Apple's retail store in Santa Rosa, California will be moving from the Santa Rosa Plaza shopping mall to the open-air Montgomery Village shopping plaza later this month.
Apple Santa Rosa Plaza
The new store at Montgomery Village will be holding its grand opening on Friday, January 23, at 12 p.m. local time, according to Apple's website.
Apple will have a much larger space at Montgomery Village compared to its existing location at the Santa Rosa Plaza, and it will of course have a modern design. Many newer stores feature a dedicated Apple Pickup station for online orders.
Elsewhere in California, Apple continues to renovate its store in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. Apple has a temporary location there, at 1925 Calle Barcelona. Apple is also operating out of a temporary store at the South Coast Plaza shopping mall in Costa Mesa, south of Los Angeles, while it renovates its original location there.
Apple today seeded the second beta of iOS 26.3, nearly a month after the first beta. So far, the update includes a couple of new features for iPhones.
iOS 15.3 through iOS 18.3 were all released in late January over the years, so it is thereby likely that iOS 26.3 will be released towards the end of this month as well. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer.
Below, we recap what is new in the iOS 26.3 beta so far.
In the iOS 26.3 beta, the new tool can be found in the Settings app, under General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Transfer to Android. It is available worldwide.
Starting with iOS 26.3, there is a dedicated section for Weather wallpapers, with three preset options available to choose from. To access them, tap and hold on the Lock Screen and tap on the plus sign in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
February is Black History Month, and iOS 26.3 will likely include the 2026 version of Apple's annual Black Unity wallpaper. Apple also typically releases a new Black Unity band for the Apple Watch, and a matching Unity Rhythm watch face.
iOS 26.1 introduced a Background Security Improvement feature that is designed to provide security updates for Safari, WebKit, and some other system items between iOS software updates. Apple has been testing the feature with updates such as "iOS 26.3 (a)" and "iOS 26.3 (b)," but they do not actually contain any security fixes.
Additional new features and bug fixes may be added in later beta versions of iOS 26.3. Overall, though, it will likely be a relatively minor update.
Beta 2
We have not discovered any major changes in the second beta of iOS 26.3 so far.
Apple's flagship Regent Street store in London, England is temporarily closed starting today for "refurbishment," the company said on its website.
Apple has not indicated when the store will reopen, but a source familiar with the matter indicated that the location will likely be closed for at least a few weeks. It is unclear if Apple is planning any changes that will be visible to customers, but the company has been removing the Video Wall from some of it stores in recent months. Many newer and renovated stores also feature a dedicated Apple Pickup station for online orders.
In some cases, Apple only updates a store's fixtures or back-of-house area, resulting in no visible differences to customers when business resumes.
Regent Street is a world-famous shopping street in the heart of London, making it one of the busiest locations where Apple has a retail presence. At a minimum, hopefully the store will receive a deep clean before it reopens.
Apple first opened its Regent Street store in 2004.
Elon Musk today expressed concern about Apple and Google partnering on a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google's generative AI platform Gemini.
"This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that [they] also have Android and Chrome," wrote Musk, in a post on X.
Musk serves as CEO of xAI, the company behind Gemini competitor Grok.
It is unlikely that Apple or Google will publicly respond to Musk's comment, but we will update this story if the companies have anything to say.
This seems like an unreasonable concentration of power for Google, given that the also have Android and Chrome
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2026
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.
On iOS 18.2 and later, there is a Share Item Location feature in the Find My app that allows you to temporarily share the location of an AirTag-equipped item with others, including employees at participating airlines. This way, if you put an AirTag inside your bags, the airline can better help you find them in the event they are lost or delayed at the airport.
The feature also works with other item trackers that support Apple's Find My network, such as those sold by Chipolo and Pebblebee.
iPhone, iPad, and Mac users running iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 or later can generate a "Share Item Location" link in the Find My app. Anyone they share the link with can then view a web page with a location of the item on a map. The page will automatically update with the item's latest known location.
