MacRumors

Today we're tracking a large collection of discounts on the 2024 M4 iPad Pro at Amazon, which includes multiple all-time low prices on both 11-inch and 13-inch models.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

11-Inch

For the smaller 11-inch M4 iPad Pro, Amazon has an all-time low price on the entry-level 256GB Wi-Fi tablet, available for $899.00, down from $999.00. Amazon has every model of the 11-inch iPad Pro on sale right now, including both Wi-Fi and cellular versions.

• 256GB Wi-Fi - $899.00, down from $999.00
• 512GB Wi-Fi - $1,099.00, down from $1,199.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi - $1,484.00, down from $1,599.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi (Nano-Texture Glass) - $1,599.00, down from $1,699.00
• 2TB Wi-Fi - $1,899.00, down from $1,999.00
• 2TB Wi-Fi (Nano-Texture Glass) - $1,999.00, down from $2,099.00

13-Inch

Similar to the 11-inch models, Amazon has every Wi-Fi and cellular version of the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro on sale this week. Prices start at $1,197.00 for the 256GB Wi-Fi tablet, and totals up to $200 off these devices.

• 256GB Wi-Fi - $1,197.00, down from $1,299.00
• 512GB Wi-Fi - $1,379.00, down from $1,499.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi - $1,749.00, down from $1,899.00
• 1TB Wi-Fi (Nano-Texture Glass) - $1,839.00, down from $1,999.00
• 2TB Wi-Fi - $2,099.00, down from $2,299.00
• 2TB Wi-Fi (Nano-Texture Glass) - $2,287.92, down from $2,399.00

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Apple Card has been recognized as the best co-branded credit card for customer satisfaction with no annual fee for the fourth consecutive year by J.D. Power.

As highlighted by Apple in a press release earlier today, this is the fourth year in a row that the ‌Apple Card‌, issued by Goldman Sachs, has earned the top spot in J.D. Power's 2024 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. The study measures overall customer satisfaction by assessing performance across several categories, including Account Management, Customer Service, and New Account Experience.

The ‌Apple Card‌ was first introduced in 2019 and is deeply integrated into the Wallet app on the iPhone, allowing users to track their spending in real time, categorize transactions, and set up payment plans. The ‌Apple Card‌ also offers up to three percent Daily Cash on purchases, which can be used instantly or saved for future expenses. With ‌Apple Card‌ Family, users can share an ‌Apple Card‌ account with other members of their Family Sharing group. The ‌Apple Card‌ also features an integrated a Savings account option, providing users with the ability to automatically deposit their Daily Cash rewards into the account.

Following a successful 2022 collaboration with Kim Kardashian for a set of three neutral color options for the Beats Fit Pro earphones, the "Beats x Kim" campaign is back to bring the same colors to the Beats Studio Pro headphones.

As with the Beats Fit Pro, the new Beats Studio Pro color options from Kardashian's signature palette include Moon (light), Dune (medium), and Earth (deep).

"I'm so excited we're bringing these three popular, chic colors to Beats' most iconic and advanced headphones," said Kim Kardashian. "Beats Studio have always been a fashion statement, so I can't wait to see how everyone styles them."

Beats Studio Pro are the brand's latest over-ear headphones and were originally released in July 2023. They offer Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, improved audio quality, and up to 40 hours of battery life. Connectivity options include Class 1 Bluetooth, USB-C, and 3.5mm analog.

Apple's Beats brand has been building up to today's launch with an ad campaign featuring Kardashian and Jimmy Fallon vying for the next Beats collaboration, with Kardashian's neutral Beats x Kim colors going up against a mustard-yellow "Beats x Jim" option that apparently did not make the cut.

The new Beats x Kim Beats Studio Pro headphones are priced at $349.99 in the United States, and they are launching today through Apple's online stores in the US, Canada, Mexico, UK, France, Germany, Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand, with limited availability at select Apple retail stores in those countries. They are also available through Amazon in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Japan, and at Argos in the UK, JB Hi-Fi in Australia, and Tmall and JD.com in China.

AltStore PAL, the open-source app that is designed to distribute apps in the EU from independent developers, is now free thanks to a grant provided by Fortnite developer Epic Games.

The alternative iOS app store had charged a €1.50 plus tax annual subscription, in order to cover Apple's Core Technology Fee (CTF). Apple's terms for alternative app marketplaces requires developers to pay the CTF for each annual app installation.

