Apple News
Apple pushes Home app update requirement to February 2026
Apple plans to end support for the previous version of Apple Home on February 10, 2026, according to an updated support document published on Monday. Apple previously said that the older architecture would no longer be supported as of fall 2025, but customers now have some extra time to update.
Users will need to transition to the new HomeKit architecture by next February to avoid interruptions with accessories and automations.
The underlying HomeKit architecture was revamped in March 2023 alongside iOS 16.4, so Apple has been supporting both the new and old architecture for the last two years. There were initial problems with stability that may have discouraged some users from upgrading, but those problems have now been addressed.
When Apple stops supporting the original HomeKit architecture, it will break support for the Home app on devices running older versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1, tvOS 16.2, and watchOS 9.2 are the minimum versions of Apple’s platforms that work with the updated Apple Home app, and older devices will lose access.
MacDailyNews Take: Read more in Apple’s support document here.
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Mac: Apple prepares to enter low-cost laptop market for the first time
Apple is gearing up to launch its first budget MacBook, targeting cost-conscious buyers of Chromebooks and entry-level Windows laptops. The affordable notebook, aimed at students, businesses, and everyday users, is said to focus on web browsing, document work, and light media editing.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Code-named J700, the machine is currently in active testing at Apple and in early production with overseas suppliers. The Cupertino, California-based company plans to launch it in the first half of next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the product hasn’t been announced.
The move would represent a strategic shift for Apple, which has historically focused on premium devices with hefty profit margins. The company also has vowed not to chase market share with lower-end offerings.
Apple plans to sell the new machine for well under $1,000 by using less-advanced components. The laptop will rely on an iPhone processor and a lower-end LCD display. The screen will also be the smallest of any current Mac, coming in at slightly below the 13.6-inch one used in the MacBook Air.
This would mark the first time that Apple has used an iPhone processor in a Mac, rather than a chip designed specifically for a computer. But internal tests have shown that the smartphone chip can perform better than the Mac-optimized M1 used in laptops as recently as a few years ago…
[T]he upcoming model will be an entirely new design, rather than a discounted older machine.
In schools, Apple’s entry-level iPad paired with the Magic Keyboard Folio is a popular setup, costing roughly $600 combined. The new Mac would fall in a similar range but offer better battery life, the greater flexibility that comes with the macOS software and an integrated keyboard. That could appeal to students and consumers alike.
MacDailyNews Take: An A19 Pro-level chip can certainly power a MacBook – and very efficiently, too. With the M5 MacBook Air also on deck, 2026 will be a banner year for Apple’s indomitable Mac!
All scores below are from Geekbench 6. Data is aggregated from user-submitted results and reviews; real-world variance can occur due to thermal throttling, software, or configuration. Higher scores indicate better performance.
Geekbench 6: Apple A19 Pro vs. Apple M1
Metric Apple A19 Pro(iPhone 17 Pro) Apple M1
(MacBook Air/Pro) A19 Pro Advantage Single-Core ~3,900–4,020 ~2,200 +77% Multi-Core ~9,700–11,000 ~8,200–8,500 +15–30% GPU Compute (Metal) ~45,000–46,000 ~20,000–22,000 +110–130%
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Vince Gilligan’s ‘Pluribus’ on Apple TV ‘is a dazzling piece of entertainment’ – Rolling Stone
“Pluribus” is Apple TV’s the highly anticipated drama hailing from writer and director Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad” and co-creator of “Better Call Saul.” Starring Rhea Seehorn, who earned two Emmy nominations for her acclaimed performance in “Better Call Saul,” the nine-episode drama series will make its global debut on Apple TV with its first two episodes on Friday, November 7, 2025, followed by new episodes every Friday through December 26th.
Picked up in a two-season order, “Pluribus” is a genre-bending original in which Carol, the most miserable person on Earth, must save the world from happiness. In addition to Seehorn, the series stars Karolina Wydra (“Sneaky Pete”) and Carlos-Manuel Vesga (“The Hijacking of Flight 601”), and guest stars Miriam Shor (“American Fiction”) and Samba Schutte (“Our Flag Means Death”).
