Apple Rumors

Apple has introduced code referencing “Google” as a third-party model choice for Apple Intelligence to leverage, according to a backend change spotted by Aaron Perris, who often shares info gleaned from Apple firmware code, following the release of the first iOS 18.4 beta last week.

The company plans to use these combined chips by “2028 at the earliest,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter. The move could cut costs and make its devices more energy-efficient, he notes. I imagine it would help save space in the cramped confines of something like the rumored iPhone Air, too.

In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman writes that the PowerBeats Pro 2 earbuds are preparing to launch on February 11th, with heart-rate monitoring as previously rumored, and also about a new iCloud feature.

Sonny Dickson is doing his annual thing of leaking non-working iPhone “dummy units” used by case and accessory makers. This is the fourth-generation of the budget iPhone SE that should have an improved OLED display amongst other improvements. Importantly, it’s also expected to have a USB-C jack so it can once again be sold in the EU.

The next version of Apple’s item-tracking device will feature an Ultra Wideband chip that’s “on par with the one introduced in the iPhone 15,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in Power On today.

The “Default Apps” section that Apple added to the iOS 18.2 beta in October now lets you pick a contactless payment default besides Apple’s Wallet app.

In addition to iPad-like smart home displays and tabletop robots, Apple’s smart home future could include a television set, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes in Power On today.

Apple’s wireless tracker’s rumored follow-up next year will have improved range, a better wireless chip, and a harder-to-remove speaker, according to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.

Apple’s smallest computer is about to get way smaller, if all the rumors about an almost Apple TV-sized M4 refresh in the coming week of Mac announcements are to be believed.

That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who writes today that he is “certain these machines are the real deal.” The machines from last week’s leaks seem to be base model M4 MacBook Pros with 16GB of memory and 10-core CPUs and GPUs, he adds.

Gurman said it would come in 2025 or 2026 and now 9to5Mac is citing a trusted source saying it’ll make its debut inside the iPhone SE 4 coming next year:

This time from 9to5Mac, citing unnamed sources who say that the “HomeAccessory” device referenced in code is a smart home accessory with an A18 chip, that’s capable of handling Apple Intelligence features, apps, and acting as an AirPlay receiver.

Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that Apple is “racing” to complete the second set of Apple Intelligence features it plans to release this year, lining up Genmoji, ChatGPT, and Image Playground for a December launch with iOS 18.2.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s latest prediction follows a previous one from last year that said there’s a slim chance for a new Ultra in 2024. At Apple’s iPhone 16 event, we only got a (much desired) black model of the Ultra 2, while the SE was last refreshed in 2022.

That’s according to Macrumors, which says it confirmed that the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro phones each have “8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence” by digging around in the latest version of Apple’s Xcode developer tools.