Apple is working on "Apple Reference Image," a photo provenance system that will verify if an image was captured with an iPhone. References to the feature were found in a privacy disclosure included in iOS 27 beta 5, but it is not live yet.


According to the text, there will be a "Reference" mode option in the Camera app that users can select. Using this mode will embed provenance data in the image's metadata.

Images captured with an opt-in Reference mode can be authenticated to confirm they were taken with an iPhone. Authenticating is done by tapping the Reference badge on the image, which sends the raw image, sensor signatures, capture time frame, and the unique hardware identifiers of the sensor to Apple's Private Cloud Compute (PCC) servers. PCC uses the information to determine whether the camera captured the photo, gives it a unique ID, and then returns an authenticated version to the user's device.

When authenticating a photo, Apple receives sensor data, a hash, and the assessment results, but not the raw photo. Apple can refuse to authenticate images from a sensor that might be compromised, and it can retroactively revoke a sensor's past authentications.

Authenticated photos can be viewed on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and the Reference badge can also be clicked on a Mac. Images have to be captured in Apple's specific Reference mode to be authenticated, which suggests it's a feature aimed at pro photographers, journalists, and others who need to verify images. There may also be a video component, since Apple's disclosure mentions "photos or videos" and "uncropped footage."

Reference mode offers hardware-backed evidence that an image was captured with a physical camera sensor, which is useful at a time when AI can generate realistic-looking images. AI images are often watermarked or labeled through metadata to make sure they can be identified as fake, including images from Image Playground.

Camera manufacturers like Leica, Sony, and Nikon use C2PA Content Credentials for authentication, and Google also adopted it for the Pixel 10 lineup. Apple's authentication system sounds like it serves a similar purpose.
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We're a little over a month away from the launch of iOS 27, and Apple is continuing to make changes. The fifth beta of ‌iOS 27‌ changes the look of some app icons and adjusts Liquid Glass, plus it adds some smaller features that make the iPhone just a little nicer to use.

App Icons

There are updated Liquid Glass icons for Safari, Siri, Settings, Remote, App Store, and Preview. Some of the icons have been entirely redesigned, while others feature more detail than before.

Siri AI Voice Customization

Voice customizations for ‌Siri‌ AI have been expanded, and Pace and Expressivity can be adjusted for all seven American voices and the four British voices.


‌Siri‌ AI voice customization is done on-device, so the feature is limited the iPhone 17 Pro, ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max, or iPhone Air.

Contacts

If a contact you've created has a company associated with it, the company name will show in the contact list under the name and in search. It makes it easier to see more information on a contact without having to tap into the contact card.

Create a Pass

The Apple Wallet Create a Pass feature is now available outside of the U.S.

Splash Screens

Apple added splash screens for the Photos, Wallet, and Music apps, explaining what's new in ‌iOS 27‌.

Search and Ask

Apple made minor changes to the animation when bringing up Search or Ask. The suggestions interface now comes up as the search bar does rather than popping up slightly afterward.

The search interface also now has a "Search the Web" option at the bottom of results that was not there before.

Apps in Search

You can now decide whether search should show app results, and if so, how many. You can turn off app results, have it show four apps, or have it show eight apps. There's also a toggle for showing app shortcuts.

Control Center

When connected to Wi-Fi, the Control Center no longer shows information on cellular connection.

5G

5G+ is now available in Spain.

Software Updates

When you look at your software version in Settings > General > About, it now tells you when the last update was installed.

Clock

There is a thicker font for the Alarms and Timers section of the Clock app.

Liquid Glass

The clearest Liquid Glass setting is clearer than it was in the prior beta.

Mail

There's now a toggle for the Personalize Smart Replies feature in the Mail app. It's off by default and can be turned on in the Mail section of the Settings app.

Battery

The Battery section of the Settings app will now let you know if a poor cellular connection is causing battery drain.
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In the fifth beta of iOS 27, Apple is continuing to make design tweaks. There are updated Liquid Glass icons for Safari, the Siri app, Settings, Remote, App Store, and Preview.


The Safari icon is a brighter blue with more detailed compass lines and arrows, while the ‌Siri‌ icon looks more like the actual ‌Siri‌ bubble that's displayed when ‌Siri‌ is activated. The ‌App Store‌ app icon is more translucent so you can better see each line making up the A, Settings uses more translucency, and Preview has an entirely different look with a loupe over a colorful background. The Remote icon also has more detail and it's been updated with a gray background instead of black.

