Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more.
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose.
Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen.
Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 9:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today announced that iPhone users can now create a Digital ID in the Apple Wallet app based on information from their U.S. passport.
To create and present a Digital ID based on a U.S. passport, you need:
An iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.1 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 6 or later running watchOS 26.1 or later
Face ID or Touch ID and Bluetooth turned on
An Apple Account ...
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 3:29 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26.2, which adds a few new features worth knowing about.
Measure App
Apple's Measure app now features a Liquid Glass design for the level, with two Liquid Glass bubbles instead of white circles.
Games App
There's now an option to sort games in the Games app Library by size, in addition to Name and Recent.
CarPlay
The...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 2:49 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Update: It took a day, but Apple has now corrected its Apple Intelligence device compatibility list to show support for the earliest Apple silicon Macs. The original article follows.
Apple's website is causing some confusion among Mac owners, and for good reason – its device compatibility listing for Apple Intelligence appears to have dropped support for M1 Macs.
The U.S. version...
Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account.
In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Somehow it seems obvious to me... use LTE like you use your smartphone: to look stuff up and do useful things like emailing and checking news/weather when youre away from WiFi and the task isnt well suited to your phone. Then use WiFi for the massive tasks like streaming video. Are there really that many people who watch a lot of video and yet think their LTE plan is a full replacement for WiFi? That seems like an odd mix of being tech-savvy and being clueless.
Even if this is an option, it sucks to decide what you want before you're ready to watch. It can be impossible to know in advance what kind of mood you'll be in at a later time, when you're able to consume the content.
I've been a wifi-only iPad user all along, and get by just fine. Can understand how cellular iPad owners are frustrated thou.
I don't tweet but the hashtag #firstworldproblems seems appropriate here.
Remember when you had to go to Blockbuster to rent DVD movies, and you'd end up taking several home, not knowing if you'd still be in the mood to watch them by the time you had the opportunity?
Remember when you went to Blockbuster to rent VHS movies, and if you wanted to go back to a scene you had to hit rewind and wait for the spooled tape to get to the spot you wanted to see again? Be sure to rewind the tape before you turn it in, or there will be an additional fee.
Remember when to rent movies you had to join a club where you paid $45 to get in, and you still had to pay $3 each time you exchanged your one rented movie for another (though at least at the end of the six-month membership you got to keep the last tape you rented)?
Remember when renting movies was done at a little Fotomat kiosk in the middle of a parking lot where you dropped off film for overnight developing? You chose from a couple of Xerox pages of movies. I think you had to reserve the movie and come back the next day to get it. It was $8 (in 1981 dollars) for a three-day rental of a Beta videocassette.
Remember when you just had to watch what was on TV? If it was a Saturday afternoon, you had better be in the mood for badly-dubbed Japanese sci-fi.
I remember all of it, and I can't believe how easy we have it now in terms of entertainment choices.
anyone else feel like this will lead to fragmentation?
No. The non-retina artwork is still there. Also the iPhone artwork (both retina and non-retina).
For the near future, I think Apple would reject any "retina-only" apps, while they are still selling non-retina iPads.
The only fragmentation is "iPad only" or "iPhone only" apps, and a few that just require more horsepower than older iPhones or iPads can give. That's more obsolescence than fragmentation.
Even apps that take full advantage of the GPU in the new iPad will probably still work on the iPad 2--just with simpler shading and lighting, and of course, lower resolution.
Netflix's iOS App has been updated with new iPad Retina icons and images. The actual video stream hasn't yet been updated to High Definition. 
