Articles on MacRumors by Tim Hardwick
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Tim Hardwick

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Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.

Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.

Tim Hardwick's Articles

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Apple's Secret Siri Interface Buried in macOS 27 Beta: How to Enable

Monday July 20, 2026 4:09 am PDT by
Apple appears to be testing a hidden popover interface for Siri AI in the macOS 27 Golden Gate beta that surfaces Writing Tools and contextual actions whenever the user selects some text. Spotted by a member of Reddit's r/MacOSBeta community, the floating icon appears at the top-left of the selected text, expanding when the pointer hovers over it to a compact popover of the tools and...
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Apple Car Key Support Coming to Future GWM Tank SUVs

Friday July 17, 2026 5:43 am PDT by
Apple's Car Keys feature appears to be coming to TANK vehicles made by Chinese maker Great Wall Motor (GWM), based on code changes discovered by MacRumors in Apple's Wallet app backend. GWM Tank is a dedicated off-road luxury SUV brand produced by the Chinese automaker. Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch with NFC capabilities to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital...
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WhatsApp Begins Rolling Out New Username Feature

Friday July 17, 2026 5:32 am PDT by
WhatsApp has started rolling out its new username feature, reports WABetaInfo. Some users who reserved their username have started receiving a notification that their username is active, and that they can now use it to send and receive messages to other users without revealing their phone number. When someone creates a username, WhatsApp will notify people who already have an active chat with...
How to Downgrade From iOS 27 Beta to iOS 26 Feature

How to Downgrade From iOS 27 Beta to iOS 26

Friday July 17, 2026 5:10 am PDT by
If you installed iOS 27 Beta or iPadOS 27 Beta through Apple's Developer Program, you may decide you want to downgrade because of usability or stability issues. Keep reading to learn how it's done. Apple's beta versions of its major software updates can be buggy, especially the early releases. While that isn't necessarily the case for the latest iOS 27 beta, you may still find apps not...
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Report: Apple Sends Legal Letters to Dozens of OpenAI Employees

Friday July 17, 2026 3:56 am PDT by
Apple has reportedly sent legal letters to dozens of former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, telling them to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as it continues to pursue its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company. The Financial Times ($) reports that Apple has targeted around 40 former employees with legal preservation letters, acting on its belief that...
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iPhone 20 Rumors Point to These Seven Big Changes

Friday July 17, 2026 1:07 am PDT by
In 2017, Apple celebrated the iPhone's 10th birthday with the iPhone X, the biggest redesign in the product's history. For the device's 20th anniversary, all the rumors indicate that the company is preparing another landmark redesign. The commemorative "iPhone 20" model isn't expected until September 2027, but leaks have been piling up for months. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple...
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Apple Reportedly Ramps Up Vapor Chamber Orders for Foldable iPhone

Thursday July 16, 2026 3:46 am PDT by
Apple has ramped up orders for vapor chamber cooling components said to be destined for its upcoming foldable iPhone and 20th-anniversary iPhone models, according to a Chinese leaker. The Weibo account known as "Fixed Focus Digital" claims the increased order volume will first support the manufacture of Apple's book-style foldable, or "iPhone Ultra," which is expected to debut in September....
How to Install macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta Feature

How to Install macOS 27 Golden Gate Public Beta

Thursday July 16, 2026 1:11 am PDT by
Apple has made the first macOS 27 Golden Gate public beta available for testing before the new Mac operating system's official release in the fall. Keep reading to learn whether you should install it on your Mac, and if so, how to go about it. Getting access to the macOS Golden Gate public beta is simple, and can be done by enrolling your Mac in Apple's free Apple Beta Software Program. The...
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Apple's 2026 Back to School Offer Goes Live in the US: Up to $150 Gift Card With Mac or iPad

Thursday July 16, 2026 12:59 am PDT by
Apple's annual Back to School promotion is now live in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, following earlier rollouts in Asia. This year's promotion offers a free Apple gift card with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad. Apple is offering a $150 gift card with any new MacBook Pro, and a $100 gift card with any new MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPad Air. The gift card can be used towards...
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OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:45 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over 20 months ago. Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in...
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Upcoming OLED iPad Mini Allegedly Uses 60Hz 8.4-Inch Display Panel

