On Wednesday, Elevation Lab announced TimeCapsule, a new $20 battery case purported to extend Apple AirTag battery life from one year to 10 years. The product replaces the standard CR2032 coin cell battery in the Bluetooth-based location tracker with two AA batteries to provide extended power capacity.
The TimeCapsule case requires users to remove their AirTag's original back plate and battery, then place the Apple device onto contact points inside the waterproof enclosure. The company recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries, which it claims provide 14 times more power capacity than the stock coin cell battery configuration.
The CNC-machined aluminum case is aimed at users who place AirTags in vehicles, boats, or other applications where regular battery changes prove impractical. The company sells the TimeCapsule through its website and Amazon.
Cybersecurity experts, who work with human rights defenders and journalists, agree that Apple is doing the right thing by sending notifications to victims of mercenary spyware — and at the same time refusing to forensically analyze the devices.
In theory, it ought to be as good a time as ever to be a gamer on the iPhone.
Classic console emulators have rolled out to the platform for the first time, and they work great. There are strong libraries of non-skeezy mobile games on Apple Arcade and Netflix Games, streaming via Xbox and PlayStation services is continuing apace, and there are even a few AAA console games now running natively on the platform, like Assassin's Creed and Resident Evil titles.
Some of those games need a traditional, dual-stick game controller to work well, though, and Apple bafflingly offers no first-party solution for this.
Apple plans to launch a foldable giant iPad and a folding iPhone, according to multiple reports.
The foldable tablet device is reportedly the size of two iPad Pros.
Apple could also introduce a thinner iPhone next year, the reports said.
Apple is developing a foldable iPad and a foldable iPhone, according to multiple reports.
Apple is working towards bringing the foldable iPad, said to be the size of two iPad Pros when unfolded, to market around 2028, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported in the "Power On" newsletter on Sunday.
The company is unlikely to bring its folding iPhone to market before 2026, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported.
Despite years of working on the new form factor, Apple has faced hurdles in bringing foldable devices to market. Critical components, such as a reliable hinge mechanism and a display screen protection cover for the display, have delayed progress, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Rival tech firms already offer foldable dual-screen products, such as Microsoft Surface Pro and Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold. Similarly, Apple is the only major smartphone company without a foldable device. There have been many reports about a prototype folding iPhone in recent years, including that Apple has been working with LG and Samsung on displays for the collapsible devices.
Apple wants its new iPad to be free of the crease that's present in other foldable devices available on the market. Gurman said the new device has an almost invisible crease.
The Cupertino-headquartered company also plans to introduce a thinner iPhone next year. Apple wants to offer the "thinnest and lightest products" on the market, Gurman wrote in June.
The range of new devices in development is part of Apple's broader strategy to diversify its hardware offerings as it seeks new avenues for growth.
Apple said in its most recent annual report that its future devices might not be as profitable as its iPhone business, which made up nearly half of its total revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter.
In a note to investors in the report, Apple said, "New products, services and technologies may replace or supersede existing offerings and may produce lower revenues and lower profit margin."
It added that it could "materially adversely impact the company's business, results of operations and financial condition."
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.
There's something liberating about traveling without your computer. Your load is lighter, your battery needs are fewer, and you don't have to risk damaging or losing one of your most important and expensive devices. Besides, most of us are already carrying around a pretty powerful and conveniently compact computer 24/7: our smartphones.
My problem, though, is that I prefer doing most things on a laptop rather than on a phone. Whether working, writing a detailed email, or shopping around for something online, I can complete my task quicker and more accurately if sitting at a table, typing on a physical keyboard, and navigating with a mouse.
So, in the interest of having my cake and eating it, I've gathered a collection of gadgets that help me get the most out of my iPhone when traveling. With these accessories, I can use my iPhone as if it were a desktop PC, peripherals and all. See you later, laptop.
Thousands of victims have sued Apple over its alleged failure to detect and report illegal child pornography, also known as child sex abuse materials (CSAM).
The proposed class action comes after Apple scrapped a controversial CSAM-scanning tool last fall that was supposed to significantly reduce CSAM spreading in its products. Apple defended its decision to kill the tool after dozens of digital rights groups raised concerns that the government could seek to use the functionality to illegally surveil Apple users for other reasons. Apple also was concerned that bad actors could use the functionality to exploit its users and sought to protect innocent users from false content flags.