Alan Sepinwall for Rolling Stone:
Pluribus has a reported budget of $15 million per episode, five times more than what the average Breaking Bad cost. That’s not quite as high as shows like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but those are based on proven IP, at a moment when the industry seems afraid to spend big on anything but brand names. Pluribus, on the other hand, is a wholly original concept — one so strange and specific, I’m barely allowed to say anything about it, save that, as Apple TV+ describes it, the aforementioned most miserable person on Earth “must save the world from happiness.” Our cranky heroine is played by Saul alum Rhea Seehorn, beloved by fans of the spin-off but far from a household name. Without a big star, without a familiar title, and with a premise that Gilligan wanted kept under wraps until the Nov. 7 premiere, Apple TV+ is gambling a lot of money that merely saying they have a new series from the creator of Breaking Bad will be enough to draw people in.
“When you put it that way, you kind of scared me,” says Gilligan.
He shouldn’t be scared. Pluribus is a dazzling piece of entertainment. It takes advantage of everything Gilligan learned about patient storytelling with Breaking Bad and Saul, then combines it with the high-concept ambition of X-Files, as well as the visual flair Gilligan has developed as a director on all his shows. Though the plot involves every person on the planet, the focus is often entirely on Carol, as Gilligan relies on all the things he realized Seehorn could do — tragedy, slapstick, and sheer screen presence — during her time playing attorney Kim Wexler on Saul. There are long stretches where we’re just watching Carol struggle through various tasks, like digging a grave. And it’s riveting.
MacDailyNews Take: The potential is there for Apple TV to have a Severance-like breakout hit with Pluribus!
Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.
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Gene Munster: ‘Even if the next Siri is a miss, Apple still has time to figure out AI’
Apple analyst’s focus is increasingly shifting to the high bar set for the new Siri, expected around April of next year. Anticipation of that release should move shares higher, but “even if the next Siri is a miss, Apple still has time to figure out AI,” longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster believes.
Gene Munster for GeneMunster.com:
There’s a lot riding on the new Siri… I anticipate that, in the months ahead, excitement will build around Apple finally getting Siri right, and that should lead to multiple expansion.
As for timing, on the September earnings call, [Apple CEO Tim] Cook stuck to the script, saying we should expect the new Siri “next year.” Mark Gurman from Bloomberg has pegged a late March release, though I believe it will be closer to late April. Either way, we should see something by the latest at WWDC in June. That gives investors more than five months to dream about how good it will be…
Given how challenging Apple’s AI journey has been, it’s worth framing the case in which they miss the mark again.
That mark is a Siri that can contextualize our personal data, a digital assistant that’s smart about the user and just works. It’s a high hurdle and would represent Apple’s biggest product leap forward since the iPhone.
With expectations that high, it’s fair to ask: what happens if the new Siri is a flop? The answer is that shares of AAPL would likely sell off materially, and then begin to rebuild. The reason is simple: no other company has yet made meaningful progress in personalized AI on devices.
OpenAI is waiting in the wings, expected to show something next year and ship a product in 2027 that could sit alongside the iPhone and Mac. But what Apple has built, a tightly integrated ecosystem of hardware, software, and services — is the ideal platform for AI. And since no other company combines those elements the way Apple does, it means Apple has more time. potentially a couple of years, to figure AI out.
MacDailyNews Take: Not to further amp up expectations, but we do not expect the new Siri* to flop. Quite the contrary:
A little birdie sings us very positive songs regarding Apple’s all-new next-gen Siri. – MacDailyNews, September 26, 2025
*or whatever Apple calls it, if they smartly rebrand it
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Apple’s watchOS 26.1 includes improvements and bug fixes
Apple on Monday released watchOS 26.1 which includes improvements and bug fixes.
watchOS 26 offers a new look and even more intelligence for a more personalized experience, to support users in staying active, healthy, and connected. The Liquid Glass design makes features like the Smart Stack, Control Center, the Photos watch face, and in-app navigation and controls more expressive, while maintaining the instant familiarity of watchOS. Apple Intelligence enhances the fitness experience with Workout Buddy, which provides personalized, spoken motivation. The Workout app features a new layout, and offers music to listen to based on a user’s tastes and the workout type. watchOS 26 makes everyday interactions even more convenient with Smart Stack hints and updates to Messages, and introduces a new one-handed wrist flick gesture to easily dismiss notifications.
