O iPhone 17e é o atual smartphone de entrada da Apple. Lançado no início do ano, ele traz várias funções interessantes para quem quer um iPhone, mas não pode/deseja investir em modelos mais caros (como o iPhone 17, 17 Pro, etc.).
Entre as suas características, temos uma tela de 6,1 polegadas, uma câmera 2-em-1 Fusion de 48 megapixels, além do processador A19 e o botão de Ação (Action button). Ele também suporta o MagSafe e é plenamente compatível com a Apple Intelligence.
Se levarmos em conta que o preço tabelado desse modelo aqui no Brasil é de R$5.799, estamos diante de um desconto de 25%! Esse valor pode ser parcelado em até 10x no cartão de crédito, se preferir.
Para chegar a esses valores, aplique o cupom AMODESCONTO no carrinho.
Todos os descontos de promoções divulgadas pelo MacMagazine são calculados com base nos preços sugeridos pela Apple ou por outras fabricantes. Pode ser que um determinado produto seja comumente encontrado por valores inferiores em redes varejistas, mas a nossa base de comparação é sempre em cima das tabelas oficiais.
Se você não é louco, é claro que gosta de economizar. E, para isso, o MacMagazine tem diversas opções para ajudar você a conseguir comprar o seu produto Apple pagando menos!
NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada mais pelos produtos/serviços usando os nossos links de afiliado.
Apple in China occupies a position unlike the company’s presence in any other country. China is simultaneously a major consumer market, a critical manufacturing center, an extensive developer economy and the home of Apple’s most determined hardware competitors.
That combination creates an opportunity few technology companies can ignore. China has hundreds of millions of affluent mobile users, a strong appetite for premium devices and a digital economy built around smartphones.
It also creates unusual complexity. Apple must compete with Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo while satisfying Chinese regulations, navigating tensions between Beijing and Washington and reducing its manufacturing dependence without damaging the supplier network that helped make the iPhone possible.
The latest market figures show why Apple cannot treat China as a business it has already lost. IDC estimated that Apple captured 18.1 percent of Chinese smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2026, placing it second behind Huawei at 22.6 percent.
Apple’s shipments increased by 24.4 percent from the previous year even as the wider Chinese smartphone market contracted. The recovery demonstrated that Chinese demand for the iPhone remains substantial when product design, storage, performance and pricing align with consumer expectations.
The same figures also show why the position can never be considered secure. Huawei remains ahead, local brands respond quickly and a few percentage points can separate several major vendors.
Apple in China Still Has Room to Grow
China is already one of Apple’s largest markets, but its scale means that even established product categories contain room for expansion.
The country has a large premium smartphone segment, extensive 5G coverage and consumers accustomed to using mobile devices for communication, payments, shopping, entertainment, transport and work.
An iPhone purchase can also lead to AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, iCloud storage and paid applications. The commercial opportunity is therefore larger than the initial handset transaction.
Apple’s strongest advantage is its integrated ecosystem. An iPhone can share passwords, photographs, messages and files with a Mac or iPad, while AirPods and Apple Watch extend the experience without requiring separate accounts and setup systems.
That continuity becomes more valuable as households accumulate devices. Replacing one iPhone is relatively easy. Leaving an ecosystem containing several products, purchased applications, cloud storage and shared family services involves greater friction.
Apple also benefits from a premium identity that remains recognizable in China. Local manufacturers now produce sophisticated flagship phones, but the iPhone continues to operate as both a personal computer and a luxury consumer product.
The importance of that status should not be exaggerated. Chinese buyers are technically informed and increasingly willing to support domestic brands. Brand recognition can attract attention, but it does not excuse weak features or an uncompetitive product cycle.
Recent iPhone Demand Shows the Opportunity
Apple’s 2026 recovery offers a useful example of how quickly its position can improve.
China’s smartphone shipments fell 4.3 percent during the second quarter as memory and component costs pushed several manufacturers toward higher prices. Apple and Huawei held prices more stable, giving buyers a reason to purchase while competing brands became more expensive.
The iPhone 17 generation also addressed several areas where Apple’s standard models had appeared conservative beside Chinese flagships. Stronger base specifications made the regular iPhone more competitive without requiring every customer to move into the Pro tier.
This matters in a market where consumers compare display technology, camera systems, storage, battery life, charging and AI features closely. Apple cannot depend entirely on iOS loyalty when domestic companies introduce visible hardware improvements at several price levels.
The rebound does not establish a permanent trend. Smartphone demand in China remains affected by economic confidence, upgrade cycles, government incentives and the timing of major shopping festivals.
Apple’s position can also look different according to the research firm and whether a report measures shipments or consumer sales. Quarterly rankings should be treated as evidence of momentum rather than a final judgment on the market.
The important signal is that Chinese consumers have not broadly rejected the iPhone. Demand can return rapidly when the product and price create a convincing upgrade.
Huawei Makes China Apple’s Hardest Market
Huawei gives Apple a competitor with advantages unavailable to most global smartphone manufacturers.
The company combines strong national recognition with advanced cameras, communications technology, custom chips, local services and an expanding HarmonyOS ecosystem. Its return to premium smartphones removed the opening Apple had gained when U.S. restrictions disrupted Huawei’s access to important components.
Huawei can also position its products as part of China’s technological self-reliance. That message carries commercial and political weight beyond a conventional comparison between two phones.
Apple must therefore compete against product quality and national sentiment simultaneously. An iPhone can offer strong performance and still lose a purchase to a domestic flagship viewed as technically capable and strategically important.
Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo add different pressures. They move quickly across price categories, experiment with folding designs, adopt larger batteries and provide features adapted to local applications and buying habits.
Chinese phone makers also operate inside a retail and software environment they understand directly. They can build relationships with local platforms, carriers and commerce services without translating a global strategy into Chinese requirements.
Apple follows a more centralized product model. That consistency protects the identity of the iPhone, but it can make the company slower to answer features gaining popularity inside one country.
Services Depend on Local Rules
Apple in China is not only an iPhone business. The installed device base creates demand for applications, cloud storage, entertainment, subscriptions and digital purchases.
China has an enormous developer community producing games, commerce platforms, social services, education tools and productivity software. The App Store connects those developers with high-value iPhone and iPad customers.
The relationship is commercially important but politically complicated. Apple must operate the mainland App Store according to Chinese law, including rules affecting games, generative AI, communications services and content.
Applications available elsewhere may be absent from the Chinese storefront. Developers may also need licenses or regulatory approval before distributing certain categories of software.
Apple changed commission rates and related policies for the mainland China storefront in March 2026. The company described the adjustments as part of maintaining a strong business opportunity for Chinese developers.
Regulatory and developer pressure has not disappeared. Complaints involving commissions, distribution restrictions and payment policies continue to challenge Apple’s control of the platform.
The company cannot simply copy its response from another region. European rules focus heavily on alternative marketplaces and interoperability, while China combines competition concerns with content regulation, data localization and licensing requirements.
Every concession must therefore be designed for a distinct legal environment without fragmenting iOS into an unmanageable collection of regional systems.
China Is Also Part of the Product
Apple’s relationship with China extends far beyond the devices sold there.
For more than two decades, Apple and its manufacturing partners built a dense network of factories, component suppliers, engineers, logistics operators and toolmakers across the country.
That network does more than provide low-cost labor. It can place specialists from several suppliers near an assembly site, modify production lines quickly and increase output to enormous volumes during a product launch.
China’s infrastructure also supports the less visible stages of manufacturing. Components require precision tooling, testing equipment, chemicals, packaging, subassemblies and experienced quality-control teams before final assembly begins.
Apple has expanded iPhone production in India and moved parts of its Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods supply chains to countries including Vietnam. It is also increasing semiconductor and component commitments in the United States.
