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LTA 145: September 2025
Panel:
The show starts with a quick update on the UK iCloud saga, a handful of regulatory and legal stories, a little HR and acquisition news, and rundown of the notable Apple services and original content news before digging into the three main stories. The first main story is a short look at some Trump-related developments in the US before getting stuck into the the twin big stories, the new hardware from the ‘Awe Dropping’ event, this year’s big new OS releases.The show finishes with the usual rundown of a few other quick Apple-related stories that made the news in September.
You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!
https://media.lets-talk.ie/lta/lta145.mp3
Updates & Followup
Quick updates to long-running stories the show continues to track, and to stories covered in recent shows.
More reporting from the Financial Times confirms my fears that the UK super-secret iCloud backdoor drama is not over: cyberinsider.com/…
“According to sources familiar with the matter, the latest Technical Capability Notice (TCN) issued under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) asks Apple to break encryption solely for UK citizens’ data stored in iCloud.”
Regulatory Rundown
EU investigates Apple, Google, and Microsoft over handling of online scams — arstechnica.com/… (Are these companies meeting their Digital Services Act obligations to add effective protections?)
Apple has filed an official response to the European Commission's request for feedback on the Digital Markets Act — Apple PR
"Under the DMA, the European Commission’s interpretation of the rules is constantly changing. And that makes it nearly impossible for companies to know how to comply.”
…
“The DMA’s rules only apply to Apple, even though Samsung is the smartphone market leader in Europe, and Chinese companies are growing fast … the DMA singles Apple out while leaving our competitors free to continue as they always have.”
…
“Over time, it’s become clear that the DMA isn’t helping markets. It’s making it harder to do business in Europe.”
…
“it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU. It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind.” — Apple
Apple says more features would be delayed in EU under DMA — www.macobserver.com/…
EU Digital Markets Act benefits only other big tech companies and hurts customers, says Apple — appleinsider.com/…
EU Says Apple Must Comply with DMA Rules — www.macobserver.com/…
Opinion:
Dan Moran: Apple posts thoughts on the DMA — sixcolors.com/… (excellent article, can't disagree)
John Gruber: Apple on the Digital Markets Act — daringfireball.net/…
"If Apple just shipped all EU iPhones with Android instead of iOS, all of their DMA problems would go away … How in the world would that increase competition?"
Legal Latest
Apple HR & Acquisition News
Apple Services & Original Content Highlights
Apple TV+:
Another good year for Apple at the Emmys:
Apple TV+ secures 10-episode follow-up to BBC's 'Gavin and Stacey' — appleinsider.com/…
Seven new Apple Immersive films let Apple Vision Pro users explore sports, music, and culture — appleinsider.com/…
The Peanuts gang will have a home at Apple until 2030 — www.cultofmac.com/…
Apple Music:
'NBA 2K26 Arcade Edition' arrives on Apple Arcade this October — appleinsider.com/… ( Apple PR)
Apple News+ added The Washington at no extra cost — www.macobserver.com/… (Probably US-only, but not sure)
Apple Pay & Apple Wallet:
Apple Health: Apple Expands Sleep Apnea Notifications to South Korea — www.macobserver.com/…
Apple Sports app adds widgets and expands to 8 new countries — www.cultofmac.com/… (All in Europe)
Apple Invites adds calendar syncing and video playback — appleinsider.com/…
Main Stories
Trumplandia Update
It's not clear how badly Trump's 100% tariffs on films will hit Apple TV+ — appleinsider.com/… (it's not even clear what is going to actually happen!)