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website:
https://support.apple.com/100100
Download and Install
To install watchOS 26.1, make sure Apple Watch is:
• On its charger
• In range of your iPhone connected to Wi-Fi
Installation will start when Apple Watch is charged to at least 50%. Do not restart or remove it from its charger until the update completes.
MacDailyNews Take:
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Apple’s iPadOS 26.1 revives Slide Over feature for iPad
Apple on Monday released iPadOS 26.1 which includes the following features and enhancements:
• Slide Over
- Slide Over lets you keep a window on top of other windows, and easily hide off screen when not in use
-
Resizable windows in Slide Over let you choose your preferred size and aspect ratio
• Local capture
- Gain control is available for external USB microphones when recording with local capture
-
Option to let you choose where local capture files are saved
This update includes the following features and enhancements:
• Liquid Glass setting gives you the option to choose between the default clear look or a new tinted look which increases opacity of the material in apps and notifications on the Lock Screen
• Apple Music MiniPlayer swipe gesture to go to the next or previous track
• Apple Music AutoMix support over AirPlay
• New Camera setting to turn on or off Lock Screen swipe to open Camera
• Improved FaceTime audio quality in low-bandwidth conditions
• Communication Safety and Web content filters to limit adult websites are enabled by default for existing child accounts for ages 13-17 (Age varies by country or region)
• Discover new content, spatial experiences, and quickly access information about your device using Apple Vision Pro app, now available on iPad
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100
Some features may not be available in all regions or on all iPad models. To learn more, please visit: https://apple.com/ios/feature-availability/
Software updates, like this one, add new features and improvements that may affect performance and/or battery life. To learn more, please visit: https://support.apple.com/125039
MacDailyNews Take: Happy sliding over, iPad users!
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Apple’s macOS Tahoe 26.1 now available for Macintosh
Apple on Monday released macOS Tahoe 26.1 which adds a new tinted option for Liquid Glass along with other features, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100
MacDailyNews Take: Happy updating!
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Apple’s iOS 26.1 now available for iPhone
Apple on Monday released iOS 26.1 which includes the following features and enhancements:
• Liquid Glass setting gives you the option to choose between the default clear look or a new tinted look which increases opacity of the material in apps and notifications on the Lock Screen
• Live Translation with AirPods support for Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, and Italian
• Apple Music MiniPlayer swipe gesture to go to the next or previous track
• Apple Music AutoMix support over AirPlay
• Gain control is available for external USB microphones when recording with local capture
• Local capture files can be saved to a specific location
• Manual workout logging is available directly from the Fitness app
• New Camera setting to turn on or off Lock Screen swipe to open Camera
• Improved FaceTime audio quality in low-bandwidth conditions
• Communication Safety and Web content filters to limit adult websites are enabled by default for existing child accounts for ages 13-17 (Age varies by country or region)
For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit: https://support.apple.com/100100
Some features may not be available in all regions or on all iPhone models. To learn more, please visit:
https://apple.com/jos/feature-availability/.
Software updates, like this one, add new features and improvements that may affect performance and/or battery life. To learn more, please visit: https:support.apple.com/125039
MacDailyNews Take: It’s snappy and stable!
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Apple is expecting a record-breaking Christmas shopping season
Apple is set to kick off its 50th year with what’s expected to be a nearly $140 billion quarter. Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman discusses with Caroline Hyde on “Bloomberg Tech.”
Apple’s executives are projecting a stellar holiday quarter, fueled by robust demand for its flagship iPhone 17 lineup and expanding services ecosystem.