Child sex abuse survivors suing have accused Apple of using the cybersecurity defense to ignore the tech giant's mandatory CSAM reporting duties. If they win over a jury, Apple could face more than $1.2 billion in penalties. And perhaps most notably for privacy advocates, Apple could also be forced to "identify, remove, and report CSAM on iCloud and implement policies, practices, and procedures to prevent continued dissemination of CSAM or child sex trafficking on Apple devices and services." That could mean a court order to implement the controversial tool or an alternative that meets industry standards for mass-detecting CSAM.
Apple iOS 18.2 update is available for iPhones, with new AI features available to owners of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 lineups.
Cheng Xin/Getty Images
Apple's iOS 18.2 update launched on Wednesday with new AI features and improvements.
The new Apple Intelligence features include ChatGPT integration, Genmojis, and Image Playground.
The new features are available to iPhone 16 models as well as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
If you shrugged at Apple's first AI features, you might find the new batch that launched Wednesday with iOS 18.2 to be more meaningful.
Apple's AI software suite, Apple Intelligence, launched its first set of features on October 28. The upgrade included a revamped Siri, AI writing tools, smart replies, an updated Photos app, and a new focus mode called Reduce Interruptions.
It was a fraction of the flashy AI features Apple showed off at its Worldwide Developer Conference earlier this year, as the company decided to do a staggered rollout.
The second wave of features, which began rolling out to iPhone users today, will be followed by additional ones launching next year.
So what can you expect when you update to iOS 18.2?
Features in the December update include tools like Genmojis and Image Playground, among others. Like the earlier Apple Intelligence features, the newest AI features are available for all iPhone 16 models and most of them also work with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
ChatGPT integration
Apple's iOS 18.2 introduces ChatGPT integration.
Apple
Siri received some enhancements in the iOS 18.1 update, but the iOS 18.2 update further improves the voice assistant and allows integrated access to ChatGPT.
With iOS 18.2, users have access to the popular OpenAI chatbot through Siri and Writing Tools, and they'll be able to access the tool by talking to the voice assistant or typing to it.
Visual Intelligence
Apple's visual intelligence feature is expected in iOS 18.2
Apple
The new update also allows iPhone 16 users to gather information by pointing their device at an object (sorry iPhone 15 Pro owners, you're out of luck).
The tool is similar to Google Lens, which does reverse image searches and helps identify landmarks, plants, and other objects or places.
Genmojis
Create a personalized "Genmoji."
Apple
For those who prefer to communicate with emojis over the written word, Genmojis could be a game changer.
The new update allows users to be more playful and interactive in their messages, creating custom emojis right from the keyboard and animated Genmojis of themselves, similar to Bitmoji.
Image Playground
Image Playground was introduced at Apple's WWDC 2024.
Apple
Apple's Image Playground is its answer to popular AI image generators like OpenAI's Dall-E or Midjourney. The tool was first demonstrated at Apple's WWDC conference earlier this year.
Image Playground users can create images based on a specific description or concept and can select different formats like animation. The tool is available as its own app and is also accessible through third-party apps.
You can also use the tool as an extension in messages.
Photo updates
iOS 18.2 introduced several photo updates, including video enhancements like improvements for navigating Collections and the ability to view a video more finely, which can be helpful with editing. Users also have the option to clear their Recently Viewed and Recently Shared album history, and Favorites appear in the Utility and Pinned Collection.
Other updates
Apple's Mail app is getting an AI makeover that categorizes emails based on their priority level. The update gives access to the "digest" view, which organizes all emails from a sender in one place.
Apple's internet browser Safari also received some changes, including new customizable background images for the start page
The update also has some non-AI updates, including an AirTag enhancement that allows you to share the location of a lost item with friends or airlines. Users can also now choose their favorite Podcast categories and get relevant recommendations in their library.
To update to iOS 18.2, navigate to your Settings app on your iPhone, then to General, and finally tap on Software Update.
When Apple introduced what it currently calls MagSafe in 2020, its marketing messaging suggested that the magnetic attachment standard for the iPhone would produce a boom in innovation in accessories, making things possible that simply weren't before.
Four years later, that hasn't really happened—either from third-party accessory makers or Apple's own lineup of branded MagSafe products.
Instead, we have a lineup of accessories that matches pretty much what was available at launch in 2020: chargers, cases, and just a couple more unusual applications.