Some app icons were updated with the initial ‌iOS 27‌ beta release, including Maps, Photos, and Weather, but others kept their iOS 26 look.

It's possible Apple will overhaul even more icons in upcoming betas, because the company said it was planning to give icons an updated layered look to better fit the Liquid Glass aesthetic.

‌iOS 27‌ will be released in just about a month.
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With the fifth beta of iOS 27, Apple has expanded the voice customization options for Siri AI.


Pace and Expressivity can now be adjusted for more of the available voice options instead of just the two American voices.

There are seven American voice options and four British voices to choose from, all of which can be customized with different Pace and Expressivity settings. Pace changes talking speed, while expressivity changes emphasis.

‌Siri‌ AI voice customization is done on-device, so the feature is limited to newer iPhones. You need an iPhone 17 Pro, ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max, or iPhone Air to use voice customization on an iPhone.

It's available on Macs with an M3 chip or newer and at least 12GB RAM, and the M4 iPad Pro and newer, also with at least 12GB RAM.
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Apple is scaling back its hardware shipment plans in 2026 due to DRAM shortages, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today.


Kuo made the comment in a longer piece disputing a recent report suggesting TSMC has $1 billion of unpackaged processors waiting on memory chips that Apple has been unable to secure. Kuo said Apple plans processor production at least three months in advance based on the amount of memory expected to be available, and it does not have TSMC build large numbers of wafers ahead of time. He believes there are indeed memory shortages, but no situation where TSMC is sitting on unused inventory.

In other words, tight memory supply is real. But my understanding is that there has been no dramatic scenario in which TSMC first built up US$1 billion of WIP and then had to wait for memory to arrive before packaging could proceed. TSMC and Apple are both known for world-class execution, and such a dramatic development would be unusual given how closely the two companies coordinate their supply chains.

Memory shortages have already affected the Mac Studio, Mac mini, and MacBook Air, and it sounds like ongoing supply problems will also impact the upcoming iPhone models. Memory makers have been prioritizing supply for AI data centers because contracts for those chips are more profitable, leaving less capacity available for consumer device chips.

A lack of supply has driven prices up and led to long wait times for some products. Apple raised prices on all of its Macs and iPads in June, and iPhone prices are expected to go up in September.

The iPhone 18 Pro, ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, and foldable iPhone Ultra could be available in limited quantities because of the memory problems, and we expect the devices will sell out during the preorder period.
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Apple today provided developers with the fifth beta of macOS Golden Gate, with the update coming two weeks after Apple seeded the fourth beta.


Developers can download ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ by going to System Settings > General > Software Update. Beta Updates will need to be enabled, and a free developer account is required.

‌macOS Golden Gate‌ includes multiple design improvements. Liquid Glass opacity has been improved to increase readability, there's a slider for controlling the level of transparency, and changes to shadowing make it easier to tell when a window is active. Apps now have uniform toolbars, edge-to-edge sidebars, and less rounded corners, plus there are fewer icons in menu bars.

Siri has been transformed into ‌Siri‌ AI, a chatbot-style assistant that combines general world knowledge, your personal data, and onscreen awareness to answer questions about anything and find information for you. ‌Siri‌ lives in Spotlight, and you can ask questions with the new Search or Ask interface.

There's also a ‌Siri‌ app where you can chat with ‌Siri‌ and view past conversations, and on newer Macs, you can set a custom voice for ‌Siri‌ with personalized pace and expressivity. Visual Intelligence is now on the Mac so ‌Siri‌ can answer questions about what's on your screen, and a Write with ‌Siri‌ feature lets ‌Siri‌ generate text or give feedback on your writing.

There are AI photo editing tools in the Photos app, AI tab organization in Safari, an option to use AI to automatically update weak passwords in the Passwords app, and a revamped Image Playground app that can generate photorealistic images.

More on all of the new features in ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ can be found in our macOS Golden Gate roundup.
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Apple today released a new beta of macOS Tahoe 26.6.2, which is available to developers and public beta testers. The ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.6.2 beta comes just a few days after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, a security update.


Developers and public beta testers can download the software by opening the System Settings app and then navigating to the Software Updates section.