Those investments reduce the danger of relying on one country, but they do not recreate China’s complete manufacturing environment immediately.
A factory in another region may assemble an iPhone while still depending on Chinese machinery, materials, subcomponents or engineering support. Production diversification is therefore a gradual redistribution of individual stages rather than a clean departure.
Apple must reduce concentration risk without weakening the manufacturing system responsible for its product quality, scale and launch schedules.
Image Credit: AFP Photo
Trade Tensions Turn Efficiency Into Risk
The same China supply chain that provides Apple with extraordinary efficiency also exposes the company to political decisions outside its control.
Tariffs can raise the cost of devices exported from Chinese factories. Export restrictions can limit access to materials or production equipment, while sanctions may affect suppliers and technology partners.
Chinese government policies can influence the use of foreign devices inside state agencies and companies. U.S. rules can restrict the technologies available to Chinese firms that also participate in Apple’s supplier network.
Apple cannot solve these problems through product design alone. It must maintain relationships with two governments whose technology policies increasingly emphasize security, domestic production and strategic independence.
Moving more assembly to India gives Apple additional flexibility, particularly for iPhones destined for the United States. China nevertheless remains important as a production center and consumer market.
An aggressive withdrawal could damage supplier relationships and local sales. Moving too slowly could leave Apple vulnerable to another trade disruption.
The company is trying to preserve Chinese capabilities while creating enough capacity elsewhere to keep a political dispute from becoming a worldwide product shortage.
Retail Stores Give Apple a Direct Relationship
Apple’s physical stores remain an important advantage in China because they give the company direct contact with customers.
The stores allow buyers to compare models, receive technical support, attend educational sessions and enter the ecosystem without depending entirely on a carrier or reseller.
That experience is particularly valuable for premium products. A customer considering a Mac, Apple Vision Pro or high-end iPhone may need more explanation than someone replacing an inexpensive handset.
Retail locations also communicate long-term commitment. A prominent store represents more than a sales channel; it signals that Apple intends to remain part of the local technology market.
Online commerce is equally important. Chinese consumers are accustomed to large shopping festivals, aggressive promotions and rapid delivery through domestic platforms.
Apple must balance its controlled global pricing with a market where discounts can change quarterly rankings. Too little flexibility makes the iPhone appear expensive, while frequent reductions can train customers to delay purchases and weaken its premium image.
The strongest 2026 performance came partly from avoiding price increases while component costs were forcing rivals to reconsider their pricing. That advantage may disappear when competitors adjust their supply chains or launch another cycle of promotions.
Chinese Consumers Set a Higher Product Standard
China is often discussed as a sales problem for Apple, but it also functions as a demanding test of the iPhone.
Domestic flagship phones compete through larger batteries, rapid charging, advanced camera hardware, folding displays and deep integration with local digital services.
Features considered experimental elsewhere can become established expectations more quickly in China. Apple’s slower adoption cycle may look disciplined in one market and conservative in another.
The company must decide which expectations represent durable improvements and which are temporary specification contests. Copying every local feature would weaken Apple’s focused product strategy, but ignoring major changes creates openings for rivals.
This pressure can benefit Apple globally. Competition in China forces the company to defend the value of its standard iPhone, improve battery efficiency, strengthen cameras and make software features more useful outside English-speaking markets.
The opportunity is therefore not limited to selling more devices. China can reveal where Apple’s global assumptions no longer match the most competitive part of the smartphone industry.
Todas as empresas de capital aberto (que possuem ações à venda na bolsa de valores) são obrigadas, por lei — na maioria dos países (inclusive Brasil) —, a disponibilizar publicamente suas demonstrações financeiras periodicamente. Esse costuma ser um momento bastante esperado por acionistas (analisando se a empresa na qual estão investindo está sendo bem administrada e gerando lucros), investidores (para captar novas oportunidades de alocar seus recursos), além da imprensa e de curiosos em geral. Na última quinta-feira (30/7), foi a vez da Apple de divulgar seus resultados financeiros referentes ao trimestre abril-junho de 2026.
Para alegria de todos, o CEO 1Chief executive officer, ou diretor executivo.Tim Cook se despede da sua posição com o melhor terceiro trimestre fiscal que a empresa já registrou — um recorde absoluto! Como já informado aqui no MacMagazine, no período de abril a junho (encerrado no dia 27/6), a companhia relatou uma receita de US$109,4 bilhões (alta de 16,4%) em relação ao mesmo trimestre do ano anterior, e lucro líquido de US$29,8 bilhões (um avanço de 27%). A margem bruta chegou a incríveis 50,1%, a maior já apurada em períodos semelhantes da história da empresa!
Hoje, a Apple tem orgulho de relatar o nosso melhor trimestre de abril-junho de todos os tempos, com crescimento de receita de dois dígitos em iPhone, Mac e Serviços, e em todos os segmentos geográficos.
Uma das grandes surpresas do relatório foi o crescimento no faturamento de Macs. Pela primeira vez, a categoria ultrapassou a casa dos US$10 bilhões em um trimestre abril-junho, e o crescimento de 29% superou o do iPhone.
A explicação está em parte na procura alucinada por Macs mini para rodar agentes de inteligência artificial e na leva de lançamentos de março: MacBook Air com M5, MacBook Pro com M5 Pro e M5 Max, e principalmente o MacBook Neo, o modelo de entrada que estreou a US$600 — preço que subiu para US$700 em junho, no reajuste geral motivado pelo custo de memória. A Apple parece ter encontrado um mercado relevante abaixo do Air, e vale acompanhar o que isso faz com a margem da linha nos próximos trimestres.
O iPad foi a única categoria no vermelho, com queda anual de 6%. Não é surpresa: a própria Apple havia avisado que a comparação seria difícil, pois no ano anterior houve o lançamento do iPad com chip A16. O iPad Air com M4, que chegou em março, não foi suficiente para compensar. Cabe ainda analisar se o bem-sucedido MacBook Neo não acabou levando um pouco do mercado dos tablets, também.
O asterisco que quase ninguém vai mencionar
A margem bruta de 50,1% e o lucro por ação de US$2,02 não são resultado apenas da operação, e esse detalhe se perde facilmente na comemoração dos recordes.
À primeira vista, no press release — e nos comentários que fizemos no último podcast —, esse ponto não ficou bem claro, mas merece atenção. A Apple informou, no comunicado, que a margem incluiu cerca de dois pontos percentuais e o lucro por ação incluiu US$0,11 vindos de reembolso de tarifas, dinheiro que a empresa havia pago ao governo americano e recebeu de volta depois que a Suprema Corte derrubou, em fevereiro, as tarifas impostas sob a IEEPA (a lei de poderes econômicos internacionais de emergência). A empresa não detalhou a origem exata dos valores devolvidos, mas a decisão da Corte é o evento que abriu caminho para os reembolsos.
É dinheiro real, entra legitimamente no resultado, mas não é recorrente e não diz nada sobre a capacidade da Apple de vender aparelhos. Descontando o efeito, a fotografia muda um pouco: a margem bruta cai para aproximadamente 48%, exatamente o que o consenso projetava, e o lucro por ação vai para cerca de US$1,91, contra os US$1,89 esperados. De uma superação de 6,9% no lucro, sobra uma de pouco mais de 1%.
Ou seja: o trimestre continua bom em receita e em volume, que são genuinamente fortes. Mas o brilho extraordinário no lucro é, em boa parte, contábil, e não se repete.
A Apple abre a margem bruta em dois blocos apenas: produtos e serviços. Ela nunca divulga margem por categoria individual (não existe margem oficial de iPhone, Mac ou iPad em documento nenhum da empresa, e todo número desse tipo que circula é estimativa de analista), mas os dois blocos que ela abre já contam a história.