However, AltStore Pal will no longer pass on the cost of this fee after the third-party store received a "MegaGrant" from ‌Epic Games‌. AltStore said that existing subscribers won't be charged upon their renewal date, and that the AltStore team plans to "show our appreciation for our existing subscribers in a future update," but didn't go into details.

Developer Riley Testut has been working on AltStore PAL since Apple announced plans to support alternative app marketplaces in iOS 17.4. It is open to all apps, but Testut says that it makes the most sense for "smaller, indie apps that otherwise couldn't exist due to ‌App Store‌ rules."

AltStore PAL is equipped with Patreon integration to allow developers to monetize their apps. Developers can offer their apps to just their patrons, and this method of distribution also allows for a sub-1 million cap on those who can subscribe to use an app.

iPhone users in the European Union can download AltStore PAL from the AltStore website. Alternative app marketplaces are not available outside of the European Union.

As for Epic, it has submitted the ‌Epic Games‌ Store to Apple for notarization under Apple's alternative app marketplace policy in the European Union. The ‌‌Epic Games‌‌ Store will include Fortnite, which means ‌‌iPhone‌‌ users in the EU will be able to install and play the title without having to use a cloud gaming service. An ‌iPad‌ version of Fortnite is expected to follow this year.

Apple has made available the second developer beta of macOS Sequoia 15.1, which includes the ability to test Apple Intelligence features. If you have an Apple silicon Mac and don't live in China, you can try Apple Intelligence features for yourself, even if you're not a developer. Keep reading to learn how.

Apple has split Apple Intelligence into a separate set of betas for Macs because these features will not be available in the initial launch version of ‌macOS Sequoia‌ 15. Apple Intelligence will be available to the public later in the fall with the release of macOS Sequoia 15.1.

This point release will add several of the Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools, an updated Siri design, Safari and Mail summaries, Reduce Interruptions Focus mode, and more. Other features, including Image Playground, Genmoji, and the Siri personal context and onscreen awareness will be coming later and are not in the macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta. You can learn more about what's available and when in our macOS 15 roundup.

The good news is that Apple has already seeded the second developer beta of macOS 15.1, which means you can try some of the AI features out for yourself by signing up for macOS beta access. Signing up to get the macOS Sequoia beta is simple, and can be done by following the steps below. Be sure to back up your Mac using Time Machine before going on to follow the beta software installation steps, otherwise you won't be able to revert back to your previous version of macOS if you need to.

Things to Remember Before You Start

• Back up Your Mac.
• Apple Intelligence requires a Mac with an M1 Apple silicon processor or later.
• Apple Intelligence is only available in US English.
• Apple Intelligence for Mac is not available in China, but appears to be available in the EU and everywhere else when region and language settings are changed to United States (see below).
• Apple Intelligence is not available if macOS 15.1 is installed on an external drive.

Register for Developer Beta Access

You can skip this first set of steps if you have previously joined the Apple Developer Program with your Apple ID. Note that registering in this way is free, and does not require paying for an Apple Developer Program membership.

1. Go to the Apple Developer website (developer.apple.com/account) and sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Check the box to accept the terms and conditions, then tap the Submit button.

That's all there is to it. You can now proceed to the next steps to download and install the macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer beta.

Download macOS 15.1 Beta

To download and install the macOS Sequoia 15.1 Developer beta, follow these steps on your Mac.

1. Go to System Settings ➝ General ➝ Software Update.
2. Click the info button ⓘ next to "Beta updates."
   
   

3. Choose the macOS Sequoia 15.1 Developer Beta option, then click Done.
   
   

4. When the macOS 15 Sequoia 15.1 Beta update appears, click the Upgrade Now button to start downloading and installing it on your Mac.
   
   

Activate Apple Intelligence

The following steps explain how to join the Apple Intelligence waitlist, which usually grants you access to the AI features in just a few minutes.

1. Go to System Settings ➝ Apple Intelligence & Siri.
2. Set Siri's language to English (United States), and decline to restart your Mac at the prompt for now.
3. Set Voice to American.
   
   

4. Next, go to System Settings ➝ General ➝ Language & Region.
5. Click the "Region" selector and choose United States.
6. Under "Preferred Languages," click + and add English (US), then set English (US) as the Primary language by dragging it above your other language(s).
7. Restart your Mac when prompted.
   
   

8. After restarting, go to Settings ➝ Apple Intelligence & Siri.
9. Click the option to Join the Apple Intelligence waitlist. You will be notified when Apple Intelligence features are available for your Mac. In most cases this should take only a few minutes, but don't rule out waiting a couple of hours.
10. When Apple Intelligence is available, toggle the switch to enable it.
    
