Two former Apple employees who worked for the company as cybersecurity researchers are now launching their own startup. Called DoubleYou, the startup is focused on helping creators of cybersecurity products protect iOS devices and Macs.

Verizon has another price increase on the way. In an email to customers on Thursday, the company revealed a $5 per month price increase affecting plans tied to Apple Watch and other connected smartwatches.

Gentler Streak, the popular fitness and wellness app for Apple platforms, has just received an update that will make the app easier to use for more people around the world. That’s because the latest version of Gentler Streak has introduced support for Asian languages.

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.

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Pretty much every tech company has been investing in generative AI for the past two years, and Apple is rumored to finally bring new AI-based tools to iPhone users soon with iOS 18. However, the costs of operating such tools are quite high, and Meta has just confirmed that it will take years for the company to make money from AI.

Satechi, today, is launching its first-ever Qi2 chargers for iPhone 15. I’ve been using them over the past few days and am already in love with the premium folding designs, 15W charging speeds, and the option to add in Apple Watch fast-charging for less than the competition.

Benjamin and Chance get hyped for the just-announced Apple event, entitled ‘Let Loose’ set for May 7, in which we expect Apple to finally update the iPad hardware lineup. There’s also rumors that Apple is preparing to end FineWoven case production, and a weird curio that the iPhone 17 Plus screen may get slightly smaller. Elsewhere, AirPlay for hotels finally arrives and Apple is nearing a deal to exclusively stream the 2025 FIFA Club Word Cup.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Chance’s Mac broke. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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I was recently lucky enough to go on a great vacation where we spent eight days traveling across Europe. One of the things I noticed was just how helpful my iPhone was throughout this experience. Yes, we all know that we can use maps to help us navigate new cities and geographies. But did you know that you could convert currencies directly in the Notes or iMessage apps? Or that you could create a shared library so everyone on the trip can see all the pictures you took. I found over 25 iOS features that are specifically built into iOS to enhance and make your travels easier.

Apple Card has shared its latest promotion for customers – 10% Daily Cash up to $50 back on purchases at Nike. Here are the details…

A new all-time low on Apple’s 16-inch M2 Pro MacBook Pro is giving you another excuse to ditch the newer M3 model now that it’s $500 off. You can also save on some of our favorite iPhone 15 accessories, including Anker’s GaNPrime PowerCore 65W at $63 and the just-released ESR 15W Qi2 MagSafe Car Mount at $24 – both of which are new all-time lows. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

A curious email from Apple is making its way to iPhone Upgrade Program customers. The message is telling many who upgraded to an iPhone 15 last fall that their completed trade-in has been “canceled” and the paid-off loan will “resume.”

Verizon is out with an update for its Home Device Protect plan that repairs or replaces an unlimited number of devices from computers, game consoles, smart home devices, TVs, and now robot vacuums, healthcare devices, and more. The service also now covers a 2nd residence, 24/7 tech support, in-home expert visits, and more.

Yesterday we learned that Spotify decided to pass on Apple’s new EU terms that would allow it to use alternative payment methods due to the Core Technology Fee. Instead, it submitted an app update with pricing info and details on how to subscribe outside of the App Store without giving users a link. Now Spotify says Apple has unjustly blocked the update and again “defied the European Commission”.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is accusing Apple of using illegally exploited minerals sourced in the eastern regions, involving violence, child labor and other human rights violations.

This allegation disagrees with Apple’s published Conflict Minerals Report, that states it found no connection between its smelters and refiner partners, and the armed groups of the DRC, as of December 31, 2023.

Meta has been experimenting with a lot of new features for Threads, its microblogging platform. Now Instagram boss Adam Mosseri revealed on Wednesday that the platform has started testing an option that will let users automatically hide old posts from Threads after a certain period of time.

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: Get a special deal on the S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vac & S8 Max Ultra with free gifts for a limited time.

NAB, a camera and production-focused trade show, is one of the events I look forward to annually – this year was no different. NAB 2024 was chock full of new hardware and software releases that will affect large productions with pro cameras all the way down to small at-home productions with an iPhone serving as an A-cam.

