iOS 18 introduced an accessibility feature called Music Haptics that has value for everyone. When the feature is turned on, the iPhone's Taptic Engine taps and vibrates to match the audio of a song playing in Apple Music, Shazam, and supported third-party apps, so long as the device is connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network.
With iOS 19, Music Haptics will get better in two ways.
Apple today announced that Music Haptics will be even more customizable starting later this year. First, users will have the option to receive haptic feedback for vocals only. Second, users will be able to adjust the overall intensity of taps, textures, and vibrations. These enhancements are expected to roll out with iOS 19, which will be unveiled during the WWDC 2025 keynote on June 9 and released to the general public in September.
Music Haptics is supported on the iPhone 12 and newer, excluding the latest iPhone SE.
A few years ago, Apple introduced a Personal Voice feature that allows those at risk of losing their ability to speak to create a synthesized voice that sounds similar to their actual voice, so they can continue to communicate with others. The feature debuted on the iPhone with iOS 17, and it will be getting even better on iOS 19.
Apple today announced that Personal Voice will be faster and easier to use on iOS 19, thanks to advancements in on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence. Apple says users will be able to create a smoother, more natural-sounding voice in less than a minute, down from 15 minutes when the feature initially launched.
Personal Voice will also add support for Spanish (Mexico), according to Apple.
Personal Voice integrates with another accessibility feature called Live Speech, which lets users type what they want to say to have it be spoken aloud during in-person conversations, phone calls, and FaceTime video calls.
Personal Voice is also available on the iPad and Mac, and the enhancements to the feature will extend to iPadOS 19 and macOS 16.
Apple is planning to allow users to natively control iPhones, iPads, and other devices using brain signals later this year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The initiative involves a partnership with Synchron, a neurotechnology startup that produces an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) device called the Stentrode. The Stentrode enables users with severe motor impairments, such as those caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to control Apple devices using neural signals detected from within blood vessels located above the brain's motor cortex.
The Stentrode is implanted through the jugular vein and rests inside a blood vessel on the surface of the brain. The device contains 16 electrodes that can detect motor-related brain activity without requiring open-brain surgery. These neural signals are then translated into digital commands that allow users to interact with an interface.
Synchron has implanted the Stentrode in ten patients since 2019 under the FDA's investigational device exemption. One test participant based in Pennsylvania with ALS, who cannot use his arms or hands, is able to use the Apple Vision Pro and other Apple devices through thought alone, although it is slower than conventional input mechanisms.
In 2014, Apple introduced the "Made for iPhone" hearing aid protocol as a Bluetooth standard that enables seamless wireless communication between hearing aids and Apple devices. The company is now apparently pursuing a similar approach with brain-computer interfaces, aiming to establish a dedicated industry standard in collaboration with Synchron.
Apple is apparently planning to add support for BCIs into its existing Switch Control accessibility framework, which allows input from non-standard devices such as joysticks and adaptive hardware. The company reportedly intends to release this new standard later in 2025.
Synchron's approach differs significantly from that of other companies such as Neuralink, which is developing a more invasive implant called the N1. Neuralink's device contains more than 1,000 electrodes embedded directly into brain tissue, providing a higher-resolution neural data stream. This allows for more complex control, including moving a cursor across a screen and typing using mental intention.
Apple today previewed a wide range of new accessibility features coming later this year on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. The announcement comes two days ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
These features are expected to debut across iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, and visionOS 3, which will be unveiled during the WWDC 2025 keynote on Monday, June 9. Following months of beta testing, the software updates should be released in September, bringing the new accessibility features to the masses.
Accessibility Reader
Some of the key new features:
Accessibility Nutrition Labels in the App Store, which will highlight accessibility features within apps and games.
Apple is expanding its Magnifier app to the Mac, allowing users to connect an iPhone or USB camera to zoom in and read text on objects around them.
Vehicle Motion Cues are expanding to the Mac, to reduce motion sickness in a vehicle.
A new system-wide Accessibility Reader tool on the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro will make text easier to read for users with low vision or dyslexia. The feature will give users new ways to customize text and focus on content they want to read, with extensive options for font, color, and spacing.