According to Apple's release notes, ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.6.2 includes security fixes for the Mac.

The prior update, macOS 26.6.1, fixed a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to authenticate to Screen Sharing without valid credentials.

Update: This article previously said macOS 26.6.2 had been released, but it turns out the update is a beta.
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Apple today released new betas of iOS 26.6.1 and iPadOS 26.6.1, which are available to developers and public beta testers. The iOS and iPadOS 26.6.1 betas come two weeks after the launch of iOS 26.6, an update that added Spotlight optimizations ahead of iOS 27.


iOS 26.6.1 and iPadOS 26.6.1 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 26.6.1 includes security fixes for the iPhone and iPad. The updates are available in a beta capacity only right now.

Apple is wrapping up work on iOS 26 because ‌iOS 27‌ is launching in just about a month. ‌iOS 27‌ is available to developers and public beta testers ahead of its public debut.

Update: This article previously said iOS 26.6.1 and iPadOS 26.6.1 had been released, but it turns out the updates are betas.
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Apple today seeded the fifth betas of iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after Apple released the fourth betas.


Registered developers can download the betas from the Settings app on the iPhone or iPad by going to the General section and selecting Software Update.

‌iOS 27‌ introduces Apple's smarter version of Siri, ‌Siri‌ AI. ‌Siri‌ AI is a chatbot similar to ChatGPT, incorporating general world knowledge, personal data from apps like Messages and Mail, and onscreen awareness to answer questions and find information for you.

There are new Apple Intelligence features in apps like Photos, Safari, Shortcuts, Wallet, and Passwords, plus Apple added a standalone ‌Siri‌ app that houses ‌Siri‌ conversations. Write with ‌Siri‌ is available systemwide for generating text or offering feedback on your writing, and Visual Intelligence has been relocated to the Camera app with a new ‌Siri‌ mode.

Apple improved the look of Liquid Glass and added a slider for customizing transparency. There are multiple performance improvements to speed up iOS, so everything feels faster, even on older iPhones. Apps launch quicker, AirDrop transfers are faster, the keyboard pops up more quickly, and devices are better at transitioning between Wi-Fi and Cellular to keep you connected.

For more on what's new in ‌iOS 27‌, we have a dedicated iOS 27 roundup.
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Apple today seeded the fifth beta of watchOS 27 to developers, with the update coming two weeks after the launch of the fourth beta.


The beta can be downloaded through the Watch app on the iPhone with a free developer account. The Apple Watch will need to be on the charger, connected to Wi-Fi, and have a battery level of 50 percent or above for new software to be installed. The beta is available for all Apple Watch models compatible with ‌watchOS 27‌ except for the Apple Watch Ultra 3.

‌watchOS 27‌ gains Siri AI, the smarter, more capable version of ‌Siri‌. ‌Siri‌ can hold back-and-forth conversations, plus it has access to general world knowledge and your personal data to answer questions and find information. ‌Siri‌ AI on Apple Watch requires an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, including the iPhone 15 Pro and later.

There's a new Dynamic app grid that highlights ‌Siri‌ suggested apps, and more intuitive Smart Stack Suggestions. You can find your parked car, see pinned messages, get noise alerts, and view identity and transit cards.

Liquid Glass has been updated to improve legibility, and Workout Buddy works on the Apple Watch even when an iPhone isn't nearby. Workout Buddy also gains new metrics like progressive increases to distance, pace, or duration. Apple added a new all-in-one Find My app with support for Precision Finding, and there are performance optimizations that improve battery life.

More on what's new in ‌watchOS 27‌ is available in our watchOS 27 roundup.

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Apple today seeded the fifth beta of tvOS 27 to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after Apple released the fourth beta.


The beta can be downloaded and installed through the Settings app on the Apple TV. A free developer account is required.

tvOS 27 has few new features compared to the other 27 software updates, but it does add a redesigned Podcasts app, options for larger text, and a more responsive Control Center.

AirPlaying to an ‌Apple TV‌ from another Apple device is faster, and apps and animations are smoother. You can also now see AppleCare coverage details in the Settings app.

