Last week, we listed eight new AirPods Pro 3 features, including a U2 chip in the charging case. The addition of the U2 chip has been receiving a lot of attention since then, so we wanted to single out its inclusion and discuss it in more detail.
Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip debuted a few years ago, in all iPhone 15 models and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The chip allows the Precision Finding feature in the Find My app to work at longer distances compared to Apple's first-generation U1 chip in the AirPods Pro 2 charging case, AirTag, and more.
Accordingly, the main benefit of the U2 chip in the AirPods Pro 3 case is up to 1.5× longer Precision Finding range compared to the U1 chip in the AirPods Pro 2 case, according to Apple's website. This improves the ability to find your AirPods Pro 3 case, in the unfortunate event that you lose or misplace it somewhere around you.
Apple says the increased Precision Finding range requires both AirPods Pro 3 and any of the new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, or iPhone Air models.
The long-rumored AirTag 2 is also expected to be equipped with the U2 chip.
AirPods Pro 3 are available to pre-order now, and they launch on Friday.
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Thursday February 12, 2026 11:17 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to release an iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip "in the coming weeks," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple retail employees say that inventory of the iPhone 16e has basically dried out and the iPad Air is seeing shortages as well," said Gurman. "I've been expecting new versions of both (iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air) in the coming weeks."...
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged.
The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions.
Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically.
The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
