Starting with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9, Apple Pay will allow users to pay multiple merchants in a single transaction within supported apps. Apple says this feature will let users make a bundled purchase, such as a travel package with flights, a rental car, and a hotel room, all in a single Apple Pay payment sheet.
Apple Pay has also received a redesign on macOS Ventura, with the payment sheet now looking similar to the one on iOS 15 and later.
As we previously reported, Apple Pay on iOS 16 is also gaining detailed receipts and order tracking information for Apple Pay transactions in the Wallet app. In addition, a new Apple Pay Later option will let customers split a purchase into four equal payments over six weeks, with no interest or fees to pay, according to Apple.
iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9 are currently in beta for developers and will be released to all users in the fall.
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you.
Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by Juli Clover
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products.
Here's what's supposedly coming:
An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. iOS 26.2 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Cool. Now we just need a Wallet app for the Mac. I get that you can't go around paying for things with the Mac, but why not let people manage saved and look over transactions on the Mac? I don't see the downside, especially now that the Mac has good biometrics. I find it especially galling I can't really manage my Apple Card on my Mac.
(Venmo sucks at this too -- you can no longer do anything on their website and are forced to use a phone. It's so frustrating and dumb to be forced to use a tiny handheld device when you're sitting in front of a big screen and keyboard.)
The payment method doesn't really matter in some cases. Kroger, for instance, has conditioned me to always log in with my kroger phone/account number to get the best prices.
How I pay makes no difference, as they know what I bought every time as a result of the club card login.
Honestly I don't mind, as they send me relevant coupons and cash back cards -- and it gives discounts on gas (for our one remaining non EV)
For Kroger yes I don't mind either for the reasons you mention.
But it's more than just your purchase history. Your card number can tie you across stores for more valuable marketing data. Apple Pay hides the actual number specifically to protect against tracking.
Look back at about 2014 I think when this all started in earnest. Remember the Telco cartel's ISIS? Not as evil as the organization that took that same name (and of course the cartels rebranded and then abandoned the idea) but still evil because it was another attempt by the cartel to control people, this time by attempting to own payments.
Eventually everyone but the biggest corporations caved and now we can use Apple / Google pay everywhere except the places that are still trying to keep that control.
I wish that were the case here. Kroger is still a hold out. (Our closest Kroger still hasn't even updated to terminals that support NFC, though some have and just don't support it.) And gas pumps are hit and miss whether they have NFC readers.
Kroger, Walmart, Home Depot, and several other large companies have actively refused and will never support it. The first two have implemented their own QR based system. Home Depot just wants your phone number to spam you.
These companies will never support it because they want to mine the payment data for themselves.
