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Apple's "Focus" feature is a powerful tool for cutting down on distractions and interruptions on a per-task basis, but setting up different Focus options takes some time investment and tinkering because there are a lot of features available. We've rounded up a handful of suggestions that may help you get more out of Focus.

Managing Focus Modes

You'll find the Focus section in the Settings app. Apple has some pre-made Focus options, but you can create custom modes by tapping on the "+" button in the upper right corner. Custom Focus modes are a blank slate, so you can choose your own name, icon, and capabilities.

We'll go through some of the useful options below, but it is worth tapping through each section to see which functions will work best for your needs.

Silence or Unsilence Specific People

If you're at work and want to silence personal text messages and calls to cut down on distractions, or if you're at home and want to shut out work messages, the best way to do so is to use the people muting feature.

There are two options. You can silence notifications from a list of people that you select, allowing all others, or you can allow notifications from everyone except for the people that you pick.

With either option, you have to add people one by one, and there's no intelligent grouping option that will do it for you. It can take some time, depending on what you want to set up. It's best to choose the option that has the least amount of tapping, so if you're at work, you may want to select colleagues, important family members, and your boss, while turning off notifications from everyone else.

At home, it might make sense to allow all of your notifications to come through except for people from work.

When you "silence" a person with Focus, you still receive the text message, it's just tucked away in a specific section on your Lock Screen and you don't get an audible or haptic ping when the notification comes in.

Select Apps

Similar to silencing people, you can silence or allow notifications from apps for specific Focus modes. You have the same options as you do with people, and Apple will suggest some of your most used apps.

Given that most of us have a whole ton of apps installed, it's almost always best to use the "Allow Notifications From" feature to choose apps that you want to hear from, but there are exceptions. For a home-based Focus mode, if you have a few apps like Mail and Slack that are noisy, you can mute just those while allowing all other apps.

Carefully choosing the apps that can ping you in each Focus mode is one of the best ways to manage distractions.

Apple's pre-configured Do Not Disturb mode silences all apps and people by default if you just want to turn off everything with no hassle.

Using Reduce Interruptions

If you have a device that supports Apple Intelligence, you can turn on a pre-configured "Reduce Interruptions" Focus. It blocks all notifications except for those that ‌Apple Intelligence‌ determines are "priority notifications."

Reduce Interruptions can be customized to expressly allow or silence specific apps and people, and using this feature will override AI-based sorting for those selections. Reduce Interruptions can be a good compromise between all notifications on and Do Not Disturb.

Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing

The main feature in Reduce Interruptions, Intelligent Breakthrough and Silencing, can actually be applied to any of your custom Focus modes.

Limit App Access with Custom Home Screens

It takes a few extra steps, but Focus modes can be set up to only show you specific apps. Under the Customize Screens option, you can choose a Home Screen page to show when a Focus mode is active.

If you want to only see work apps while at work, you can set up a page with your work apps and then choose that as your main screen for the Focus mode. You can select all of the apps that you want to see, and others will be hidden from view while the Focus is active. Note that the dock stays available regardless with your selected apps, and you can also edit your custom ‌Home Screen‌ later while the Focus is on if you need to make tweaks.

While in a Focus mode, you can still open other apps by swiping over to the App Library, but by default, distractions are hidden from view.

This can be a good way to shut out distracting games and social media apps at certain times of the day as an alternative to Screen Time.

Add Focus Filters

With Focus Filters, you can really drill down into what's available in each of your Focus modes. If you have a work email inbox and a personal email inbox in Mail, you can use filters to block out your personal inbox when you're at work, or your work inbox when you're at home.

There are filters for apps where you might want to split out different accounts, like Safari, Calendar, and Messages. You can filter for specific conversations in Messages, a specific Calendar, or a Tab Group. There are filters for third-party apps, too.

Focus Modes can be linked to system settings that include Always On Display, Dark Mode, Low Power Mode, and Silent Mode, so you can do things like set up a work focus that always activates Silent Mode, or set up a Focus that blocks out all notifications and turns on Low Power Mode.