Linha de negócio
Margem do FQ3 2026
Margem do FQ3 2025
Variação
Produtos
40,07%
34,52%
+5,55pp
Serviços
75,62%
75,58%
+0,04pp
Consolidado
50,06%
46,49%
+3,57pp
A margem de hardware subiu 5,55 pontos percentuais em 12 meses. A margem de hardware não sobe 5 pontos por ganho de eficiência: é ali que o reembolso de tarifas desembarcou, porque tarifa incide sobre produto físico. A prova está na linha seguinte: serviços, que não pagam tarifa nenhuma, ficou praticamente parado. A melhora não foi operacional.
Vale registrar um desequilíbrio que explica boa parte do valuation da Apple. Serviços representam 28,1% da receita, mas respondem por 42,4% do lucro bruto do trimestre. Produtos são 71,9% da receita e apenas 57,6% do lucro. Cada dólar de serviço vale quase o dobro de um dólar de hardware, e é por isso que o mercado aceita pagar perto de 40x o lucro por uma empresa que, no fim das contas, vende telefone.
Serviços: um pequeno sinal de alerta
Os relatórios revelaram um problema silencioso do trimestre. Serviços cresceram 12,1%, um bom número isolado, mas bem abaixo dos 16,2% do trimestre encerrado em março e, mais grave, abaixo do que a própria Apple havia sinalizado. Na teleconferência de abril, o diretor financeiro Kevan Parekh disse que os serviços cresceriam em ritmo “similar ao reportado em março” (ou seja, algo perto de 16%, ressalvando o efeito cambial). Ficaram cerca de 4 pontos percentuais aquém.
A linha chegou a recuar 0,8% em relação ao trimestre imediatamente anterior. Foi o único item da projeção que a Apple não cumpriu, e não é um item qualquer: é o que sustenta o múltiplo da ação. Parte da imprensa de mercado atribuiu a reação negativa à combinação de serviços com a Grande China, embora as estimativas para a região divergissem bastante entre as casas: havia projeções de US$18,8 bilhões, que o resultado cumpriu, e de US$19,5 bilhões, que não.
Fora das manchetes do balanço, três indicadores das demonstrações merecem atenção, e nenhum deles apareceu no material de divulgação.
O estoque quase dobrou, de US$5,7 bilhões em setembro de 2025 para US$11,1 bilhões, alta de 94%. Uma empresa que é referência mundial em operar com estoque enxuto dobrou o estoque em 9 meses. A leitura mais provável é compra antecipada de memória, antes que os preços subam ainda mais. É a confirmação contábil do que Cook disse em junho, quando afirmou que aumentos de preços eram inevitáveis.
Pesquisa e desenvolvimento saltou para US$11,7 bilhões, o dobro do ritmo da receita, e passou de 9,4% para 10,7% do faturamento. Ao mesmo tempo, o investimento em ativo fixo (equipamentos, imóveis, veículos etc.) caiu 28% no acumulado de 9 meses. É a tese da IA “capital-light” traduzida em números: a Apple gasta mais em gente e software, e menos em concreto e servidor, apostando em rodar inteligência nos mais de 2 bilhões de aparelhos que já estão nas mãos dos usuários. O oposto de Microsoft, Google e Amazon.
O caixa operacional de 9 meses foi de US$117 bilhões, contra US$81,8 bilhões. Mesmo assim, a recompra de ações caiu de US$70,6 para US$62,1 bilhões. A Apple está segurando dinheiro, o que é coerente com o estoque dobrado e com uma troca de comando marcada para 1º de setembro.
Há ainda um detalhe na linha de outras receitas, que agrupa o que a Apple ganha fora da operação: juros do caixa aplicado, juros pagos sobre dívida, variação cambial e valorização de participações minoritárias. O resultado foi de US$572 milhões positivos, contra US$171 milhões negativos há um ano — um giro de US$743 milhões. A carteira de caixa e aplicações subiu para US$146,5 bilhões, enquanto a dívida caiu para US$82,3 bilhões. Mais dinheiro rendendo, menos juros a pagar. É lucro financeiro, não operacional.
A projeção para setembro veio bem abaixo
O trimestre relatado é recorde. A projeção que o acompanha, não. E como o mercado precifica futuro e não passado, foi ela que dominou a reação. A ação, que havia fechado o pregão a US$333,43, caiu cerca de 6,5% na negociação estendida ao longo da teleconferência, o que equivale a aproximadamente US$317 bilhões de valor de mercado. No dia seguinte, a queda se confirmou: -7,35%. A projeção da Apple para o trimestre de setembro, o último do ano fiscal, veio com dois números desconfortáveis.
Indicador
FQ3 2026 (real)
FQ4 2026 (projetado)
Crescimento de receita
16,4%
de 9% a 11%
Margem bruta
50,1%
de 47% a 48%
Margem bruta sem reembolso de tarifas
48,1%
de 47% a 48%
Receita implícita
US$109,4 bilhões
de US$111,7 a US$113,7 bilhões
A desaceleração de 16,4% para algo entre 9% e 11% já seria suficiente para incomodar. O que agravou foi a justificativa: Parekh afirmou que o impacto das restrições de oferta deve “aumentar significativamente” em relação ao trimestre anterior — citando explicitamente iPhone, Mac e iPad —, e mencionou ainda ventos contrários de câmbio sobre a receita de iPhone.
A margem projetada de 47% a 48% é o número mais revelador de todo o balanço. Ela fica abaixo do resultado limpo deste trimestre sem o reembolso de tarifas. Ou seja: a Apple está dizendo que a margem vai cair de verdade, em bases comparáveis. O colchão de estoque de memória comprado a preço favorável, que segurou os custos nos últimos trimestres, está acabando, e o trimestre de setembro é justamente o que carrega o lançamento dos “iPhones 18 Pro/18 Pro Max” — e provavelmente do “iPhone Ultra”, o primeiro dobrável da empresa.
Ternus assumirá como diretor executivo em 1º de setembro, com Cook passando a presidente executivo do conselho. A julgar pelo balanço, ele recebe uma casa em ordem: receita recorde, base instalada de aparelhos ativos em máxima histórica em todas as categorias principais, patrimônio líquido de US$107,5 bilhões e — possivelmente — a companhia mais valiosa do mundo.
Recebe também três problemas bem definidos. O primeiro é o custo de memória, que já forçou aumentos de preço no MacBook Air, no Mac mini e no Mac Studio, e que agora vai comprimir margem sem o amortecedor do estoque barato.
O segundo é a desaceleração dos serviços, com os recursos judiciais contra o acordo de busca com o Google ainda pendentes.
A leitura mais honesta deste balanço talvez seja esta: Cook encerra sua gestão entregando o melhor trimestre abril-junho da história da Apple, a maior capitalização de mercado do mundo e uma operação que cresce dois dígitos em todos os continentes em que atua. O que ele não entrega pronto é a próxima curva: provar que a aposta de rodar inteligência artificial dentro do aparelho, e não na nuvem, vale o múltiplo de 40x que a ação vinha cobrando. Essa parte, agora, é com Ternus.
Metodologia
Os números do trimestre e do comparativo anual foram extraídos das demonstrações consolidadas condensadas não auditadas da Apple referentes ao terceiro trimestre fiscal de 2026 e ao terceiro trimestre fiscal de 2025, conferidas linha a linha. As margens por linha de negócio, os indicadores de balanço patrimonial e de fluxo de caixa e todos os percentuais foram calculados a partir desses documentos.
As estimativas de consenso de Wall Street citadas foram compiladas antes da divulgação junto a Yahoo Finance, TipRanks, Zacks, Visible Alpha, Hudson Labs e Goldman Sachs.
A projeção para o trimestre de setembro e as declarações do diretor financeiro vêm da teleconferência de 30 de julho de 2026, com apuração de 9to5Mac, CNBC e AppleInsider.