In this hands-on video, I traverse the showroom floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center in search of some of the best of NAB 2024 from an Apple user’s perspective. I cover some exciting new updates to the amazing LumaFusion mobile video editing app, an exciting newcomer in Prismatic that promises to enhance production workflows, an update to the Blackmagic Camera app, Promise’s upcoming Thunderbolt 5 RAID enclosure, the Atomos Ninja Phone, and lots of new iPhone and iPad-centric hardware as well. Watch our hands-on, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more videos.

Apple is losing another important director as a new report from Bloomberg has just revealed that Frank Casanova, currently senior director and head of product marketing for Apple Vision Pro, is retiring after working at the company for 36 years.

We’re not far from the first official look at iOS 18 at WWDC 2024 on June 10. Whether you’d like to test out the new OS as soon as the dev beta is available or you’ll wait for the public beta or public launch, follow along for when to expect the iOS 18 release date.

Meta this week announced some big news when it comes to its mixed reality ecosystem. The company confirmed that it is opening up the operating system for Meta Quest devices, known as Horizon OS, to third-party hardware manufacturers. This will allow devices other than those designed by Meta to run the same system, apps, and games.

Apple is believed to be working on “the biggest overhaul yet” to the Apple Watch’s design. A new rumor today indicates that the next-generation Apple Watch could include a design change that frees up more space inside for other components – or that makes the device thinner.

WhatsApp has been internally testing passkey support in its iPhone app for some time. However, the option was still unavailable to most users. But that seems to be changing now, as Meta is slowly rolling out the passkey option to WhatsApp users on the iPhone with the latest version of the app.

iMazing has been a go-to tool for Apple power users and IT admins for almost 20 years, now developer DigiDNA is out with iMazing 3. The major release sees a re-engineering of the whole app that brings a new UI and features, and even Vision Pro compatibility to join iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Apple TV support.

Apple was hit with a $2 billion fine in the European Union last month for “abusive” App Store rules for music streaming services. In addition to the fine, the European Commission also said Apple must relax its anti-steering rules.

As reported by TechCrunch, Spotify has submitted a new update to its app that includes pricing information for users in the EU. Spotify also says that it is not planning to opt into Apple’s new business terms in the European Union offered in response to the Digital Markets Act.

CIRP is out with a report on how iPhone activations compare to Android in the US. The latest data shows a notable drop over the last year bringing Apple’s US smartphone market share of new activations back in time six years.

Wednesday’s best deals come headlined by a $300 discount on Apple’s 15-inch M2 MacBook Air. Those who won’t be upgrading to the new iPad Pros in May can also score an all-time low on the new Apple Pencil with USB-C at $69. Plus, save on 15W MagSafe chargers and more. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Last week, we got a report from Ross Young with a nice surprise that the upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Air would use mini-LED for its display. Now an updated report from Ross says that’s not happening after all, but there could be an iPad surprise at the end of the year.

President Joe Biden has officially signed off on a bill that requires TikTok parent company to divest the app within the next nine months. Should ByteDance fail to do so, TikTok would effectively be banned in the United States and removed from Apple’s App Store.

Live Activities are a super useful feature of Apple’s latest iPhones, but also one that goes underused. Google Maps has been overdue to support the feature for years now and while it’s still not live yet, Google is testing Live Activities with some iPhone users.

Ahead of iOS 18’s debut at WWDC in June, Apple has released a family of open-source large language models. Called OpenELM, Apple describes these as: a family of Open-source Efficient Language Models.

In its testing, Apple says that OpenELM offers similar performance to other open language models, but with less training data.

While it’s still yet to debut, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite is looking like a big deal for ARM-powered Windows machines and, now, it’s getting a more affordable cousin in the Snapdragon X Plus.

Starting in May, Apple is launching a new Today at Apple series at its retail stores focused on small business owners and entrepreneurs. Apple says that these sessions will offer “free opportunities to learn how Apple products and services can support their growth and success.”