Scheduling

All Focus modes can be set to activate automatically, so that once you configure them, you don't need to manually turn them on and off. You can activate Focus modes by time of day, your location, or when an app is opened up.

If you want your Work focus on from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., that's an option, but you could also set it up to turn on when you arrive at a specific location or when you open up an app like Slack.

When manually activating a Focus from Control Center, you can select options that will turn it on for an hour, until the evening (or morning), or until you leave a specific location.

Special Focus Modes

Apple has several pre-configured Focus modes that you can't replicate with custom modes because there are unique activation features included.

Sleep

The Sleep Focus is a unique one, because it is tied to Apple Watch sleep tracking. The schedule that you set up for the Sleep Focus determines when your watch tracks your sleep, when your alarm goes off in the morning, and when you get a "Wind Down" notification to prepare for bed.

This is a Focus that's set up when you enable sleep tracking features and set a schedule, but you can edit it like any other Focus to select people and apps that can deliver breakthrough notifications.

Driving

The Driving Focus blocks out all communications by default, and it activates automatically when driving is detected, when your iPhone connects to your car's Bluetooth, or when CarPlay is activated. It can also be set up to turn on manually, and it can be configured to allow notifications from specific people, but not from apps.

Fitness

The Fitness Focus can be set up to activate automatically when a Workout is started on the Apple Watch.

Mindfulness

The Mindfulness Focus turns on when you start a Mindfulness session on the Apple Watch.

Gaming

The Gaming Focus activates when you connect a Bluetooth-based gaming controller to your ‌iPhone‌ or another device.

Reading and Work

The pre-configured Reading and Work Focus modes have a feature called "Smart Activation" that allows them to turn on at specific times of the day based on your location and app usage.

Both of these modes have no apps or people set up to allow by default, so they still need to be further configured or they will work like Do Not Disturb, shutting out everything. These Focus modes can activate based on your location, so if you're at work, you can get the Work Focus to come on automatically when you arrive and turn off when you leave.

Alternatively, you can have these modes activate when you open a specific app, like Books.

Unlink Devices

By default, Focuses are shared across all devices where you are signed in to your Apple Account. If you turn on Do Not Disturb on your ‌iPhone‌, for example, you are also turning it on for your Mac and your Apple Watch.

If you simply want to silence Focus modes on a single device like your ‌iPhone‌ and not your Mac, you need to turn off the Share Across Devices toggle when setting up the Focus.

Unlink iPhone and Apple Watch

On Apple Watch, if you don't want it to mirror your ‌iPhone‌ Focus mode, you can go to General > Focus > and toggle off "Mirror my ‌iPhone‌."

Conclusion

Focus can save you a lot of hassle in the long run, but only if you take the time to set it up properly. It's definitely worth doing if you want to be able to better compartmentalize your digital experiences, shutting out work at home and removing distractions while working.

If you have tips on getting the most out of the Focus feature, make sure to share them in the comments below.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Lululook to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and a Lululook Qi2 3-in-1 Wireless Travel Charger.

Lululook makes a wide range of affordable accessories for all of Apple's devices, including the Apple Watch. The 3-in-1 Wireless Travel Charger, available for $60, has a convenient, folding design and is able to charge the iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all at once.

The charger supports Qi2 so it is able to charge a compatible MagSafe ‌iPhone‌ at up to 15W, while also fast charging the Apple Watch and charging the AirPods. The charger is able to fold up in thirds and tuck into an included case with a power adapter and cable, all of which fits well into a bag or backpack.

For home use, Lululook offers the $75 Qi2 3-in-1 Charging Station, which has a sleek upright design that doesn't take up too much space on a desk. There's a Qi2 magnetic charger for the ‌iPhone‌, an Apple Watch charger at the back, and an AirPods charging space on the base of the accessory.

The charger is made from aluminum for a modern look that matches with most home decor, and it comes with a 30W USB-C power adapter and USB-C to USB-C cable.

If you're looking for an Apple Watch band for your Apple Watch Ultra, Lululook has an attractive black titanium band that's available for $100. It's was designed with the ‌Apple Watch Ultra 2‌ in mind, and it is made from 99 percent pure titanium.

