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Received — 17 September 2026 ⏭

AirPods 5 bring stronger open-ear noise cancellation and smarter listening features

✇AppleMagazine
By: Milene Mencari
16 September 2026 at 23:51

AirPods 5 bring Active Noise Cancellation to Apple’s most affordable current AirPods while pushing the open-ear design closer to capabilities previously associated with more expensive models. The new generation starts at $129 and uses redesigned acoustics and computational audio to remove up to 50% more external noise than AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.

Apple is also splitting the range into two versions. The standard $129 AirPods 5 include ANC and USB-C charging, while a $149 model adds a Wireless Charging Case, longer battery life, a case speaker for Find My, and volume adjustment directly from the stems.

Both models are available for preorder ahead of their September 18 release in the U.S. and more than 65 other countries and regions.

The changes make the distinction between Apple’s entry-level AirPods and its more advanced headphones less dependent on headline software features. Adaptive Audio, Transparency, Conversation Awareness, Personalized Spatial Audio, Live Translation, and Siri AI are all part of the AirPods 5 experience.

A person wearing a green and white sweater and wireless AirPods 5 sits at a table, focused on something in front of them, with an older man sitting nearby in a sunlit room with green window frames and indoor plants. The noise cancellation of their Apple earbuds allows them to concentrate fully despite the gentle hum of activity around them.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.

AirPods 5 push open-ear ANC further

Active Noise Cancellation is particularly difficult to implement in an open-ear earbud because there is no silicone tip forming a physical seal inside the ear canal.

Apple has approached that limitation with a new multiport acoustic architecture, revised computational audio algorithms, and the H2 headphone chip. The company says AirPods 5 can cancel up to 50% more noise than AirPods 4 with ANC.

That improvement does not turn the design into an AirPods Pro-style sealed earbud. AirPods 5 remain open-ear headphones, retaining the fit preferred by people who dislike the pressure or isolation associated with in-ear tips.

The acoustic system has also been redesigned around a wider variety of ear shapes. Next-generation Adaptive EQ continuously adjusts sound based on how each earbud sits, while Apple says the revised architecture produces richer and more detailed playback.

Transparency mode has been updated to reproduce voices and environmental sounds more naturally. Adaptive Audio can move between Transparency and noise cancellation according to surrounding conditions, while Conversation Awareness automatically reduces media volume when the wearer begins speaking to someone nearby.

Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking remains supported for compatible music, movies, and other content.

AirPods 5 are rated IP57 for dust, sweat, and water resistance, making them better suited to workouts and changing weather conditions, although they are not waterproof.

Two AirPods 5 models create a meaningful $20 decision

Apple’s pricing makes the $149 Wireless Charging Case version more than a different charging option.

Standard AirPods 5 provide up to four hours of listening on one charge with ANC enabled and up to 20 hours when the USB-C case is included.

AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case increase those figures to five hours from the earbuds and up to 22 hours with the case while ANC is active.

The upgraded case can charge through USB-C, an Apple Watch charger, or a Qi-certified wireless charger. It also contains a speaker that can assist with locating the case through Find My.

The more expensive model introduces another difference directly on the earbuds. Users can swipe up or down on a stem to adjust volume, bringing a control familiar from AirPods Pro to Apple’s open-ear form factor.

That leaves buyers with a relatively straightforward tradeoff. The $129 version provides the central audio experience, including ANC, without requiring a step up for the main listening features. Spending another $20 adds more convenient charging, slightly longer battery life, Find My assistance from the case speaker, and physical volume adjustment.

Placing either AirPods 5 model in its charging case for five minutes provides about one additional hour of listening.

Two white Apple earbuds, resembling the latest AirPods 5, are shown on a plain light background, displaying their sleek, curved design and black speaker grilles. The earbud on the right has an “R” marking, indicating it is for the right ear. These earbuds feature open-ear noise cancellation for an immersive listening experience.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.

Siri AI and Live Translation extend the earbuds beyond music

AirPods 5 arrive as Apple makes voice interaction a larger part of the AirPods experience.

When paired with a compatible iPhone, Siri AI can be accessed hands-free. The assistant can work with personal context from information such as messages, emails, and photos, respond to open-ended questions, and perform supported actions in apps.

Head gestures remain part of the experience. Users can nod to accept certain Siri prompts or shake their head to decline them, allowing calls and notifications to be handled without speaking or touching the earbuds.

Live Translation provides another use for the microphones and ANC system.

After compatible languages are downloaded and the feature is configured through Apple’s Translate app, a user can hear another person’s speech translated through AirPods. Translation can be started through Siri, the iPhone Action button, the Translate app, or by pressing and holding both AirPods stems simultaneously.

When two people are each using compatible AirPods and supported iPhones, both participants can hear translated versions of the conversation in their chosen languages.

Live Translation requires an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone 15 Pro or later, compatible AirPods, current software, and the latest AirPods firmware, with availability varying by language and region. Apple also notes that generated translations can contain errors, making verification appropriate when accuracy is especially significant.

AirPods 5 narrow the gap within the lineup

The fifth-generation model represents a different kind of upgrade from simply adding another listening mode.

ANC is now standard across both AirPods 5 configurations, instead of requiring buyers to choose a separate ANC version as they did with AirPods 4. Apple has then moved the pricing distinction toward charging, battery endurance, Find My hardware, and physical controls.

The earbuds continue to use Bluetooth 5.3 and the H2 chip, with dual beamforming microphones, an inward-facing microphone, optical in-ear detection, motion and speech accelerometers, and force sensors built into the stems.

Each earbud weighs 4.3 grams, preserving the lightweight character of the open-ear line despite the additional capabilities.

The new acoustic architecture may be the more consequential change over time. Open-ear earbuds cannot rely on a tight seal to block surrounding sound, so gains in ANC depend heavily on microphone placement, acoustic design, fit, and real-time processing. Apple’s claim of up to 50% more noise removal over the previous generation represents a substantial step for that format rather than simply matching the behavior of sealed earbuds.

AirPods 5 start at $129, while AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case cost $149. Both reach stores on September 18, giving the open-ear AirPods line a standard feature set that now includes noise cancellation without pushing buyers to a higher-priced model to get it.