    

Note that Apple Intelligence will not be in the initial launch version of iOS 18 that comes out in September alongside new iPhones. It will instead be introduced in a separate iOS 18.1 update that is likely to come out a few weeks after ‌iOS 18‌ debuts. Have you had a chance to try out Apple Intelligence features on Mac? Let us know of your experience in the comments.

Just a few months after debuting an all-new mobile app for controlling its audio products, Sonos is considering bringing back the previous version of the app following numerous user complaints, reports The Verge.

While Sonos has been working to address a number of missing features and issues with the new app and has laid out a timeline to keep users updated on the company's progress, The Verge reports that "discussions high up within Sonos" have centered around potentially offering the old app as an interim solution.

Letting customers fall back to the older software could ease their frustrations and reduce at least some of the pressure on Sonos to rectify every issue with the new app. At least for now, the redesigned version is all that’s available, which makes it impossible for some customers to avoid its flaws.

Just last week, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence revealed on the company's earnings call that it will be delaying two upcoming product launches due to "challenges with our new app." While Spence did not identify the products in question, one of them is likely to be the successor to the company's flagship Arc soundbar.

Apple is moving forward with its project to develop a tabletop robotic device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The device would feature a large iPad-like display mounted on a "thin robotic arm" that would allow the display to tilt and up and down and rotate a full 360º, and it would serve as a "smart home command center," a videoconferencing machine such as for FaceTime calls, and a home security monitoring tool.

The tabletop robot would leverage Siri and Apple Intelligence, allowing it to respond to an array of verbal commands, recognize different voices, and automatically orient the display to face users in the room.

While Apple has been toying with the idea for some time, Gurman says Apple has recently prioritized development of the device, putting it under the purview of Kevin Lynch, Apple's vice president of technology who has overseen such projects as the Apple Watch and Apple's defunct self-driving car venture.

Apple is now looking to launch the device as soon as 2026 or 2027 and is aiming to get the price down to around $1,000, though plans may change as development proceeds.

Amazon today has the Apple Studio Display for $1,299.99, down from $1,599.00, which is a match of the all-time low price on the monitor. This is the standard glass version of the Studio Display with the tilt adjustable stand, and Amazon also has a few other models on sale as well.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

You can get the standard glass model with the VESA Mount Adapter for $1,299.99, while the tilt- and height-adjustable stand model is available for $1,599.00, down from $1,999.00. Both of these are record low prices on the display.

If you want to upgrade to the nano-texture glass option, Amazon also has this model of the Studio Display on sale. It's available for $1,599.00, down from $1,899.00, which is a second-best price on the Studio Display with nano-texture glass.

The Studio Display features a 27-inch 5K retina display with a 5120 x 2880 resolution and up to 600 nits of brightness. Apple says that the standard display is engineered for "extremely low reflectivity," but for rooms where there is a lot of glare, Apple suggests the nano-texture glass option with even less reflectivity.

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

Award-winning iPhone camera app Halide was today updated to version 2.15, which includes a new feature that allows users to take photos devoid of all image processing for a more natural look.

Halide's new image processing pipeline is called "Process Zero," which uses "zero AI, no computational photography whatsoever – offering photographers a counter to the increasingly AI-heavy processing and tooling on smartphones," according to app developer Lux Optics.

Process Zero uses a fast process based on a single exposure RAW file. The file itself is a 12 megapixel image plus a RAW DNG file for additional editing.

"Process Zero is fast, capturing at anywhere from 10 — 25× the speed of a ProRAW capture. Much like film, it can feature natural sensor grain, slight color aberrations, and is much less usable in low light. This makes for its natural look, like taking photos on an older classic digital camera," explain the developers.

Halide 2.15 still allows photographers the choice of process before or during shooting – users can choose processing at setup, or while shooting, picking from ProRAW, standard iPhone photo processing, reduced image processing, or Process Zero.

In addition, the Halide update includes a dial in the app's new Image Lab which lets users re-develop the RAW file with Process Zero for different exposure levels.

Lux Optics is eager to stress that many of Apple's image processing features still benefit users, but with Process Zero they can see exactly what images look like when it's completely taken away.

Halide 2.15 is available today from the App Store with a limited 1-week discount on all new Halide memberships for $11.99 per year (usual price is $19.99). There is also a 1-week free trial with a membership, or users can opt for a lifetime purchase of $59.99.

Apple today announced that developers will soon be able to offer NFC transactions in their own apps for the first time – something that is mostly exclusive to Apple Pay at present.