Lululook says the band provides aviation-grade durability and comfort, with a diamond-like carbon coating for the black color that is scratch resistant and will hold up well during day-to-day use.

We have an ‌Apple Watch Ultra 2‌ and a 3-in-1 Travel Charger for one lucky MacRumors reader. To enter to win, use the widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner(s) and send the prize(s). You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, following us on Threads, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older, UK residents who are 18 years or older, and Canadian residents who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. All federal, state, provincial, and/or local taxes, fees, and surcharges are the sole responsibility of the prize winner. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (March 14) at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time through 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on March 21. The winner will be chosen randomly on or shortly after March 21 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

The low-cost iPad that Apple released this week with an A16 chip is able to run Final Cut Pro for ‌iPad‌, according to the Final Cut Pro App Store page.

Under compatibility, Final Cut Pro for ‌iPad‌ has been updated to say that it requires iPadOS 17.6 or later "and a device with an M-series or A16 or later chip."

Prior to the release of the ‌iPad‌, the most affordable device that was able to run Final Cut Pro for ‌iPad‌ was the iPad mini with A17 Pro chip, which is priced at $499. The 11th-generation ‌iPad‌ is cheaper, and it provides more screen space for video editing purposes.

With Final Cut Pro available on the ‌iPad‌, there is a much more affordable way for people to access professional video editing software. Affordability is increased thanks to the option to pay for Final Cut Pro on a monthly basis, with Apple charging $4.99 per month for access.

While Final Cut Pro runs on the ‌iPad‌, there are some features that are limited to iPads with more powerful chips and more advanced functions, such as recording in ProRes and editing video timelines with Apple Pencil hover.

Repair site iFixit today disassembled the M4 MacBook Air for one of its traditional teardown videos, providing us with a look inside of the machine and giving some insight into its repairability.

There have been no changes to the design and opening process this year, and Apple is continuing to use the same chassis as the M2 model that was introduced in 2022. While Apple implemented iPhone battery adhesive that releases with electricity, the same change hasn't been brought to the Mac lineup yet. The ‌MacBook Air‌'s battery is held in place with traditional adhesive strips that need to be carefully removed.

The USB-C ports, a frequent point of failure, are still easy to access with not too much effort or danger of damaging other internal components. The display, the keyboard, and the Touch ID button remain difficult to access.

iFixit didn't note any changes to the arrangement of internal components, which is not surprising given that the only updates were to the webcam and the Apple silicon chip.

The site said that the ‌MacBook Air‌ has the potential to earn a good repairability score thanks to Apple's extensive product manuals and parts option, but there continue to be issues with parts pairing and calibration when using components not bought directly from Apple. Overall, iFixit gave the ‌MacBook Air‌ a repairability score of 5 out of 10.

Apple is reassuring employees on the Siri team who may be feeling demotivated by the recent ‌Siri‌ delays and the bad press surrounding the company's decisions, reports Bloomberg.

In a ‌Siri‌ team meeting, Apple senior director Robby Walker acknowledged that employees might be feeling "angry, disappointed, burned out and embarrassed" following the ‌Siri‌ delay, but he praised the hard work of employees and the "incredibly impressive" features they developed, saying that Apple would continue to work to "ship the world's greatest virtual assistant" to Apple users. "I saw so many people giving everything they had in order to make this happen and to make incredible progress together," he said.

The situation was described as "ugly" because the ‌Siri‌ features were shown off in public with marketing campaigns and TV commercials before there was a fully functional product. ‌Siri‌'s new functionality was also tied to the iPhone 16 launch in advertising, and it was a feature that Apple used to promote its ‌iPhone 16‌ models.

Apple decided to delay the functionality because of quality issues, with Walker telling employees that ‌Siri‌'s new features were only working properly 60 to 80 percent of the time.

To encourage employees, Walker demonstrated ‌Siri‌ locating his driver's license number, manipulating apps by embedding content in an email and adding recipients, and finding specific photos of a child. Employees on the ‌Siri‌ team will be able to use time away to recharge and prepare for "hard work ahead."