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:36 am PDT by
Apple is allegedly using a 60Hz 8.4-inch display panel in the upcoming OLED iPad mini, which is expected to be released later this year. The information comes courtesy of a hit-and-miss tipster running the account "yeux1122" on the Korean Naver blog. The leaker claims to have been told by a source in Apple's supply chain that the unreleased iPad mini is equipped with a low-temperature...
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iPhone 17 Pricing Helped Apple Buck China's Q2 Smartphone Decline

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:26 am PDT by
Apple grew iPhone shipments in China by 24.4 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2026, making it the fastest-growing smartphone brand in a market that shrank overall, according to preliminary figures released today by research firm IDC. Total shipments in China fell 4.3 percent to roughly 66 million units, amounting to a fifth consecutive quarter of decline. Apple and Huawei were ...
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WhatsApp Beta Reveals iCloud Backup Alternative for iPhone

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:06 am PDT by
WhatsApp is developing a first-party cloud storage option for chat backups on iPhone, providing users with an alternative to iCloud for the first time, according to app tinkerer WABetaInfo. Code found in the WhatsApp beta for iOS (version 26.28.10.16), available through TestFlight, suggests that users will eventually be able to pick their preferred backup destination directly from the app's...
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Google Chrome's Gemini AI Features Roll Out to UK Users

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:32 am PDT by
Google has announced the rollout of Chrome's latest AI features to Mac and PC users in the U.K., indicated by a new "Ask Gemini" button with a sparkle icon in the upper right side of the browser. Gemini in Chrome can work across multiple tabs, which is supposed to make it useful for comparing and summarizing information from several websites at once. It also integrates with Google...
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iPhone 18 Pro: Three Ways Apple's Chip Redesign Boosts Performance

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:16 am PDT by
An unconfirmed image of the iPhone 18 Pro's motherboard was recently shared online that appears to suggest that the A20 Pro chip is built on a new packaging technology. It might not sound exciting, but it could deliver an instant jump in real-world performance over the A19 Pro currently used in the iPhone 17 Pro models. The image shows an apparent A20 Pro chip integrated using TSMC's...
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How to Install iOS 27 Public Beta on Your iPhone

Monday July 13, 2026 11:16 pm PDT by
Apple has made available the first public beta of iOS 27, bringing a more stable version of the software to a wider audience following lengthy testing by developers. Keep reading to learn how to prepare your device for the beta software and how to install it. Signing up to get the ‌iOS 27 or ‌iPadOS 27 public beta is simple once you know how – it can be done by enrolling an iPhone or...
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Apple Stock Hits Record Territory as Traders Sour on AI Spending

Monday July 13, 2026 5:09 am PDT by
Apple shares have rallied 15 percent since their worst day on the stock market in more than a year, adding almost $600 billion in value since June 25 and returning the stock to record territory (via Bloomberg). The rebound comes as investors grow uneasy about the mind-boggling sums of cash continually being poured into the AI data center buildout, despite there being no obvious indicator for ...
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Meta Pulls AI Image Feature From Instagram Days After Launch

Monday July 13, 2026 4:19 am PDT by
Remember that new feature Meta announced last week that let people use public Instagram posts and reels to generate AI content? It didn't last long. Meta pulled the feature from Instagram late on Friday, following widespread criticism over privacy concerns. "Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public ​content could be referenced in...
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5 New Waze Features Rolling Out Now: Here Are All the Details

Monday July 13, 2026 3:42 am PDT by
Google today announced that Waze is getting a handful of new features, including some Gemini-powered personalization enhancements for Conversational Reporting. Conversational Reporting already uses Gemini when users report traffic incidents like slowdowns, but now you can use it to suggest map updates like road closures or outdated addresses. Saying something like "The road is closed here"...
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Report: Apple Agreed to Intel Chips Amid White House Tariff Talks

Monday July 13, 2026 2:54 am PDT by
Apple faced pressure from the White House to use Intel's chipmaking plants while it was negotiating relief from semiconductor tariffs last summer, reports The Wall Street Journal ($). In August 2025, Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Washington to lobby the Trump administration to drop its proposed 100 percent tariff on semiconductor imports – a levy that would have raised costs across Apple's...