via CarPlay, CARROT Weather becomes a navigation app like Google Maps. You can enter your destination and receive turn-by-turn directions, with the added benefit of being able to view the weather along your driving route. The weather features include live radar, severe weather warnings, wind speeds, visibility levels, and more.

CARROT Weather's turn-by-turn directions are as snarky as its weather forecasts, so prepare for remarks such as "turn left on Rodeo Drive, meatbag," or "you went the wrong way, idiot, now I have to recalculate your entire route."

With auto-starting Live Activities, CARROT Weather's next-hour precipitation chart can now start automatically when precipitation is in the area. Users will receive a notification around 15 minutes before rain or snow begins, and then a Live Activities widget will continuously appear on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island until the precipitation stops. Previously, you had to open the app to start a Live Activity each time.

Both new features require a CARROT Weather Premium subscription.

CARROT Weather version 6.2 is available in the App Store.

Following a false alarm last week due to a prematurely-updated Apple support document, Synchrony as of today is actually available as a buy-now, pay-later option when checking out with Apple Pay online and in apps on iPhone and iPad. However, you need a Synchrony Mastercard in order to access these payment plans.

After adding an eligible Synchrony Mastercard to the Apple Wallet app, iPhone and iPad users running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 can select from fixed monthly payment options during the Apple Pay checkout process. Look for the "Pay Later" option when checking out with Apple Pay to access payment plans available from Synchrony.

Eligible cards include the Synchrony Preferred Mastercard, Synchrony Plus World Mastercard, and Synchrony Premier World Mastercard.

Synchrony also announced that, starting later this year, users will be able to view and redeem rewards from eligible Synchrony-issued cards when checking out with Apple Pay online and in apps on the iPhone and iPad.

Apple discontinued its own buy-now, pay-later service called Apple Pay Later last year, and started partnering with third-party providers. Apple Pay Later let qualifying customers split a purchase made with Apple Pay into four equal payments over six weeks, with no interest or fees. Affirm, Klarna, and now Synchrony offer similar financing options.

Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony about becoming its new financial partner for the Apple Card, according to Reuters sources.

The report today added that Apple has also been holding discussions with Chase Bank owner JPMorgan since last year, so there are at least three potential companies in the running to take over the Apple Card from current partner Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs had reportedly approached American Express about taking over the Apple Card a few years ago, as well, but nothing came of it. Apple's credit card uses the Mastercard network, and that might have prevented an American Express takeover.

Goldman Sachs is in the process of winding down its consumer lending business, which has lost billions of dollars in recent years. On a recent earnings call, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said the company is contracted to be the Apple Card's lender until 2030, but he said there is a "possibility" that the partnership will end earlier.

In 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs wanted out of the Apple Card partnership, but it has yet to part ways with Apple.

Last year, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Apple and Goldman Sachs nearly $90 million combined after finding the companies mishandled transaction disputes and misled iPhone users about interest-free payment options.

"Apple Card is one of the most consumer-friendly credit cards available, and was specifically designed to support users' financial health," said Apple, in response to the fine. "Upon learning about these inadvertent issues years ago, Apple worked closely with Goldman Sachs to quickly address them and help impacted customers."

If the Apple Card does eventually get a new financial partner, it is unclear if there would be any major changes to the card's features and policies.

Launched in 2019, Apple's credit card remains available in the U.S. only.