Later this month, iOS 18.1 will bring a host of AI features to users. If you have a compatible device, your notifications will be smarter than ever, the Photos app more powerful, and Siri will learn a few new tricks. Apple Intelligence also introduces new writing tools across iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1, and iPadOS 18.1. Here’s how AI is set to improve your writing across all your devices.

Apple has opened a huge new research lab in Shenzhen, China. The lab was first announced back in March, but the South China Morning Post reports that it became operational this week. Here’s what Apple has planned for the facility, and how it relates to struggling iPhone sales.

Apple TV+ offers exclusive Apple original TV shows and movies in 4K HDR quality. You can watch across all of your screens and pick up where you left off on any device. Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month. Here’s every Apple original television show and movie available now on Apple TV+, as well as the latest trailers …

Expand
Expanding
Close

After cutting interest rates for the Apple Card Savings Account last month, Apple and Goldman Sachs are cutting interest rates again. Customers were notified of the change on Thursday night, and it will take effect on Friday, October 11.

With iOS 18, the Apple Wallet app has gained support for richer event tickets, which provide more details with useful information about the event. As iOS 18 is now available to the public, Ticketmaster announced on Thursday that it will soon be rolling out support for richer tickets in Apple Wallet.

Meta last year confirmed its plans to finally release an iPad-specific version of WhatsApp right after launching a macOS app rebuilt from scratch. A beta version of the iPad app was released in late September, but a year later, WhatsApp for iPad is still a beta app.

Apple CEO Tim Cook announced on Thursday that Apple will donate to help people affected by the disasters caused by Hurricane Milton, which has become a dangerous threat to the state of Florida.

iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are Apple’s newest, high-end smartphones. But how much have they improved over the last two years when it comes to ports, charging, wireless, and more? Here’s a detailed look at iPhone 16 Pro vs 14 Pro I/O for everything new and a buyer’s guide.

Today exactly one week after releasing iOS 18.0.1 to the public, Apple has stopped signing the prior iOS 18.0 software release. This means it’s no longer possible to downgrade to the older iPhone version.

Typically when Apple and law enforcement are in the news together, it’s because of a standoff over user privacy. But today, a new report outlines the company’s efforts to build bridges with law enforcement—efforts that may be changing.

Apple Vision Pro has been available for just over seven months, and Apple is starting to ramp up its market research among customers. The company is sending surveys to early Vision Pro adopters inviting them to share their experiences with things like comfort, use cases, and much more.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Roborock: Level up your home cleaning automation with Roborock and save up to $650 for Prime Big Deals Day. 

Benjamin and Chance get excited for Apple’s upcoming product launches, which we are now expecting for the end of the month. The base model M4 MacBook Pro might even have fully leaked on the web. iOS 18.1 beta 6 brings some nice refinements, and more high-profile Apple execs are retiring from their posts.

And in Happy Hour Plus, the duo discuss Apple’s decision to put TV+ as a channel inside Amazon Prime Video. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

• Sponsored by Zocdoc: Go to Zocdoc.com/happyhour and download the Zocdoc app to sign up for free and book a top-rated doctor. Many are available as soon as today.
• Sponsored by Incogni: Limit public access to your private information, mitigate the risks of identity theft, and keep your data from being sold. Use code “HAPPYHOUR” at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/happyhour
• Sponsored by Roborock: Level up your home cleaning automation with Roborock and save up to $650 for Prime Big Deals Day. 

Apple TV+ is home to a growing number of beloved and critically acclaimed shows. One such series, Bad Monkey, just wrapped its first season. And the most popular TV+ series ever, Ted Lasso, is ramping for a long-awaited fourth season. If you enjoyed those shows, you should absolutely give Shrinking a try. Here’s why.

The major upgrade for Apple Maps with iOS 18 is topographic hiking trails (same with iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, and macOS Sequoia). New features include detailed planning and guidance for custom hikes, the ability to save the maps offline, elevation details, and more. Here’s how to use Apple Maps topographic hiking trails.

Today Apple released its first scripted short film in Immersive Video: Submerged. In coordination with the launch, the company has also outlined its plans for future Vision Pro content releases. Here’s what to expect for new Immersive Video content coming soon.

Filmmaking for the Apple Vision Pro is taking a big step forward today. Submerged, a new short film that’s the first scripted project in Immersive Video, is available now in the Apple TV app. You can catch its trailer here. Alongside Submerged’s launch, Apple has also shared a new making of video.

iOS 18.1 will arrive for compatible iPhone models near the end of October, bringing a variety of powerful new AI features with it. Apple Intelligence is being pitched as ‘AI for the rest of us.’ Here are the upcoming features that serve as great examples of that, with potential to make the biggest impact for the most users.

An iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S24 camera comparison concludes that it’s hard to pick an overall winner given the role played by personal preferences, but the range of sample shots provides a really good chance to judge for yourself.

The piece starts out by noting that Samsung wins the megapixel war, though we’ve frequently cautioned that squeezing ever more pixels into a tiny sensor can actually result in worse images …

China has detained four Taiwanese employees at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, the largest iPhone production facility in the world, responsible for around 80% of global production.

The employees were detained using powers the Chinese government last year granted to itself. No specific reason has yet been given, but it seems likely the move is political …

In what is now an annual tradition, filmmaker Joey Helms has created a stunning iPhone 16 Pro cinematic video demo reel, in his home city of Chicago.

This year he paired up with Sam Perez to mount the new phone on a drone to include airborne shots – and, of course, included some extra-slo-mo footage to highlight the new 120fps 4K capture capabilities …