Apple’s Christmas shopping season playbook emphasizes experiential retail events and targeted promotions, positioning the company to capture some 30% of global smartphone market share. As Cyber Monday draws near, Wall Street consensus tilts toward “Buy” on Apple.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple could bring in revenue close to $140 billion for the Christmas quarter (Q126), shattering the all-time quarterly record of $124.3 billion set in Q125. For perspective, Pfizer’s current market value is $140 billion.
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Apple’s new Siri will quietly use Google’s Gemini in the background
According to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman, Apple has finalized its strategy for the revamped Siri, set to debut as early as iOS 26.4 next spring. The upgraded assistant will rely heavily on a custom version of Google’s Gemini models, running securely on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers to process and fulfill user requests.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple is betting heavily on the new Siri, which will lean on Google’s Gemini model and introduce features like AI-powered web search. But there’s no guarantee users will embrace it, that it will work seamlessly or that it can undo years of damage to the Siri brand.
MacDailyNews Take: Which is why Apple should follow our advice from April:
With Siri now basically holding a full house of negative associations built up over years of neglect, incompetence, and empty promises, perhaps, if Apple actually manages to fix Siri this time around (a big IF; we’ve heard it all before), a rebrand might be useful. Kill off Siri and introduce something new – since it will actually finally be new – in order to allow it to take off on its own without the weighty baggage of the Siri name.
Then there’s the issue that Google’s Gemini is arguably the third-best of the top three, trailing xAI’s Grok and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
If you’re going to with an external AI partner, why not choose the smartest one? We find xAI’s Grok to be more accurate and useful than Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT, and the rest. – MacDailyNews, July 21, 2025
The issues are: Google’s Gemini is not the best and everyone knows it, Google has a poor reputation for privacy that will tarnish Apple’s, and Google, hello, ripped off the iPhone with Android. Enough with the Google, Apple! – MacDailyNews, July 22, 2025
Apple will likely keep Siri’s Google Gemini underpinnings very secret for many reasons, including:
Google Gemini? Why not just get a Samsung Galaxy phone which already integrates Google’s Gemini AI as a core component of their AI-powered features?
Google Gemini on an iPhone offers precious little differentiation from Samsung, the chief iPhone knockoff peddler. – MacDailyNews, August 22, 2025
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Apple launches new web-based App Store
Apple today unveiled a web-based App Store at apps.apple.com, enabling users to browse, search, and discover apps across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro — all from any browser.
The site features platform-specific dropdowns, the familiar Today tab with curated app and game recommendations, category browsing, and Apple Arcade highlights.
A comprehensive search bar lets you find specific apps, while individual app pages deliver optimized screenshots, descriptions, and details in a clean, web-friendly layout that echoes the native App Store experience.
Found apps can be shared via link or opened directly in the installed App Store app on your device.
MacDailyNews Take: Very nice.
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Apple TV debuts trailer for Apple Original podcast ‘Adrift’
Today, Apple TV announced “Adrift,” a new Apple Original podcast that shares the incredible true story of the Robertsons, a young British family who sold everything they owned to sail around the world. When disaster strikes, their dream voyage turns into a desperate fight for survival in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The eight-episode podcast will premiere on Apple Podcasts on November 10, 2025.
With immersive audio, first-person accounts and exclusive interviews revealing never-before-heard details, “Adrift” takes listeners inside the Robertsons’ extraordinary journey, following parents Dougal and Lyn, their teenage children Douglas and Anne, and 12-year-old twins Sandy and Neil, as they find themselves hundreds of miles from land with no radio, few supplies and sharks circling. Stranded in the vast emptiness of the ocean, they must rely on ingenuity, instinct and one another to survive. But even surrounded by danger, the greatest challenges they face may come from within.
“Adrift” is brought to life by a searing original score and ambitiously cinematic sound design, created with sailors and sound recordists from around the world to tell the most complete version of the Robertsons’ story. Hosted by award-winning journalist Becky Milligan, “Adrift” is the third Apple Original podcast produced by Blanchard House, following the award-winning series “Extrasensory” and “The Pirate of Prague.” Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts apple.co/Adrift.