Os dados de mercado chinês são da IDC e da CAICT. A série de fechamentos mensais da ação tem origem em StatMuse, StockAnalysis.com, FinancialContent e Macrotrends, via S&P Global Market Intelligence.
O ajuste identificado como “sem reembolso de tarifas” não é uma linha contábil: é cálculo próprio a partir do efeito que a Apple declarou no comunicado de resultados.
Observação
Este texto não constitui recomendação de investimento.
Apple Notes in iOS 27 receives a focused collection of upgrades designed to make long documents easier to navigate and information simpler to move between apps.
Section links allow users to jump directly to headings inside a note. Divider lines create clearer visual boundaries, while expanded Markdown support improves workflows involving websites, writing tools and plain-text editors.
Siri AI introduces the most ambitious addition by creating notes, adding information to existing documents and transferring answers from a Siri conversation without requiring manual copying.
Image Playground also becomes more capable inside Notes, gaining additional visual styles and photorealistic image generation through Apple’s new cloud-based model.
Not every feature requires Apple Intelligence. Divider lines, section links, Markdown tools and the updated interface work on every iPhone compatible with iOS 27. Siri AI and advanced Image Playground capabilities need newer hardware and may have additional language or regional restrictions.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.
Apple Notes iOS 27 Adds Section Links
Section links solve one of the largest problems affecting long notes: reaching information located several screens below the beginning.
A user can now select text, choose Add Link and connect it to any heading or subheading inside the current note. Tapping that linked text immediately moves the reader to the selected section.
The feature can turn the opening of a document into a manual table of contents. A project note might contain links to its schedule, budget, participants, research and outstanding tasks without requiring separate documents.
To create a section link:
Select text > Add Link > Link to Section > Choose a heading
Notes displays the headings and subheadings already present in the document. Regular body paragraphs do not appear as destinations, so the note must use Apple’s title or heading formats before links can be created.
To format a destination:
Select the section title > Formatting > Heading or Subheading
The visible link text does not need to match the destination heading. A phrase such as “View the current budget” can link to a section titled “Financial Information.”
Section links differ from the existing ability to connect separate notes. Apple Notes already allows users to create internal links leading from one document to another. The new control moves within the same document instead.
That distinction is useful for meeting records, research files, travel plans and study material that become too long for ordinary scrolling but do not need to be divided into several notes.
Links should continue working when the document is shared through iCloud because they point to structural elements inside the note rather than fixed screen positions.
Renaming or deleting a destination heading may affect its link. Users maintaining complex documents should test their navigation after reorganizing major sections.
Divider Lines Improve Visual Structure
Apple Notes in iOS 27 adds horizontal divider lines as a native formatting element.
The line creates a visible separation across the document without requiring users to type repeated hyphens, underscores or other characters.
To add one:
Place the cursor > Open the edit menu > Insert Divider Line
The divider is inserted at the cursor position and moves with the surrounding content as the note changes.
A horizontal line can separate meeting notes by date, distinguish reference material from personal comments or divide a recipe into ingredients, preparation and serving information.
It also provides structure without making every section a heading. Headings define the hierarchy used by section links, while dividers create a visual break that does not become another navigation destination.
Typing a row of hyphens previously produced an inconsistent substitute. The characters could wrap on a narrow screen, change length after editing or become difficult to select. The native element maintains its appearance as the document moves among iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Divider lines should be used selectively. Adding one between every short paragraph can make the note look more fragmented rather than organized.
The strongest layout combines headings for major subjects, subheadings for smaller divisions and divider lines where one type of content clearly ends before another begins.
Markdown Moves More Easily Into Apple Notes
Apple Notes gained the ability to import and export Markdown files with iOS 26. The iOS 27 upgrade removes additional steps from copying content between Notes and Markdown-based tools.
Markdown uses plain-text characters to represent formatting. A hash symbol can identify a heading, pairs of asterisks can create bold text and square brackets can define a link.
The format is widely used by writers, developers, documentation systems and publishing platforms because it remains readable without requiring a proprietary editor.
When Markdown-formatted text is pasted into Apple Notes in iOS 27, the app automatically converts the syntax into rich text. Headings become formatted headings, links become clickable and emphasis appears as bold or italic text.
A pasted line such as Project Schedule appears as a formatted heading rather than displaying the two hash symbols.
Moving content in the opposite direction is also easier. Apple has added a Copy as Markdown command that converts selected rich text into Markdown syntax before placing it on the clipboard.
To use it:
Select the text > Open the edit menu > Copy as Markdown
The result can be pasted into a content-management system, code editor, Markdown document or another writing application while preserving supported formatting.
Copy as Markdown does not transform Apple Notes into a complete Markdown editor. Users continue writing through the familiar rich-text interface rather than viewing raw syntax throughout the document.
Complex attachments may not translate perfectly. Scanned documents, drawings, audio recordings, embedded files and some tables do not have universal Markdown equivalents.
Basic elements such as headings, links, emphasis and lists provide the most dependable transfer. Users preparing an important publication should review the pasted result before assuming every element survived the conversion.
Image Credit: AppleMagazine
Siri AI Can Create and Update Notes
Siri AI gives Apple Notes in iOS 27 a more direct connection with information generated or located through the assistant.
A user can ask Siri a question, refine the answer through conversation and save the result into a new note. The transfer happens without selecting the response, copying it and leaving Siri to open Notes manually.
A request could take the following form:
“Create a note called Kyoto Trip and add this itinerary.”
Siri can also target an existing document when the user identifies it clearly:
“Add these restaurant suggestions to my Kyoto Trip note.”
The integration extends beyond saving complete answers. Siri AI can reorganize poorly formatted information, convert text into a clearer structure and place the revised version inside Notes.
Someone collecting an unorganized group of tasks could ask Siri to separate them by priority before saving the result. A block of research could be converted into headings and shorter paragraphs.
Siri’s personal-context capabilities can help locate an existing note when the precise title is forgotten. The assistant is designed to search information across apps and understand requests using details connected to the user.
These actions remain subject to permissions. Siri should not silently place information into a document without recognizing the requested destination and action.
Users should review AI-generated material before treating it as authoritative. Reformatting supplied text carries less factual risk than asking Siri to generate research, dates, quotations or instructions from general knowledge.
Siri AI Requires Newer iPhone Hardware
The main Apple Notes iOS 27 update runs on iPhone 11 and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE and newer models.
Siri AI has a narrower hardware requirement. Apple lists iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max and every iPhone 16 or later model as compatible with the new Apple Intelligence architecture.
An iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14 or iPhone 11 can receive section links, dividers, Markdown support and the redesigned Notes interface. Those devices cannot use the Siri AI note-writing actions.
This separation means two iPhones running the same operating system can display different Notes capabilities.
Siri AI is scheduled to reach users as a beta later in 2026, beginning in English. Apple plans to expand language availability, but individual capabilities may not arrive simultaneously in every supported language.
The assistant will not initially be available on iPhone or iPad in the European Union. Apple has also said its new Apple Intelligence features will remain unavailable in China while the company works through regulatory requirements.
Ordinary Siri controls may continue to perform basic actions on unsupported devices, such as creating a simple dictated note. They should not be confused with the new ability to hold a conversation, reorganize information and add the result to a chosen document.
Image Playground Expands Inside Notes
Image Playground remains integrated with Apple Notes in iOS 27 and receives a substantially more capable generation model.
The upgraded system can produce higher-quality images in a wider range of visual styles, including photorealistic results. Earlier Image Playground versions concentrated on illustration, animation and sketch-like appearances.
Users can describe an image and insert the generated result into the current note. A travel plan might receive a destination image, while a creative project could use generated concept art beside written ideas.
Photorealistic generation runs through Private Cloud Compute rather than entirely on the iPhone. Apple says requests processed through this architecture are not stored or made accessible to the company.
