Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing tvOS 11 to the public.
Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.
It's not yet clear what new features or changes might be included in the tvOS 11.1 update, but it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements and could perhaps offer up some outward-facing design changes and feature tweaks.
tvOS 11 was something of a minor update, introducing features like full support for AirPods, automatic switching between light and dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options designed to keep multiple Apple TVs in a single household in sync, and new background modes and notification support.
We'll update this post when we find out what's new in the tvOS 11.1 beta.
Friday January 9, 2026 8:17 am PST by Tim Hardwick
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
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Thursday January 8, 2026 2:56 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday January 12, 2026 7:38 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a statement shared with CNBC today, Apple confirmed that Google Gemini will power the next-generation version of Siri that is slated to launch later this year.
"After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," the statement...
Monday January 12, 2026 1:15 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones.
iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer.
Below,...
Monday January 12, 2026 11:38 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini.
"This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome," wrote Musk, in a post on X.
Musk serves as CEO of xAI, the company behind Gemini competitor Grok.
It is unlikely...
Monday January 12, 2026 8:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple and Google today announced that Google Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.
"Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology," the companies said, in a statement. "These...
Monday January 12, 2026 8:19 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 26.3 will likely be released to the public later this month, but it appears that Apple is preparing to push out another software update in the interim.
Apple's software engineers have started testing iOS 26.2.1, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The update will likely be released at some point this week or next week.
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Friday January 9, 2026 4:24 am PST by Tim Hardwick
The Unicode Consortium has published a draft list of emoji that could come to smartphones and other devices in the future. The list shared by Emojipedia outlines 19 emoji candidates under consideration for Emoji 18.0, which is expected to be finalized in September 2026.
Among the proposed additions are a squinting face emoji, left- and right-pointing thumb gestures, a pickle, a lighthouse, a ...
I'm waiting for DirectTV Now to allow Single Sign On. Seems silly that this service doesn't allow the single sign on - so the only way to stream HBO is through the hopelessly buggy DirectTV Now app.
I agree DTVNow single sign on would be nice. But you can still stream HBO without opening the DTVNow app. Just download HBO Go, it lets you authenticate with your DTVNow login.
Hopefully they will add the ability to play content in its native frame rate and dynamic range for the Apple TV 4K. At the very least they should be working hard to fix issues with the auto SDR to HDR conversion.
Let’s hope it fixes the irritating earpiece crackle! Anyone able to confirm?
I have been complaining to Apple about this issue. VERY ANNOYING! I am experiencing constant cracks and pops when listening with earpods with the Apple TV 4K. I returned it thinking it was a hardware issue. The second Apple TV had the same problem so it is a software bluetooth issue. Several people I know have reported this to Apple. Hopefully they will fix it soon.
Highly limits you on video/audio/container formats though. Plex/Infuse lets you play anything. And plex lets you play anything, anywhere. None of my content will work in it. Nothing. And of course because I need HD audio passthrough it's completely useless to me.
I don't care about "specs" and the ability to play a million different video and audio formats. After I realized iTunes wouldn't play my first ripped movie, I standardized and organized my entire BR collection on uncompressed 1080p, with uncompressed audio onto nice .MP4 files on a 16TB External HD (which I need to back up and put into storage soon). iTunes HomeShare now handles it flawless and is so much better now that I don't need Plex.
Standardizing a media library shouldn't be that big a deal, as long as it's on a format that everyone supports.