Apple TV subscribers can connect their subscription to Apple Podcasts and access all eight episodes of “Adrift” on November 10. Nonsubscribers can access the first three episodes of the eight-episode podcast, with remaining episodes releasing weekly until the finale on December 15, 2025.
The podcast joins a growing offering of Apple TV original podcasts now streaming on Apple Podcasts, including this summer’s smash hit “Unicorn Girl,” the duPont-Columbia Award-winning “The Line,” Webby Award-winning “Hooked,” “Run, Bambi, Run,” “Operation: Tradebom,” “My Divo,” “The Pirate of Prague,” “Magnificent Jerk” and “Missed Fortune,” as well as official companion podcasts for Apple TV series “Foundation,” “For All Mankind” and the docuseries “The Big Conn.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.
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Apple’s iPhone is four-times more likely to be stolen than an Android phone
Even smartphone thieves don’t want Android phones. An iPhone is four-times more likely to be stolen than an Android phone, but Apple could well have the solution, one already inside your iPhone.
If you own an iPhone, it’s four-times more likely to be stolen than an Android. The police say “up to three quarters of stolen phones are moved abroad, with 28% ending up in China or Hong Kong.” Put simply, if it’s taken then you’re not getting it back.
But Apple could well have the solution, one already hidden on your iPhone… A kill switch. When devices are looted from Apple stores, this feature turns up on social and local media. Phones lock up and sound an alarm, displaying a message on screen: “This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.”
If ever there was a solution to phone theft, this is it. A toggle on a user’s Apple Watch or a quick log in to iCloud could enable this to be triggered. There could even be an option that can recognize when a phone is snatched. Given how locked down Apple accounts are now, it would be easy to disable the kill switch using an online identity process.
Thus far, this kill switch only works on devices stolen from Apple’s own stores…
The current plague of phone thefts cannot continue without more drastic measures. It seems that this is the next logical move, and it falls to Apple to take the initiative.
MacDailyNews Take: Many would consider it a strong selling point if every iPhone user had the ability to disable and track their stolen iPhone – as Apple does to iPhones (and other devices) stolen from Apple Retail Stores in smash and grabs, BUT:
Apple already empowers iPhone users with robust tools like Find My, Activation Lock, and Stolen Device Protection to remotely track, lock, erase data, and render a device unusable without the owner’s Apple ID credentials—effectively bricking it for thieves in most cases.
For retail store smash-and-grabs, Apple deploys an even more aggressive, immediate “kill switch” via proximity-based software on demo units, triggering alarms, disabling functionality, and alerting authorities the instant devices leave the store’s Wi-Fi network. Extending this instant, foolproof remote disable to every consumer iPhone sounds empowering, but Apple likely holds back for several pragmatic drawbacks that could outweigh the benefits:
• Abuse and False Claims: Verifying theft would be a nightmare — requiring police reports, proof of purchase, or eyewitness accounts for millions of reports annually. Malicious users could falsely flag devices to spite ex-partners, settle grudges, or sabotage secondhand sales, overwhelming Apple’s support and leading to wrongful bricks.
• Retail cases are straightforward: Apple owns the inventory and has direct telemetry.
Impact on Innocent Buyers and the Used Market: Stolen iPhones often resurface cheaply on secondary markets like Craigslist or eBay. A permanent disable could punish good-faith purchasers who bought unknowingly, stranding them with e-waste and eroding trust in Apple’s ecosystem — especially since sellers vanish with cash. Activation Lock already mitigates this by tying devices to Apple IDs (removable with proof), but a “retail-style” brick might be irreversible without Apple’s manual intervention, complicating legitimate transfers.
• E-Waste and Environmental Backlash: Bricking devices en masse would accelerate electronic waste, as thieves might dismantle for parts anyway, but victims couldn’t recover or repurpose hardware. This clashes with Apple’s sustainability pledges and could invite regulatory scrutiny or consumer boycotts over planned obsolescence perceptions.