Generated images automatically include a hidden SynthID watermark identifying them as AI-created. The watermark does not appear as a visible label across the picture, but it provides a technical signal that compatible systems can detect.
Image generation may have daily usage limits because it depends on powerful server models. Apple says most iCloud+ plans will provide increased access, although the exact allowance can depend on the subscription and service conditions available at release.
The complete Image Playground experience may not appear in every early iOS 27 beta. Apple can activate or adjust cloud-dependent features separately while testing the operating system.
New Icons Clarify Shared Notes and Folders
Apple Notes adopts the wider iOS 27 design changes through refreshed buttons, menus and Liquid Glass interface elements.
The Notes app icon has been updated while preserving the familiar yellow-and-white paper design. The change keeps the app recognizable without leaving it visually disconnected from the new system icons.
Shared material receives clearer identification. The shared folder displayed near the top of the folder list now uses a blue icon, separating it more clearly from private iCloud and local folders.
Individual shared notes and folders also receive revised symbols. These indicators make it easier to understand whether another person can view or edit material before sensitive information is added.
The distinction matters because a collaborative note can look almost identical to a private document once it is open. A clearer icon in the list provides another warning before the user begins editing.
Liquid Glass changes the appearance of controls and menus but does not alter the underlying note format. Existing notes, scans, checklists, attachments and locked documents remain available after the update.
People using accessibility settings such as increased contrast, reduced transparency or reduced motion may see a modified version of the visual design.
Existing Notes Features Remain Available
The iOS 27 changes build on a much larger set of capabilities introduced during earlier releases.
Apple Notes can already scan documents, attach PDFs, record audio, generate transcripts, solve mathematical expressions, create checklists and collaborate through iCloud.
Users can link one note to another, place notes inside folders, apply tags and create Smart Folders that collect documents according to selected rules.
Locked notes can use a device passcode or separate password, while Face ID provides faster access on supported iPhones.
The app can also identify handwriting, search text inside scanned documents and recognize information contained in images.
None of those existing tools has been replaced by Siri AI or Markdown. The new version concentrates on moving through large notes and transferring information with less manual work.
Section links are particularly effective when combined with audio transcripts or lengthy scanned research. A user can create headings above important material and place navigation links at the beginning of the document.
Markdown support addresses another gap by making Notes more practical as the first stage of a publishing workflow rather than a closed destination for text.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.
What to Check Before Installing the iOS 27 Beta
Apple Notes in iOS 27 is available for testing through prerelease software, with the complete operating-system release scheduled for the fall.
Beta software can contain synchronization failures, interface problems and changes that Apple has not finished documenting. Notes is especially sensitive because its content may synchronize immediately across every device using the same Apple Account.
Before installing a beta on a primary iPhone, users should confirm that important notes have finished syncing and that another copy of critical information exists outside the beta device.
A Mac, iPad or iCloud.com can be used to verify whether recent documents have reached the server. Exporting especially important notes as PDFs or Markdown files provides an additional copy that does not depend on the Notes database.
Collaborative notes require more caution. People using older operating systems may not see every new formatting element exactly as intended, particularly while iOS 27 remains in testing.
The public release should resolve many compatibility issues, but Siri AI will follow its own beta schedule and regional limitations. Installing iOS 27 alone will not guarantee that every intelligent Notes action appears immediately.
Apple can still modify menu locations, visual elements and cloud-based features before the final version arrives. The safest time to reorganize a large Notes library around section links will be after every frequently used Apple device can install its corresponding fall update.
Apple’s all-new Siri AI. An even more capable AI assistant with expanded intelligence to be more helpful every day.
According to Gene Munster, an X poll indicated that only about 17% of U.S. iPhone users engage with Siri on a daily basis, a notably low figure given that the average iPhone is interacted with more than 100 times per day. At present, Siri is primarily used for low-stakes tasks and is not widely trusted as a full assistant.
Munster anticipates that this will begin to change over the next year. A new version — Siri AI — will become available in the U.S. late this year through an iOS 27 update. In beta testing conducted over the past 20 days, the feature was observed to be slow; however, this drawback was more than offset by an AI assistant that simply works effectively.
Ultimately, Munster believes that increased use of Siri (which is central to Apple’s personalized AI) will form the foundation of the value proposition for Apple devices.
We ran a simple one-question poll on X asking, “How often do you use Siri?” The poll drew 1,750 votes. The raw results showed daily Siri use at a low 17%, with 39% reporting they never use it. As a daily Siri user, these numbers caught my attention, underscoring the degree of brand damage the feature has endured over the past decade.
The comments were more telling than the poll. Across 64 replies, the message was clear and expected: Siri survives as a basic utility or shortcut, not an assistant…
My takeaway: Siri today is, on average, not trusted. It works for a narrow set of commands where the cost of failure is low.
The question is, once Siri gets overhauled, will the 83% of users who question its utility give it another try? I believe the answer is yes.
MacDailyNews Take: We fully agree with Gene.
Siri AI no longer just marketing. The rebuilt architecture works in real life — helping with souvenirs for the kids, prepping for your day, or analyzing your breakfast — while staying firmly within responsible boundaries.
The old Siri is gone. The new Siri AI has arrived in a very promising way – and it’s still just in beta. Our little birdies — who’ve been telling for months that the new Siri not only works, but is actually pretty great — knew what they were talking about! – MacDailyNews, June 20, 2026
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Mesmo não sendo o modelo mais popular da mais recente safra de telefones da Apple, o iPhone Air certamente foi o modelo que roubou as atenções.
Com um design ultrafino de 5,64mm de espessura, ele traz vários recursos poderosos, como o processador A19 Pro (com uma GPU 1Graphics processing unit, ou unidade de processamento gráfico. de 5 núcleos), uma câmera 2-em-1 Fusion de 48 megapixels, o botão de Ação (Action Button) e o Controle da Câmera (Camera Control).
Se você está atrás desse modelo, hoje a Amazon está com uma promoção excelente. Trata-se da versão com a maior capacidade disponível (1TB), nas cores branco-nuvem ou dourado-claro. Ele está saindo por R$8.499, parceláveis em até 12x no cartão de crédito!
iPhone Air de 1TB
Parcelado: de R$13.499,00 por R$8.499,00 em até 12x À vista no Pix: de R$12.149,10 por R$7.609,10
🛍️ Produto vendido pela Amazon; o preço aparece na finalização do pedido💰https://t.co/PFQtc7pgoC
Considerando que o preço tabelado desse modelo aqui no Brasil é de R$13.499, estamos diante de um desconto de incríveis 37%!
Para quem preferir pagar à vista no Pix, o valor fica ainda melhor: ele cai para R$7.609,10 — também um desconto de 37% em comparação com o valor cobrado pela Apple na mesma modalidade de pagamento, de R$12.149,10.
Para chegar a esses valores, basta adicionar o iPhone Air no carrinho para garantir mais R$400 de desconto sobre o preço anunciado.
Todos os descontos de promoções divulgadas pelo MacMagazine são calculados com base nos preços sugeridos pela Apple ou por outras fabricantes. Pode ser que um determinado produto seja comumente encontrado por valores inferiores em redes varejistas, mas a nossa base de comparação é sempre em cima das tabelas oficiais.
Se você não é louco, é claro que gosta de economizar. E, para isso, o MacMagazine tem diversas opções para ajudar você a conseguir comprar o seu produto Apple pagando menos!
NOTA DE TRANSPARÊNCIA: O MacMagazine recebe uma pequena comissão sobre vendas concluídas por meio de links deste post, mas você, como consumidor, não paga nada mais pelos produtos/serviços usando os nossos links de afiliado.
Notas de rodapé
1
Graphics processing unit, ou unidade de processamento gráfico.
