Top Stories: iOS 17.1 Coming Soon, iPhone 16 Pro Rumors, and More

We're now more than a month past the big iPhone 15 introduction, but things are still chugging along with Apple news and rumors, led by the iOS 17.1 and related updates that will be bringing some changes later this month.

top stories 14oct2023
There have also been a number of new rumors about the iPhone 16 and the Mac lineup, while we had a couple of special guests on the most recent episodes of The MacRumors Show, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

iOS 17.1 to Launch by October 24

Apple this week made the third beta of iOS 17.1 available to developers and public beta testers. The main change in this beta is tweaked behavior for the Action button on iPhone 15 Pro models.

iOS 17
iOS 17.1 is expected to be released to the public later this month alongside watchOS 10.1 and more. We've put together a list of eight new features and changes included in the software update. Notably, there is a tweak to cellular performance for the iPhone 12 in France due to a regulatory ruling, and regulators there have revealed that the update will be made available to the public by October 24.

iPhone 16 Pro Expected to Support Faster '5G Advanced'

The next-generation iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon X75 modem for faster and more power efficient 5G, according to tech analyst Jeff Pu. However, he expects the lower-end iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models to stick with the Snapdragon X70.

iPhone 16 Side Feature
Qualcomm says the Snapdragon X75 modem supports the latest "5G Advanced" standard, which is described as "the next phase of 5G" and an "evolution towards 6G."

Will Apple Release New Macs Soon? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

Apple often releases new Macs in the fall, but whether that will happen this year is far from certain. It's the second week of October now, and there is still no sign that Apple will be hosting an event this month.

apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature blue
To help clear things up, this week we recapped all of the latest rumors about Macs. The next big feature expected for Macs is the M3 chip, which is expected to be a 3nm chip like the A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro models.

Things are constantly changing, of course, and even since that recap a new rumor has surfaced claiming we could see updated iMac models with M2 and M2 Pro chips in the near future.

The MacRumors Show: Former Apple Executive Mike Bell Talks AirPort, CarPlay, and More

Last week, we had YouTuber and content creator Sara Dietschy joining Dan and Hartley on The MacRumors Show to discuss some of her favorite Apple accessories and more, while former Apple executive Mike Bell made an appearance this week to talk about some of his projects during his time at Apple, his current work at Lucid Motors, and more.

The MacRumors Show Mike Bell Talks AirPort CarPlay and More Thumb 2
Listen to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your preferred podcasts app. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your podcast player, or watch a video version on our YouTube channel.

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2

Apple this week introduced new firmware for both the AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning port and the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 with USB-C port. The new firmware is 6A303, up from the 6A301 update that was released in September.

airpods pro 2 pink
Apple's release notes only mention unspecified bug fixes and other improvements, so we don't know details on what's new, but there are likely some refinements to new ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 features added in iOS 17 such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Personalized Volume.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Popular Stories

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

iPhone Driver's Licenses: These 17 U.S. States Offer Them or Will Later

Thursday June 19, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states and Puerto...
iPhone 16 Battery Life Feature

iOS 26's New Battery Life Mode Available Only on These iPhone Models

Saturday June 21, 2025 9:02 am PDT by
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode. Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer." The full description of...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
ios 26 call holding

iOS 26 Beta is Hiding a New Ringtone — Here's What It Sounds Like

Thursday June 19, 2025 7:25 pm PDT by
Apple is hiding a new ringtone within iOS 26. The new ringtone is an alternative version of the existing Reflection ringtone, which has been the default ringtone since the iPhone X was released in 2017. It was discovered within the code for the first developer beta of iOS 26, but it remains hidden, so you will not find it in the list of ringtones available in the Settings app for now. It...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...
General Spotify Feature

Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

Thursday June 19, 2025 1:46 pm PDT by
Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier. Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player. With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code....
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adding Two New Wi-Fi Features, Allows AirDrop and AirPlay Alternatives

Saturday June 21, 2025 7:02 am PDT by
iOS 26 is gaining two new Wi-Fi features, including Captive Assist and Wi-Fi Aware. MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris discovered a reference to Captive Assist within the code for the first iOS 26 developer beta, but Apple has yet to enable the feature. It should be available by the time the software update is released later this year. In his Power On newsletter last month, Bloomberg's...
airpods 4 blue

Apple Offering Free AirPods — Here's How to Get Them

Tuesday June 17, 2025 6:33 am PDT by
Apple is running a new promotion that offers free AirPods to qualifying customers. Now through September 30, college and university students in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Singapore can receive free AirPods 4 when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. AirPods Pro 2 are also available at a discount. If you do not want AirPods, the promotion also offers various other...