• Privacy and Security Risks: A universal kill switch demands constant connectivity and deeper device monitoring, raising red flags for surveillance fears or vulnerabilities to hacks (e.g., nation-states coercing Apple to disable dissidents’ phones). It could also conflict with laws like right-to-repair mandates, locking users out of repairs or third-party services.
• Legal and Liability Hurdles: Broadening this feature might expose Apple to lawsuits from affected parties (e.g., disabled devices in rentals or family-shared plans) or demands from governments for backdoor access. Carriers already blacklist IMEIs for theft, so Apple avoids redundant, litigious territory.
In essence, while retail disables are a controlled, low-risk demonstration of the power of Apple’s infrastructure, scaling it consumer-wide invites chaos Apple has wisely sidestepped by prioritizing user-empowered (but reversible) tools over an iron-fisted kill swtich. If theft spikes, though, expect iterative tweaks like enhanced Stolen Device Protection rather than a full switch.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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CarPlay’s days are numbered as much of the auto industry goes to war against Apple
Apple’s CarPlay gives you the ability to safely use what you love about your iPhone while you drive, but it’s not long for this world, according to Patrick George.
Patrick George for The Atlantic:
Last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced that new cars made by the auto giant won’t support CarPlay and its counterpart, Android Auto…
Because GM’s software isn’t tied to a phone like CarPlay is, access to the full suite of software requires its own data plan—through GM, of course. (The cheapest plan costs $10 a month.) Get used to these kinds of subscriptions, regardless of what kind of car you drive. In recent years, automakers have realized how much money they can make from in-car technology…
For GM, eliminating Apple as a middleman provides more opportunities to charge for things. “It’s a turf war, and the car is real estate,” Craig Daitch, an auto-industry analyst and a former GM marketing manager, told me…
Some automakers have made a point of proclaiming their allegiance to CarPlay, knowing that’s what buyers want. Toyota’s EVs tell CarPlay how much electric range they have left, so that Apple Maps can prompt the driver to stop at a nearby charger on a road trip…
No matter what car you drive, the glory days of CarPlay may be numbered. For the auto industry, there’s just too much money to be made from creating their own versions. Get ready for a day when your car’s technology expenses are another line item on the credit-card statement, right next to the Netflix subscription.
MacDailyNews Take: The death of Apple’s CarPlay has been greatly exaggerated above. There are currently over 800 vehicle models from over 60 automakers that support CarPlay. Smart vehicle makers will continue to offer CarPlay and they will be rewarded with increased sales that are shed by every poorly run peddler of mediocrity like GM that fails to offer customers what they want while attempting to monetize them.
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Apple sees sustained strong demand for iPhone 17 base model
Apple’s iPhone 17 features the new Center Stage front camera that takes selfies to the next level; a powerful 48MP Fusion Main camera with an optical-quality 2x Telephoto; and a new 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera that captures expansive scenes and macro photography in more detail. The 6.3-inch Super Retina XDR display with ProMotion is bigger and brighter, enabling supersmooth scrolling, immersive gaming, and improved efficiency. And with the new Ceramic Shield 2, the front cover is tougher than any smartphone glass or glass-ceramic, with 3x better scratch resistance than the previous generation and reduced glare. It is all powered by the latest-generation A19 chip for higher performance and longevity.
iPhone 17 will now be available starting with 256GB of storage — double the entry storage from the previous generation — and a 512GB option, in five beautiful colors: black, lavender, mist blue, sage, and white.
Sam Boughedda for Investing.com:
Apple’s iPhone 17 base model remains the standout performer in the company’s latest smartphone lineup, according to Jefferies analysts, who said it “continues to show the most consistent strength” across major markets.
“Our tracking shows no delivery lead time for 17 Air/17 Pro in all six markets that we track, same as the previous week,” Jefferies analyst Edison Lee wrote.
“The base model continues to show the most consistent strength, as HK saw a big WoW fall, but the U.S. showed a rise of 13 days, and the rest saw no drop.”
Jefferies stated that overall demand remains strongest for the iPhone 17 base model and, to a lesser extent, the 17 Pro Max.