A nova versão foi compartilhada pelo usuário mactracker na versão beta do macOS 27 e, como apontado por ele, permite exibir sugestões contextuais de respostas inteligentes geradas pela Siri sem a necessidade de inserir automaticamente no rascunho, semelhante ao funcionamento de outras inteligências artificiais (IA) em apps de email.
As opções da nova barra incluem alternativas de edição, reescrita, correções gramaticais e/ou de escrita e uma opção intitulada “How does this sound?”, além das ferramentas tradicionais de formatação, escanteadas na lateral direita do novo layout.
Na versão atual, essas opções de formatação de texto também estão recolhidas na lateral direita da janela do aplicativo, desaparecendo por completo assim que se seleciona a opção de escrever com a Siri.
O novo layout está oculto por trás de uma feature flag interna, de forma que a maioria dos usuários da versão beta não consegue habilitá-lo. A beta 4 apresenta ainda algumas inconsistências no funcionamento do recurso, como a ausência da barra na escrita de novas mensagens, restringindo o seu funcionamento às réplicas de email.
Não se sabe ao certo se o recurso chegará à versão final do macOS 27 (prevista para aterrissar em setembro), mas ele parece acompanhar as reformulações propostas sobre a integração das ferramentas de IA no cotidiano do ecossistema da Apple nos sistemas 27.
Apple's settlement has now received preliminary approval from a judge, according to a July 17 court document. However, there is no settlement website yet, and it may take months before eligible customers can begin submitting claims. In other words, no action is required from eligible customers at this time, but stay tuned for updates.
Below, we have answered some key questions regarding the lawsuit.
Why Was Apple Sued?
In June 2024, Apple previewed new Siri capabilities powered by Apple Intelligence, including understanding of a user's personal context, on-screen awareness, and deeper per-app controls. For example, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info from the Mail and Messages apps.
In a statement, Apple touted a range of other Apple Intelligence features it had already released. Nevertheless, Apple agreed to settle the lawsuit "to stay focused" on "delivering the most innovative products and services to our users."
Apple finally announced "Siri AI" at WWDC 2026 last month, and the revamped assistant is available to test on the iOS 27 developer beta, with a public beta to follow this month. iOS 27 should be released in September, at which point "Siri AI" will finally be available to all users with an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Am I Eligible?
To be eligible to submit a claim, you must reside in the U.S. and have purchased any iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 model between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025.
The full list of eligible iPhone models:
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 16
iPhone 16e
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
It is unlikely that individuals who submit a claim will still need to have physical possession of an eligible iPhone model. However, there is a possibility that proof of purchase or other information will be required, such as the device's serial number. Exact requirements will be outlined on the settlement website, which is still not live.
How Much Will Apple Pay Me?
According to the terms of the settlement, each person who files an eligible claim will receive a per-device payment of $25, but this amount could increase up to $95 if the total number of claims submitted is lower than anticipated.
Where and When Can I Submit a Claim?
Over the coming months, a settlement website is expected to go live with an online claims form.
Eligible class members will be notified by email within approximately 45 days after the settlement received preliminary approval, according to the court documents. Even if you are not notified but are a U.S. resident who purchased one of the above iPhone models within the above dates, you are still eligible if you meet the criteria.
Apple is preparing a comprehensive refresh of its entire Mac ecosystem, with new models of the MacBook Air, iMac, MacBook Pro, a new “Neo” variant, Mac mini, and Mac Studio slated for release across this fall and into next year.
According to Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman, the technology giant aims to meet surging demand for powerful AI-capable machines by updating every Mac it currently sells. The overhaul includes long-awaited desktop refreshes and several laptop redesigns, positioning Apple to better compete in an increasingly AI-driven computing landscape.
The rollout begins later this year with an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M6 chip and refreshed iMac models. These updates address pent-up demand for modern desktops and more affordable professional laptops.
Further ahead, Apple plans higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring OLED displays and touchscreen capabilities, expected in late 2026 or early 2027 with M5 Pro and Max chips. New MacBook Air variants, including potential OLED versions, and a more powerful “MacBook Neo” with expanded RAM are also in the works.
Desktop users can look forward to updates for the Mac mini and Mac Studio, though some launches may face minor delays due to memory shortages driven by strong AI component demand.
This broad hardware push comes as Apple seeks to leverage its Apple Intelligence features and next-generation chips to drive sales amid a competitive market. The company is also introducing an “Apple Upgrade” leasing program in partnership with Klarna to make switching devices easier for customers.
MacDailyNews Take: With John Ternus stepping into the CEO role (effective September 1, 2026), Apple appears to be rediscovering a sharper product-first mindset. Ternus, long seen as a hardware and design deep-diver with decades of hands-on experience across iPad, Mac, and Apple Silicon development, brings a different emphasis than the iterative, operations-focus that defined the Cook slog.
The benefits to Apple Inc. and Apple device users of again having a product-focused CEO at Apple’s helm are already occurring!
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Apple has finally completed its silicon transition: macOS 27 drops all Intel-based Macs, and iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27 each leave five models by the wayside, whereas the iPhone compatibility list remains unchanged.
The AI frontier from the two big labs (and – we have to be honest with the numbers here – probably SpaceXAI and Meta now, too) is in a completely different league at the moment. I spent my first couple of weeks with Siri AI trying to convince myself that I could replace Codex with Siri AI, and that was the wrong approach. There is a potential future in which Siri AI can become a more proactive and capable agent, but that’s not what Apple is shipping this year.
[…]
Siri AI is a dramatically better Siri for typical Siri stuff. The new Siri understands your commands and nuanced requests better because of the LLMs behind it; it can often perform multiple requests in one go (such as setting multiple timers with one command); the new expressive (and customizable!) voices sound great, and they’re terrific at reading and summarizing notifications. Apple’s first advantage compared to other chatbots is right here: only Siri can integrate with the iPhone and iPad to this extent, so even if the Foundation models aren’t as smart as the competition, Siri can do a lot more for most people on their devices because neither OpenAI nor Anthropic have OSes they can control.
[…]
The biggest issue I’ve encountered is the inconsistency of it all. Very often, the new Siri AI still replies with a generic “Uh oh, something went wrong“ error that doesn’t explain what the error was or why it happened. Sometimes, I ask a question via voice, and it errors out, but then a few seconds later, I type the same question in the app, and it’s fine.
[…]
My problem is that, right now with Apple’s own apps, both the index and Siri’s ability to perform actions are very inconsistent. The assistant hallucinates abilities it doesn’t have, and it frequently just doesn’t work.
The good news is that Siri AI is capable: impressively so, at times. In the lowest of low bars, it certainly beats the pants off the previous incarnation of Siri, but its access to your own personal data and all of the app on your phone also unlocks a host of new possibilities.
But it’s also not without the pitfalls that underlie all LLM-powered chatbots: errors in understanding, hallucinations, and so on.
[…]
The app itself is pretty barebones, letting you view those conversations in List or Grid layouts, select multiple conversations to delete them, and pin or rename any single conversation. In Settings : Siri, you can choose to either open to the overview or to a new conversation and decide whether old conversations are kept for 30 days, 1 year, or forever. It’s a little strange that one-off queries (“What’s the average height of the Norwegian World Cup team?”) are stored alongside more involved conversations (“Can you help me build a specific RSS feed for this site?”); I also ended up with a few orphan blank “New conversations” which I deleted, but it’d be nice if you could filter to find those. Conversations are fully searchable and sync between devices via iCloud.
Despite the current limitations, if you use chatbots as a replacement for Google Search, you’ll probably have a good experience with the new Siri app. That’s because even in these early betas, if you ask Siri something like, “Give me a day trip itinerary for a trip to Chicago this Saturday,” you’re likely to get good but pretty middle-of-the-road recommendations. From there, though, you can drill down with follow-up queries to get something more in line with your tastes. The results include source links you can follow, too. Given the ad-strewn mess that web search has become, using Siri for this sort of thing is a meaningfully better experience.