A white wireless earbud charging case, designed for Apple earbuds, is shown with a round magnetic charging cable positioned nearby, ready to connect. The background is plain and light-colored, emphasizing the sleek look and advanced features such as noise cancellation.
Image Credit: Apple Inc.

The post AirPods 5 bring stronger open-ear noise cancellation and smarter listening features appeared first on AppleMagazine.

It’s OK to tell ICE their actions will haunt them, judge rules in speech fight

✇Ars Technica - All
By: Ashley Belanger
16 September 2026 at 18:06

It’s not illegal to send an email telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials that their actions will haunt them, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, granting a preliminary injunction that blocks ICE from threatening to prosecute a critic for protected speech.

Back in January, David Streever sent a scathing three-paragraph email to then-acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons. Outraged by the killings of two Minnesota protestors against ICE, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Streever told Lyons that he was a “monstrous human being” who will eat himself “alive with shame” for defending officers who shot people who posed no threat and had no weapons. Comparing Lyons to an infamous high-ranking Nazi cop, Streever predicted that “even Trump” would one day turn on Lyons for defending the “obvious” slayings of Americans.

David Streever's email to ICE. Credit: via FIRE

“You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher,” Streever wrote. “You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”

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© via FIRE

Big Tech’s AI safety rift signals disruption and disparity for enterprises

✇Computerworld
16 September 2026 at 17:14

A growing divide among leading AI companies over how to secure increasingly powerful models is beginning to translate into challenges for enterprise IT, with implications for how organizations access, deploy, and govern AI systems.

The latest flashpoint came after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for neutral evaluators to independently test AI models, pushing back on calls from rivals to slow development or tighten coordination.

“trust and alignment are quickly becoming the most important capabilities that will differentiate agents and models. Any lab that doesn’t focus on alignment will fall behind,” Zuckerberg wrote in a post on X.

“Engaging independent evaluators and advisors is industry best practice,” he added, noting that Meta already does this in several areas.

His comments follow a series of public proposals from AI industry leaders including Dario Amodei, who argued for a more cautious pace of development, and Sam Altman, who called for collaboration on safety standards.

The debate has intensified amid disclosures from AI labs and policymakers on potential misuse of advanced systems. Anthropic has said it restricted attempts to use its Claude models in sensitive domains, while OpenAI has engaged with policymakers on AI-related risks, according to company statements and reports.

Enterprise concerns

While the debate is often framed as a choice between slowing innovation and strengthening oversight, analysts said enterprises should focus less on which approach prevails and more on the operational consequences already taking shape.

“Divergent safety approaches will make access to advanced AI models less predictable, rather than producing an industrywide slowdown,” said Sushovan Mukhopadhyay, director analyst at Gartner. Vendors are likely to apply different release schedules, regional availability, access tiers, and usage restrictions, he said, meaning enterprises could encounter similar capabilities “at different times and under materially different conditions.”

Mukhopadhyay said enterprises should plan for variability in access rather than assuming consistent availability across providers or geographies.

“I read this week as the point where frontier AI became a managed supply,” said Bhupendra Chopra, chief revenue officer at Kanerika. “For three years CIOs could assume the next model would simply show up. A frontier model now behaves more like a critical component from a supplier whose delivery dates depend partly on outside reviewers and export rules.”

Chopra added that “any AI roadmap built on a specific model arriving on a specific date is carrying supply risk it hasn’t priced.”

Security pressure builds regardless of slowdown

Analysts said slowing development alone is unlikely to materially change enterprise risk, particularly as open-source models proliferate.

“The biggest point isn’t the pause itself. It’s that the leaders of AI companies are agreeing on something,” said Nikhil Gupta, founder and CEO of ArmorCode.

Gupta said the threat landscape has already shifted. “Even if companies hit pause, open-source AI models are already out there,” he said. “I’m not convinced slowing down some companies meaningfully changes what adversaries can do.”

“Even if AI development slows down tomorrow, security must accelerate,” Gupta added. “The job of securing these systems has effectively gotten ten times harder.”

A new ‘AI assurance’ layer emerges

The focus on evaluation is driving what analysts described as an emerging “AI assurance” layer, where third parties assess models for safety and compliance.

“A distinct AI assurance layer is likely to emerge, but enterprises should not expect a single certification to establish that an AI system is safe,” Mukhopadhyay said. “Enterprise risk also depends on data, system instructions, tools, agents and deployment controls.”

Chopra said enterprises risk misinterpreting such evaluations. “Procurement teams may see a third-party evaluation and treat the model as vetted,” he said. “Within a year it becomes a checkbox.”

Instead, he said, enterprises will need to run their own validation. “CIOs who get ahead will test each model against their own data before it touches production.”

Fragmentation complicates multi-model strategies

For CIOs pursuing multi-vendor strategies, differing approaches across providers could introduce additional complexity.

“Fragmentation was already the default. Safety divergence deepens it,” Chopra said.

He said risk is most acute during transitions. “For an enterprise running several models, the exposure sits in the handoff,” he said. “When a model is delayed or replaced, the system can behave differently.”

“I’d rank untested model substitution above vendor lock-in,” Chopra said.

Gupta said open architectures will be important. “The framework needs to be open, not locked to any single vendor,” he said.

Mukhopadhyay added that enterprises should prepare for models becoming unavailable or restricted.

CIOs urged to build resilience

Analysts said enterprises will need to design AI strategies that can adapt to changes in availability, pricing, and governance.

“For critical applications, CIOs should separate application controls and business logic from the underlying model,” Mukhopadhyay said.

Chopra emphasized flexibility. “A routing layer between applications and model providers turns switching into configuration work,” he said, adding that contracts should cover deprecation timelines.

He also pointed to pricing implications. “Scarce access to the frontier starts to carry a premium,” Chopra said.