Apple removes ICEBlock, won’t allow apps that report locations of ICE agents — arstechnica.com/… (Apple's US app store is now like their app stores in other authoritarian countries)
Opinion:
Complying With ‘Demand’ From Trump Administration, Apple Removes ICEBlock From App Store — daringfireball.net/…
"No one, not even Bondi, is claiming any aspect of ICEBlock is illegal. Thus it’s not merely inappropriate but outrageous — and yet another among dozens of other causes for alarm regarding Trump 2.0’s decidedly authoritarian turn — for the DOJ to 'demand' Apple do anything about it. But demand they did, and comply did Apple." — John Gruber
Apple’s ICEblock capitulation is business as usual — sixcolors.com/…
“Do not expect corporations to be your proxy in the fight against authoritarianism. They are, simply put, not designed for it. They are machines designed to return profit to shareholders and that means they fundamentally rely on a stability that you’re not going to get from making waves. You will always be disappointed.” — Dan Moren
Related: Apple CEO Tim Cook attended UK state dinner with President Trump — appleinsider.com/…
Apple's Awe Dropping event
Apple’s September 2025 Event: Replay Today’s Keynote — www.macstories.net/…
Apple's September 2025 Event: All the Small Things (Bento Box Version) — www.macstories.net/…
What Apple Chose to Highlight — their press releases, in order:
Apple's September 2025 Event: By the Numbers — www.macstories.net/…
New AirPods Pro 3:
AirPods Pro 3 arrive with heart rate sensing, and best-ever ANC — appleinsider.com/…
AirPods Pro 3 Can Run 8-10 Hours on a Single Charge — www.macobserver.com/…
Hands on: AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation and heart rate monitoring are compelling — appleinsider.com/…
Apple drops USB-C cable from AirPods Pro 3 packaging — www.cultofmac.com/…
AirPods Pro 3 review roundup: A ‘no-brainer upgrade’ — www.cultofmac.com/…
New Apple Watches:
Most new Apple Watches get Hypertension Alerts (not SE 3)
New Apple watches get Sleep Scores
Apple Watch Series 11 hides hypertension monitoring & better battery in a familiar shell — appleinsider.com/…
Apple Watch Ultra 3 brings bigger screen, better battery and new health tricks — www.cultofmac.com/…
Apple Watch SE 3 refreshed with modern design, features, and budget-friendly price — appleinsider.com/…
Related: There are an incredible amount of new Apple Watch bands with new colors and styles — appleinsider.com/…
iPhones
The A19 chips add hardware to dramatically boost security on all this year's new iPhone models — appleinsider.com/…
New iPhones use Apple N1 wireless chip—and we’ll probably start seeing it everywhere — arstechnica.com/…(Apple's own WiFi + bluetooth chip)
Related: iPhone Satellite Features Remain Free for Another Year — tidbits.com/…
iPhone 17
Center Stage camera turns iPhone 17 into super selfie machine — www.cultofmac.com/…
Analysis: iPhone 17 Camera: What’s New and Why It Matters — www.macobserver.com/…
Specs sound nice, but the real win is in everyday use. Photos taken at night look cleaner without the grain that older iPhones struggled with. Motion blur is reduced, so kids, pets, or street scenes come out sharp. Video feels steadier, making it easier to capture moments without extra gear.
Reviews:
iPhone 17 review roundup — the best iPhone for almost everyone — appleinsider.com/…
iPhone 17 Pro is here with hugely improved cooling & unibody frame — appleinsider.com/…
Apple “started from scratch” to design all-new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max — arstechnica.com/…
iPhone 17 Pro Only Comes in Three Colors, With No Black or White Option — www.macobserver.com/… (Comes in bright orange, dark blue, and grey)
iPhone 17 Pro Price goes up by $100 but base storage doubles — www.macobserver.com/… & iPhone 17 Pro Max Becomes the First 2TB iPhone — www.macobserver.com/…
Ceramic Shield 2 Explained: What’s New? — www.macobserver.com/…
This second generation is engineered to solve the two biggest real-world complaints about smartphone screens: scratches and glare.
Apple Announces Final Cut Camera 2.0 with Support for ProRes RAW and Genlock — www.macstories.net/…
Why Apple Traded Titanium for Aluminum on iPhone 17 Pro — www.macobserver.com/…
Here’s the deal: the A19 Pro chip is clearly built for sustained performance, not just flashy peak speeds. To keep that thing humming during a long 4K ProRes shoot or a heavy gaming session, you have to get heat out. And let’s be real, titanium is an insulator. It looks cool, but it traps heat. Aluminum, on the other hand, is fantastic at heat dissipation.
iPhone 17 Pro teardown reveals vapor chamber, explains scratches — appleinsider.com/…
Overall, the iPhone 17 Pro is deemed to be marginally less repairable than the iPhone Air, but it still receives a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10.
Reviews:
iPhone 17 Pro & iPhone 17 Pro Max review roundup — fast, excellent, and orange — appleinsider.com/…
iPhone Air Announced: Apple’s Thinnest iPhone Ever With Titanium Build, A19 Pro, and a $999 Starting Price — www.macobserver.com/…
Contrary to what many thought, the iPhone Air is incredibly strong — Jerry Rig Everything on youtube.com/…
eSim only!
Apple’s Thinnest iPhone Ever… Is Actually Repairable? iPhone Air Teardown — iFixIt on youtube.com/… (yes, 7/10)
How Apple made iPhone Air’s USB-C port ultra-thin (and better) — www.cultofmac.com/… (3D-printed Titanium )
MagSafe battery resurrected, gives up to 40 hours of use to iPhone Air — appleinsider.com/…
Analysis:
Why you shouldn’t worry about iPhone Air battery life — www.cultofmac.com/…
Why the iPhone 17 Air Camera Stands Apart from the Pro and Base Models — www.macobserver.com/…
The Air replaces multiple visible lenses with a unified 48MP Fusion camera that uses sensor-level tricks and heavy image processing to give you flexible framing, reliable low-light shots, and pro-grade video in a thinner chassis.
iPhone Air vs 17 Pro: Differences That Matter — www.macobserver.com/…
The Air is the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made, designed for people who want lightness and elegance above all. The Pro is bulkier, heavier, and built for power users who care about cameras, battery, and sustained performance.