The one caveat on Siri’s world knowledge is that it’s roughly 2-3 weeks stale in some places.
[…]
A good example is Music. You can prompt Siri to play a song, but most of the rich metadata in the app isn’t exposed to Siri, which is a shame because it is exposed elsewhere, for example to AppleScript.
Thanks to the top-to-bottom revamp that is Siri AI, Siri is reliably intelligent. Finally. We are still in the midst of beta season, and Apple is yet to confirm whether Siri AI will formally launch with iOS 27 in September or sometime later in the year, but the feature is up to scratch. There are bugs and glitches and edge-case quirks, but on the whole, it wipes the floor with old Siri and is competent enough to supplant my everyday usage of other chatbots too.
[…]
Siri AI can get a snapshot of what’s on screen, but it cannot control the UI for you autonomously. As such, if you ask it to do something outside of its library of available app actions, it will say it can’t do that. Often, it can quote the relevant steps for you to do it yourself, but obviously that falls short of the ideal experience. This feels a bit lacklustre to people already embracing AI agents en masse. Claude and Codex on Mac do not hit these walls; they are all too keen to move your mouse for you and run terminal commands until the job is done.
Reuters reports that China’s Cyberspace Administration registered Apple’s on-device generative AI service this week, putting it on a list of newly cleared providers that also includes homegrown systems from Chinese phone makers.
An unnamed source told the outlet that Apple’s AI features in the country will draw on models from both Baidu and Alibaba.
This isn’t about Siri AI, announced last month at WWDC for iOS 27 — this is the initial approval for Apple Intelligence, which was announced two years ago and rolled out in iOS 18.
The iPhone maker alleges that this misconduct, which it says reveals a pattern of theft from OpenAI employees who previously worked at Apple, was directed by OpenAI’s senior leadership, including Chief Hardware OfficerTang Tan.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Tan of using Apple’s confidential project code names during OpenAI’s recruiting process, asking job candidates to bring in Apple hardware components to their interviews, coaching departing Apple employees on how to evade the company’s security procedures, and asking for details about the company’s unannounced products.
Apple’s allegations are detailed and shocking, and it sounds like they have a lot of evidence.
The lawsuit names Chang Liu and Tang Tan as two of the defendants. Tang Tan served as VP of product design at Apple, leading iPhone and Apple Watch product design. He departed the company in February 2024 to work with Jony Ive. Chang Liu, meanwhile, worked at Apple for eight years and was a senior system electrical engineer before departing to join OpenAI in January 2026.
Apple’s lawsuit also names OpenAI and io Products as defendants.
OpenAI’s hardware efforts are being led by Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer.
[…]
Ive, Hankey, and Cannon are not personally mentioned anywhere in Apple’s initial filing today.
OpenAI’s Director of Strategic Communications, Drew Pusateri, took to X to comment on the company’s behalf.
In his post, he claims OpenAI has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” adding that OpenAI remains “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”
This seems like a weak response, given that Apple says it reported its findings to OpenAI in February and never heard back. Presumably, they’ve already investigated but see the situation as serious enough that they need to say as little as possible.
It’s not clear to me the extent to which Apple believes the behavior was limited to the named defendants. It’s hard to believe that the rest of OpenAI’s leadership—including Altman and Ive—were unaware, given the scale of their recruiting from Apple. It’s equally hard to believe that they were aware and thought they could get away with it. I guess little from Altman would surprise me at this point. I’d like to believe that Ive wasn’t part of it, but then are we to believe that his former coworkers all kept him in the dark?
What is immediately notable about this whole thing is the myriad conflicts of interest. Apple, of course, has a current partnership with OpenAI to power Apple Intelligence features, something repeatedly mentioned on the previous version of its marketing webpage, and conspicuously absent on the current one.
But the history runs far deeper. Among the defendants in the suit is io Products — do not blame me for that capitalization choice — founded by Jony Ive and acquired by OpenAI last May. Total mentions of “Ive” in the body of this lawsuit? Zero. Also, one of the investors in Ive’s company was Emerson Collective, founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, and which now has equity in OpenAI. Neither Emerson nor Powell Jobs are defendants.
It all reads a bit as if Apple has been building up evidence of these allegations for some time and recently got their smoking gun. It’s not just nebulous “trade secrets” either, there are specific mentions down to “metal finishing techniques” that Apple apparently invented and protected.
It also comes a little less than a month after OpenAI was rumored to be threatening Apple with a lawsuit over the perceived failure of their deal to bake ChatGPT into the iPhone. As I wrote at the time, even just that threat was clearly not going to go over well in Cupertino.
Apple and OpenAI have a commercial relationship involving the
integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. The
companies have entered into a written agreement governing that
integration. That agreement is not at issue here. OpenAI’s acts of
trade secret misappropriation alleged herein do not arise from and
have no connection to that agreement.
Be that as it may legally speaking, in practical terms it seems untenable for that Apple Intelligence partnership to continue after this.
Namely, while Apple frames OpenAI – or at least its fledgling hardware division – as “rotten to its core” (interesting terminology!), they really only have a case against two and maybe three individuals. But they also clearly believe that if this case goes to trial, they will have a case against a lot more.
[…]
The parallels to the Anthony Levandowski situation after he left Google for Uber have been drawn.
[…]
It is interesting that Apple is not suing Yu-Ting “Alyssa” Peng, who is named in the suit as a co-conspirator with Liu while she was still employed at Apple, before she also subsequently went to work at OpenAI. Is it possible she’s cooperating or has cooperated with Apple in this investigation?
[…]
Even if these allegations are found to be untrue or embellished, can he reasonably stay at OpenAI now? And perhaps that’s the real outcome Apple is looking for here, as they clearly frame him as the ringleader of the 400-plus people who have come over to OpenAI from Apple.
OpenAI’s ambitions to build a hardware rival to the iPhone are already running into trouble because of Apple’s trade secret lawsuit, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who argues the damage is showing up well before any court ruling.
[…]
The scale of the talent drain is a major part of why this matters to Apple. More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, including former Apple design chief Jony Ive, and Gurman says the company poached so heavily from Apple’s iPhone product design group specifically that Apple had to rebuild parts of the team. Apple has responded with bigger retention bonuses and executives personally working to keep engineers from leaving.
I can’t believe this awful company solicited confidential information and stolen trade secrets, hiring from this other company while pretending to partner with them. ‘Rotten to the core’ indeed
Apple has reportedly sent legal letters to dozens of former Apple employees now working at OpenAI, telling them to preserve potentially relevant documents and communications as it continues to pursue its trade secret lawsuit against the AI company.
As part of the upgrade, the Home app uses AI to generate summaries of motion alerts from compatible HomeKit Secure Video cameras.
[…]
Apple likely requires the 2TB iCloud+ tier because HomeKit Secure Video already relies on iCloud+ storage tiers. The 2TB plan supports a larger number of cameras, and AI-generated video descriptions would add to Apple’s cloud processing costs.
That makes sense, but it seems odd because the iCloud tiers are named based on storage amounts, yet the feature isn’t tied to how much space you’re actually using. A lower iCloud plan with tons of free space doesn’t get the features, yet a nearly full 2 TB plan does. There are already restrictions where supporting more cameras requires higher plans, but that is at least quasi related to storage.
I reluctantly upgraded to a 2 TB family plan within the last year or so. We don’t store many files in iCloud, messages are set to auto-delete after a year, and I manually offload photos older than a year (except for hearted favorites). It’s hard to believe given how I remember the original 5 GB free tier once being sufficient, but staying under 200 GB became untenable without a lot of extra work. It doesn’t help that Live Photos sometimes gets inadvertently turned on, so that we’re storing all these little videos without realizing it.