Starting with iOS 18.1 later this year, developers will be able to offer in-app contactless transactions, separate from ‌Apple Pay‌ and Apple Wallet, using new APIs. This opens up new possibilities for in-store payments, car keys, closed-loop transit, corporate badges, student IDs, home keys, hotel keys, merchant loyalty and rewards cards, and event tickets, as well as government IDs in the future. The APIs use the Secure Enclave inside the iPhone, a certified chip that stores sensitive information directly on the device itself.

Users will be able to use an app that features these APIs either by opening the app directly or setting it as their default contactless app in Settings to double-click the Side button and initiate the transaction.

Developers will need to request the NFC and Secure Enclave entitlement, enter into a commercial agreement with Apple, and pay the associated fees. Apple says this ensures that only authorized developers who meet certain regulatory and industry requirements and commit to Apple's security and privacy standards can gain access to the APIs.

The NFC and Secure Enclave APIs will be available to developers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the U.S. in an upcoming developer seed for iOS 18.1, with more regions to follow.

Samsung is hosting a new back to school sale, which includes notable savings on multiple product lines sitewide. The popular ViewFinity S9 5K Smart Monitor and new Smart Monitor M80D are both discounted during this sale, but you'll also find sales on storage, audio, TVs, smartphones, and wearable tech.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Samsung. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The best monitor deal during this event is on the 27-inch ViewFinity S9 5K Smart Monitor, available for $899.99, down from $1,599.99. At $700 off this is a match of the all-time low price on the 2023 display, which has a matte display, modular 4K SlimFit camera, and support for Thunderbolt 4.

Samsung also has its new Smart Monitor M80D on sale today for $549.99, down from $699.99, which is a second-best price on the monitor. The display retains key features of the previous model, like USB-C charging connectivity, AirPlay 2 support, an integrated webcam, and several smart TV features that enable it to be used when not connected to a PC.

In terms of new features, the M80D includes a Multi Control feature that allows images and text to be moved between the display and a Galaxy Book, Tablet, or Phone. You can also pair Galaxy Buds to the monitor for a spatial audio experience with head tracking, as well as guided workouts when paired with a Galaxy Watch.

Monitors

• 34-inch ViewFinity HDR10 Curved Monitor - $599.99, down from $699.99
• 49-inch Odyssey G9 Curved Gaming Monitor - $899.99, down from $1,299.99
• 34-inch OLED Curved Smart Gaming Monitor - $799.99, down from $1,199.99
• 49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 Curved Gaming Monitor - $1,199.99, down from $1,799.99
• 55-inch Odyssey Ark 2nd Gen Curved Gaming Monitor - $1,799.99, down from $2,999.99

TVs

• The Frame TV - Save up to $1,700
• 70-inch QLED 4K QE1C TV - $989.99, down from $1,799.99
• 55-inch Neo QLED 4K Smart TV - $1,099.99, down from $1,499.99
• 55-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K TV - $1,099.99, down from $1,999.99
• 65-inch OLED S90C TV - $1,599.99, down from $2,599.99
• 85-inch Samsung Neo QLED 4K Smart TV - $2,599.99, down from $4,799.99

Galaxy Products

• Galaxy Z Fold6 - Save up to $1,500 with trade-in credit
• Galaxy Z Flip6 - Save up to $800 with trade-in credit
• Galaxy Watch Ultra - Save up to $350
• Galaxy Buds3 Pro - Save up to $130

Be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup to shop for even more Apple-related products and accessories.

Apple today shared a new ad titled "The Relay" focused on athletic accessibility with the tagline "designed for every body."

Shared ahead of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, the ad shows some of the routines, training, and competitions undertaken by disabled athletes across a wide range of sports, assisted by Apple devices. It emphasizes inclusivity and the universality of competitive sport, regardless of one's physical disabilities.

Apple products are designed for every body. Whether you're a sprinter, wheelchair racer, track cyclist, or swimmer, features like the Workout app on Apple Watch, sleep metrics, and daily exercise goals — along with the ability to record and analyze your performance on iPad and Mac — ensure that all athletes have what they need to train and compete at their best.

And innovative accessibility features like Point and Speak on iPhone, for users with low vision, or AssistiveTouch (which helps those with upper-limb difference use Apple Watch one-handed) further equip adaptive athletes with the ability to excel equally.

More information can be found on Apple's accessibility website.

Spotify says it has received approval from Apple to display pricing information in its iOS app for users in the European Union, following its years-long legal struggle with the company.