More on the features in tvOS 27 can be found in our Apple TV roundup.
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Apple today provided developers with the fifth beta of an upcoming visionOS 27 update for testing purposes, with the beta coming two weeks after Apple released the fourth beta.


visionOS 27 can be installed by opening the Settings app, going to Software Updates, and opting into Beta Updates.

visionOS 27 introduces Siri AI, the smarter and more capable version of ‌Siri‌ that's similar in capability to chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude. On the Vision Pro, ‌Siri‌ can answer questions about anything the wearer is looking at, and there's a new ‌Siri‌ orb that can be placed anywhere in wearer's virtual space.

Panorama photos can be turned into spatial environments, and there's a new Icelandic Thórsmörk environment that features dramatic mountains, valleys, and glaciers, along with the northern lights. Web Environment support allows developers to create 360-degree environments in Safari for a more native Vision Pro browsing experience.

App windows are now curved to provide a more immersive workspace, and Control Center has been reorganized to make system controls easier to find. Apple added a smaller widget size, and notifications automatically expand when the wearer looks at them.

More on what's new in visionOS 27 is listed in our Vision Pro roundup.
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Apple is making more of an effort to turn the iPhone into a physical wallet replacement in iOS 27, and there are several upgrades to the Wallet app.

Pass Upgrades

Apple upgraded airline boarding passes in the Wallet app with iOS 26, and in ‌iOS 27‌, upgrades are coming to additional types of passes. Memberships, gift cards, loyalty cards, and rewards cards can use a bolder "Poster Generic" card style with full background images, primary logo, header fields, footer field, primary fields, and an optional barcode.


Each pass is able to include up to two actions that can be tapped from the bottom of the pass, such as getting directions to a venue or checking a rewards point balance.

Apple is also allowing users to check the pass issuer certificate to ensure that a digital pass is legitimate (not applicable to Create a Pass), and there are four new barcode types supported, including EAN–13, Code 39, Codabar, and ITF.

There is a new Pass Designer Mac app for developers that makes it easier to create a pass using a WYSIWYG editor.

Create a Pass

There's a "Create a Pass" feature in the Wallet app for adding tickets, memberships, and more using Visual Intelligence. If you have a ticket for an event and there's not a digital version available for the Wallet app already, you can create one using the physical pass.



You can scan a pass and add it with Visual Intelligence if there's a barcode or QR code, or a pass can be added manually. Pass templates include Standard, Membership, and Event.

Each type includes relevant information like name, location, or admission type, along with a scannable code drawn from an included barcode or QR code that you take a photo of. There are 12 background colors to choose from with different texture options, or seven custom backgrounds for categories like theater, music, sports, and movies.

Fields can be added or removed as needed when creating a custom pass, with options like label, date, membership, contact, coupon code, VIN, insurance, and more, so most physical cards are able to be stored digitally.

Hotel Keys

When you add a digital hotel key from a participating hotel to the Wallet app, you can now view more details about the trip. Hotels can provide updates on booked activities and allow access to different services.

AI Bill Splitting

Using the new Siri Mode in the Camera app, or a feature in the Messages and Wallet apps, you can take a photo of a bill and use Apple Intelligence to figure out what each person owes. ‌Visual Intelligence‌ scans the receipt and makes a digital copy of everything on the list, and each person can select what they consumed. Tax and tip portions are also calculated automatically.

Payments can be made using Apple Cash, which is a U.S.-only feature.

Insights

‌iOS 27‌ includes an "Insights" feature where you can add financial accounts to the Wallet app to monitor spending.



Insights is an expansion of the Connected Accounts feature in earlier versions of iOS, and it includes spending, recurring transactions, account balances, and more. It works for financial institutions that have implemented Connected Cards support, including several UK banks.

Order Tracking

Order tracking in the Wallet app is expanding to Australia and Canada in ‌iOS 27‌. In ‌iOS 26‌, it was limited to the United States and UK.

Tap to Share

Tap to Share is an ‌iOS 27‌ feature that lets customers connect to a participating merchant's iPhone for quicker digital checkout.

Device Requirements

‌Visual Intelligence‌ is an ‌Apple Intelligence‌ feature requiring an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. Many of the other features should work on all iPhones.
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OpenAI today said it is "pausing" activities involving its upcoming AI model Astra, because its cyber capabilities are potentially too dangerous. OpenAI says its newest internal evaluations show "significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity," and it cannot rule out "critical cyber capabilities." Prior OpenAI models, including GPT–5.6 Sol, were labeled as "High."