Walker told employees that it is not yet clear when the new ‌Siri‌ features will be ready for launch, but Apple's statement about the delay mentioned "in the coming year." That has been interpreted as 2026, or in an update to the iOS 19 operating system launching this fall.

Walker said that Apple is aiming for ‌iOS 19‌, but that the timeline "doesn't mean that we're shipping then." Apple will ship the ‌Siri‌ functions when they're ready to launch, and the company does not want to provide the public with unfinished features, even if "competitors might have launched them in this state or worse."

"We have other commitments across Apple to other projects," Walker said, citing new software and hardware initiatives. "We want to keep our commitments to those, and we understand those are now potentially more timeline-urgent than the features that have been deferred." He said decisions on timing will be made on a "case-by-case basis" as work progresses on products planned for next year.

"Customers are not expecting only these new features but they also want a more fully rounded-out Siri," he said. "We're going to ship these features and more as soon as they are ready."

According to Bloomberg, Apple does not have plans to fire ‌Siri‌ chief John Giannandrea or any other ‌Siri‌ executives at this time, though there have been discussions about moving additional senior executives under Giannandrea to speed up development.

Apple today launched a new app called Surveyor, which is designed to allow users to collect data like images of street signs and roadside details to improve Apple Maps.

The app is not public facing and appears to be for use with companies that Apple partners with to assign mapping tasks. Downloading the app and opening it up directs users to "Open Partner App" to choose a task. Tapping on the option launches another app called Premise.

Premise is a company that lets people earn rewards by "completing simple tasks." The Premise app is described as a task marketplace that provides money for taking surveys, sharing local information like construction zones or grocery pricing, or taking pictures of city locations.

Strings in Apple's Surveyor app found by MacRumors suggest that once assigned a mapping task by the Premise app, Premise users will be instructed to attach an iPhone to a mount, rotate the ‌iPhone‌ to landscape orientation, and capture images along a route while driving using the Surveyor app.

The Surveyor app says that images are being captured of items along the road like signs and traffic lights, location and data about physical features sent to Apple to "precisely place objects on the map."

Premise is not listed as an ‌Apple Maps‌ partner in Apple's mapping data information, but the app suggests that Apple is using data collected by Premise users for the purpose of keeping small details in ‌Apple Maps‌ up to date.

Apple's new 11th generation iPad, M3 iPad Air, and M4 MacBook Air launched this week, and discounts are already available for all of these products on Amazon. Additionally, we're tracking ongoing record low prices on the AirPods 4, M4 MacBook Pro, and Apple Pencil Pro.

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.

AirPods 4

• What's the deal? Take $30 off AirPods 4
• Where can I get it? Amazon
• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

AirPods 4 dropped to $99.99 this week on Amazon, and they are still available at this all-time low price. If you want the model with ANC, they're on sale for $148.99, down from $179.00.

M3 iPad Air and 11th Gen iPad

• What's the deal? Take up to $70 off new iPad Air and iPad
• Where can I get it? Amazon
• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

This week saw the launch of the new M3 iPad Air and 11th generation iPad, and Amazon introduced the first cash discounts on these tablets. You can get up to $50 off the iPad Air and up to $35 off the iPad on Amazon right now.

M4 MacBook Air

• What's the deal? Take $50 off M4 MacBook Air
• Where can I get it? Amazon
• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

Similar to the new iPads, Amazon introduced launch discounts on the M4 MacBook Air this week, offering $50 off numerous models of the computer. You'll need to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the final deal price at checkout.

M4 MacBook Pro

• What's the deal? Take up to $450 off M4 MacBook Pro
• Where can I get it? Amazon
• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

In other MacBook deals, Amazon knocked the price of many M4 MacBook Pro models down to all-time low prices this week. Discounts reach up to $450 off, and prices start at $1,399.00 for the M4 10-Core/16GB RAM/512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple Pencil Pro

• What's the deal? Take $30 off Apple Pencil Pro
• Where can I get it? Amazon
• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

Another all-time low price available on Amazon this week was on the Apple Pencil Pro, and it's still available for $99.00 today, down from $129.00.