The item's location stops being shared "as soon as a user is reunited with their item," or automatically expires after seven days.
Apple today announced that the Share Item Location feature is now supported by 36 airlines around the world, and we expect more to follow in the future.
Below, we have listed all of the airlines that support the feature:
Apple today announced that 2025 was a "record-breaking year" for many of its services, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Podcasts.
"Apple services had a banner year, rolling out game-changing features for customers while shattering records," said Apple's services chief Eddy Cue, in a press release. "The numbers reflect the incredible enthusiasm of our customers, whether it's downloading an exciting new app or game, watching the hottest new show with family and friends, listening to their favorite songs, or shopping with peace of mind."
Here are some of the 2025 statistics shared in Apple's announcement:
App Store had over 850 million average weekly users across 175 countries and regions, and it set a new annual record for U.S. visitors.
App Store had a record number of visitors between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.
Apple TV set a new record for monthly engagement in December, with total hours of content viewed on the streaming service up 36% on a year-over-year basis. This increase was driven by hits such as F1: The Movie and Pluribus.
Apple Music had its best year ever, breaking records for listenership and new subscribers.
Shazam generated over 1 billion recognitions per month.
Apple Pay is now available in 89 markets, and Apple says the payment service eliminated well over $1 billion in fraud globally.
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming four weeks after the release of the first betas.
Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update, although it appears over-the-air updates may still be rolling out. The downloads are already available from Apple's Developer site.
iOS 26.3 adds a new tool for transitioning from an iPhone to an Android device. Transfers can be initiated during the device setup process, and moving data from one device to another can now be done without having to download a specific app.
Apple's transfer process supports moving photos, messages, notes, apps, passwords, phone number, and more.
The update also includes a Notification Forwarding setting for third-party wearables in the European Union, and there are some minor changes to the Weather wallpaper. More information on what's changed can be found in our iOS 26.3 beta 1 feature list.
Apple is expected to release the iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to the public at the end of January.
Apple today provided the second beta of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming four weeks after the launch of the first beta.
Developers can download the macOS Tahoe 26.3 update by opening up the System Settings app, selecting the General category, and then choosing Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled, and a free developer account is required.
There's no word yet on what's included in macOS Tahoe 26.3, and no new features were found in the first beta.
We'll likely see Apple release macOS Tahoe 26.3 at the end of January given past launch timelines.
Apple today provided developers with the second betas of upcoming watchOS 26.3, tvOS 26.3, and visionOS 26.3 betas for testing purposes. The software comes four weeks after Apple provided the first betas.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.
We don't know what new features might be added in watchOS 26.3, visionOS 26.3, and tvOS 26.3, and nothing new has been discovered so far. Apple doesn't typically provide release notes for betas, so we might not know what's new until the software updates see a public launch unless there are outward-facing changes.
The software updates will probably launch right around the end of January based on past release timelines.
Apple and Google today announced that Google Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.
"Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology," the companies said, in a statement. "These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year."
Apple is "excited about the innovative new experiences" that the partnership will unlock, but the statement did not provide any details about specific features.
It is unclear if Gemini will help power any existing Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Notification Summaries.
Apple Intelligence will continue to run on Apple devices and on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, with Apple promising industry-leading privacy standards.
The more personalized version of Siri is expected to be introduced with iOS 26.4 in March or April, following a lengthy delay. The new capabilities will include better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps.
Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation Models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized…
— News from Google (@NewsFromGoogle) January 12, 2026
iOS 26.3 will likely be released to the public later this month, but it appears that Apple is preparing to push out another software update in the interim.
Apple's software engineers have started testing iOS 26.2.1, according to the MacRumors visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The update will likely be released at some point this week or next week.
iOS 26.2.1 should be a minor update with bug fixes and/or security patches.
iOS 26.3 is expected to follow in late January, with key new features in that update so far including a new iPhone-to-Android transfer tool, Notification Forwarding for third-party smartwatches in the EU, and more.