Review: If you touch an iPhone Air, you’ll want to buy it immediately — www.cultofmac.com/…
iPhone Air review roundup: Slim but not perfect — appleinsider.com/…
Apple’s September 2025 Event: All the New Accessories — www.macstories.net/…
Every New Apple Intelligence Feature Announced at Apple’s Awe Dropping Event — www.macobserver.com/… (Mostly small things, peppered throughout the line, and not called out as a single whole)
Overall Analysis: Thinking through Apple’s September 9 announcements — sixcolors.com/…
"This year, Apple is more or less abandoning ProMotion and always-on as iPhone Pro differentiators. That means habitual buyers of the lower-end phones will be getting a really substantial improvement when they next update their phones! … Apple has also chosen not to skimp on its new selfie camera … Similarly, the base iPhone’s ultrawide camera joins its main camera at 48MP … the big camera difference between the [regular and pro] models really is the lack of a third telephoto lens.
…
Apple doesn’t like to just come out and say, “Welp, prices are higher now.” The company places an inordinate amount of pride into releasing upgraded products at identical price points. But this year, it raised iPhone prices, sort of, kind of. Start with the iPhone Air, which begins at $999, a slot that was previously occupied by the iPhone Pro and a full $100 more expensive than the iPhone Plus, which it’s replacing in the product line. … Then there’s the iPhone 17 Pro, which now starts at $1099, up from the $999 starting price introduced with the iPhone X. Apple has gone to great lengths to point out that the $1099 price is the same as the similarly-configured iPhone 16 Pro model last year, because the iPhone 17 Pro has 256GB of base storage, and the iPhone 16 Pro started at 128GB." — Jason Snell
New versions of Apple’s software platforms are available today — Apple PR
OS 26.0.1 Updates Fix Early Bugs — tidbits.com/…
Nice one-stop-shop big-picture overview: Apple Brings 200 Documented Changes Across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe — www.macobserver.com/…
The improved parental controls announced earlier in the year have gone live with these OS updates — Apple PR & appleinsider.com/…
Analysis: the best considered critique of Liquid Glass I've seen: On Liquid Glass — pxlnv.com/… (long read)
Spatial widgets add a new dimension to Apple Vision Pro with visionOS 26, available now — appleinsider.com/…
Everything new in visionOS 26: Spatial Widgets and 15 more new features — www.cultofmac.com/…
Reviews:
visionOS 26 review: a necessary evolution in need of new hardware — appleinsider.com/…
Apple made several quality-of-life upgrades to how visionOS works and presents itself to users … Apple Vision Pro isn't being held back by the M2, but the edge cases are starting to show up.
visionOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
visionOS 26 keeps [the] rapid development going with a ton of new features, improvements, and capabilities that make Vision Pro even more powerful and enjoyable to use.
tvOS 26 is out now with karaoke mode, redesign, and big sound upgrades — appleinsider.com/…
Apple Releases watchOS 26 With Liquid Glass Design and Health Tools — www.macobserver.com/…
Everything new in watchOS 26: Workout Buddy and 15 other features — www.cultofmac.com/…
watchOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
Liquid Glass on the Apple Watch is fine. It’s not adding anything useful, nor is it taking anything away … the Smart Stack is gaining even more utility in the form of Smart Stack hints, which appear as small icons at the bottom of your watch face.
macOS Tahoe with Liquid Glass, Clipboard History, and more is now available — appleinsider.com/…
Excellent overview: Everything new in macOS 26 Tahoe: Supercharged Spotlight and 40+ other features — www.cultofmac.com/…
How to Use Clipboard History on macOS Tahoe — www.macobserver.com/…
macOS Tahoe is getting a new Repair Assistant for part calibration and pairing — appleinsider.com/…
Support for FireWire Removed from macOS 26 Tahoe — tidbits.com/…
Reviews:
The most detailed review I've seen: macOS 26 Tahoe: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
macOS 26 Tahoe: The Ars Technica review — arstechnica.com/…
macOS Tahoe review — a strong update, just not for the reasons you expect — appleinsider.com/…
Liquid Glass will briefly startle you, but then it's the new features in macOS Tahoe that make this a significant and a significantly useful upgrade … You even very, very soon wonder how you put up with the old macOS, the new one is so much better.
macOS 26 Tahoe review: Power under glass — sixcolors.com/…
macOS 26 Tahoe is two things at once: It’s the broadest and most productivity-focused update for macOS in years, while also taking collateral damage from Apple’s broader design ambitions on its other platforms. If you’re worried about upgrading to macOS 26 Tahoe because of Apple’s 'liquid glass' design, don’t be—it’s mostly a minor reskinning that doesn’t really change how the Mac works … I have found macOS Tahoe to be perfectly usable, and there are moments of beauty separated by long stretches of banality … it sure feels like Apple is building a new vision of how the menu bar works, with old-school Menu Extras joined by individual controls as well as user-created submenus full of controls.