Astra triggers stricter guidelines in OpenAI's "Preparedness Framework." The guidelines call for caution when developing frontier AI capabilities that create risks of severe harm, and the cybersecurity portion of the framework says OpenAI will implement extra safeguards for models that "create new risks of scaled cyberattacks and vulnerability exploitation."

The "Critical" threshold Astra may have hit is defined by an ability to identify and develop functional zero-day exploits of all severity levels in many hardened real-world critical systems without human intervention, or devise and execute end-to-end novel strategies for cyberattacks.

OpenAI says it is increasing its safeguards and security controls before deploying Astra, including limiting work on the model until new safeguards are in place. The company plans to use isolated testing environments with restricted network and tool access, along with adding sandboxed execution and more monitoring capabilities. OpenAI says it will work with relevant government agencies and AI safety organizations to test Astra.

"We're committed to working alongside governments, safety institutes, and civil society to ensure that the frontier capabilities of models like Astra, and those that follow, are deployed responsibly and broadly for the benefit of all humanity," writes OpenAI.

Astra wasn't formally announced, but OpenAI shared details on its next major model in a recent post outlining its mathematical advancements. Astra solved 10 open problems in math and theoretical computer science for around $2,000 (in Sol API rates).

Advancements in AI are changing cybersecurity for major tech companies like Apple by unearthing an unprecedented number of bugs. Apple recently limited its bug bounty program submissions because it is having trouble handling the volume.

Models like Claude Mythos are able to suss out critical vulnerabilities, and Apple is one of Anthropic's Mythos partners. Mythos is limited to select companies because in addition to finding vulnerabilities, it has the potential to exploit them.

OpenAI made headlines in July because GPT–5.6 Sol and a "more capable pre-release model" (not Astra) autonomously hacked Hugging Face during internal benchmark testing. Anthropic found Claude had done something similar. Meta this week said it too had an AI model hack another company during a cybersecurity evaluation.
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The iPhone 18 Pro, ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, and foldable "iPhone Ultra" could be in short supply this year, leading to long wait times and an initial sellout during preorders.


Semiconductor analyst Tim Culpan says Apple is having trouble getting enough DRAM to finish production of the new iPhone models, and chip supplier TSMC has $1 billion worth of unpackaged processors waiting on memory chips.

Apple's new A20 Pro chips are built on TSMC's 2nm process and use Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module packaging to integrate the processor and DRAM at the wafer level. Unfortunately, that means TSMC needs to have the DRAM on hand for assembly, and it can't be added at a later step. Apple is not able to stockpile finished dies and then add DRAM when it becomes available.

Apple and its assemblers think they can meet initial demand, but retail inventory could sell quickly, leading to prolonged delivery estimates. The chip backlog will delay main logic board assembly and final device assembly, which could impact production at Foxconn and other assemblers.

DRAM has been in short supply for months and has led to long wait times for the Mac Studio, Mac mini, and MacBook Air. Companies that make memory are prioritizing chips for AI data centers because those chips are more profitable, leaving little capacity available for manufacturing chips for consumer devices.

We've had ongoing rumors about manufacturing issues with the ‌iPhone Ultra‌ due to the complexity of the design, and supplies of the new foldable could be the most limited of the three iPhone models. Some reports suggest the foldable iPhone could be introduced in September and then launch later, in October or November, but others say it will be available at the same time as the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and Pro Max.

The ‌iPhone Ultra‌ is going to cost as much as $2,500, but the novel form factor and Apple's new Apple Upgrade pricing option could lead to more people being willing to shell out for the device. Apple is also expected to raise prices for the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, and analysts believe the devices could be up to $300 more expensive because Apple is paying more for RAM.

Last year, the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max sold out during the preorder period, and shipping times extended into October. Along with potential production delays impacting supply, there will be no lower-cost iPhone 18 for people to choose this year, putting more pressure on ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ supplies. Apple is not planning to launch the standard ‌iPhone 18‌ until early 2027.

If you're looking to get one of the new iPhone models in September, it's a good idea to preorder right when the devices become available for purchase to have the best chance of getting one on launch day.
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T-Mobile retired its 2G GSM network on Monday, August 3, which means all three major carriers in the United States have now ended 2G service.