Spotify says that from Wednesday, iPhone users in the EU will be informed of pricing information in the app and the fact that they can go to the company's website to purchase items directly.

"EU iPhone consumers will now benefit from seeing our end of summer promotional pricing," said Spotify in an updated blog post. "They'll also finally be able to see how much a Premium plan of their choosing costs once the promotion ends."

The music streamer is not opting into Apple's complicated new business rules under the Digital Markets Act, but is instead taking advantage of Apple's "entitlement" for music streaming services – a result of the European Commission's decision on March 4 which found that Apple violated the EU's antitrust laws and fined them over €1.8 billion.

Spotify is still not giving users a link to click to make purchases from outside of the App Store, which it could have done under the entitlement terms, but it presumably does not want to give Apple a cut of any off-platform sales, which Apple would likely argue is a reflection of the value the App Store provides.

"Unfortunately, Spotify and all music streaming services in the EU are still not able to freely give consumers a simple opportunity to click a link to purchase in app because of the illegal and predatory taxes Apple continues to demand, despite the Commission's ruling.

"The fight continues. iPhone consumers everywhere deserve basic information about how much things cost, when they can take advantage of great deals and promotions, and where to go to buy those things online. If the European Commission properly enforces its decision, iPhone consumers could see even more wins, like lower cost payment options and better product experiences in the app."

Spotify has been in a legal spat with Apple in the EU since 2019, when it filed an antitrust complaint over App Store rules. As recently as March Spotify complained to the Commission that Apple was failing to approve a Spotify update that adds information on subscription pricing and links its website.

Apple is still working on a larger iMac with over a 30-inch display, but the development stage and potential release schedule for the all-in-one computer still remains largely unknown.

Following the launch of the Mac Studio and 27-inch Studio Display in March 2022, Apple discontinued the Intel-based 27-inch iMac. The company had already consigned the iMac Pro to its discontinued products list the previous March. Then in November 2023, Apple dashed hopes of a future 27-inch iMac when it confirmed to several publications that it had no plans to release such a machine.

Despite Apple's product reshuffle and its continued attempt to push customers to buy its 24-inch iMac or opt instead for a Mac Studio / Studio Display combo, there have been persistent rumors of a larger-screened iMac in the works that has a display that's over 30 inches in size. The machine was said to be in the early stages of development in mid-2023, but until recently the rumor mill had gone all but quiet about its progress.

Now, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has offered a ray of hope for fans of a larger model. "A larger iMac remains something Apple is exploring," he wrote in his latest weekly report. However, Gurman still says it is unclear if the device will use Apple's latest M4 processor. Apple plans to update its 24-inch iMac to an M4 processor later this year, but Gurman's comments suggest that this could be too early for the larger model, given its current development phase.

• M4 MacBook Pro, iMac, and Redesigned Mac Mini Coming This Year

Gurman in June 2023 reported that Apple was in the early stages of developing a new iMac with over a 30-inch display, and that it was "further out," suggesting that it might be at least a year or two away from launching. Then in October 2023, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expected a 32-inch iMac with a mini-LED display to come out in 2025. Kuo did not specify, but such a machine could be positioned as an "‌iMac‌ Pro" to replace the 2017 model that Apple discontinued in 2021.

So it seems Apple could still release a larger M4 iMac in 2025, alongside planned processor upgrades the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio next year. Another possibility is that Apple will hold out for its M5 chip, which could see the bigger iMac arrive in 2026 or later.

• When to Expect New M4 MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro Models

As the rumors indicate, the actual size of the bigger iMac that Apple is working on is still unclear, but the display is surely going to be over 30 inches. At 32 inches, it would offer the same dimensions as the 6K Pro Display XDR, which Apple sells for $5,000. As for the design, we could perhaps see slimmer bezels and a machine that is ultimately modeled after the Studio Display, with Apple eliminating the chin, but rumors are not clear on this point.

Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode.

Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to pressure. Here's everything the button will be able to do, according to rumors:

• Lightly press on the button to autofocus while capturing an image or video.
• Press harder on the button to take a photo.
• Swipe left and right on the button to zoom in and out.
• There may also be a gesture for switching between photo mode and video mode, similar to how you can capture a video with a press and swipe in the iPhone camera app.

The ability to autofocus with a light press on the button will be a gesture that DSLR camera owners are used to, as this is often how you autofocus when using a high-end camera.