Received — 16 September 2026 ⏭

M6 and M5 Ultra benchmark scores set the stage for powerful new Macs

✇Cult of Mac
By: Rajesh Pandey
16 September 2026 at 05:55
There's no processor like Apple's M6 Ultra

Early Geekbench scores show Apple’s M6 and M5 Ultra chips delivering big performance gains, with entry-level M6 taking the single-core lead.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

SpaceX declares Starship ready for orbit, sets launch date next week

✇Ars Technica - All
By: Eric Berger
15 September 2026 at 19:48

Pending regulatory approval, SpaceX said today it intends to launch its 14th Starship mission as early as September 22. This flight is notable, as it will be the first time that SpaceX attempts to launch the experimental vehicle into orbit.

The company set a target liftoff time of 7:15 am local in Texas (12:15 UTC), with a 75-minute launch window. Sunrise in Brownsville, Texas, is 7:17 am CT, so the launch could make for some striking imagery.

The super heavy lift rocket will be carrying 26 of the larger V3 Starlink satellites into an orbit 275 km above the Earth. In an update on its website, SpaceX said the Starship upper stage will seek to complete six orbits around the Earth before completing its mission after about 10 hours.

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© SpaceX

SpaceX declares Starship ready for orbit, sets launch date next week

✇Ars Technica - Space
By: Eric Berger
15 September 2026 at 19:48

Pending regulatory approval, SpaceX said today it intends to launch its 14th Starship mission as early as September 22. This flight is notable, as it will be the first time that SpaceX attempts to launch the experimental vehicle into orbit.

The company set a target liftoff time of 7:15 am local in Texas (12:15 UTC), with a 75-minute launch window. Sunrise in Brownsville, Texas, is 7:17 am CT, so the launch could make for some striking imagery.

The super heavy lift rocket will be carrying 26 of the larger V3 Starlink satellites into an orbit 275 km above the Earth. In an update on its website, SpaceX said the Starship upper stage will seek to complete six orbits around the Earth before completing its mission after about 10 hours.

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© SpaceX

Don’t think Apple is done: New Macs, iPads and more are coming soon

✇Cult of Mac
By: Ed Hardy
14 September 2026 at 14:35
Rumors say new Macs, iPads and more are coming from Apple in fall 2026.

Here's every Mac, iPad and other Apple device we're still expecting before the end of 2026, plus the ones that won't be out before 2027.

(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Govern AI agents like workers. Just don’t pretend they’re human

✇Computerworld
14 September 2026 at 12:01

The newest member of the corporate workforce never sleeps, never asks for a raise, and can be cloned before lunch. It can also confidently make the wrong decision thousands of times before anyone notices.

That helps explain why some technology leaders have started talking about AI agents as employees, co-workers, or interns rather than software. Once an agent can update records, issue refunds, send communications, or act across multiple enterprise systems, deploying it no longer looks much like installing another application.

Recent Harvard Business Review articles have pushed that analogy further. One argues that agents should be treated like a new workforce, with defined roles, authority, sources of truth, supervision, and audit trails. Another recommends giving agents names and job descriptions, onboarding them, evaluating their performance, and increasing their responsibilities after they prove themselves.

But there is a catch: People may start believing the metaphor.

A separate HBR study of 1,261 managers found that when AI was framed as an employee rather than a tool, managers with experience working around AI agents took less personal responsibility for results and assigned more responsibility to the AI. They also escalated more problems and caught fewer errors. In the study, 31% of respondents said their companies already framed AI as a teammate or employee, while 23% said agents appeared on organizational or work charts.

For IT leaders, the answer may therefore be to borrow freely from the employee-management playbook — without extending the metaphor too far.

Don’t put software on the org chart

Amy Loomis, group vice president at IDC, draws a hard line around one word: responsibility.

Humans, she says, have obligations to their companies and to one another, and they bring an understanding of corporate culture and values that an agent can mimic linguistically without possessing.

That makes calling an agent a co-worker potentially more than harmless anthropomorphism. The label suggests a peer relationship and can encourage people to cede judgment to a system that’s very good at giving what was requested, Loomis says, but not necessarily at recognizing what was actually needed.

“Accountability is something that has qualities associated with it that are uniquely human,” she says. “Agents may be given permission to access data, but the accountability for what they do with that access lies with the person who gave the agent access, not the agent itself.”

That distinction still leaves plenty to borrow from employee management. It makes sense to give an agent traceable access and tightly scoped permissions — and to institute a kill switch to prevent the agent from having continued access. But Loomis finds it more effective to think in terms of giving an agent an operations charter rather than a human identity: define what the system does, what it may access, and what humans remain responsible for.

In other words, give the agent a security badge. Just don’t put its picture on it.

The employee metaphor has a job to do

Raja Iqbal, founder of agentic AI governance company Ejento AI and co-author of the HBR article “To Scale AI Agents Successfully, Think of Them Like Team Members,” is closer to Loomis than the headline suggests.

Iqbal says the metaphor is intended to put CIOs, CISOs, and other technology leaders into the right “cognitive posture.” Thinking about an agent as a team member, he argues, can remind an enterprise to impose familiar management disciplines: a unique identity, clear human oversight, defined authority, spending limits, approved information sources, and an audit trail.

If another term produces the same discipline, he’s fine with that too.

In fact, Iqbal explicitly rejects synthetic employees with human personas and seats on the org chart. That creates exactly the accountability problem critics worry about: “Bob did it” becomes an excuse even though Bob is software.

“The metaphor is dangerous when it’s decorative,” Iqbal says. By that, he means companies get into trouble when they adopt the human trappings — names, personas, or the language of colleagues — without also imposing the supervision, limits, and accountability that make the analogy useful.

His preferred distinction is simpler: the agent needs a technical identity so the enterprise can reconstruct what it did, while a human must remain responsible for those actions. “The identity is the audit primitive, and the human owner is the accountability primitive,” he says. Put more plainly, the agent identity answers what acted; the human owner answers who is accountable.

The employee analogy becomes more useful again when deciding how much freedom an agent should receive. Iqbal recommends graduated autonomy. An agent might begin with a human approving every action, progress to performing low-risk actions independently, and eventually receive bounded autonomy if its observed performance justifies it. A serious error can send it back down the ladder — or out the door entirely.

That sounds a lot like a probation period for a new employee. It’s also simply good software governance for a probabilistic system.

At DXC, professional agents are software

Russell Jukes has had plenty of opportunity to test that distinction. As chief digital and information officer at DXC Technology, he oversees AI in an IT services organization with roughly 115,000 employees.