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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Along with introducing new MacBook Air and Mac Studio models, Apple this week launched a refreshed version of the iPad Air. Little has changed, but the M3 chip is a solid upgrade over the M2, and Apple also debuted a new keyboard option.

The 2025 iPad Air refresh isn't exactly exciting, and if you put an ‌M2‌ ‌iPad Air‌ and an M3 ‌iPad Air‌ next to one another, you're not going to be able to see much of a visual difference, though the back of the 2025 model no longer says "‌iPad Air‌." In fact, Apple made no updates at all except for the chip inside. The design is the same, the colors are the same, and all other internal components are the same, too.

Apple's upgraded M3 chip does bring some key improvements in performance that might matter to some users, though. The M3 isn't a new chip, and it was previously used in the ‌MacBook Air‌, iMac, and other machines, but it is the first 3-nanometer chip that's come to the ‌iPad Air‌. The ‌M2‌ was built on a 5nm process comparatively, and the newer 3nm process brings speed and efficiency improvements, though Apple is using a binned version with an 8-core CPU and 9-core GPU.

In benchmarks, the M3 CPU is up to 21 percent faster than the ‌M2‌, and GPU performance is up to 15 percent faster. The M3 brings new graphics architecture with support for Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and mesh shading. Dynamic Caching improves performance for games and pro apps that need a lot of GPU power, while hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading make console quality gaming possible on the ‌iPad Air‌.

The ‌iPad Air‌ isn't Apple's most affordable tablet, nor is it the most powerful. It's akin to the ‌MacBook Air‌, providing a balance between price and performance. If you need something for web browsing, gaming, and watching videos, you can get away with the more affordable iPad. The ‌iPad Air‌, though, has the power to do a lot of what a computer can do. With the M3 chip, the ‌iPad Air‌ is basically as capable as the M4 iPad Pro, and differences come down to display technology, design, and authentication, as the ‌iPad Air‌ has Touch ID while the ‌iPad Pro‌ has Face ID.

You can get the ‌iPad Air‌ in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, like the ‌iPad Pro‌. The 11-inch model is more portable and is ideal for use on the couch or when traveling, while the 13-inch model is a better size for more work-oriented tasks.

Both models are compatible with Apple's new Magic Keyboard for the ‌iPad Air‌, which was updated this year. Compared to the prior version, it has a larger trackpad, function keys, a USB-C port for charging the ‌iPad‌, and the ‌iPad Pro‌ Magic Keyboard hinge design, but it doesn't have the same aluminum build. Apple's keyboards are expensive, starting at $269 for the ‌iPad Air‌, but the quality is generally worth it thanks to the super responsive Mac-like trackpad. If you have an ‌M2‌ ‌iPad Air‌, the new keyboard is compatible with it.

If you're looking for a tablet that can do more than the ‌iPad‌ but don't need the bells and whistles of the ‌iPad Pro‌, the ‌iPad Air‌ is a solid middle ground, and a $599 starting price is not a bad deal for the M3 chip.

On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk about Apple's recent announcement that several of its most highly anticipated Apple Intelligence features are to be delayed.

Last week, Apple quietly announced that it is further delaying some of Siri's ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features that it expected to release in iOS 18. The functionality includes wide-reaching enhancements to ‌Siri‌ that leverage personal context and onscreen awareness to take complex actions in apps. It was unveiled as a key part of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ at WWDC in June last year, but has yet to be seen outside of Apple's pre-recorded demo videos and a series of now-pulled TV ads.

This week, Daring Fireball's John Gruber penned a blistering attack on the missing features and Apple's management decisions, triggering a wave of subsequent criticisms and calls for Apple CEO Tim Cook to directly acknowledge the situation. We reflect on the delay and the unusual circumstances surrounding the features, pondering how this happened and what it means for Apple going forward. The MacRumors Show also has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips.

You can also listen to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your preferred podcasts app. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your podcast player.

If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion about all of Apple's latest announcements for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lineups.

Subscribe to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Kevin Nether, Jon Prosser, Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

‌The MacRumors Show‌ is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread to engage with us directly. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.