That show of respect for its customers may change with iOS/macOS 27. Reports suggest that, at least in the first beta, Apple Intelligence is mandatory[…]
[…]
“So what’s the problem?”, you might ask. Apple’s AI takes up several gigabytes of storage and leaves less headroom for RAM.
Those are small inconveniences, however, compared to my biggest gripe with Siri AI: It’s completely ruined Spotlight.
[…]
The new Siri-first interface that presumes that if you’re searching for anything but an app or file, you must want Siri to feed you a few links of Apple Intelligence’s choosing.
Getting to a web search from a Spotlight query now requires multiple taps: Type your query, tap “Show Results” (careful: hitting enter will trigger Siri to craft a response, eliminating the possibility of seeing any actual Spotlight content), tap on “Show More” next to the list of Siri-surfaced web results, scroll down until you see Search Google (or whatever engine you have set as your default), then tap that.
Apple Intelligence used to be opt-in, but now it seems that you can’t even opt out. I had previously mentioned the removal of the switch in the context of hypocrisy, but it seems there are enough issues here for it to warrant its own post. Also, I had previously written that the switch was combined with Siri, meaning that you could turn off Apple Intelligence if you turned off Siri, too. I now doubt that’s the case.
Apple today introduced the next generation of Apple Intelligence, powered by a bold new architecture that integrates the latest Apple Foundation Models deep into Apple’s platforms and is uniquely designed to protect users’ privacy.
[…]
The next generation of Apple Intelligence also helps power Siri AI, an entirely new version of Siri.
[…]
Image Playground offers new powerful ways for users to bring their imagination to life. They can create high-quality images in virtually any style, now including photorealistic, thanks to a new generative model that runs on Private Cloud Compute. This is a major transformation for image generation across platforms. And generated images will automatically include a hidden SynthID watermark to identify them as AI-generated.
[…]
Now Messages offers one-tap suggestions based on the context of users’ conversations, making it easier than ever to get things done, such as creating a reminder or a note.
[…]
Apple Intelligence powers even more enhancements across operating systems. With automatic proofreading, users receive improved suggestions for spelling and grammar as they type across the system.
What’s confusing about this Apple-Google partnership is that Google pretty much calls all things AI “Gemini”. The models are “Gemini”, the assistant is “Gemini”, and the feature integrations are “Gemini”. So Apple is taking pains to emphasize that they’re building atop the Gemini models, not the Gemini assistant.
Google creating the model, Apple figuring out how to integrate it and make it easy to use. Are we back to Apple and Google each focusing on what they do best?
Instead of bombarding you with a million new features that mostly feel half-assed, this feels like it’s actually catered to the user experience instead of to marketing checklists.
As I expected, Apple is going to punt the “on-device” story for Apple Intelligence and push towards the “private cloud compute” story for the models that you’ll actually want to use. I’m glad on-device isn’t going away, but it’s clear a hybrid approach is absolutely necessary
Apple today said it is expanding Private Cloud Compute (PCC) beyond its data centers, partnering with Google and NVIDIA to run Apple Intelligence workloads on Google Cloud.
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All server components and software are part of a trusted computing base subject to verifiable transparency and no-privileged-access guarantees, plus Apple has a cryptographically verifiable ledger of all Google Cloud hardware that is part of the PCC fleet to mitigate the risk of supply chain attacks. PCC on Google Cloud also uses many of the same architectural security patterns as PCC on Apple silicon.
As we continue to refine our approach to image generation, the ImageCreator class is being discontinued and will no longer work in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and visionOS 27 or later.
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Transition to presenting the Image Playground sheet, which provides a consistent, system-managed image generation experience. Alternatively, you can integrate another image generation service of your choice.
At the heart of this architecture is our third generation of Apple Foundation Models (AFM), a family of five foundation models custom-built in collaboration with Google. These span from on-device models to server-based models running on Private Cloud Compute.
Apple Foundation Models are built to unlock a wide range of helpful experiences for our users, like an entirely new Siri and intelligent tools that make everyday apps smarter and more useful.
“The amount of the Google Assistant we use is none,” Federighi said, explaining that Apple uses none of the Gemini models deployed to Google’s customers, none of Google’s client-side code, and no Google Search infrastructure as the knowledge backbone.
The cloud models hosted on Private Cloud Compute are interesting: they’re not “Gemini” models; they’re Apple Foundation Models trained using proprietary data via RL, which were then “refined” with data from Google’s “frontier” models.
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I’ve been covering the AFM family of models for a while now, and AFM Core Advanced is one of the most interesting on-device models I’ve read about in a while, especially in the context of model size for mobile devices and built-in multimodality with support for text, images, and audio. I’m very keen to play around with this model and understand how it holds up in practice. I wonder if the new CLI (!) for AFM will let you test this one.
It’s very cool that Apple shipped a 20B parameter on-device.
You can’t put 20B parameters in RAM at any reasonable precision. To make it work they are using pretty exotic architecture by today’s standards.
A small model predicts from the query (or prompt) which experts to load from Nand into RAM. The key distinction from a typical MoE is that you do this once per query and then generate all the tokens with the same experts (instead of switching the experts for every token).
FoundationModels is one of the highlights of this WWDC; I think it’s now finally what we hoped we were getting two years ago, and thought we were getting last year (just the models themselves were barely up for it then). I finally feel like I can build features with it, though I really don’t like the Sword of Damocles Apple is holding above Private Cloud Compute and how it can permanently lock you out of using the models forever across all your apps if you hit a download threshold. Poison pill
These strict limits don’t seem to be getting as much attention as they should. It’s nice that for small developers who meet the above criteria, access to PCC has no cost. But there’s no way (yet?) to buy your way out of these limits.
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The “fewer than 2 million first-time app downloads from any of their apps” restriction is particularly notable. It’s not 2 million installations for apps that are using PCC, but 2 million downloads for any app the developer has ever released.
Is there a real time count somewhere of total lifetime downloads for a developer account, so one can plan if they at risk of the switch tripping? Reminds me of the small business qualifications. I had to try to figure out if an employers developer account was going to exceed the revenue threshold for the year. I was left trying to determine it from sales reports, not to mention sales date versus pay out date confusion. I think I botched the calculation in the end.
Claude for Foundation Models is a Swift package that makes Claude available as a server-side language model in Apple’s Foundation Models framework. The package conforms Claude to the framework’s LanguageModel protocol, so you drive it with the same LanguageModelSession API you use for Apple’s on-device model: respond(to:), streaming, guided generation, and tool calling all work the same way.
Requests go directly from your app to the Claude API; Apple is not in the request path and does not see prompts or responses. Usage is billed to your Anthropic account at standard API pricing.
Apple is literally stopping me from building a brand new app using Private Cloud Compute because I made a successful app a few years ago.
The new app might be a success, or it might be a complete flop. Nobody knows yet.
I would understand it if Apple were to limit developers once an app reaches a certain number of downloads or active users, but that’s not what’s happening here.
Instead, they’re blocking developers before they’ve even had a chance to build and ship the app.
Apple today announced that the Passwords app can now automatically update weak and compromised passwords using Apple Intelligence and Safari to take action on a user’s behalf.
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Apple describes the system as agentic, with Apple Intelligence and Safari securely navigating through websites, signing in, and upgrading accounts to strong passwords without the user needing to intervene beyond an initial tap.
Raise your hand if you’re going to trust an AI agent with your passwords.
Maybe it’s architected so that the agent doesn’t see the actual passwords, but I find the idea of this ghost surfing through sites, logged in as me, really creepy.
Passwords has an agentic AI feature that will scan your list of compromised passwords and then present you with a list of the ones it believes it can update for you. Even on that subset though, my experience was uneven, with just 5 of 18 updated. It’s a very cool idea, and should hopefully see improvements as the technology progresses, but right now it’s hit or miss.
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