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World Password Day is coming on May 2, 2024, and Bitwarden is releasing its 4th annual survey looking at how password management has evolved. The company surveyed 2,400 people from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan to explore contemporary password practices among users. This survey looks at password security behaviors at home and in professional settings, evaluates how phishing and AI affect online security, and gauges users’ feelings about adopting passkeys as a new authentication method.

Another stolen car has been recovered thanks to a hidden AirTag, this time in California. Speaking to NBC News, Philip Obando said that he woke up and walked out of his house to find that his BMW was gone.

Thanks to the hidden AirTag and dashcam video, Obando was able to get a pretty clear idea of when the car was stolen, who stole it, and what the thief did with it.

Some YouTube Music for iOS users today are facing a bug where the app opens to a black screen on certain Google Accounts with no ability to play songs.

Apple on Tuesday announced that it will hold a special event on May 7. Although the company doesn’t usually discuss the topics of the event, the invitation artwork makes it clear that it will be all about iPad – as we can see an Apple Pencil in it. To add fuel to the fire, Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted that we’ll see at least a new Apple Pencil 3 next month.

Apple will announce new iPad models next month, and this includes a new generation iPad Pro powered by the M3 chip and featuring OLED displays for the first time. However, the 11-inch version may face supply problems due to OLED display shipments, which could make it more difficult to buy one at launch.

Last week, Apple was forced by the Chinese government to pull four apps from the App Store in China: Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has now responded to the situation, arguing that Apple was the real target of China’s request. There are more than a few problems with this spin, though…

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: Get a special deal on the S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vac & S8 Max Ultra with free gifts for a limited time.

Our wait for new iPads is nearly over. Apple today announced a special event for May 7, with the tagline “Let loose.” The event will almost certainly focus on new iPad hardware and accessories, and we want to know: what are you most excited to see?

In addition to new artificial intelligence features, Apple’s next round of OS updates will reportedly offer some big new features for the … Calculator app. Multiple rumors over the last week say that Apple is planning to make the Calculator app more powerful, add math features to Apple Notes, and bring the Calculator app to the iPad for the first time.

Update: Apple has released public beta versions of yesterday’s updates.

The iOS 17.5 beta train continues today with the third developer release. Apple is also testing macOS Sonoma 14.5, visionOS 1.2, watchOS 10.5, tvOS 17.5, and HomePod 17.5.

Apple has slashed its shipping estimates for Vision Pro, according to a new Ming-Chi Kuo analyst report. Kuo says that Apple is now targeting shipments between 400,000 and 450,000 units for Vision Pro this year. This is down from the initial market consensus of between 700,000 and 800,000 units.

The changes have reportedly prompted Apple to revisit its overall strategy for the headset market…

A chance to score Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning charging case at $150 headlines Tuesday’s best deals. You can also save $60 on Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen styles or just outfit your existing Apple wearable with an official Apple Watch Link Bracelet for the all-time low of $209. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Last year Nomad launched a fun limited edition Glow in the Dark Sport Band for Apple Watch. It ended up selling out in the first day. Now the company is back with a new and improved Glow 2.0 Sport Band plus a Sport Case for iPhone 15 Pro/Max – available for a short time.

Apple has announced a special event for May 7, teasing “Let Loose.” The event will be online and take place at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET. It’s expected to focus on new iPad hardware and accessories, with a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard all rumored.

When released a few years ago, the Dream Machine Pro became a popular device for small and medium-sized businesses. I’ve deployed and managed a handful of them in various environments and found them to be a great device. It’s a really easy and affordable way to get started, especially when you want to use various UniFi apps (camera, network, etc). Today, Ubiquiti is releasing the new Dream Machine Pro Max, bringing that same all-in-one approach to larger deployments with more demanding needs.

T-Mobile has announced the expansion of its 5G Home Internet with a premium tier for the standard service plus a new “Away” plan for those who need a reliable connection on the go without having to rely on a traditional hotspot.

Over the weekend, it was rumored that Apple had ended production of FineWoven cases and watch bands. As it turns out, Apple does apparently still have one more iteration of the oft-maligned FineWoven accessories coming soon in new colors, but the end is near.