If you've been following iPhone rumors over the last few years, you may remember reading reports that Apple flirted with the idea of introducing a super high-end "Ultra" model that would either replace its Pro Max device or sit above it in Apple's smartphone hirearchy. These reports appeared in the pre-launch iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 rumor cycles, but ultimately came to nothing. Now though, the rumor is back.

Citing sources from Weibo, Taiwan, "US investment report content," and supply chain trends, the Korean news aggregator account "yeux1122" on the Naver blog has summarized "rumors regarding Apple's iPhone 17 Ultra name change."

The blog begins by highlighting the following rumored changes that have so far been attributed to various models in the upcoming iPhone 17 series:

• Smaller Dynamic Island
• Vapor chamber cooling system
• Larger battery

Analyst Jeff Pu in October said that the ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max will have a narrower Dynamic Island, but the claim has since been disputed by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Nevertheless, the Naver blog claims that, based on component orders for a smaller Dynamic Island, the supply volume is "insufficient" to cover both iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models, intimating that only the larger "Ultra" device will feature one.

The Naver blog also asserts that only the "Ultra" device will feature a vapor chamber cooling system, despite competing rumors claiming that it will come either to both Pro models or all iPhone 17 models.

Lastly, the blog claims that the "Ultra" model will be thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro, owing to a larger battery. This rumor is the only one that we know of that has only been tied to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

If it was exhaustive, the blog could have also pointed to the 12GB of RAM that Kuo in August said would be coming to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. However, Pu has pushed back on this prediction and believes that both Pro models will get 12GB, up from 8GB in the iPhone 16 Pro models. It could also have included Kuo's prediction last year that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will be the first iPhone to feature three 48MP cameras, although that claim has since been challenged by a Chinese leaker.

Apple's New-Look iPhone 17 Lineup?

As a result of changes allegedly destined for Apple's largest high-end model, the blog claims that this year's iPhone 17 lineup will look like so:

• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Air
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Ultra

This differentiation strategy would arguably help Apple justify a higher price point for an "Ultra" iPhone model with more advanced features. And let's not forget that Apple already has an established naming convention where "Air," "Pro," and "Ultra" denote distinct tiers across various product categories. For instance, the MacBook Air and iPad Air represent lightweight, consumer-friendly options, while "Pro" models cater to professional users seeking enhanced performance. The "Ultra" designation introduced with products like the Apple Watch Ultra signifies a top-tier offering with better capabilities. And then there's the most powerful Apple silicon chip to date – the M3 Ultra.

Whether Apple adopts the Ultra moniker for its most premium iPhone 17 model remains to be seen, but we do know that Apple has internally discussed the possibility for previous generations. Barring further corroboration from trusted sources, we'll have to wait and see when the iPhone 17 lineup launches later this year around Apple's usual mid-September time frame.

Apple Original Films this week released a trailer for its upcoming "F1" racing film, which will have a theatrical release via Warner Bros. Pictures.

In the film, Brad Pitt stars as an F1 driver who was an up-and-coming talent in the 1990s, until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, Pitt is invited to join a former teammate's struggling F1 team, in a last-shot bid to save the team and become the best in the world. It looks to be a classic underdog story.

The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who is known for other popular action films, including "Tron: Legacy" and "Top Gun: Maverick."

"F1" debuts in theaters on Friday, June 27, and it has the potential to be a summer blockbuster. It will be available to stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.

In the U.S., Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month, or $99 per year. A free seven-day trial is available. The streaming service is also included in all Apple One bundles, and going that route can get you up to a one-month free trial.

In related news, the Apple Sports app gained support for F1 racing this week.

It would have been really easy to miss it, but Apple last year briefly mentioned a new PayPal feature coming to the Wallet app on the iPhone.

In the final sentence of an October 2024 press release, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Apple Pay, Apple said iPhone users in the U.S. would be able to see their PayPal balance when using their PayPal debit card in the Wallet app. Apple said this feature would launch in 2025, so it should arrive in a future iOS 18 or iOS 19 update.