One of Apple's most popular features was started by an intern.
Shutterstock
Apple's Find My feature started from an intern's idea to track lost devices.
It began with the Find My iPhone app, announced at the 2009 Worldwide Developers Conference.
The feature evolved to include Find My Friends and AirTags for all Apple devices.
If you've ever done the dreaded pat-down of your pockets when you realized your phone is missing, Apple's Find My feature has probably been a lifesaver.
And, according to Apple's senior vice president of services, Eddy Cue, the company's idea for the feature was found through surprisingly humble origins.
Cue, in an interview earlier this year with tech YouTuber Safwan AhmedMia (better known by his moniker SuperSaf), said that the company's Find My ecosystem was actually started by an intern.
The now ubiquitous tool for more forgetful users "started with the idea of somebody losing their phone on the couch," Cue said. After an intern recognized the universal panic of misplacing your phone, the company worked to develop a solution.
"I remember one of the first things was if you have your phone in silent mode, it better override silent mode, or you're not going to see it," he said.
The original Find My iPhone app was first announced in 2009 during Apple's 26th Worldwide Developers Conference. It was released the following year alongside the iPhone OS 3, initially only available to members of Apple's now-defunct paid MobileMe service.
With the introduction of iCloud in 2011, it became free for all users. Later that year, the feature was extended to Macs with "Find My Mac" and has since become preinstalled on all iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches.
And now it's not just for lost devices but people and, say, misplaced luggage.
"Look at where it's led to," Cue said. "It went to Find My Friends to now AirTags because you're finding your suitcase somewhere in the airport."
Find My Friends, which allows users to share their locations with each other, was announced in 2011 on the day before Steve Jobs' death.
Ten years later, the AirTag was released, allowing people to trace personal items with the physical tracking device that's now popular for luggage, keys, and other accessories.
Apple has since announced further integrations with airports, allowing customers to share their AirTag location with airlines like Delta to help track down lost luggage. The feature, Share Item Location, is expected to launch in December with iOS 18.2.
Other companies have introduced similar tech to Apple's Find My features, including Google, which announced earlier this April that its own Find My Device feature would now be available for Android phones and tablets.
But when it comes to Apple, "this is a great example of one where you go, 'Well sure, that's pretty easy. It didn't take a genius to think that,'" Cue said. "But nobody thought of it until we did it."
Google pays Apple at least $20 billion a year to be the default search engine on iPhones. That could change.
Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images
Google pays Apple at least $20 billion a year to make its search engine the default on iPhones.
Those payments were at the heart of a federal antitrust case Google lost earlier this year.
Now, the government will ask a judge to ban those payments. But it's not a done deal.
Apple makes billions of dollars a year from Google. But a federal judge's ruling could make that money disappear.
That's because a long-running deal between Apple and Google, where Google pays Apple at least $20 billion a year to make Google the default search engine on iPhones, is at the heart of the US government's antitrust case against Google. And Google lost that case earlier this year when Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in search.
On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice is expected to unveil a list of steps it wants Mehta to take to punish Google. Among the remedies the DOJ is asking for, per The Wall Street Journal: Forcing the company "to stop paying partners such as Apple billions of dollars a year to make Google's search engine the default on web browsers."
Whichmakes sense, since that was a big focus of the government's case. (Though, confusingly, an earlier Bloomberg report about the DOJ's plan focused on forcing Google to sell off its Chrome browser and never mentioned the Apple payments.)
In any case: If Google really is prevented from paying Apple, that could be meaningful for Apple's efforts to make money from services, which have become increasingly important to the company as iPhone sales flatten.
But even if that happens, it doesn't mean Apple automatically loses all the money Google pays it every year. It's possible that another provider, like Microsoft's Bing, could step in to make its own payments to Apple for the same prime real estate.
And while the DOJ's request, and Mehta's eventual ruling, are all important, they're not the end of the story. Google has said it will appeal the ruling. I asked Google and Apple for comment.
One more complexifier: How will the incoming Trump administration treat this case?
On the one hand: Trump's first administration filed the original antitrust complaint against Google, and there are lots of people in Trump's orbit who are upset with Big Tech.
On the other hand: Trump has a record of selective enforcement, and Apple CEO Tim Cook built a rapport with him during the first go-round — which helped Cook convince Trump to exempt Apple products from China tariffs. This one will take quite a bit of time to unspool.