Live Captions are coming to the Apple Watch, allowing users to read a transcription of what their iPhone hears on their wrist.
An enhanced Zoom feature on the Apple Vision Pro will allow users to magnify everything in view, including their surroundings, using the device's main camera.
Braille Access will turn the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro into a full-featured braille note taker.
Personal Voice will become faster and easier to use, thanks to advancements in on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence. Apple says the feature will be able to create a smoother, more natural-sounding replication of your voice in less than a minute, using only 10 recorded phrases.
CarPlay will support the Large Text option, and Sound Recognition will be able to identify a crying baby and sirens passing by.
Foreign-branded smartphone shipments in China, dominated by Apple's iPhone, dropped dramatically in March 2025, plunging 49.6% year-over-year according to data released by The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
The steep decline saw shipments fall to just 1.89 million units, down from 3.75 million during the same period last year. That shrinks Apple's share of the Chinese market to approximately 8%, while domestic brands now control 92% of smartphone shipments.
For the entire first quarter, non-Chinese brand shipments declined over 25%, while total smartphone shipments in China actually increased by 3.3%.
Apple's struggles come as domestic competitors have gained ground. Counterpoint Research reports Huawei now leads with a 19.4% share, followed by Vivo (17%), Xiaomi (16.6%), and Oppo (14.6%). Apple has slipped to fifth place with 14.1%.
Several factors are driving Apple's declining fortunes. The company faces competition from rejuvenated local brands like Huawei, which has rebounded with proprietary chips and its HarmonyOS Next software.
Chinese government policies appear to be playing a role too. Under government subsidies, consumers of electronics get a 15% refund of products that are priced under 6,000 yuan ($820). Apple's standard iPhone 16 starts at 5,999 yuan.
In response to the declines, Apple is reportedly cutting prices on some iPhone 16 Pro models ahead of China's "618" shopping festival.
Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the challenges during his recent earnings call, noting that revenue from Greater China dropped 2% in the quarter ending March 2025. That was actually an improvement compared to the 11% decline during the 2024 holiday season.
Analysts also believe Apple's slower adoption of generative AI features is a disadvantage in the innovative Chinese market.
Samsung today introduced the Galaxy S25 Edge, an ultra thin smartphone that will compete with Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 "Air." The Galaxy S25 Edge features a 6.7-inch AMOLED display and it measures in at 5.8mm thick.
Comparatively, rumors suggest that the iPhone 17 Air will have a 6.6-inch display and a thickness of 5.5mm, so it may be slightly smaller and thinner than the S25 Edge. The Galaxy S25 Edge weighs 163 grams, so the thin design and the light weight are noticeable when it is compared to a standard Galaxy S25 Ultra or a current iPhone 16 Pro Max. The Galaxy S25 Ultra weighs 218 grams, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max weighs 227 grams.
Samsung is using a titanium frame for the Galaxy S25 Edge, which is also what we're expecting for the iPhone 17 Air. It also includes Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2, which Samsung says improves resilience.
While the iPhone 17 Air will only get a single 48-megapixel Wide lens, Samsung equipped the Galaxy S25 Edge with a dual-lens camera setup. There's a 200-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens.
Aside from the thin and light design, the Galaxy S25 Edge is basically identical to the other smartphones in the Galaxy S25 lineup, offering the same performance and feature set. It includes the Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform from Qualcomm, and a revamped vapor chamber for heat dissipation.
It has AI tools like Drawing Assist and Audio Eraser, along with ProScaler for improved image scaling functionality. There's a Now Brief and Now Bar with AI-updated information that changes throughout the day and incorporates info from third-party apps, plus it includes Google Gemini features thanks to Samsung's partnership with Google.
Samsung's Galaxy S25 Edge can be pre-ordered from the Samsung website, and pricing starts at $1,099.99 for the 256GB model. Samsung is offering a $50 credit for those who pre-order, and upgrading anyone who purchases the 256GB model to 512GB. The deal is available through May 30.
Samsung is also offering up to $630 in trade-in credits toward the purchase of a Galaxy S25 Edge.
Apple is planning to implement a change to pasteboard (aka your iPhone's internal clipboard) that will prevent Mac apps from being able to read the pasteboard without the user being alerted, according to information Apple has shared with developers.