Satechi announced a few products at CES last week, and to mark the launch it's providing a 20 percent discount on these devices for early adopters. You can use the code CES2026 at checkout to get 20 percent off all five of Satechi's newest products.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Satechi. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Satechi's new CES 2026 products include two wireless keyboards, a wireless mouse, Thunderbolt 5 cable, and Thunderbolt 5 CubeDock with SSD Enclosure. All items in this sale are available to purchase and ship now, with the exception of the Thunderbolt 5 CubeDock, which is up for pre-order with an estimated shipping date of late March.
Additionally, Satechi is hosting a "last chance" sale this week, with up to 30 percent off accessories with a limited supply remaining. In this sale you'll find discounts on MagSafe-compatible wireless charging pads, Thunderbolt docks, and more.
CES 2026 Sale
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"After careful evaluation, we determined that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models and we're excited about the innovative new experiences it will unlock for our users," the statement said.
The report explicitly mentioned that Google Gemini will power Siri, as was expected. Apple's decision to lean on Google's artificial intelligence technology should result in the revamped Siri being more capable and advanced than it otherwise would have been, as Gemini's large language model is significantly larger than Apple's own model.
Apple first announced the personalized Siri features during its WWDC 2024 keynote, but last year it announced that they were delayed. The new capabilities will include better understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps.
Update: Apple and Google today announced that Gemini will help power not only a more personalized version of Siri, but a range of future Apple Intelligence features.
Amazon today has a few models of Apple's M4 Mac mini on sale at low prices, starting at $499.99 for the model with 16GB RAM/256GB SSD, down from $599.00. Discounts reach up to $129 off in these sales, and this time around there is also a discount on the M4 Pro model.
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.
In terms of the 16GB/256GB SSD model, this is a solid second-best price. You can also get the M4 Mac mini with 16GB RAM/512GB SSD for $689.99, down from $799.00, and the model with 24GB RAM/512GB SSD for $889.99, down from $999.00.
Apple last updated the Mac mini in late 2024, introducing a redesigned computer that's smaller than the previous generation and featuring the M4 and M4 Pro chips. 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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A detailed new report from SemiAnalysis argues that while Apple's partnership with TSMC created the modern leading-edge foundry model, the rapid rise of AI computing is changing who pays for new chip technologies and how much influence Apple holds over each new manufacturing node.
The report traces how Apple became the single most important customer in the global semiconductor industry by committing early and at scale to new manufacturing processes at TSMC, beginning with the A8 chip in 2014. It argues that Apple's willingness to absorb early costs, fund yield improvements, and align its annual product cycle with TSMC's roadmap allowed the foundry to outpace rivals and cement its dominance at the leading edge.
Apple's annual spending at TSMC grew from roughly $2 billion in 2014 to about $24 billion in 2025, while Apple's share of TSMC revenue rose from single digits to as much as 25% at its peak. For much of the past decade, Apple accounted for more than half of initial production at each new node, and in some cases nearly all of it, effectively underwriting the financing of advanced manufacturing when no other customer could do so at scale.
However, the rise of AI accelerators has created a second class of customers, such as NVIDIA, who are capable of consuming large amounts of advanced manufacturing capacity. TSMC's revenue mix has shifted significantly as a result.
Smartphones once represented nearly half of TSMC's revenue, but that share has fallen as high-performance computing demands, including AI, have grown to become the largest segment. This means Apple is no longer the only customer capable of funding new capacity, even though it remains the largest single customer by revenue.
This change is said to already be visible with upcoming manufacturing nodes. Apple's share of early production for TSMC's N2 and A16 nodes is expected to be lower than previous generations, the latter of which is designed for high-performance computing workloads rather than mobile devices.
Under SemiAnalysis's modeling, Apple's position strengthens again at later nodes such as A14, which are being designed from the start to support both mobile and high-performance products. In that scenario, Apple's share of early capacity rises again as its iPhone and Mac chips return to being the primary drivers of volume.