“We think about [an AI agent] as a superpower, not as a person,” he says.

DXC separates agents into two categories. Personal agents work for individual employees and generally operate using the employee’s identity and access. Professional agents are enterprise systems built for broader workflows. On one of DXC’s major AI platforms, employees have so far created roughly 8,000 personal agents, compared with about 100 professional agents.

The professional variety receives much stricter oversight. It can have its own nonhuman identity, credentials, permissions, and authority boundaries. Activity passes through control planes that allow DXC to see what agents are doing and, when necessary, shut them down.

Jukes thinks many of these agents will eventually disappear from users’ view altogether. An agent might scan internal resource requirements overnight and recommend employees for projects. Nobody needs to greet it in the morning or consider it a colleague; they simply receive the result.

That’s where he parts company with the worker metaphor.

Jukes says he learned early on that AI cannot be deployed like conventional SaaS. His first attempt followed the familiar software model: make the application available, let employees use it within the prescribed workflow, and expect adoption to follow. “I did that, and nobody used it,” he says. The experience convinced him that AI requires a different approach, and he vowed to “never deploy AI like it’s SaaS again.”

Conventional SaaS is largely deterministic: the software constrains users to a defined workflow and produces predictable outputs. Agentic AI is different. It can interpret a goal, choose among tools and data sources, and decide how to get to an outcome. For Jukes, that means CIOs have to design the policies, permissions, data access, guardrails, and authority around the agent rather than simply deploy another application.

That also creates a clearer chain of responsibility. If a person approves the agent’s action, Jukes says that person owns the decision. If an autonomous agent behaves according to a business policy, accountability belongs with the people responsible for that policy. If the technology fails to operate as designed, responsibility moves to IT.

The agent itself never gets handed the blame.

Maybe treat it like an intern after all

Nina Tatsiy, global CIO of Quadient, an automation technology company, takes a position somewhere between Iqbal and Jukes. She calls agents interns, but deliberately uses the term as an analogy, not an organizational designation.

Agents must be managed as software, with security, governance, and technical controls, while recognizing that their probabilistic behavior requires additional supervision. “You have to do both,” Tatsiy says.

An intern does not receive every password and authorization on the first morning. Neither should an agent. It has to be onboarded, trained, watched, retrained when its environment changes, and eventually retired when it’s obsolete.

Quadient generally avoids giving agents human names. Tatsiy worries that doing so encourages people to see them as real colleagues capable of judgment.

“Overtrust is a problem,” she says, particularly because AI tends to state conclusions with such assurance. Tatsiy prefers using AI to challenge a hypothesis or surface questions people haven’t considered rather than allowing it to make the conclusion for them.

Yet the intern analogy has proved useful operationally.

In one accounts-payable deployment, Quadient had an agent effectively shadow human workers and learn from their feedback across different scenarios. Only after its performance had been tested across increasing levels of complexity did it begin providing recommendations. Humans still made the final decision.

The agent, in other words, earned more trust. It didn’t earn accountability.

Borrow from HR, but keep humans in charge

The emerging divide may therefore be less about whether agents are employees or software than about which parts of each management model IT leaders should retain.

Agents need individual technical identities, but not human identities. They need defined responsibilities, but not jobs in the human sense. They need monitoring and evaluation, but not annual performance reviews. They can receive progressively greater authority, but not progressively greater accountability.

And the stronger they become, the more important that distinction becomes.

Treating an autonomous agent like ordinary SaaS ignores the fact that it can interpret, choose, and act in ways conventional software cannot. Treating it like Steve from Accounting creates a different problem: sooner or later somebody may start assuming “Steve” knows what he’s doing.

IT leaders may indeed need to borrow heavily from HR as agentic AI spreads across the enterprise. They just shouldn’t start issuing employee badges.

Related reading:

Received — 11 September 2026 ⏭

What the Nordic Spirit-Co-op Live Deal Means for UK Nicotine Sponsorship Rules

✇IGeeKphone China
By: Brady Cotton
11 September 2026 at 02:05

Nordic Spirit has partnered with Co-op Live, one of the UK’s major entertainment venues, in a move that puts a nicotine pouch presence in the UK inside a high-profile live entertainment environment.

The partnership is particularly notable because the UK’s rules governing the advertising and sponsorship of nicotine products are about to change significantly. The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 introduces a much broader framework covering the promotion and sponsorship of vaping and nicotine products, with the government intending the new advertising and sponsorship restrictions to take effect on June 1, 2027.

That makes the timing of the Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live deal more interesting than a conventional venue partnership. It arrives during a period when nicotine brands are still able to operate within the existing rules, while preparing for a substantially more restrictive marketing environment.

What Is the Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live Partnership?

Nordic Spirit, a nicotine pouch brand, has entered into a partnership with Co-op Live that gives the brand a presence at the Manchester entertainment venue.

Rather than being simply a retail arrangement, the partnership places Nordic Spirit within an entertainment setting where brand visibility and audience engagement are important parts of the commercial relationship.

For Nordic Spirit, the deal provides another way to establish brand awareness among adult nicotine consumers . For Co-op Live, the agreement represents a commercial partnership with a nicotine brand during a period of significant regulatory change across the UK nicotine market.

The timing is therefore an important part of the story.

Why the Timing Matters

The UK nicotine market is approaching a major change in how products can be promoted.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 extends advertising and sponsorship restrictions to nicotine products as well as vaping products. The government’s Department of Health and Social Care says it intends the comprehensive advertising and sponsorship ban to begin on June 1, 2027.

The legislation goes beyond traditional advertising. Section 131 covers sponsorship agreements involving vaping products and nicotine products where contributions are made under an agreement and activities resulting from that agreement promote those products in the UK.

This is important because sponsorship is different from placing a conventional advertisement in a newspaper or on a website.

A sponsorship arrangement can connect a brand with a venue, event, sports organisation or other public-facing activity. Under the new framework, those relationships can therefore become subject to much greater scrutiny when they promote a nicotine product.

What Changes Under the Tobacco and Vapes Act?

The new law represents a substantial expansion of the UK’s approach to nicotine marketing.