The brokerage added that Apple “may have cut the order for 17 Air by 4 million (from 10 million to 6 million), but raised the orders for the other models by 10 million,” reflecting stronger demand for higher-end versions.
Lee noted that in Hong Kong, only the 512GB variants of the 17 Pro Max “still trade at a small premium (0.4% to 2%), indicating reasonably strong demand.”
That’s “much stronger than last year, when all variants of 16 Pro Max began trading at discounts as of the third week of launch,” the analyst added.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple continues to adjust the iPhone mix as the sales data comes in and, as CEO Tim Cook said on the company’s conference call last week, iPhone supplies remand constrained due to strong demand across multiple models.
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Apple’s macOS 26.1, iOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 are imminent
After extensive developer and public beta testing, Apple is set to roll out macOS 26.1, iOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. The updates bring a new toggle to dial down the clear effect in Liquid Glass, a refreshed Apple TV icon, various bug fixes, and, importantly, increased stability to Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple plans to roll it out to users this week, and I expect that to happen on Monday — barring any last-minute delays, which have occurred in the past for various reasons… And as usual, the same update pattern applies to Apple’s other platforms, so look for macOS 26.1 and the first beta version of watchOS 26.2…
It’s more reliable, with fewer bugs. The OS just feels a bit more polished, even if there’s nothing revolutionary about it. A refreshed Apple TV app icon is a nice touch, and the new button to reduce the Liquid Glass effect is a welcome tweak to improve legibility.
MacDailyNews Take: For everyone who waits for the first point version of new operating systems, today’s likely the day!
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Apple’s AI spending trails far behind other megacaps. It’s not hurting sales
While many of the largest tech companies race to build massive data centers for their artificial intelligence ambitions, Apple is taking a more modest approach.
In its fiscal 2025, which ended in September, Apple spent $12.72 billion on capital expenditures. Compared to Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, Apple is barely spending at all.
Apple’s restrained approach to AI hasn’t hurt its hardware sales. CEO Tim Cook told CNBC Thursday that consumer response to the company’s iPhone 17 models was “off the chart.”
Instead of simply buying as many AI chips as possible, Apple buys computing capacity from outside partners, finance chief Kevan Parekh explained Thursday on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.
When Apple does build servers for its AI software, the company is using its own chips — not those from Nvidia or AMD — to power a service it calls Private Cloud Compute.
“I don’t see us moving away from this hybrid model, where we leverage both first-party capacity as well as leverage third-party capacity,” Parekh said.
Alphabet said it expects to spend about $92 billion on capital expenditures this year. Microsoft said it spent about $34.9 billion on capex during the September quarter and will spend more in capex for its fiscal 2026 than it did the year prior. Meta stock got whacked after CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the company’s plan to spend about $71 billion on AI chips and other expenses in 2025. On Thursday, Amazon raised its 2025 spending forecast 6% to $125 billion…
In its fiscal 2025, which ended in September, Apple spent $12.72 billion on capital expenditures.
And yet, that’s up 35% from what it spent last year, a significant increase. Parekh said Apple is expecting further increases. Analysts expect Apple’s capex to increase to $14.3 billion this year, according to FactSet.
“In ’25 we did have capex costs associated with building out our Private Cloud Compute environment in our first party data centers,” Parekh said.
MacDailyNews Take: Think Different.
Doing more with less is fine, if your products can compete. When the new Siri finally debuts next year, we’ll find out if Apple’s strategy is working or not.
For now, Apple Intelligence’s underwhelming feature set hasn’t hurt, as the company predicts that overall sales will rise between 10% and 12% in the December quarter.
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While rivals plow money into data centers, Apple spends big on buybacks
While other Magnificent Seven members pour billions into artificial intelligence initiatives, Apple is holding back. Its free cash flow is fueling the tech industry’s largest buybacks program.
The spending disparity, apparent in Apple’s Thursday earnings release for the three months through September, the final quarter of its fiscal year, is a bullish development for shareholders.