Apple plans to put the button on the right side of the ‌iPhone‌, in the space where the mmWave antenna is on iPhones that are sold in the United States. The mmWave antenna will be moving to the left side of the device to make space.

The Capture Button has been depicted in CAD renders and dummy models of all four ‌iPhone‌ devices, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman this week suggested that there is a possibility that it will only be available on the Pro models.

With the Capture Button, Apple will be able to encourage users to take images and videos captured in landscape orientation, which are better viewed on the Vision Pro headset.

Along with a Capture Button, the ‌iPhone 16‌ models will feature slightly bigger displays, a new A18 chip that supports Apple Intelligence, and 8GB RAM for all models, which is necessary to power Apple's AI models. For more on what's expected, make sure to check out our iPhone 16 roundup.

When introducing the new Pixel 9 models today, Google didn't miss an opportunity to denigrate Apple Intelligence. All of the new Pixel 9 devices are integrated with Google's AI technology, Gemini, and there are a host of new AI features that Google introduced.

Like ‌Apple Intelligence‌, Gemini works using on-device processing power, but Google made sure to point out that Gemini is capable enough to answer complex queries without handing a task off to another AI service. The comment was a dig at Apple's plan to add ChatGPT integration to Siri, as ChatGPT will be able to do things that ‌Siri‌ can't. From Google:

Gemini is deeply integrated with Google apps and Android and can handle complex queries without hand-off to third-party AI providers you may not know or trust.

Apple will use ChatGPT for things like generating text from scratch, something that ‌Apple Intelligence‌ doesn't do. Apple did add Writing Tools, but it is limited to rewriting content that you've already written to change the tone or style. ChatGPT will also be able to generate images that Image Playground cannot, such as photorealistic content, and it will handle requests like generating meal recipes.

When a user asks ‌Siri‌ something that ‌Siri‌ cannot handle, the personal assistant will ask for permission to hand it over to ChatGPT. ChatGPT integration is entirely optional, and OpenAI is partnering with Apple to bring it to iPhone users for free.

Rumors suggest that Apple also plans to add Gemini integration to the ‌iPhone‌, allowing ‌iPhone‌ users to choose their preferred AI service. It's not quite clear if ‌Apple Intelligence‌ is incapable of handling full text generation and photorealistic image creation, or if these are capabilities that Apple feels are a little too questionable to touch given the sentiment about AI-created content.

Google's new Pixel devices have several interesting AI features, including Pixel Studio, a new image generator that uses an on-device diffusion model. It will generate stickers and images using text prompts, similar to ‌Image Playground‌.

AI will be able to edit photos to add objects that weren't originally in the image, plus Google plans to use it for custom weather reports. The camera app has an option to merge two photos together so that the person taking a group photo can be in the picture, and it can catalog and remember information from screenshots. There's also a feature called Call Notes, which mimics Apple's call recording feature by recording and summarizing phone calls.

Google has also added Gemini Live to the Pixel 9 devices and accompanying earbuds, with Gemini Live allowing users to have full free-flowing conversations with Gemini.

With the latest betas of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, Apple added new functionality to iPhone Mirroring, the feature that lets you control your ‌iPhone‌ from your Mac. When ‌iPhone‌ Mirroring first debuted in the betas, there was no support for managing the Home Screen, but that's now changed.

Apple added an option to get into jiggle mode, as noted by 9to5Mac. After activating the ‌iPhone‌ Mirroring app, you can click and hold on the ‌iPhone‌'s ‌Home Screen‌ to activate jiggle mode. In this mode, you can do everything you can in jiggle mode on the ‌iPhone‌ itself, from deleting and rearranging apps to managing widgets.

You can add widgets, change widget sizes, activate app long press functionality, turn on dark mode icons, or opt into icon tinting. There is no option to get to the Lock Screen or Control Center, though, and notifications can only be viewed through the Mac notification center.

Apple added the new jiggle functionality in the ‌iOS 18‌, iOS 18.1, macOS 15, and macOS 15.1 betas, so if you have any of the developer or public betas, you should be able to use the new ‌iPhone‌ Mirroring functionality as of now.

Apple will host its annual National Parks Apple Watch activity challenge on Sunday, August 25. The event is designed to celebrate national parks across the United States.

Apple Watch owners can earn an Apple Watch activity award by doing a workout that lasts for 20 minutes or more on August 25, 2024.

As with all of the activity challenges, the award will come with animated stickers that can be used in the Messages app.

Apple often offers other national parks-themed content in August, including an Apple Pay donation program, Apple TV+ content, Apple Music songs, books, podcasts, and more.