In macOS 16, Mac users will get an alert when a Mac app reads the pasteboard without direct user interaction. This change means apps won't be able to surreptitiously view the things you've copied and pasted.
Mac users won't see an alert with a direct pasteboard-related action, like when copying and pasting text within an app that supports it. Users will be notified if an app tries to view pasteboard data when the paste feature hasn't been used.
Apple says that the Mac pasteboard will work similarly to the iOS pasteboard going forward. On the iPhone and iPad, Apple blocks apps from snooping on pasteboard data, and has done so since iOS 14 after security researchers found that dozens of popular iOS apps were reading the contents of the pasteboard without user consent.
Apple addressed the problem by adding a banner that notifies you when an iOS app accesses the clipboard. In iOS 15, Apple further enhanced the feature by introducing a secure paste option that prevents developers from seeing the clipboard entirely unless you copy something from one app and paste it into the app you're actively using.
With the upcoming Mac changes, Mac developers will be able to "examine the kinds of data" on the pasteboard without actually reading them, improving pasteboard privacy. Pasteboard data used with the privacy-focused API won't show the alert to end users. From Apple's notice to developers:
Prepare your app for an upcoming feature in macOS that alerts a person using a device when your app programmatically reads the general pasteboard. The system shows the alert only if the pasteboard access wasn't a result of someone's input on a UI element that the system considers paste-related. This behavior is similar to how UIPasteboard behaves in iOS.
New detect methods in NSPasteboard and NSPasteboardItem make it possible for an app to examine the kinds of data on the pasteboard without actually reading them and showing the alert. NSPasteboard also adds an accessBehavior property to determine if programmatic pasteboard access is always allowed, never allowed, or if it prompts an alert requesting permission. You can adopt these APIs ahead of the change, and set a user default to test the new behavior on your Mac.
Apple software engineer Jeff Nadeau mentioned on Mastodon that Apple has come across Mac apps that are continuously scraping the pasteboard in the background, but at the same time, there are apps that need pasteboard manipulation, which is why Apple has designed the new APIs.
Mac apps will also need to get user permission to access the pasteboard in some situations. Apple says that developers are able to test the upcoming pasteboard changes with their apps ahead of when the functionality rolls out to users.
Apple will officially end support for the previous version of Apple Home in the fall of 2025, according to an updated HomeKit support document. Apple says that users will need to update to the new HomeKit architecture by then to avoid interruptions with accessories and automations.
The updated HomeKit architecture was initially introduced in March 2023 alongside iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3, but there were some issues with stability that may have prevented some users from upgrading. In fact, it actually came out briefly in December 2022, but there were issues with missing devices, home sharing invitations that didn't work, problems with HomeKit Secure Video, and more, so Apple removed it until 2023.
Since then, Apple has fixed the HomeKit architecture and the problems have been addressed, but it is worth noting that the architecture breaks support for the Home app on devices running older versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
Users will have to upgrade by the end of 2025, though, in order to keep using HomeKit. The upgrade does bring some tangible features like guest access, support for robot vacuum cleaners, and Activity History. Apple says it also provides faster, more reliable performance, especially for smart homes with a lot of HomeKit and Matter accessories installed.
The upgrade can be installed in the Home app by tapping on the More button, choosing Home Settings, and then tapping on Software Update.
There's an issue with the Messages app that prevents users from sending voice-based messages that include ampersands, resulting in a curious bug that means you can't use audio messages to tell your friends about Dave & Buster's, H&M, Tiffany & Co., or any other similar proper name.
The bug was first highlighted on the Search Engine podcast, and then further investigated by app developer Guilherme Rambo. Basically, if you try to send someone an audio message in the Messages app that includes the phrase "Dave and Buster's," it won't go through.
After you send the message, it'll show on your own iPhone, and the person on the other end will see three dots as if you're typing something. The message ultimately just disappears after a few seconds, never showing up for the person that you're speaking to. It was Dave & Buster's that led to the bug being discovered, but it in fact impacts any company with an ampersand in the name.