Top Rated Comments

JohnyTango Avatar
22 months ago
If only Apple were to change its cycle to new phone releases every two years. The latest iPhone 15 shows they're out of fresh ideas. In comparison to last years tech: A slightly faster CPU, a slightly better camera, a USB-C port (which they were forced to install) and an action button instead of a switch. Yippee-ki-yay.

Some people say that you shouldn't compare to last gen's tech, but rather 3-4 old phones because those are the people purchasing the new iphone 15 to upgrade but that is of course just stupid.

I want under screen camera's, get rid of the completely ridiculous "dynamic island" (a bad solution that only exists because they want an "edge to edge" screen, instead of just putting the speaker/camera hardware in the top 1mm of the screen. You don't need a notch, you don't need a dynamic island, just give me 1mm less screen and I'm happy), significant upgraded specs, not just a car with a top speed 1-2mph faster then last years model. Give me fair prices for storage upgrades, finally put in a decent battery, not just one that lasts longer then 18 hours but also one that doesn't degrade as fast so you can maybe start using your phone 5-6 years (if you are really into the whole environment thing, make this top priority)

Same goes for iOS17. I have yet to find differences between 16 and 17 on my 12 Pro. It just doesn't justify a major version increase. And I get it from a marketing perspective, you can't release the iphone 15 with iOS 16 on it. That way the difference between gens would be even less noticable, but please do reconsider this strategy. The huge amounts of bugs in 17.0 clearly showed you are better of releasing the new iOS in June, and the phones in September. That way all 0-day bugs have already been resolved and your "first week buyers" aren't unpayed beta testers. Oh and only do a major version increase when there is actually something new, not just because the calendar has moved 12 months.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Harthag Avatar
22 months ago

If only Apple were to change its cycle to new phone releases every two years. The latest iPhone 15 shows they're out of fresh ideas. In comparison to last years tech: A slightly faster CPU, a slightly better camera, a USB-C port (which they were forced to install) and an action button instead of a switch. Yippee-ki-yay.

Some people say that you shouldn't compare to last gen's tech, but rather 3-4 old phones because those are the people purchasing the new iphone 15 to upgrade but that is of course just stupid.

I want under screen camera's, get rid of the completely ridiculous "dynamic island" (a bad solution that only exists because they want an "edge to edge" screen, instead of just putting the speaker/camera hardware in the top 1mm of the screen. You don't need a notch, you don't need a dynamic island, just give me 1mm less screen and I'm happy), significant upgraded specs, not just a car with a top speed 1-2mph faster then last years model. Give me fair prices for storage upgrades, finally put in a decent battery, not just one that lasts longer then 18 hours but also one that doesn't degrade as fast so you can maybe start using your phone 5-6 years (if you are really into the whole environment thing, make this top priority)

Same goes for iOS17. I have yet to find differences between 16 and 17 on my 12 Pro. It just doesn't justify a major version increase. And I get it from a marketing perspective, you can't release the iphone 15 with iOS 16 on it. That way the difference between gens would be even less noticable, but please do reconsider this strategy. The huge amounts of bugs in 17.0 clearly showed you are better of releasing the new iOS in June, and the phones in September. That way all 0-day bugs have already been resolved and your "first week buyers" aren't unpayed beta testers. Oh and only do a major version increase when there is actually something new, not just because the calendar has moved 12 months.
Agree completely re: notch / dynamic island, but we're the minority. I'd much rather have slim bezels that contain the hardware and a non-obstructed screen. The best phone I've ever used is the OnePlus 7 Pro that had the pop-out camera. That design was so perfect it's a shame nothing else ever progressed using that tech. Surely by now manufacturers could have optimized that further.

I do disagree about iOS17. Coming from a 14PM to 15PM, both with iOS17, there is a noticeable difference vs. iOS16. I've yet to see a stutter or dropped frame and the phone runs smoother than any recent iOS version I can remember. The standby mode when charging in iOS17 is amazing, I use it nightly. The action button is actually really nice too. I've used it to launch various apps, or made it the silent mode toggle. You can launch Google assistant with it too, haha, which is awesome. On an iPhone 12 Pro you wouldn't notice much difference with iOS17 compared to 14 and 15 Pro which have always on displays.

USB-C port is long overdue and I am happy to never see Lightning ever again. I can use one cable for multiple devices again, as it should be. I even sold my Lightning APP2 for $135 and picked up the USB-C version for $199.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)