…
What you should consider, though, are the ways that macOS Tahoe offers new power features for Mac users. The new Spotlight features, including clipboard history, are huge. Shortcuts automations and access to AI models open up all sorts of new possibilities. The new Control Center suggests that Apple has figured out how to embrace menu bar management for the first time.
Apple releases iOS 26 with Liquid Glass and more intelligence — appleinsider.com/…
Everything new in iOS 26: Liquid Glass and 70+ new features — www.cultofmac.com/…
A fun video tour of some of the notable new features form Joanna Stern — WSJ on youtu.be/…
How the iPhone Camera App Changed in iOS 26 (and How to Use It) — www.macobserver.com/… & iPhone 16 to Get Bright Photographic Style in iOS 26 Update — www.macobserver.com/…
What is the Preview App in iOS 26? How to use — www.macobserver.com/…
Inside iOS 26 – How to add free custom ringtones to your iPhone — appleinsider.com/…
Boarding Pass Live Activities Arrive in Apple Wallet with iOS 26 — www.macobserver.com/… (looks very useful, but needs airlines to update their apps to use new APIs)
New Apple Intelligence features are available today — Apple PR
Visual Intelligence Explained: Unlocking the Power of Your Device’s Camera — www.macobserver.com/… (now works on any image, including screenshots)
How to Enable and Use Call Screening in iOS 26 — www.macobserver.com/…
iOS 26 Hold Assist: What It Is and How to Use It — www.macobserver.com/…
What is Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26: Compatibility, Features, and Performance — www.macobserver.com/…
Siri just got 5 secret iOS 26 upgrades and they’re actually useful — www.macobserver.com/… (nothing dramatic, but nice little quality-of-life updates)
Apple’s Foundation Models framework unlocks new app experiences powered by Apple Intelligence — www.apple.com/… (new APIs, so will take time for apps to leverage this new capability)
Apple has finally explained why battery life can be different after an OS update — appleinsider.com/… (the phone has some house-keeping to do, so the first day will be abnormally hard on battery life)
Reviews:
The most detailed feature-by-feature review I've read: iOS and iPadOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
iOS 26 review: A practical, yet playful, update — arstechnica.com/… & Reviewing iOS 26 for power users: Reminders, Preview, and more — arstechnica.com/…
iOS 26 review: Smart, glassy, but waiting on Siri — appleinsider.com/…
Siri delays haunt an otherwise excellent upgrade … ['liquid glass' is] an aesthetic that works well, and Apple has certainly worked hard to perfect it. Expect more tweaks in the future as Apple deals with the inevitable complaints, but it's landed in a good position for the operating system's release … Overall, iOS 26 is a great update for most users.
iOS 26 Review: Through a glass, liquidly — sixcolors.com/…
"… worth noting that almost all of the iOS 26 features that Apple demoed during its WWDC keynote this year are available in this initial version … Overall, iOS 26’s quality of life improvements are what are likely to resonate the most" — Dan Moren
AirPods under iOS 26: iOS 26 AirPods Update: Every New Feature You Get — www.macobserver.com/…
CarPlay under iOS 26:
iPadOS 26 arrives with controversial Liquid Glass and Mac-like multitasking — appleinsider.com/… & Apple Launches iPadOS 26 With Major Productivity Upgrades — www.macobserver.com/…
iPadOS 26 review: A computer? — sixcolors.com/…
*“It’s like a weight has been lifted from the soul of the iPad. It remains a very nice device to use in full-screen mode with all the simplicity attendant to that mode. But via a single tap, it can also transform into a multi-window, multitasking device that’s appropriate for the Mac-class hardware underpinning today’s iPads.
…
Apple’s new windowing system is great, embracing all the things that make the Mac work without forcing it on people who don’t want it. The improvements to Files, support for local recording, and the new background tasks Live Activity help create an iPad that just feels more ready for professional productivity tasks.“ — Jason Snell
Quick Stories
Apple refreshes Beats lineup with Powerbeats Fit — www.macobserver.com/… & Compact new Powerbeats Fit earbuds add comfort and durability — www.cultofmac.com/…
Adobe Brings Premiere Video Editor to iPhone — www.macobserver.com/… (and iPad!)
Apple launches new project to protect and restore California redwood forest — Apple PR
Apple's fourth quarter 2025 earnings call to take place on October 30 — appleinsider.com/…
Legend
Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.
Emoji
Meaning
A press release or official statement.
A link to audio content, probably a podcast.
flag
The story is particularly relevant to people living in a specific country, or, the organisation the story is about is affiliated with the government of a specific country.
A link to graphical content, probably a chart, graph, or diagram.
A link to an article behind a pay-wall.
A pinned story, i.e. one to keep an eye on that's likely to develop into something significant in the future.