The government says the future restrictions will cover advertising, promotion and sponsorship involving vaping and nicotine products. They are intended to apply across the UK.

The legislation also makes clear that sponsorship restrictions can apply when a sponsorship agreement results in activities intended to promote a vaping or nicotine product.

That distinction matters for businesses because the question is not simply whether a company has purchased a conventional advertisement.

The wider issue is whether a commercial arrangement results in promotional activity for a product that falls within the scope of the legislation.

Does the New Law Automatically Make the Co-op Live Deal Illegal?

Not necessarily.

This is an important distinction that should not be overlooked.

The government has stated that it intends the comprehensive advertising and sponsorship restrictions to come into force from June 1, 2027. However, the explanatory notes to the legislation state that the commencement of Section 131 is to be specified by regulations.

That means it would be inaccurate to conclude simply that the existing Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership is already prohibited.

Instead, the more useful question is how the arrangement will be treated as the new rules take effect and whether any existing contractual or promotional activity needs to change.

The final practical impact will depend on the commencement regulations, implementation details and guidance available to businesses.

Why Venue Partnerships Are Becoming More Important to Watch

The Nordic Spirit deal illustrates a broader issue in the nicotine industry.

For years, brands have used different forms of visibility to establish consumer awareness, including retail presence, digital communication, events and sponsorships.

The upcoming UK restrictions could significantly reduce the number of channels available for commercial promotion.

That makes existing partnerships particularly interesting.

A venue partnership can involve more than a logo on a wall. Depending on the agreement, it may include branded areas, promotional material, digital exposure, event-related activity or other forms of brand association.

Under a regulatory framework that specifically addresses sponsorship and promotion, businesses will need to assess those elements individually rather than treating the entire arrangement as a simple advertising purchase.

Nicotine Pouches Face a Different Regulatory Landscape

Nicotine pouches have also become increasingly visible in the UK nicotine market.

Unlike traditional tobacco products, nicotine pouches do not contain tobacco. However, the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 specifically brings nicotine products within the broader advertising and sponsorship framework. The government’s explanatory notes describe the new rules as extending advertising, promotion and sponsorship restrictions to nicotine products as well as vape aerosol products.

This is a significant development for pouch brands.

It means that the industry’s marketing environment cannot be assessed only by looking at traditional tobacco regulations. Companies selling nicotine pouches will also need to consider the new restrictions that apply specifically to nicotine products.

The government has also announced separate changes affecting the sale and promotion of vaping and nicotine products. From October 29, 2026, new age-of-sale and related restrictions will apply, including restrictions on free distribution intended to promote vaping or nicotine products.

What This Could Mean for Future Brand Partnerships

The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live agreement may become a useful example of the transition taking place in the UK nicotine market.

For brands, the challenge will not simply be finding another advertising channel. Companies will need to reconsider how they build awareness when conventional promotional and sponsorship opportunities become more restricted.

For venues and commercial partners, the issue is equally important.

A partnership involving a nicotine company may require closer review of branding, promotional activity, event integration and contractual obligations. The regulatory question may extend beyond the presence of a brand name to what consumers actually see or experience as a result of the commercial relationship.

That could make compliance more complicated than simply removing an advertisement.

What Consumers Should Take From the Partnership

For adult consumers, the most relevant point is that the nicotine pouch market is entering a period of significant regulatory transition.

The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership itself is only one commercial arrangement. Its wider significance comes from the timing: it demonstrates how nicotine brands are continuing to explore mainstream commercial partnerships while the UK is preparing to impose broader restrictions on advertising and sponsorship.

The government says the future restrictions are designed to reduce the promotion of nicotine and vaping products, particularly in the context of protecting younger people from exposure to marketing.

As implementation approaches, businesses will need to understand not only what products they can sell, but also how those products can legally be promoted.

Final Thoughts

The Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership is noteworthy because it sits directly within a changing UK nicotine marketing landscape.

The agreement does not, by itself, mean that the partnership is already prohibited. Instead, it highlights the transition from today’s rules toward a system in which advertising and sponsorship of nicotine products are expected to face much tighter restrictions.

The UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 provides the legal framework for that change, while the government currently intends the wider advertising and sponsorship restrictions to take effect on June 1, 2027.

For nicotine brands, venues and other commercial partners, the key issue over the coming months will be understanding exactly how existing and future agreements fit within the new rules.

That makes the Nordic Spirit and Co-op Live partnership worth watching—not simply as a brand deal, but as an example of how the UK nicotine industry’s approach to marketing may change before the new restrictions take effect.

The post What the Nordic Spirit-Co-op Live Deal Means for UK Nicotine Sponsorship Rules appeared first on IGeeKphone China Phone, Tablet PC, VR, RC Drone News, Reviews.

NASA Answers President’s Call to Establish United States Space Academy

✇NASA Science
10 September 2026 at 21:26
President Donald Trump presents an executive order establishing the United States Space Academy during an event to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew as Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, left; Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, third from left; and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, right, applaud, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Credit: NASA/John Kraus

Less than two weeks after an Executive Order was signed to create the first United States Space Academy, NASA-led work is in full swing to make the academy a reality and shape the future of America’s aerospace workforce and leadership.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman chaired the first Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy meeting on Sept. 9. Following that meeting, NASA published a Request for Information Thursday seeking input from governors or their designees interested in hosting and sponsoring the up-and-coming academy in their state.

“Our first Commission meeting made clear how much talent and commitment we have behind President Trump’s vision for the U.S. Space Academy,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “I’m grateful to our partners across government for getting right to work. Now, with the RFI underway, states across the country have an opportunity to help us shape a legacy institution built for America’s future in space.”

Isaacman and Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson welcomed key commission members from multiple agencies and organizations to NASA Headquarters in Washington for a collaborative Commission discussion. Participants included U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, Secretary of the United States Air Force Troy Meink, and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ethan Klein, representing Director of Office and Technology Policy Michael Kratsios, along with representatives from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, and the White House.

During the meeting, commission members began working through the structure and priorities of the proposed U.S. Space Academy, including its governance, curriculum, service commitments, partnerships, and implementation.

