News

  • Apple has reportedly resumed talks with OpenAI to build a chatbot for the iPhone
    Apple has resumed conversations with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to power some AI features coming to iOS 18, according to a new report in Bloomberg. Apple is also building its own large language models to power some iOS 18 features, but its talks with OpenAI are centered around a “chatbot/search component,” according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.  Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google to license Gemini, Google’s own AI-powered chatbot, for iOS 18. Bloomberg reports that those talks are still on, and things could still go either way because Apple hasn’t made a final decision on which
  • Apple Asks Customers for Vision Pro Feedback
    Apple has been soliciting Vision Pro feedback since the device launched, but this week, the company has picked up on sending out surveys. We've had several reports from Vision Pro customers who have been asked to share their thoughts about the device. Apple asks about Vision Pro satisfaction, environment usage, favorite features, what it's being used for, how often it's used, and how long usage sessions last. Apple also asks about guest mode and who else uses the Vision Pro, which is a curious question because it's not at all set up for multi-person usage. Some of the questions: Overall,
  • Apple said to have restarted discussion for OpenAI integration into iOS 18
    A report suggests that Apple is still looking across the spectrum of AI providers for iOS 18, with OpenAi again in conversations with the iPhone maker.There's not a lot to Friday's report from Bloomberg that hasn't already been discussed. The key point from it, is that discussions have started again, or are perhaps continuing with OpenAI for potential inclusion in iOS 18, somehow.Previous rumors made it clear that Apple had discussions with OpenAI. Friday's report says that the technology could make it to iOS 18 in the form of a chatbot. Whether this is to supplement or replace Siri, isn't
  • Apple Reignites Talks With OpenAI About Generative AI for iOS 18
    Apple is once again talking with OpenAI about using OpenAI technology to power artificial intelligence features in iOS 18, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple held talks with OpenAI earlier in the year, but nothing had come of the discussion. Apple and OpenAI are now said to be speaking about the terms of a possible agreement and how Apple might utilize OpenAI features. Along with OpenAI, Apple is still having discussions with Google about licensing Google's Gemini AI. Apple has not come to a final decision, and Gurman suggests that the company could partner with both Google and OpenAI or pick
  • Sky Broadband and Virgin Media Cut 1Gbps UK Broadband to GBP41
    New residential customers of Sky Broadband and Virgin Media may like to know that both ISPs have just discounted their respective gigabit broadband packages to £41 per month for a limited period of time, although Sky are offering average uploads of 90Mbps and on Virgin it’s 104Mbps. Sky’s Gigafast 900Mbps (sponsored) broadband package, which is […]
  • Broadband ISPs Prep FTTP Plans for Openreach’s 1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps Tiers
    Network operator Openreach (BT) officially launched their fastest Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband tiers – 1.2Gbps and 1.8Gbps (both 120Mbps upstream) – into the UK market earlier this month (here). But so far the only ISP to launch any consumer packages using these have been EE, although that will soon change. The new tiers are designed to […]
  • Apple Event Next Month Said to Be 'Accompanied By an Event in London'
    Apple's upcoming "Let Loose" event "will be accompanied by an event in London," according to The Independent's Andrew Griffin. The report does not provide any additional details about what will be happening in London, but it might simply be a briefing that allows journalists in the UK to receive hands-on time with the new iPads and other products that Apple is expected to announce next month. Apple has frequently invited the media to hands-on briefings in New York City, and it also held a briefing in Toronto, Canada for the new MacBook Air models last month. Apple's "Let Loose" event
  • Hands-On With the Rabbit r1 Pocket AI Assistant
    With the rise of ChatGPT and large language models (LLMs), AI-dedicated devices have started coming out. The Humane AI pin was widely lambasted earlier this month when it launched, and now the Rabbit r1 AI assistant is out. With rumors that Apple is delving into AI in a big way, we thought we'd check out the Rabbit r1 to see what it can do and how it measures up to an iPhone. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Priced at $200, the Rabbit is a square-shaped pocket assistant that can answer questions, look up information, interface with
  • The FTC accuses Amazon of using Signal’s auto-deleting messages to erase evidence