View all episodes
By Panel:
The show starts with a quick update on the UK iCloud saga, a handful of regulatory and legal stories, a little HR and acquisition news, and rundown of the notable Apple services and original content news before digging into the three main stories. The first main story is a short look at some Trump-related developments in the US before getting stuck into the the twin big stories, the new hardware from the ‘Awe Dropping’ event, this year’s big new OS releases.The show finishes with the usual rundown of a few other quick Apple-related stories that made the news in September.
You’ll find detailed show notes below the fold, and if you enjoy this free show, please consider clicking on the donate button at the top of the left side bar – the show is free for you to listen to, but not for Bart to Produce!
https://media.lets-talk.ie/lta/lta145.mp3
Updates & Followup
Quick updates to long-running stories the show continues to track, and to stories covered in recent shows.
More reporting from the Financial Times confirms my fears that the UK super-secret iCloud backdoor drama is not over: cyberinsider.com/…
“According to sources familiar with the matter, the latest Technical Capability Notice (TCN) issued under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) asks Apple to break encryption solely for UK citizens’ data stored in iCloud.”
Regulatory Rundown
EU investigates Apple, Google, and Microsoft over handling of online scams — arstechnica.com/… (Are these companies meeting their Digital Services Act obligations to add effective protections?)
Apple has filed an official response to the European Commission's request for feedback on the Digital Markets Act — Apple PR
"Under the DMA, the European Commission’s interpretation of the rules is constantly changing. And that makes it nearly impossible for companies to know how to comply.”
…
“The DMA’s rules only apply to Apple, even though Samsung is the smartphone market leader in Europe, and Chinese companies are growing fast … the DMA singles Apple out while leaving our competitors free to continue as they always have.”
…
“Over time, it’s become clear that the DMA isn’t helping markets. It’s making it harder to do business in Europe.”
…
“it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU. It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind.” — Apple
Apple says more features would be delayed in EU under DMA — www.macobserver.com/…
EU Digital Markets Act benefits only other big tech companies and hurts customers, says Apple — appleinsider.com/…
EU Says Apple Must Comply with DMA Rules — www.macobserver.com/…
Opinion:
Dan Moran: Apple posts thoughts on the DMA — sixcolors.com/… (excellent article, can't disagree)
John Gruber: Apple on the Digital Markets Act — daringfireball.net/…
"If Apple just shipped all EU iPhones with Android instead of iOS, all of their DMA problems would go away … How in the world would that increase competition?"
Legal Latest
Apple HR & Acquisition News
Apple Services & Original Content Highlights
Apple TV+:
Another good year for Apple at the Emmys:
Apple TV+ secures 10-episode follow-up to BBC's 'Gavin and Stacey' — appleinsider.com/…
Seven new Apple Immersive films let Apple Vision Pro users explore sports, music, and culture — appleinsider.com/…
The Peanuts gang will have a home at Apple until 2030 — www.cultofmac.com/…
Apple Music:
'NBA 2K26 Arcade Edition' arrives on Apple Arcade this October — appleinsider.com/… ( Apple PR)
Apple News+ added The Washington at no extra cost — www.macobserver.com/… (Probably US-only, but not sure)
Apple Pay & Apple Wallet:
Apple Health: Apple Expands Sleep Apnea Notifications to South Korea — www.macobserver.com/…
Apple Sports app adds widgets and expands to 8 new countries — www.cultofmac.com/… (All in Europe)
Apple Invites adds calendar syncing and video playback — appleinsider.com/…
Main Stories
Trumplandia Update
It's not clear how badly Trump's 100% tariffs on films will hit Apple TV+ — appleinsider.com/… (it's not even clear what is going to actually happen!)