As it turns out, the problem isn't with the audio message itself, but with the transcript that accompanies any audio message that you send. Apple's transcription engine understands proper company names like H&M or Dave & Buster's, displaying them with an ampersand rather than the word "and," so when you send someone a voice message saying something like "Do you want to go to Dave & Buster's?" the transcript is rendered just like that, with the proper name.
It's the ampersand symbol that's causing an issue, because Apple's transcription engine isn't rendering the ampersand XHTML correctly, causing a parsing error on the device of the person receiving the message. The parsing error triggers Apple's BlastDoor Messages feature that protects users from malicious messages that might rely on problematic parsing, so ultimately, the audio message fails to send.
Rambo goes into more detail about the root of the issue, and the original Search Engine podcast also has more on the bug, so check those out if you want to hear more about Apple's minor error that's nixing any audio message with an ampersand.
Google has updated the look of its well-known "G" logo, changing the design of the character for the first time in 10 years.
The new logo was first noticed by 9to5Google, and while it has the same shape and color palette as the original, there is a gradient that blends each of the colors together instead of the previous color block look.
Google is already using the new logo for the Google Search app on iOS and the Android Google app. Google has not updated its full six character logo with the change to the G logo, as that design does not use blended colors.
Apple Card users can get additional Daily Cash when making purchases from Nike for the next month, according to an email that Apple is sending out to card holders.
Through June 15, making a purchase with an Apple Card using Apple Pay at a Nike retail store, online, or in the Nike app will earn six percent Daily Cash, instead of the standard three percent that's normally available when shopping from Nike.
Apple Card holders can get the six percent Daily Cash back on up to $500 in purchases, for a total of $30 back. The deal is available to Apple Card owners, co-owners, and participants, so multiple family members can get the bonus cash back offer.
Typically, Apple Pay purchases with Apple Card provide two percent Daily Cash, but Apple has partnered with some companies like Nike to up that to three percent. You can get three percent Daily Cash when using Apple Pay and Apple Card for purchases at Ace, Apple retail stores, Booking.com, ChargePoint, Exxon, Mobil, Uber, and Walgreens.
With Safari 18.5, included in macOS 15.5, Apple added Declarative Web Push, an updated method to deliver web-based push notifications even when a website isn't open. With Declarative Web Push, developers can display notifications without the need for a service worker, which preserves battery life for Web Push notifications.
Declarative Web Push is more energy efficient, and it's also more private and easier for developers to implement. It does not rely on JavaScript, instead using a standardized JSON format that lets browsers directly display notifications without additional code.
Declarative Web Push isn't subject to the same feature-breaking bugs and network issues as the standard web push, nor will anti-tracking prevention features disable it on websites that the user hasn't visited in some time.
Apple says that Declarative Web Push is backwards compatible with browser engines that haven't yet added support. End users do not need to do anything to see Declarative Web Pushes, as this is a behind-the-scenes feature for developers to implement.
Apple previously added support for Declarative Web Push on iPhone and iPad with the iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates. More information is available on Apple's WebKit blog.
Safari 18.5 is included in macOS 15.5, but the browser update is also available for Macs that are still running macOS Sonoma and macOS Ventura.
With the iOS 19 update, Apple plans to use AI to help you better manage your iPhone's battery life, reports Bloomberg. iOS 19 will have an AI-powered battery management option that will analyze how you use your device and make adjustments where possible to cut down on battery usage.
The battery option will be included in the Apple Intelligence suite of features, with Apple drawing on battery data that it has collected from users over time. The battery mode will be able to cut the power draw of apps and other system features based on device usage, and it will also include a Lock Screen indicator that shows how long it will take an iPhone charge.
iOS 19's new battery management tool was designed with the super slim iPhone 17 Air in mind. Apple's new ultra thin iPhone doesn't have as much space for a battery inside, and some rumors have suggested that the iPhone 17 Air's battery will not be up to par with the battery life of other iPhone 17 models. Apple plans to improve iPhone 17 Air battery life with the AI optimizations, though the feature set will be available for all iPhones that are able to run iOS 19.
Along with the AI battery mode, several new features coming in iOS 19 will be described as "powered by" Apple Intelligence, with Apple also planning to use that wording for some Apple Watch features.