    According to a court document viewed by Engadget, the Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of using Signal’s disappearing messages feature to conceal communications as part of its antitrust suit against the company. The FTC says the retailer continued to auto-delete its communications even after the agency notified it that it was under investigation and asked it to preserve them. Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy are among the accused. “For years, Amazon’s top executives, including founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, discuss[ed] sensitive business matters, including antitrust, over the Signal encrypted-messaging app instead of email,”
  • Drake deletes AI-generated Tupac track after Shakur’s estate threatened to sue
    Drake apparently learned it isn’t wise to mess with Tupac Shakur — even decades after his untimely death. Billboard first spotted that the Canadian hip-hop artist deleted the X (Twitter) post with his track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which used an AI-generated recreation of Shakur’s voice to try to get under Kendrick Lamar’s skin. The takedown came after an attorney representing the late hip-hop legend threatened to sue the Canadian rapper for his “unauthorized” use of Tupac’s voice if he didn’t remove it from social channels within 24 hours. However, the track was online for a week and — unsurprisingly —
  • Aaron Sorkin is working on a Jan. 6-focused follow-up to The Social Network
    Aaron Sorkin has announced that he’s currently writing a followup script to The Social Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He broke the news during an episode of The Town podcast that centered on how Facebook and social media have influenced democracy in the years since his Oscar-winning hit. The first film chronicled the early days of Mark Zuckerberg’s social network and starred Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, among others. Sorkin is cagey on the actual details of the new script, but it looks to follow Facebook throughout the Trump era. He went on to tell the podcast
  • Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra falls to a new low, plus the rest of the week's best tech deals
    Another week is coming to a close, which means it's time for another roundup of good tech deals. This week's highlights include a new low on Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is $200 off and down to $1,100 for an unlocked model. That's not exactly cheap, no, but any savings should be welcome for what we consider the best premium Android phone. Elsewhere, a trio of recommendations from our wireless earbuds buying guide are on sale, including Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds for $249, Google's Pixel Buds Pro for $135 and Anker's Soundcore Space A40 for $49. Apple's latest MacBook Air
  • Nikon’s Z8 is a phenomenal mirrorless camera for the price
    Nikon is arguably the world's most famous camera brand, but with the decline of DSLRs it has lagged behind Canon and Sony. In 2022, it released the Z9, a flagship mirrorless camera that could finally hold its own against rivals, but the $5,500 price tag put it out of reach for most. To appeal to a wider audience, Nikon unveiled the Z8 last year with the same sensor and nearly the same specs as the Z9 for $1,700 less. With a 45-megapixel stacked sensor and the latest Expeed 7 image processor, the Z8 can do everything from sports to wildlife
  • Reminder: Privacy requirement for app submissions starts May 1
    The App Store was created to be a safe place for users to discover and get millions of apps all around the world. Over the years, we‘ve built many critical privacy and security features that help protect users and give them transparency and control — from Privacy Nutrition Labels to app tracking transparency, and so many more.An essential requirement of maintaining user trust is that developers are responsible for all of the code in their apps, including code frameworks and libraries from other sources. That‘s why we’ve created privacy manifests and signature requirements for the most popular third-party SDKs, as well
  • Some of our favorite Bose headphones and earbuds are back to all-time low prices
    Amazon has some of the highest-rated Bose headphones on sale for record-low prices. That includes the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones, which have best-in-class active noise cancellation (ANC). Usually $429, the wireless cans are now only $379, matching an all-time low. Engadget’s Billy Steele praised the headphones’ sound, ANC and comfort in our review, but he also found them a bit expensive at their standard retail price, so this sale could be the right time to snag a pair. The headphones are comfortable for long listening sessions — with enough battery life to keep up. Although their “Immersive Audio” spatial listening
  • Retro gold rush: these emulators are coming to the App Store soon
    Apple is allowing emulators to be submitted to the App Store. Here's what's on the way so you can play your favorite retro games on your iPhone.Emulators can bring retro gaming to the iPhoneThe early April changes to the App Store Review Guidelines reversed a rule that practically banned emulators from the App Store. After the rule was removed, it was expected that there would be a sudden rush of emulators being submitted to Apple for inclusion in the digital storefront.Emulators for the iPhone have existed for a while, but outside of the App Store as a side-loadable app. With