Apple removes ICEBlock, won’t allow apps that report locations of ICE agents — arstechnica.com/… (Apple's US app store is now like their app stores in other authoritarian countries)
Opinion:
Complying With ‘Demand’ From Trump Administration, Apple Removes ICEBlock From App Store — daringfireball.net/…
"No one, not even Bondi, is claiming any aspect of ICEBlock is illegal. Thus it’s not merely inappropriate but outrageous — and yet another among dozens of other causes for alarm regarding Trump 2.0’s decidedly authoritarian turn — for the DOJ to 'demand' Apple do anything about it. But demand they did, and comply did Apple." — John Gruber
Apple’s ICEblock capitulation is business as usual — sixcolors.com/…
“Do not expect corporations to be your proxy in the fight against authoritarianism. They are, simply put, not designed for it. They are machines designed to return profit to shareholders and that means they fundamentally rely on a stability that you’re not going to get from making waves. You will always be disappointed.” — Dan Moren
Related: Apple CEO Tim Cook attended UK state dinner with President Trump — appleinsider.com/…
Apple's Awe Dropping event
Apple’s September 2025 Event: Replay Today’s Keynote — www.macstories.net/…
Apple's September 2025 Event: All the Small Things (Bento Box Version) — www.macstories.net/…
What Apple Chose to Highlight — their press releases, in order:
Apple's September 2025 Event: By the Numbers — www.macstories.net/…
New AirPods Pro 3:
AirPods Pro 3 arrive with heart rate sensing, and best-ever ANC — appleinsider.com/…
AirPods Pro 3 Can Run 8-10 Hours on a Single Charge — www.macobserver.com/…
Hands on: AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation and heart rate monitoring are compelling — appleinsider.com/…
Apple drops USB-C cable from AirPods Pro 3 packaging — www.cultofmac.com/…
AirPods Pro 3 review roundup: A ‘no-brainer upgrade’ — www.cultofmac.com/…
New Apple Watches:
Most new Apple Watches get Hypertension Alerts (not SE 3)
New Apple watches get Sleep Scores
Apple Watch Series 11 hides hypertension monitoring & better battery in a familiar shell — appleinsider.com/…
Apple Watch Ultra 3 brings bigger screen, better battery and new health tricks — www.cultofmac.com/…
Apple Watch SE 3 refreshed with modern design, features, and budget-friendly price — appleinsider.com/…
Related: There are an incredible amount of new Apple Watch bands with new colors and styles — appleinsider.com/…
iPhones
The A19 chips add hardware to dramatically boost security on all this year's new iPhone models — appleinsider.com/…
New iPhones use Apple N1 wireless chip—and we’ll probably start seeing it everywhere — arstechnica.com/…(Apple's own WiFi + bluetooth chip)
Related: iPhone Satellite Features Remain Free for Another Year — tidbits.com/…
iPhone 17
Center Stage camera turns iPhone 17 into super selfie machine — www.cultofmac.com/…
Analysis: iPhone 17 Camera: What’s New and Why It Matters — www.macobserver.com/…
Specs sound nice, but the real win is in everyday use. Photos taken at night look cleaner without the grain that older iPhones struggled with. Motion blur is reduced, so kids, pets, or street scenes come out sharp. Video feels steadier, making it easier to capture moments without extra gear.
Reviews:
iPhone 17 review roundup — the best iPhone for almost everyone — appleinsider.com/…
iPhone 17 Pro is here with hugely improved cooling & unibody frame — appleinsider.com/…
Apple “started from scratch” to design all-new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max — arstechnica.com/…
iPhone 17 Pro Only Comes in Three Colors, With No Black or White Option — www.macobserver.com/… (Comes in bright orange, dark blue, and grey)
iPhone 17 Pro Price goes up by $100 but base storage doubles — www.macobserver.com/… & iPhone 17 Pro Max Becomes the First 2TB iPhone — www.macobserver.com/…
Ceramic Shield 2 Explained: What’s New? — www.macobserver.com/…
This second generation is engineered to solve the two biggest real-world complaints about smartphone screens: scratches and glare.
Apple Announces Final Cut Camera 2.0 with Support for ProRes RAW and Genlock — www.macstories.net/…
Why Apple Traded Titanium for Aluminum on iPhone 17 Pro — www.macobserver.com/…
Here’s the deal: the A19 Pro chip is clearly built for sustained performance, not just flashy peak speeds. To keep that thing humming during a long 4K ProRes shoot or a heavy gaming session, you have to get heat out. And let’s be real, titanium is an insulator. It looks cool, but it traps heat. Aluminum, on the other hand, is fantastic at heat dissipation.
iPhone 17 Pro teardown reveals vapor chamber, explains scratches — appleinsider.com/…
Overall, the iPhone 17 Pro is deemed to be marginally less repairable than the iPhone Air, but it still receives a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10.
Reviews:
iPhone 17 Pro & iPhone 17 Pro Max review roundup — fast, excellent, and orange — appleinsider.com/…
iPhone Air Announced: Apple’s Thinnest iPhone Ever With Titanium Build, A19 Pro, and a $999 Starting Price — www.macobserver.com/…
Contrary to what many thought, the iPhone Air is incredibly strong — Jerry Rig Everything on youtube.com/…
eSim only!
Apple’s Thinnest iPhone Ever… Is Actually Repairable? iPhone Air Teardown — iFixIt on youtube.com/… (yes, 7/10)
How Apple made iPhone Air’s USB-C port ultra-thin (and better) — www.cultofmac.com/… (3D-printed Titanium )
MagSafe battery resurrected, gives up to 40 hours of use to iPhone Air — appleinsider.com/…
Analysis:
Why you shouldn’t worry about iPhone Air battery life — www.cultofmac.com/…
Why the iPhone 17 Air Camera Stands Apart from the Pro and Base Models — www.macobserver.com/…
The Air replaces multiple visible lenses with a unified 48MP Fusion camera that uses sensor-level tricks and heavy image processing to give you flexible framing, reliable low-light shots, and pro-grade video in a thinner chassis.
iPhone Air vs 17 Pro: Differences That Matter — www.macobserver.com/…
The Air is the thinnest iPhone Apple has ever made, designed for people who want lightness and elegance above all. The Pro is bulkier, heavier, and built for power users who care about cameras, battery, and sustained performance.