“The location of the U.S. Space Academy is foundational to its success,” said Anderson. “We’re asking states to bring their strongest vision — the infrastructure, the partnerships, and the community that can compete with the elite options this caliber of student will have and match the boundless ambition of our future space leaders.”

The commission’s 120-day mandate to develop recommendations for President Trump on how to establish the academy and build the technical talent and leadership pipeline needed to support America’s long-term goals in space began when the President signed the Executive Order on Aug. 28.

Responses to the RFI will help inform the commission’s path forward to selecting a location for the institution and are due by 6 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 26. An ambitious timeline is outlined in the request, calling for a groundbreaking no later than 2027, temporarily hosting the first 300 students in 2028, and a permanent location in operation by 2031.

Each state is allowed one submission to the Announcement via its governor’s designee. In addition to details about resources available to support the academy, input sought on the potential campus includes:

  • Location information
  • Site readiness
  • Environmental and regulatory considerations
  • Proximity and supporting ecosystems

A fact sheet on the U.S. Space Academy is available on The White House website.

-end-

George Alderman / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
george.a.alderman@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

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The post NASA Answers President’s Call to Establish United States Space Academy appeared first on NASA Science.

NASA Answers President’s Call to Establish United States Space Academy

✇NASA
By: Lauren E. Low
10 September 2026 at 21:26
President Donald Trump presents an executive order establishing the United States Space Academy during an event to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew as Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, left; Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, third from left; and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, right, applaud, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Credit: NASA/John Kraus

Less than two weeks after an Executive Order was signed to create the first United States Space Academy, NASA-led work is in full swing to make the academy a reality and shape the future of America’s aerospace workforce and leadership.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman chaired the first Presidential Commission on the United States Space Academy meeting on Sept. 9. Following that meeting, NASA published a Request for Information Thursday seeking input from governors or their designees interested in hosting and sponsoring the up-and-coming academy in their state.

“Our first Commission meeting made clear how much talent and commitment we have behind President Trump’s vision for the U.S. Space Academy,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “I’m grateful to our partners across government for getting right to work. Now, with the RFI underway, states across the country have an opportunity to help us shape a legacy institution built for America’s future in space.”

Isaacman and Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson welcomed key commission members from multiple agencies and organizations to NASA Headquarters in Washington for a collaborative Commission discussion. Participants included U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, Secretary of the United States Air Force Troy Meink, and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ethan Klein, representing Director of Office and Technology Policy Michael Kratsios, along with representatives from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, and the White House.

During the meeting, commission members began working through the structure and priorities of the proposed U.S. Space Academy, including its governance, curriculum, service commitments, partnerships, and implementation.

“The location of the U.S. Space Academy is foundational to its success,” said Anderson. “We’re asking states to bring their strongest vision — the infrastructure, the partnerships, and the community that can compete with the elite options this caliber of student will have and match the boundless ambition of our future space leaders.”

The commission’s 120-day mandate to develop recommendations for President Trump on how to establish the academy and build the technical talent and leadership pipeline needed to support America’s long-term goals in space began when the President signed the Executive Order on Aug. 28.

Responses to the RFI will help inform the commission’s path forward to selecting a location for the institution and are due by 6 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 26. An ambitious timeline is outlined in the request, calling for a groundbreaking no later than 2027, temporarily hosting the first 300 students in 2028, and a permanent location in operation by 2031.

Each state is allowed one submission to the Announcement via its governor’s designee. In addition to details about resources available to support the academy, input sought on the potential campus includes:

  • Location information
  • Site readiness
  • Environmental and regulatory considerations
  • Proximity and supporting ecosystems

A fact sheet on the U.S. Space Academy is available on The White House website.

-end-

George Alderman / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
george.a.alderman@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov

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Last Updated
Sep 10, 2026

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ABC Show Won't Air Interview With Democrat Because of FCC Threats

✇Slashdot
By: BeauHD
10 September 2026 at 21:00
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: ABC's Jimmy Kimmel said he will be interviewing a Democratic candidate for Senate tonight, but the interview will be on YouTube only and not broadcast on TV because of threats made by the Federal Communications Commission. Kimmel has been a prime target in the Trump FCC's attacks on ABC and its owner, Disney. In his monologue last night, Kimmel said he'll be interviewing Democrat James Talarico, a state representative who is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a seat in the US Senate. In previous years, such an interview would have aired on the broadcast show via local stations throughout the country, Kimmel said. This time, it will only be on the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel in order to prevent further trouble for individual stations that hold FCC licenses, he said. "I'll be interviewing James Talarico tomorrow night under unusual circumstances," Kimmel told the audience on Wednesday. "For a lot of years, for the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I've been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, et cetera, et cetera. I've interviewed a lot of political candidates, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump himself." But as Kimmel said, "something has changed." Disney suspended Kimmel briefly last year after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke the licenses of ABC stations for "news distortion" if they continued to air Kimmel's show. [...] Kimmel said the decision to put the interview on YouTube was made out of consideration for local stations that could face FCC threats to their broadcast licenses. "And so out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television," Kimmel said. "It will be posted on YouTube instead. It will not be on TV. So if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you will have to go to the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel where you will see it in its entirety, and thank goodness we have that because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do, until November, of course." "Jimmy Kimmel's decision to keep his interview with a Senate candidate off the air shows just how far this administration's campaign of censorship and control has gone," FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission's only Democrat, said today. Gomez said the FCC "has no lawful authority to threaten broadcast licenses over guest bookings or editorial decisions," and that "no host, local affiliate, or network should have to weigh federal retaliation before booking a guest for a newsworthy interview. Any attempt to pressure broadcasters into self-censorship undermines both press freedom and the public's right to hear from candidates in their communities seeking public office." The report notes a similar controversy that occurred in February when Stephen Colbert said CBS forbade him from interviewing Talarico. CBS denied prohibiting the interview but said it gave Colbert "legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates [...] and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled." That interview also ended up being published on YouTube.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Promising to Turn Someone Into a Sausage Roll is Not a Genuine ‘Death Threat’

✇The Daily Sceptic
By: Steven Tucker
10 September 2026 at 19:00

Genuine death threats against politicians are no joke. But that doesn't mean every joke – such as threatening to turn someone into a sausage roll – should be taken as an actual death threat, says Steven Tucker.