Other features coming in iOS 19 include a glass-inspired design that looks similar to visionOS, a redesigned Health app with new functionality, updates to Siri, and more. Gurman says that Apple is also "pushing" engineers to make sure that the iOS 19 update is "more functional and less glitchy."
The iOS 18.5 update that Apple released today includes a security fix for the iPhone 16e's C1 modem, which is the first Apple-designed modem.
According to Apple's security support document for iOS 18.5, there's a fix for a vulnerability with the C1 modem. Apple says that it addressed a baseband security flaw that could allow an attacker "in a privileged network position" to intercept network traffic. Basically, a hacker that had access to cellular network infrastructure could potentially exploit the vulnerability for surveillance or to employ a man-in-the-middle attack.
The C1's baseband is used for signal processing, so it encodes and decodes data for communication between devices and networks, and processes calls, texts, and data connections. Apple addressed the vulnerability with improved state management, which could mean new validation checks to prevent attackers from exploiting weaknesses between operational states.
Apple released the iPhone 16e earlier this year, and today's security update is notable because it marks the first security flaw discovered and addressed in the C1 modem.
iOS 18.5 also includes several other security fixes for vulnerabilities with image processing, call history, Bluetooth, file parsing, FaceTime, Notes, ProRes, WebKit, and more. None of the vulnerabilities fixed today were known to have been actively exploited, but it's still a good idea to update right away.
Amazon is kicking off the week with discounts across nearly the entire M3 iPad Air lineup, offering $100 off these tablets. Prices start at $499.00 for the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M3 iPad Air, down from $599.00. Best Buy is matching all of these deals on the iPad Air.
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Every deal has been automatically applied and does not require you to clip an on-page coupon in order to see the final sale price. We've rounded up every discount available on Amazon in the lists below, and they include both 11-inch and 13-inch models.
Our list below focuses on Wi-Fi models, but you'll also find many cellular models on sale at $100 off right now. The 128GB cellular 11-inch iPad Air is available for $649.00 and the 128GB cellular 13-inch iPad Air is available for $849.00, both $100 discounts.
If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.
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Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.5, the fifth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched last September. macOS Sequoia 15.5 comes a little over a month after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.4.
Mac users can download the macOS Sequoia 15.5 update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. Apple has also released macOS 13.7.6 and macOS 14.7.6 for older Macs not able to run macOS 15.
macOS Sequoia 15.5 is light on new features, with Apple listing only a change to Screen Time in its notes.
This update includes enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.
- Parents now receive a notification when the Screen Time passcode is used on a child's device
Apple today released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, the fifth updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 come a little over a month after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. The iOS 18.5 update has a build number of 22F76, so those that had the RC installed will see another update.
iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 are on the smaller side, featuring a limited number of new features. There's an update to Screen Time that lets parents know when a Screen Time passcode is used on a child's device, and there is support for carrier-provided satellite features on iPhone 13 models. Apple's full release notes are below.
This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:
A new Pride Harmony wallpaper
Parents now receive a notification when the Screen Time passcode is used on a child's device
Buy with iPhone is available when purchasing content within the Apple TV app on a 3rd party device
Fixes an issue where the Apple Vision Pro app may display a black screen
Support for carrier-provided satellite features is available on iPhone 13 (all models). For more information visit: https://support.apple.com/122339
Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100
Apple will soon be shifting focus to iOS 19 and iPadOS 19, which are set to debut at the June Worldwide Developers Conference, but Apple does plan to release an iOS 18.6 update to bring Apple Intelligence to China.
Apple today released watchOS 11.5, the fifth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.5 comes over a month after Apple released watchOS 11.4, and it is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.
watchOS 11.5 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.
The watchOS 11.5 update adds a new Pride Harmony watch face and it fixes an issue that could prevent the iPhone from showing a notification when the Apple Watch battery is fully charged. Apple's release notes are below.
This update includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:
- A new Pride Harmony watch face - Buy with Apple Watch is available when purchasing content within the Apple TV app on a 3rd party device - Resolves an issue that may prevent your iPhone from showing a notification when the watch battery is fully charged
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Accessibility Reader
Magnifier on the Mac
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