Review: If you touch an iPhone Air, you’ll want to buy it immediately — www.cultofmac.com/…
iPhone Air review roundup: Slim but not perfect — appleinsider.com/…
Apple’s September 2025 Event: All the New Accessories — www.macstories.net/…
Every New Apple Intelligence Feature Announced at Apple’s Awe Dropping Event — www.macobserver.com/… (Mostly small things, peppered throughout the line, and not called out as a single whole)
Overall Analysis: Thinking through Apple’s September 9 announcements — sixcolors.com/…
"This year, Apple is more or less abandoning ProMotion and always-on as iPhone Pro differentiators. That means habitual buyers of the lower-end phones will be getting a really substantial improvement when they next update their phones! … Apple has also chosen not to skimp on its new selfie camera … Similarly, the base iPhone’s ultrawide camera joins its main camera at 48MP … the big camera difference between the [regular and pro] models really is the lack of a third telephoto lens.
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Apple doesn’t like to just come out and say, “Welp, prices are higher now.” The company places an inordinate amount of pride into releasing upgraded products at identical price points. But this year, it raised iPhone prices, sort of, kind of. Start with the iPhone Air, which begins at $999, a slot that was previously occupied by the iPhone Pro and a full $100 more expensive than the iPhone Plus, which it’s replacing in the product line. … Then there’s the iPhone 17 Pro, which now starts at $1099, up from the $999 starting price introduced with the iPhone X. Apple has gone to great lengths to point out that the $1099 price is the same as the similarly-configured iPhone 16 Pro model last year, because the iPhone 17 Pro has 256GB of base storage, and the iPhone 16 Pro started at 128GB." — Jason Snell
New versions of Apple’s software platforms are available today — Apple PR
OS 26.0.1 Updates Fix Early Bugs — tidbits.com/…
Nice one-stop-shop big-picture overview: Apple Brings 200 Documented Changes Across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe — www.macobserver.com/…
The improved parental controls announced earlier in the year have gone live with these OS updates — Apple PR & appleinsider.com/…
Analysis: the best considered critique of Liquid Glass I've seen: On Liquid Glass — pxlnv.com/… (long read)
Spatial widgets add a new dimension to Apple Vision Pro with visionOS 26, available now — appleinsider.com/…
Everything new in visionOS 26: Spatial Widgets and 15 more new features — www.cultofmac.com/…
Reviews:
visionOS 26 review: a necessary evolution in need of new hardware — appleinsider.com/…
Apple made several quality-of-life upgrades to how visionOS works and presents itself to users … Apple Vision Pro isn't being held back by the M2, but the edge cases are starting to show up.
visionOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
visionOS 26 keeps [the] rapid development going with a ton of new features, improvements, and capabilities that make Vision Pro even more powerful and enjoyable to use.
tvOS 26 is out now with karaoke mode, redesign, and big sound upgrades — appleinsider.com/…
Apple Releases watchOS 26 With Liquid Glass Design and Health Tools — www.macobserver.com/…
Everything new in watchOS 26: Workout Buddy and 15 other features — www.cultofmac.com/…
watchOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
Liquid Glass on the Apple Watch is fine. It’s not adding anything useful, nor is it taking anything away … the Smart Stack is gaining even more utility in the form of Smart Stack hints, which appear as small icons at the bottom of your watch face.
macOS Tahoe with Liquid Glass, Clipboard History, and more is now available — appleinsider.com/…
Excellent overview: Everything new in macOS 26 Tahoe: Supercharged Spotlight and 40+ other features — www.cultofmac.com/…
How to Use Clipboard History on macOS Tahoe — www.macobserver.com/…
macOS Tahoe is getting a new Repair Assistant for part calibration and pairing — appleinsider.com/…
Support for FireWire Removed from macOS 26 Tahoe — tidbits.com/…
Reviews:
The most detailed review I've seen: macOS 26 Tahoe: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
macOS 26 Tahoe: The Ars Technica review — arstechnica.com/…
macOS Tahoe review — a strong update, just not for the reasons you expect — appleinsider.com/…
Liquid Glass will briefly startle you, but then it's the new features in macOS Tahoe that make this a significant and a significantly useful upgrade … You even very, very soon wonder how you put up with the old macOS, the new one is so much better.
macOS 26 Tahoe review: Power under glass — sixcolors.com/…
macOS 26 Tahoe is two things at once: It’s the broadest and most productivity-focused update for macOS in years, while also taking collateral damage from Apple’s broader design ambitions on its other platforms. If you’re worried about upgrading to macOS 26 Tahoe because of Apple’s 'liquid glass' design, don’t be—it’s mostly a minor reskinning that doesn’t really change how the Mac works … I have found macOS Tahoe to be perfectly usable, and there are moments of beauty separated by long stretches of banality … it sure feels like Apple is building a new vision of how the menu bar works, with old-school Menu Extras joined by individual controls as well as user-created submenus full of controls.