T-Mobile kept its 2G network active because it still had some legacy customers who were using it. Some customers visiting the United States and using international roaming carrier agreements for connectivity also needed 2G for voice calling, but T-Mobile worked with carriers globally to prepare for the end of its 2G network.

Customers who were still on T-Mobile's 2G network were warned well ahead of time about the shutdown and given time to transition. Smartphones, alarm panels, payment terminals, and other IoT accessories that used 2G will no longer function.

AT&T ended support for 2G almost a decade ago in 2017, and Verizon stopped supporting 2G in 2020. Now that no carriers in the U.S. support 2G, legacy devices like the original iPhone will not be able to connect to any cellular network. The iPhone technically lost cellular support in 2017 when AT&T sunset its 2G network, and now the last workaround is gone.

All three carriers also ended support for 3G back in 2022, and have also abandoned early LTE iPhones without VoLTE support.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook participated in his final Apple earnings call yesterday, with incoming CEO John Ternus set to take over on September 1. With Cook's tenure coming to an end, we thought we'd take a look at how Apple has changed over the last 15 years.


Cook took over as CEO on August 24, 2011, after Steve Jobs resigned.

Apple's Revenue

During yesterday's earnings call, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan shared an interesting observation about Apple's quarterly earnings. When Cook took over as CEO, Apple's revenue for all of 2011 was $108 billion.

Apple reported $109.4 billion for Q3 2026, earning its 2011 revenue in a single quarter. We don't have the numbers for fiscal 2026 yet, but in fiscal 2025, revenue was $416 billion.

iPhone revenue in 2011 was $47 billion, and just this quarter, it was $54.3 billion.

Valuation

Apple stock is down today after Cook said he expects supply constraints and memory shortages to affect revenue in the current quarter, but last week, Apple briefly hit a market cap above $5 trillion. Apple's market cap is now around the $4.5 trillion mark, and it once again trails Nvidia for world's most valuable publicly traded company.

Apple was the first company to reach a $1 trillion valuation in August 2018, the first to reach $2 trillion in August 2020, and the first to reach $3 trillion in January 2022. It was the third company to hit a $4 trillion valuation in October 2025, and then the second to reach $5 trillion.

A day after Cook took over in August 2011, Apple's stock price was $13.35 (split-adjusted). Today, it opened at $304.81, a roughly 23x increase. There was a 7-for–1 split in 2014 and 4-for–1 split in 2020 during Cook's tenure.

Installed Base

Apple said it has over 2.5 billion active devices. Apple didn't share installed base numbers until 2016, when it hit a billion active devices.

Services

Apple's services category revenue has seen the most growth. It was $9.4 billion in all of 2011, but in Q3 2026, it was $30.7 billion. In fiscal 2025, services brought in $109 billion.

Apple said during the earnings call that it now has 1.5 billion subscriptions. A huge number of services launched under Cook, including:

• Apple Pay


• ‌Apple Pay‌ Cash


• Apple Card


• Apple Music


• Apple News


• Apple TV+


• Apple Arcade


• Apple Fitness+


• iCloud+


• App Store Search Ads


• Ads in Maps

Back in 2011, Apple's services were limited to AppleCare, iTunes, and the ‌App Store‌.

Product Launches

Under Cook, Apple launched everything from the AirPods to the Apple Watch.

• Apple Watch


• AirPods


• Apple silicon chips


• Vision Pro


• iPhone Air


• iPhone X


• HomePod and HomePod mini


• MacBook Neo

Capital Returns

Cook initiated quarterly dividends in 2012, and also executed an ongoing share repurchase program. Since then, Apple has returned more than $1 trillion to shareholders.

Transition to John Ternus

Cook said yesterday that the transition to Ternus is "going seamlessly." Ternus will become CEO on September 1, ahead of when Apple announces new iPhone models. Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman, where he will engage with policymakers and help Apple navigate regulatory pressure.

In April, Cook said he planned to remain at Apple for years to come. "I am healthy. My energy is high, and I plan to be in this role for a long time," said Cook. He said he will support current hardware engineering chief John Ternus in any way necessary when Ternus takes over as CEO, and he plans to continue to offer knowledge and experience whenever it's needed. "Apple will be my top priority," he said. "It's who I am at my core, and I can't imagine it any other way."

Cook on Ternus

Cook yesterday said Ternus is the best choice to take over Apple.