Here is exactly what Apple said in the press release last year:

Next year, customers in the U.S. will also be able to see their PayPal balance when using their PayPal debit card in Apple Wallet, giving them greater visibility and confidence when shopping.

This will be an expansion of the Connected Cards feature in the Wallet app. This feature lets you view a supported credit card or debit card's balance, along with up to two years of your full transaction history, including purchases that were not made with Apple Pay. The feature is currently available for select bank cards in the U.K. and Discover credit cards in the U.S., and it will expand to the PayPal debit card this year.

PayPal's debit card can already be added to the Apple Wallet app, but the balance feature is still not live as of the iOS 18.4 beta, as far as we can tell.

Two human rights groups have filed a legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in an attempt to quash the UK government's demand for Apple to allow backdoor access to its encrypted data (via Financial Times).

Earlier this year, the UK government invoked the Investigatory Powers Act to demand that Apple create a backdoor granting secret access to encrypted user data stored in iCloud globally. However, Apple refused to comply.

In response, rather than granting the requested access, Apple withdrew Advanced Data Protection from the UK, ensuring it would not be required to provide decryption capabilities. Advanced Data Protection offers end-to-end encryption for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users' data stored in iCloud.

Apple subsequently lodged a legal complaint to the IPT. "We have never built a back door or master key to any of our products, and we never will," Apple said at the time.

Now Privacy International and Liberty have done the same. The groups argue that Apple's appeal should be heard in public, and that ordering Apple to compromise the security of its products breaches its customers' free expression and privacy rights.

"The UK's use of a secret order to undermine security for people worldwide is unacceptable and disproportionate," said Caroline Wilson Palow, legal director at Privacy International. "People the world over rely on end-to-end encryption to protect themselves from harassment and oppression. No country should have the power to undermine that protection for everyone."

"It would be an entirely reckless and unprecedented move from the UK government to open up a back door to this data, and one that will have global consequences," said Akiko Hart, Liberty’s director. "We need concrete guarantees from the UK government that they won’t proceed with these plans."

The matter is being considered at a closed hearing of the tribunal at the High Court on Friday. Apple is not able to discuss the order made by the UK in public due to the terms of the law.

Several UK media organizations, including the BBC, Reuters, Sky News and the publishers of The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Computer Weekly and Financial Times, have also made a submission to the IPT arguing that the Apple case should not be heard in private.

The US government is also looking into whether the UK's demand has violated the CLOUD act, which keeps the UK from asking for data from US citizens, and vice versa.

In a February interview with The Spectator, US president Donald Trump said he confronted UK prime minister Keir Starmer over the move and compared it with Chinese government surveillance.

"We told them you can't do this," Trump said. "We actually told [Starmer]... that's incredible. That's something, you know, that you hear about with China."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple says it will add support for a new Rich Communication Services (RCS) specification that includes end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for messages sent over the protocol in future software updates.

"End-to-end encryption is a powerful privacy and security technology that iMessage has supported since the beginning, and now we are pleased to have helped lead a cross industry effort to bring end-to-end encryption to the RCS Universal Profile published by the GSMA," said an Apple spokesperson. "We will add support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messages to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS in future software updates."

The GSM Association (GSMA), the organization responsible for developing the RCS standard, started working to enable E2EE on messages sent between Android and iPhone in September last year. It only announced the new RCS specification with E2EE support today, so it's not clear how long it will take Apple to incorporate the updated profile into its software. But at least it's coming.

Apple adopted RCS with last year's release of iOS 18.1, which replaced SMS with ‌RCS‌ messaging for texts sent to Android users. While the update brings improvements such as high-resolution media sharing, read receipts, and typing indicators, it notably lacks E2EE – something Apple's proprietary iMessage system already supports.

The implementation of E2EE for cross-platform ‌RCS‌ messages would prevent third parties, such as messaging services or cell carriers, from viewing the content of texts. This added layer of security would also prevent state surveillance of citizens' ‌RCS‌ communications.

Google Messages already supports E2EE by default for RCS texts, but this applies only to conversations between Google Messages users. Messages exchanged with iPhone users or those using other RCS clients on Android are not encrypted.