Apple laid out $12.7 billion in capital expenditures in the entire year, far from the amounts companies such as Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Microsoft have spent. It is working to develop AI for the iPhone and other services, but it isn’t paying for a vast buildout of data centers, as its rivals are.
Meta Platforms expects about $71 billion in capital expenditures this year and more in 2026. Alphabet has said it expects about $92 billion in capital spending in 2025 and Amazon.com plunked down a cool $120 billion in the year through September.
Apple, meanwhile, continues to snap up its own stock. It bought back about $20 billion in the quarter and $91 billion for the latest fiscal year, little changed from the $95 billion in fiscal 2024.
Meta’s buybacks in the latest quarter totaled $3 billion, down from $8 billion in the year-earlier period.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple CFO Kevan Parekh during yesterday’s Q425 conference call with analysts said:
We ended the quarter with $132,000,000,000 in cash and marketable securities. We had $1,300,000,000 of debt maturities and decreased commercial paper by 1,900,000,000 resulting in $99,000,000,000 in total debt. Therefore, at the end of the quarter, net cash was $34,000,000,000 During the quarter, we returned $24,000,000,000 to shareholders. This included $3,900,000,000 in dividends and equivalents and $20,000,000,000 through open market repurchases of 89,000,000 Apple shares…
We are expecting increases in our CapEx spending related to AI investments. For example, as I mentioned earlier, we did end up having investments this year to build out our private cloud compute environment. And we do believe this hybrid model has served us very well, and we continue to want to leverage it. And so I don’t see us moving away from this hybrid model where we leverage both first party capacity as well as leverage third party capacity. We’ll continue to want to build out private cloud compute, as Tim [Cook] outlined, as we have more usage there over time. But I think, in general, we want to continue to have this hybrid model.
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Wedbush ups Apple target to $320
Wedbush analysts led by Daniel Ives raised their target price on Apple to $320 per share from $310 to reflect what they called “increased confidence” in the Apple growth story.
The analysts also believe the iPhone 17 launch is “off to a great start” heading into the key holiday December quarter in the US and China and noted the company’s continued strong Services growth.
After Thursday’s close, Apple reported fourth quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations. The company also provided a strong forecast for its December quarter.“
The elephant in the room remains the invisible AI strategy, and with the biggest consumer installed base in the world of 2.4 billion iOS devices and 1.5 billion iPhones, the time is now for Apple to accelerate its AI efforts through Google in our view,” the analysts wrote in a note to clients on Friday.
The Wedbush equity research team noted that for the key Holiday quarter, Apple expects total revenue growth of 10% to 12% year over year, which was significantly ahead of the Street’s whisper estimate of about 8%.
MacDailyNews Take: The sky’s the limit for our favorite fruit company!
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Apple stockpiles components for ‘iPhone Fold’
According to a Weibo-based leaker, Fixed Focus Digital, who claims reliable sources in Apple’s supply chain, the company is stockpiling components for its first foldable iPhone ahead of a planned launch next year. The device, tentatively dubbed the “iPhone Fold,” will reportedly feature advanced parts such as foldable OLED displays, titanium frames, and sophisticated hinge mechanisms made from multiple materials.
The move suggests Apple is entering the crucial pre-production phase, where suppliers begin ramping output ahead of full mass production. Some of these components may have long lead times and high failure rates, so early stock-building helps reduce risk and smooth the eventual launch pipeline.
When folded, users will interact with a 5.5-inch outer display that is similar to a typical iPhone screen, while unfolding it will reveal a larger 7.8-inch iPad-style screen. The inner display is said to be virtually crease-free, with some sources claiming it features an under-screen camera. The outer screen is said to have a punch-hole camera, while authentication is handled by Touch ID integrated into the side button, rather than Face ID. There’s also a dual-lens camera on the rear.
According to analyst Jeff Pu, the frame is made from a mix of titanium and aluminum. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also said Apple is using multiple materials, but he believes the main ones are titanium and stainless steel. Kuo also believes some hinge components will be made from Liquidmetal for further durability.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple had better stockpile enough components for a lot of foldable iPhones!
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