The transition is going seamlessly, and I am beyond excited for John to step into his new role and lead Apple into its next era. He is truly one of a kind and there is no better person to take the helm of the company.

As I've said, I couldn't be more confident in his leadership, in our executive team, and in the extraordinary people at Apple who are determined to enrich the lives of our users all over the world. We have a bright future ahead, and I truly have never been more optimistic.

Ternus has been at Apple since 2001, when he joined the product design team. He became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 and focused on the AirPods, Mac, and iPad. In 2020, he also took on the iPhone, and he became senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021.
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Softness in mobile gaming and Apple's changes to the App Store business model in some countries impacted the performance of the ‌App Store‌, Apple CFO Kevan Parekh said during today's earnings call.


Apple's services revenue was $30.7 billion, a 12% increase over the $27.4 billion it earned in the year-ago quarter. Though the category saw growth, revenue came in under expectations, prompting analyst questions that led to Parekh's comments on the ‌App Store‌.

We also had some factors that impacted the performance of the App Store. We did see some headwinds in mobile gaming, and then keep in mind, we also made some changes to the App Store business model in certain countries, and in the U.S., we do continue to operate under a court ruling impacting the link-out transactions. But we're pleased the Supreme Court will hear our appeal.

There have been ‌App Store‌ fee updates in Japan and Brazil as of late, with Apple collecting no fees on link-outs in the U.S. and lower fees from alternative app marketplace apps in the EU. Despite the rule changes, the ‌App Store‌ still set a June quarter revenue record. Apple saw double-digit growth in cloud services, video, payment services, and advertising, with a record level of Apple Pay users.

During the call, Apple also said it now has 1.5 billion paid subscriptions, with transacting and paid accounts hitting an all-time high.

Parekh said it wasn't the ‌App Store‌ alone that impacted services revenue, and Apple also took a hit from foreign exchange. Last year, Apple also had the theatrical release of F1, and no equivalent release this year, making for a tougher compare.

Services growth in the September quarter is expected to be similar to the June quarter when excluding an approximately 2.5 percentage point foreign exchange headwind.
This article, "Apple Says App Store Changes and Mobile Gaming Softness Affected Services Revenue" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple is planning to let users pay to increase their AI limits, with upgrade possibilities available through iCloud+.


During today's earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2026, Apple CEO Tim Cook said it's early, but the company expects to offer options for people who want to make heavy use of AI services.

In terms of what it means for compute cost, it's obviously early going for us, and so I don't want to say that we have a complete plan for that. We do believe there will be people that want to use it a lot and we will have some kind of upgrade possibilities on iCloud+ where people can buy up the stack on iCloud+. We'll see how the pickup for that is.

At WWDC, Apple said there would be daily usage limits on features like Image Playground, but increased access would be available through ‌iCloud‌+ plans. Cook's comments today suggest there may also be ‌iCloud‌+ add-ons specifically for AI usage.

Apple hasn't offered any details on what it might charge to increase AI limits, and that's information that we might get when iOS 27 launches in September. Features like Siri AI are expected to remain free to use.
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Apple didn't want to raise its prices but was forced to do so because of exponential increases in memory costs, Apple CEO Tim Cook said today during the company's Q3 2026 earnings call. Apple increased prices for Macs and iPads in June because memory prices have surged.

On the pricing front, you know, we reluctantly raised prices. I would say we did it because we're in what I would characterize as a 100-year flood on memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices, so that was the rationale for it.

When asked whether Apple is aiming to protect gross profit dollars or product gross margins when considering pricing increases, Cook said it's multifactorial.

In terms of our philosophy on dollars or percentages, we look at units, revenue, and margin, and then come to a business judgment as to how to handle that, and so it's not a mathematical formula that gets us to a specific result, or just looking at one dimension of that. We look at all three dimensions and think about it over the long term instead of, you know, a 90-day clock.

Cook did not comment on whether Apple plans to raise iPhone prices when the iPhone 18 Pro models and first foldable launch this September, but multiple analysts believe prices will go up.

Cook said Apple is expecting to pay higher memory costs in the September quarter, though Apple will be able to partially offset it with lower costs on some non-memory components and a stockpile of inventory.
This article, "Tim Cook: Apple 'Reluctantly Raised Prices' Due to '100-Year Flood on Memory Pricing'" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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