Apple made a major misstep with the way that it handled the delay of Apple Intelligence features for Siri, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. Announcing the delay through a press statement was a bad decision, and Apple should instead have gone through official channels.

Kuo referenced the well-known "Antennagate" PR crisis when the iPhone 4 launched in 2010, and the way that then Apple CEO Steve Jobs handled it. Jobs personally responded to multiple customer emails, and then Apple held a press conference to address concerns about the ‌iPhone‌ 4's cellular signal. Jobs ended up announcing that Apple would provide free bumpers for all ‌iPhone‌ 4 uses to mitigate the issue, and allow customers who were still unhappy to return their iPhones.

The implication in Kuo's statement is that Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives should follow Jobs' example, giving customers more insight into what's going wrong with ‌Siri‌ development.

I think the worst part is that when it came time to admit that Apple Intelligence (Siri) development wasn't going as planned, Apple chose to break the news to the world through an unofficial channel. This is how the world's most valuable company handles a PR crisis.

What should Apple have done? The way Steve Jobs personally addressed the iPhone 4 antennagate PR crisis back in the day provides a great example.

Kuo acknowledges that it takes time to develop artificial intelligence services, and that Apple's early announcement of ‌Apple Intelligence‌ ‌Siri‌ features at WWDC 2024 is understandable "given the pressure from the board and shareholders." With the company unable to deliver the feature set in the promised timeline, Apple needs to provide a more concrete response.

In the midst of Antennagate, Jobs was transparent about Apple's position and offered a concrete solution. Jobs said that Apple did not "fully understand if there were problems" when the ‌iPhone‌ 4 first came out, but that the company had a responsibility to educate as a "leader in the smartphone world." "We're not perfect, and we're working our asses off," Jobs said.

Back in 2012, Cook did personally address Apple Maps shortcomings in iOS 6, penning an apology letter to customers. He told customers that he was sorry, and he provided insight into Apple's work to make the Maps app better. Given the uproar over the delayed ‌Siri‌ overhaul, it could make sense for Cook to again speak to customers directly.

Apple is working on q feature that will let the AirPods translate in-person conversations from one language to another, reports Bloomberg. The functionality will be linked to iOS 19, and it will be introduced in an AirPods software update planned for later this year.

The AirPods will be able to provide a simpler translation process for people who are speaking different languages, though the process will rely on the Translate app on the iPhone.

If an English speaker with AirPods is talking to someone who is speaking Spanish, the ‌iPhone‌ will detect the audio, translate the speech, and relay it back in English to the person wearing AirPods. The person speaking English will then be able to respond and have their response translated to Spanish and spoken aloud by the ‌iPhone‌. Apple's ‌iPhone‌ Translate app can already be used for conversations like this, but having the function included in the AirPods will streamline the exchange.

To go along with the new AirPods feature, Apple is also planning to improve the Translate app in ‌iOS 19‌, though no details are available at this time. While Apple is working on new AirPods Pro 3 earbuds that are set to launch in 2025, it sounds like Apple might bring the ‌iOS 19‌ Translate feature to existing models as well.

Apple has been tying AirPods updates to iOS updates in recent years. In iOS 18, for example, Apple added a suite of hearing health capabilities that test for hearing issues and allow the AirPods to be used as a hearing aid if problems are detected.

In the two weeks since the iPhone 16e launched, some early adopters of the device have experienced a Bluetooth audio issue.

According to complaints from affected users across the Apple Support Community, Reddit, and X, audio being streamed from an iPhone 16e to a Bluetooth speaker periodically stutters or cuts out. It is unclear how widespread the problem is.

One affected user said the issue has persisted even after updating the iPhone 16e to iOS 18.3.2, released earlier this week. It is unclear if the issue is or will be resolved in iOS 18.4, which is currently in beta and will be released in April.

Some affected users said the issue appears to arise when the iPhone 16e is connected to multiple Bluetooth accessories simultaneously.

Given that some of the affected users have contacted Apple's support representatives about this issue, hopefully the company is aware of the problem and working on a fix, which should arrive in a future software update.