The post Promising to Turn Someone Into a Sausage Roll is Not a Genuine ‘Death Threat’ appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Benchmarks preliminares do chip A20 Pro atestam avanços de CPU e GPU

✇MacMagazine
By: Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro
10 September 2026 at 14:57

Resultados preliminares de benchmark do chip A20 Pro, que alimenta o iPhone 18 Pro, o iPhone 18 Pro Max e o iPhone Duo, surgiram na manhã de hoje no banco de dados do Geekbench 7, oferecendo uma primeira visão do desempenho de CPU 1Central processing unit, ou unidade central de processamento. e GPU 2Graphics processing unit, ou unidade de processamento gráfico. dos novos modelos antes mesmo de chegarem ao mercado.

Com base nesses resultados iniciais, o chip A20 Pro parece oferecer um desempenho cerca de 21% a 23% mais rápido em single-core (média de 4.722 pontos), além de 27% a 28% mais rápido em multi-core (média de 12.626 pontos) em comparação com o chip A19 Pro dos iPhones 17 Pro/17 Pro Max.

Benchmarks do iPhone 18 Pro
Benchmarks do iPhone 18 Pro Max

Talvez não surpreenda que os resultados do iPhone 18 Pro Max sejam praticamente iguais aos do iPhone 18 Pro. Uma diferença aparece nas pontuações do teste Metal: o modelo menor marcou 64.069 pontos, enquanto o maior atingiu 64.915 pontos.

Ainda assim, os resultados gráficos alinham-se, em linhas gerais, à afirmação da Apple — presente no comunicado de imprensa e na página do iPhone 18 Pro — de que o A20 Pro oferece uma performance gráfica até 40% mais rápida que o chip A19 Pro.

Também foram vistos resultados de benchmark do iPhone 18 Pro Max no AnTuTu, que registrou uma pontuação geral de 3.551.073. A pontuação da CPU, especificamente, foi de 920.410, enquanto a GPU alcançou 1.397.374 pontos. Os testes de memória e UX registraram 470.245 e 763.044 pontos, respectivamente. Para fins de comparação, o iPhone 17 Pro Max obteve uma média de 2.275.118 pontos, colocando o novo modelo substancialmente à frente no benchmark.

Benchmarks do iPhone 18 Pro Max no AnTuTu

Vale ressaltar que esses testes de desempenho pontuais — que ainda não foram confirmados — não indicam como os dispositivos se comportarão durante sessões prolongadas de jogos ou outras cargas de trabalho exigentes; afinal, os resultados de testes no mundo real poderão apresentar algumas diferenças.

via MacRumors, Gizmochina

Notas de rodapé

  • 1
    Central processing unit, ou unidade central de processamento.
  • 2
    Graphics processing unit, ou unidade de processamento gráfico.

Britain’s Speech Police: How the State Learned to Fear its People

✇The Daily Sceptic
By: Paul Birch
10 September 2026 at 09:00

With 62,000 people arrested for speech crimes in five years, the UK can no longer claim to be a free society, says Paul Birch. The state has learned to fear its people and will no longer tolerate them speaking freely.

The post Britain’s Speech Police: How the State Learned to Fear its People appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

AirPods 5 Launch With Active Noise Cancellation as Standard at $129

✇IGeeKphone China
By: Brady Cotton
10 September 2026 at 07:01

Apple has officially introduced the AirPods 5, bringing a notable upgrade to its entry-level wireless earbud lineup without increasing the starting price.

The biggest change is that Apple is no longer offering a separate non-noise-cancelling version. Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is now standard on AirPods 5, making this the first generation in the series to include ANC across the lineup.

Prices start at $129, while the version with a wireless charging case costs $149. That means Apple has added a major feature without raising the entry-level price.

AirPods 5 Keep the Familiar Half-In-Ear Design

At first glance, AirPods 5 look largely unchanged from the previous generation. Apple continues to use a semi-in-ear design, rather than switching to silicone ear tips.

This design choice creates an interesting balance. Traditional in-ear earbuds can generally provide stronger passive isolation because their ear tips form a tighter seal, while semi-in-ear earbuds can feel more comfortable during extended listening.

For users who dislike the pressure associated with sealed in-ear headphones, AirPods 5 may therefore offer a more comfortable approach to noise cancellation.

ANC Becomes a Standard Feature

The headline upgrade is active noise cancellation.

Apple says AirPods 5 deliver up to a 50% improvement in noise reduction compared with AirPods 4. Instead of requiring buyers to choose a more expensive noise-cancelling configuration, Apple has made ANC part of the standard AirPods 5 package.

The earbuds also support Adaptive Audio, which can automatically balance Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode according to the surrounding environment.

This makes the AirPods 5 more practical for users who move between quiet indoor spaces, busy streets, public transportation and other changing environments.

Up to 5 Hours of Listening on a Single Charge

With Active Noise Cancellation enabled, AirPods 5 can provide up to five hours of listening time on a single charge.

The charging case extends total listening time to up to 20 hours, giving users several additional charging cycles throughout the day.

While the five-hour figure is not class-leading compared with some larger wireless earbuds, it is reasonable for compact semi-in-ear headphones. The case is also important for users who typically listen in shorter sessions and recharge the earbuds between uses.

IP57 Protection Adds More Durability

AirPods 5 also receive an IP57 rating, giving the earbuds greater protection against dust and water exposure than many basic wireless earbuds.

That additional durability could be useful for everyday activities such as commuting, walking or exercising. However, an IP rating should not be interpreted as making the earbuds suitable for every type of water exposure.

Apple Intelligence Features Expand Their Role

The new AirPods 5 also support several Apple Intelligence-related features, including real-time translation and access to broader knowledge-based functions.

This reflects Apple’s wider strategy of turning its earbuds into more than simple audio accessories. With tighter integration between hardware, software and Apple’s AI features, AirPods can increasingly serve as a hands-free interface for information and communication.

The usefulness of these features will naturally depend on device compatibility, supported languages and Apple’s software ecosystem.

AirPods 5 Price and Availability

Apple is keeping the entry price at $129, despite adding Active Noise Cancellation as a standard feature.