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What you should consider, though, are the ways that macOS Tahoe offers new power features for Mac users. The new Spotlight features, including clipboard history, are huge. Shortcuts automations and access to AI models open up all sorts of new possibilities. The new Control Center suggests that Apple has figured out how to embrace menu bar management for the first time.
Apple releases iOS 26 with Liquid Glass and more intelligence — appleinsider.com/…
Everything new in iOS 26: Liquid Glass and 70+ new features — www.cultofmac.com/…
A fun video tour of some of the notable new features form Joanna Stern — WSJ on youtu.be/…
How the iPhone Camera App Changed in iOS 26 (and How to Use It) — www.macobserver.com/… & iPhone 16 to Get Bright Photographic Style in iOS 26 Update — www.macobserver.com/…
What is the Preview App in iOS 26? How to use — www.macobserver.com/…
Inside iOS 26 – How to add free custom ringtones to your iPhone — appleinsider.com/…
Boarding Pass Live Activities Arrive in Apple Wallet with iOS 26 — www.macobserver.com/… (looks very useful, but needs airlines to update their apps to use new APIs)
New Apple Intelligence features are available today — Apple PR
Visual Intelligence Explained: Unlocking the Power of Your Device’s Camera — www.macobserver.com/… (now works on any image, including screenshots)
How to Enable and Use Call Screening in iOS 26 — www.macobserver.com/…
iOS 26 Hold Assist: What It Is and How to Use It — www.macobserver.com/…
What is Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26: Compatibility, Features, and Performance — www.macobserver.com/…
Siri just got 5 secret iOS 26 upgrades and they’re actually useful — www.macobserver.com/… (nothing dramatic, but nice little quality-of-life updates)
Apple’s Foundation Models framework unlocks new app experiences powered by Apple Intelligence — www.apple.com/… (new APIs, so will take time for apps to leverage this new capability)
Apple has finally explained why battery life can be different after an OS update — appleinsider.com/… (the phone has some house-keeping to do, so the first day will be abnormally hard on battery life)
Reviews:
The most detailed feature-by-feature review I've read: iOS and iPadOS 26: The MacStories Review — www.macstories.net/…
iOS 26 review: A practical, yet playful, update — arstechnica.com/… & Reviewing iOS 26 for power users: Reminders, Preview, and more — arstechnica.com/…
iOS 26 review: Smart, glassy, but waiting on Siri — appleinsider.com/…
Siri delays haunt an otherwise excellent upgrade … ['liquid glass' is] an aesthetic that works well, and Apple has certainly worked hard to perfect it. Expect more tweaks in the future as Apple deals with the inevitable complaints, but it's landed in a good position for the operating system's release … Overall, iOS 26 is a great update for most users.
iOS 26 Review: Through a glass, liquidly — sixcolors.com/…
"… worth noting that almost all of the iOS 26 features that Apple demoed during its WWDC keynote this year are available in this initial version … Overall, iOS 26’s quality of life improvements are what are likely to resonate the most" — Dan Moren
AirPods under iOS 26: iOS 26 AirPods Update: Every New Feature You Get — www.macobserver.com/…
CarPlay under iOS 26:
iPadOS 26 arrives with controversial Liquid Glass and Mac-like multitasking — appleinsider.com/… & Apple Launches iPadOS 26 With Major Productivity Upgrades — www.macobserver.com/…
iPadOS 26 review: A computer? — sixcolors.com/…
*“It’s like a weight has been lifted from the soul of the iPad. It remains a very nice device to use in full-screen mode with all the simplicity attendant to that mode. But via a single tap, it can also transform into a multi-window, multitasking device that’s appropriate for the Mac-class hardware underpinning today’s iPads.
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Apple’s new windowing system is great, embracing all the things that make the Mac work without forcing it on people who don’t want it. The improvements to Files, support for local recording, and the new background tasks Live Activity help create an iPad that just feels more ready for professional productivity tasks.“ — Jason Snell
Quick Stories
Apple refreshes Beats lineup with Powerbeats Fit — www.macobserver.com/… & Compact new Powerbeats Fit earbuds add comfort and durability — www.cultofmac.com/…
Adobe Brings Premiere Video Editor to iPhone — www.macobserver.com/… (and iPad!)
Apple launches new project to protect and restore California redwood forest — Apple PR
Apple's fourth quarter 2025 earnings call to take place on October 30 — appleinsider.com/…
Legend
Note: When the textual description of a link is part of the link it is the title of the page being linked to, when the text describing a link is not part of the link it is a description written by Bart.
Emoji
Meaning
A press release or official statement.
A link to audio content, probably a podcast.
flag
The story is particularly relevant to people living in a specific country, or, the organisation the story is about is affiliated with the government of a specific country.
A link to graphical content, probably a chart, graph, or diagram.
A link to an article behind a pay-wall.
A pinned story, i.e. one to keep an eye on that's likely to develop into something significant in the future.