While Apple announced a new iPad mini with a press release last week, the company still has bigger plans to announce new Macs this month. As inventory runs low at Apple Stores, we’re expecting updates to the MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, and more.

The iOS 18.1 RC is now available for developers and public beta testers. The update is set for a release next week with a slew of important new features and big fixes. While we’ve been chronicling all of the changes for the last two months, Apple has also now shared the full release notes for the update.

Apple today released final beta of iOS 18.1 to developers and public beta testers. This gives us our first look at the full release notes of the update, revealing that iOS 18.1 includes several notable bug fixes for iPhone users.

iOS 18.1 is officially set for a release next week, bringing the first Apple Intelligence features to the general public. Ahead of that, Apple is wrapping up the beta testing process. The iOS 18.1 RC, or “Release Candidate,” is now available for developer and public beta testers. The iPadOS 18.1 RC is also now available.

Apple has officially confirmed that iOS 18.1 will launch to the public next week, alongside a major new firmware update for AirPods Pro 2 users.

iOS 18.1 includes the first set of Apple Intelligence features, such as Writing Tools, notification summaries, and Clean Up in the Photos app. There are a number of non-Apple Intelligence features included in the update, too.

In September, Apple announced major new hearing health features for AirPods Pro 2 focused on providing an end-to-end experience for prevention, awareness, and assistance.

The new hearing test, hearing aid, and upgraded hearing protection features are all set to launch next week with iOS 18.1. Here’s a closer look at what to expect.

iOS 18.1 brings the first suite of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone users, with things like Writing Tools, Clean Up in the Photos app, and notification summaries. Beyond those new Apple Intelligence capabilities, however, iOS 18.1 includes other new features for iPhone users.

Here’s a roundup of all the non-Apple Intelligence features coming to iPhone users with iOS 18.1 later this month.

As rumored in the past, Apple is planning a big change to the iPhone lineup next year with an all-new iPhone 17 Slim model. A new report today from reliable analyst Jeff Pu outlines much of what to expect from this new iPhone model.

Benjamin and Chance react to the surprise announcement of the new iPad mini this week, and some new branded company logo features coming to iOS soon. Apple’s Chief People Officer Carole Surface departs after less than two years, plus we have more visibility into the Vision Pro product roadmap. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, the duo discuss the pros and cons of bigger screened Apple Watches and iPhones, with Chance trying the 16 Pro for a few weeks after being used to the Pro Max. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Apple announced a new iPad mini on Tuesday, powered by the A17 Pro chip with support for Apple Intelligence features. The first new iPad mini orders are set to arrive to customers next week, but early benchmarks have now surfaced on Geekbench. These results confirm that the latest iPad mini features 8GB of RAM, and give us a glimpse at the performance of the binned A17 Pro chip inside.

At this point, you’ve probably read a lot about the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. You don’t need me to recap new features like the Camera Control, bigger screens, upgraded Ultra Wide camera, or better battery life. I’ll offer some of those thoughts, anyway, but I’ve been looking at the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro mainly through the lens of their broader place in the smartphone ecosystem.

Hear me out: I think the combination of iOS 18 and the current iPhone lineup could be the most compelling package ever for those considering switching from Android.

Another shakeup is on its way to Apple’s executive team. Bloomberg reports today that Carol Surface, Apple’s Chief People Officer, is departing the company. Surface joined Apple less than two years ago in March 2023.

The struggles continue for Sonos. The company has confirmed that an ongoing “major outage” means that Apple Music is currently unavailable via the Sonos app.

The iconic Beats Pill made its triumphant return in June with a slew of modern and long-awaited upgrades. Now, Beats is back with two new Beats Pill variants – designed in collaboration with Kim Kardashian.

For months, Chick-fil-A has been testing and teasing its first-ever CarPlay app. Now, the day has finally come and you an officially place your favorite Chick-fil-A order using nothing but CarPlay.

Apple’s Car Key feature is expanding soon to three new brands, according to a new report. The feature will soon allegedly be supported on select cars from Polestar, Volvo, and Audi, based on recent code discoveries.

If you’re having issues accessing Meta services, you’re not alone. Both Instagram and Facebook appear to be experiencing widespread outages. Threads is also impacted by the outage.

Going to Instagram’s website currently shows an error message: Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on getting this fixed as soon as we can.

Update: New public betas for iOS 18.1, tvOS 18.1, and iPadOS 18.1 are now available as well.

iOS 18.1 will be released to everyone in just two weeks. In the meantime, beta testing continues. iOS 18.1 beta 7 is now available to developer beta testers, coming just one week after the release of beta 5.

Foodnoms is a powerful nutrition tracking app we’ve covered multiple times over the years here at 9to5Mac, and it just got a big update. The update, available now on the App Store, adds smarter recipe import from websites, new Control Center widgets, Foodnoms AI enhancements, and more.

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.