The pricing is:

  • AirPods 5: $129
  • AirPods 5 with wireless charging case: $149

The decision to maintain the previous starting price makes ANC the most significant value improvement in this generation.

What Makes AirPods 5 Different?

The AirPods 5 are not a dramatic redesign, but Apple has focused the upgrade on features that can have a noticeable effect on everyday use.

The combination of standard ANC, Adaptive Audio, a comfortable semi-in-ear design, IP57 protection and Apple Intelligence features gives the new earbuds a broader feature set without moving the starting price above $129.

For users who prioritize comfort and want noise cancellation without the tighter fit of traditional in-ear earbuds, AirPods 5 could be one of the more interesting additions to Apple’s audio lineup.

The post AirPods 5 Launch With Active Noise Cancellation as Standard at $129 appeared first on IGeeKphone China Phone, Tablet PC, VR, RC Drone News, Reviews.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Launch With 2nm A20 Pro Chip and Variable Aperture Camera

✇IGeeKphone China
By: Brady Cotton
10 September 2026 at 06:47

Apple has officially launched the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, bringing a major round of upgrades to its high-end smartphone lineup. The new models focus on four key areas: processing performance, camera flexibility, sustained performance and battery life.

The iPhone 18 Pro starts at 9,999 yuan in China, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max begins at 10,999 yuan. Both models will open for pre-orders at 8 PM on September 12, with sales starting September 18.

Four Colors and a Refined Pro Design

The iPhone 18 Pro series is available in four finishes. Apple retains familiar black and silver options while introducing Glacier Blue and Burgundy Red, giving the new Pro models a more distinctive appearance.

The overall design remains closely related to the previous generation, but Apple has made another change to the front display area. The Dynamic Island has been reduced in size, allowing Apple to maintain its existing interactive features while taking up less screen space.

The iPhone 18 Pro features a 6.3-inch display, while the larger iPhone 18 Pro Max comes with a 6.9-inch screen. This keeps the two models clearly separated by size while maintaining the same general design language.

2nm A20 Pro Chip Brings a Major Performance Upgrade

The biggest change inside the iPhone 18 Pro series is Apple’s new A20 Pro chip, which is built using a 2nm manufacturing process.

The processor uses a six-core CPU configuration consisting of two performance cores and four efficiency cores. Apple says the performance cores can deliver up to a 20% improvement over the previous generation.

Graphics performance also gets a significant upgrade. The A20 Pro moves to a seven-core GPU architecture, with peak GPU performance reportedly increasing by up to 40%.

The chip’s AI capabilities have also been expanded. Apple equips the A20 Pro with two Neural Engine groups containing a combined 32 cores, along with a new generation of neural accelerators. Eight-bit floating-point processing can reach twice the previous speed, while memory bandwidth increases by 50%.

These improvements are particularly relevant as on-device AI becomes a larger part of the smartphone experience. More processing capacity can help Apple handle demanding AI workloads without relying entirely on cloud-based services.

New Vapor Chamber Helps Sustain Performance

Higher peak performance is only useful if a phone can maintain it under sustained workloads. To address this, Apple has added a new vapor chamber cooling system to the iPhone 18 Pro series.

The improved thermal design works alongside the A20 Pro to manage heat during demanding tasks such as gaming, video processing and intensive AI workloads.

Apple says sustained performance is up to 40% higher than the previous generation and can reach roughly double the level of the iPhone 16 Pro series.

That makes thermal management one of the more important changes in the new generation. Instead of focusing solely on short benchmark bursts, Apple appears to be placing greater emphasis on maintaining high performance over longer periods.

iPhone 18 Pro Gets Its First Variable-Aperture Main Camera

Camera hardware is another major highlight of the iPhone 18 Pro series.

The phones feature a 48-megapixel Fusion main camera, but this generation adds something new: a variable aperture.

The lens uses a six-blade aperture mechanism with four selectable aperture levels. This allows the camera to adjust how much light reaches the sensor according to the shooting environment.

In practical terms, variable aperture gives the main camera more flexibility than a fixed-aperture design. It can help balance light intake in darker scenes while also providing greater control in situations such as portraits and backlit photography.

The addition is particularly notable because Apple is bringing a traditionally camera-focused hardware feature to its mainstream Pro smartphone system.

Up to 30 Hours of Battery Life

Battery endurance has also received a substantial upgrade.

The iPhone 18 Pro is rated for up to 24 hours of battery life, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max can reach 30 hours.

Charging has been improved as well. Apple says the new models can reach 50% battery capacity in 15 minutes, giving users a faster way to recover power when they are short on time.

The combination of a more efficient 2nm chip, improved thermal management and increased battery endurance could make the Pro Max particularly attractive to users who prioritize long daily usage.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max China Pricing

Apple is offering both models with four storage configurations in China.

iPhone 18 Pro

  • 256GB: 9,999 yuan
  • 512GB: 11,999 yuan
  • 1TB: 15,499 yuan
  • 2TB: 20,499 yuan

iPhone 18 Pro Max

  • 256GB: 10,999 yuan
  • 512GB: 12,999 yuan
  • 1TB: 16,499 yuan
  • 2TB: 21,499 yuan

Pre-orders will begin at 8 PM on September 12, while the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will officially go on sale on September 18.

What Makes the iPhone 18 Pro Series Different?

The iPhone 18 Pro generation is more than a routine processor refresh. The combination of the 2nm A20 Pro chip, new vapor chamber cooling, variable-aperture main camera and longer battery life gives Apple several hardware upgrades to highlight.

The variable-aperture camera is arguably the most visible photography change, while the new cooling system could have a bigger impact on users who regularly play demanding games or run intensive applications.

At the same time, the 9,999-yuan starting price for the iPhone 18 Pro keeps Apple’s premium Pro lineup firmly in the flagship segment. For buyers considering an upgrade, the most meaningful question may be whether the improved sustained performance, camera flexibility and endurance justify the higher price compared with the previous generation.

The post iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max Launch With 2nm A20 Pro Chip and Variable Aperture Camera appeared first on IGeeKphone China Phone, Tablet PC, VR, RC Drone News, Reviews.

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