While Apple continues to rely on TSMC for its most advanced chips, SemiAnalysis says the company is exploring alternatives for lower-risk components and certain categories to diversify its supply chain. Intel's upcoming 18A-P process is a potential option for some Apple silicon without disrupting flagship products.
See SemiAnalysis's full report for more information.
Google has confirmed that its Chrome 150 browser update coming later this year will be the last version to support macOS Monterey. Going forward, Chrome 151 and later versions will no longer support macOS 12, which Apple released in October 2021.
In a platform status update, Google says that on Macs running Monterey, Chrome 150 will continue to work, but the browser will display a warning infobar and will not update any further. For new installations of Chrome 151+, macOS 13 or newer will be required.
Google has not announced an exact release date for Chrome 150. But based on the current stable channel being at version 143 and that Google typically releases major new Chrome versions roughly every four weeks, Chrome 150 is likely to be rolled out sometime around mid-2026.
To stay up-to-date with the latest browsing standards and to maintain online security, users on Monterey should update their macOS version, or choose another third-party browser like Firefox that is still receiving updates for their version of macOS.
Apple emerged as the global smartphone market leader in 2025, capturing a 20% market share with 10% year-over-year shipment growth – the highest among the top five brands, according to data released today by Counterpoint Research.
Global smartphone shipments grew 2% year-over-year in 2025, marking the second consecutive year of growth. Counterpoint said the market was driven by more consumers taking advantage of financing options to upgrade to premium devices, as well as increasing adoption of 5G devices in emerging markets.
Samsung ranked second behind Apple with a 19% market share and modest 5% shipment growth, while Xiaomi retained third place with 13% share.
"Apple's growth in 2025 was driven by its expanding presence and rising demand across emerging and mid-size markets, supported by a stronger product mix," said Counterpoint senior analyst Varun Mishra.
"The iPhone 17 series gained significant traction in Q4 following its successful launch, while the iPhone 16 continued to perform exceptionally well in Japan, India and Southeast Asia."
Apple's performance was said to have been amplified by the pandemic-era upgrade cycle reaching an inflection point, with millions of users due for device replacement. In Q4 2025, Apple accounted for one-quarter of global shipments, its highest-ever quarterly share, according to the report.
While U.S. tariff concerns prompted manufacturers to front-load shipments in the first half of the year, the impact actually proved milder than anticipated, and the effects on second-half volumes were limited.
However, Counterpoint's outlook for 2026 is more conservative. "The global smartphone market is set to soften in 2026 amid DRAM/NAND shortages and rising component costs, as chipmakers prioritize AI data centers over smartphones," said Counterpoint research director Tarun Pathak. The firm has subsequently revised its 2026 forecast downward by 3%, although Apple and Samsung are expected to remain resilient thanks to their stronger supply chain capabilities.
Apple and other smartphone manufacturers are resisting an Indian government proposal that would require them to hand over source code for security review, reports Reuters.
The proposal is included in a package of 83 security standards that India is considering as legal requirements, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to boost security of user data following increases in online fraud and data breaches in the country.
Beyond routine measures like notifying the government of major updates and storing security audit logs, the standards would force manufacturers to hand over source code to government-designated labs to check for vulnerabilities.
Apple, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, and industry group MAIT have all reportedly objected, citing a lack of global precedent and concerns about revealing proprietary details.
The standards were originally drafted in 2023 but are only now under government consideration. Tech company executives are expected to meet Tuesday to discuss the matter.
IT secretary S. Krishnan told Reuters the government will address legitimate concerns "with an open mind," adding it was "premature to read more" into the proposals.
The country's IT ministry also said it "refutes the statement" that it is considering seeking source code from smartphone makers, despite the requirement appearing in the government documents reviewed by Reuters.
A ministry spokesperson told the news organization it could not comment further due to ongoing consultation with tech companies on the proposals.
Apple in December resisted an Indian government directive that would require all iPhones sold in the country to ship with a preinstalled state-run security app. The government ultimately decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for manufacturers after protests from privacy advocates, political opposition, and industry pushback.
Apple Santa Rosa Plaza
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