  • How to connect to FTP servers in macOS using modern apps
    File Transfer Protocol is an older networking protocol for transferring files to network servers. Here's how to use it on your Mac.Connecting to FTP in macOS's Finder.We previously covered the Terminal-based SCP protocol, which allows you to securely copy files over a network.How to use SSH for secure connections in macOS talked about the SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), which is considered more secure because it uses Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to exchange key info for authentication. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
  • Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air with the M3 chip has never been cheaper
    Apple's latest MacBook Air with the new M3 chip just hit its lowest price yet at Amazon. The retailer is taking $110 off the laptop's list price, which is $10 cheaper than the sale price of $999 its been hitting lately. That's not a huge difference, but still represents a new low for the two-month-old laptop. The discount applies to all four colorways of the entry-level 13-inch model, which gives you 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. If you need more memory, you can get the model with 16GB, which is down to $1,399, or $100 off, at Amazon
  • MacRumors Giveaway: Win an iPhone 15 and Blue Light Screen Protector From Ocushield
    For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Ocushield to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an iPhone 15 and one of Ocushield's Blue Light Screen Protectors to go along with it. Ocushield has a range of medically rated screen protectors that are designed for for the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. Ocushield specializes in blue light reduction, so all of its screen protectors cut down on the amount of blue light that you're exposed to when using your devices. Blue light can cause eye strain, headaches, dry eyes, fatigue, and blurry vision in some people, and it is hard
  • NHTSA concludes Tesla Autopilot investigation after linking the system to 14 deaths
    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system after reviewing hundreds of crashes, including 13 fatal incidents that led to 14 deaths. The organization has ruled that these accidents were due to driver misuse of the system. However, the NHTSA also found that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities.” In other words, the software didn’t prioritize driver attentiveness. Riders using Autopilot or the company’s Full Self-Driving technology “were not sufficiently engaged,” because Tesla “did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the
  • Wessex Internet Bring Gigabit Broadband to 20 Rural UK Locations
    Rural UK ISP Wessex Internet, which is deploying a full fibre (FTTP) gigabit broadband network across isolated parts of Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset in England, has today named the 20 locations where their new network has gone live during just the first three months of 2024 (Q1). At present the provider’s existing network footprint […]
  • Wessex Internet announces locations where its service has recently gone live
    Wessex Internet has managed to connect 20 new villages in the wet months of Jan, Feb and March 2024.
  • The MacRumors Show: Apple's iPad Event Finally Announced!
    On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the announcement of Apple's upcoming "Let loose" event, where the company is widely expected to announce new iPad models and accessories. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's event invite shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also alluded to the Apple Pencil in relation to the event and a series of promotional Apple logos appear to hint at upcoming illustration capabilities. Apple has not released any new iPads since
  • AirPods 4 Rumors: Everything We Know So Far
    Apple introduced the third-generation AirPods nearly three years ago and an all new model is now slated to launch later this year with a range of improvements and new features. Many of the changes and improvements introduced with the third-generation AirPods originated on the first-generation AirPods Pro. As such, it seems likely that many of the upgrades coming to the fourth-generation AirPods will be shaped by the second-generation ‌AirPods Pro‌. Our best indications so far about what to expect come from a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Two Models Apple is rumored to be working on two versions of the
  • Wacom's first OLED pen display is also the thinnest and lightest it has ever made
    Wacom displays and tablets have been handy tools for artists and designers since the 1980s, offering to swap a mouse for a pen for drawing, photo editing and more. That lineage includes pen displays: screens that connect to your computer that you draw on directly with a stylus. But, Wacom says it has created something entirely new just a few weeks before Apple is set to upgrade its iPad displays. The latest pen display model is called Movink, and it's the company's first with a OLED screen. It's also Wacom's thinnest and lightest option ever, while still offering 13 inches