Chance Miller

President Trump has chimed in on the UK’s attempt to force Apple to add a global backdoor to iCloud, likening the demand to “something that you hear about with China.”

Benjamin and Chance wrap up the iPhone 16e reviews that dropped this week, and bemoan the UK forcing Apple to remove Advanced Data Protection in the region, before turning their attention to the fun news of the week that is the new beta season. iOS 18.4 and visionOS 2.4 include a bunch of features, from new Apple Intelligence updates to an entirely Food section in News+.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Benjamin finally has a new standing desk set up. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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In a new whitepaper published today, Apple outlined several tools it already offers to parents and developers to “help enhance child safety while safeguarding privacy. This includes Screen Time, Find My, Communication Saftey, Communication Limits, and more.

Over this year, Apple is introducing new features to build on its commitment to user privacy, security, and safety for children:

• Make it even easier for parents to set up Child Accounts that underlie many of our parental controls.
• Put parents in control by allowing them to share information about the age range of their kids with apps to enable developers to provide only age-appropriate content, all without needing to share their birthdate or other sensitive information. 
• And further enhance parents’ insight and control over their kids’ experiences by updating our age ratings, adding more useful information on product pages, and making browsing safer on the App Store.

One of the most exciting times of the year for Apple fans is swiftly approaching. WWDC is held every June as Apple’s showcase for the next year of its software platforms. This year, Apple will announce iOS 19, watchOS 11, macOS 16, and more at WWDC.

When will Apple announce and hold WWDC 2025? Here’s what history tells us …

Apple says that “phonetic overlap” is to blame for a peculiar glitch in the iPhone’s dictation feature.

Over the last several days, the “bug” has gained traction on various social networks including TiKTok. In one video on TikTok, you can see an iPhone user using the built-in dictation feature to clearly say the word “racist,” only for the iPhone to moementarily transcribe it as “Trump.” The transcription quickly corrects itself before being finalized.

Dark Noise developer Charlie Chapman is out with a new Mac utility called “Framous.” The app aims to be the best way to add device frames to screenshots.

Apple is holding its annual shareholder meeting today as investors vote on several proposals and hear updates from CEO Tim Cook.

Most notably, Apple shareholders rejected an outside proposal calling for the company to end its DEI initiatives.

Apple has released the first developer beta of iOS 18.4. While it’s missing some of the most impressive Apple Intelligence features, it includes a ton of other new features and changes. Head below for our full roundup of everything new in iOS 18.4…

Apple today announced that it has removed its Advanced Data Protection feature in the UK. The decision comes after the UK government ordered Apple to build a worldwide backdoor into iCloud encryption. Instead of complying with that order, Apple chose to remove the feature in the UK.

There’s a huge piece of nuance getting missed in a lot of the coverage of today’s announcement. Apple is not “removing end-to-end encryption” from the UK as some headlines have suggested. The company is removing the Advanced Data Protection feature, yes, but that feature exists separately from Apple’s broader end-to-end encryption efforts.

Apple released the first beta of iOS 18.4 today, which comes with a big upgrade to the Apple News app. Apple News+ Food is a new section in the Apple News app that includes thousands of curated recipes from some of the biggest names in food publishing.

Apple is releasing the first beta of visionOS 2.4 today, and it just might be the biggest update yet for Apple Vision Pro users. The update will add support for Apple Intelligence, major improvements to Guest Mode, a new Spatial Gallery app, an Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone, and more. Here’s everything you need to know…

“Apple Vision Pro is helping users communicate, collaborate, and experience entertainment in entirely new ways — and we’re continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in spatial computing with visionOS 2.4,” said Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Vision Products Group. “With Apple Intelligence, Vision Pro users will be able to take their productivity and creativity to new heights using features like Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Genmoji. And we’re excited for users to discover and share incredible new experiences with Spatial Gallery.”

Apple has released the long-awaited first beta of iOS 18.4 to developer testers. Apple announced the release of the beta in a press release today touting Apple Intelligence.

Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence, will soon be available in more languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified) — as well as localized English for Singapore and India.

These new languages will be accessible in nearly all regions around the world with the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 in April, and developers can start to test these releases today.

The iPhone 16e is a unique phone for many reasons. The most notable feature, however, is that it includes Apple’s first-ever cellular modem, the C1. In an interview with Reuters this week, Johny Srouji, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, teased that the C1 is “just the start” of Apple’s work in this industry.

Meanwhile, Andru Edwards also had the opportunity to tour Apple’s modem testing labs for a behind-the-scenes look at what went into the development of the new C1 modem.

Apple’s new iPhone is officially available for pre-order. You can head to Apple’s website now to place your pre-order for the iPhone 16e, with the first orders slated to arrive on Friday, February 28. The device will also hit Apple retail stores on that day.

Here’s a brief recap of what to expect from the iPhone 16e.

The iPhone 16e lacks support for MagSafe charging, an omission that has dominated conversations about Apple’s cheapest iPhone model this week. Initially, there was speculation that MagSafe might have been excluded due to interference with Apple’s C1 chip, which is its first-ever cellular modem designed for the iPhone.

Yesterday, Apple confirmed that the C1 has nothing to do with the omission of MagSafe on the iPhone 16e. New testing conducted by an iPhone case accessory manufacturer and shared with 9to5Mac adds more detail to the situation.

The iPhone 16e is powered by the A18 chip, but there’s one difference between its GPU and the version in the chip that powers the iPhone 16. While the iPhone 16 has a 5-core GPU, the iPhone 16E has a 4-core GPU.

New Geekbench results for the iPhone 16e reveal just how much of a performance impact buyers can expect, plus a few other tidbits about the device.

Benjamin and Chance discuss the newly announced iPhone 16e, some peculiarities in feature omissions, and exactly what market a lower-cost iPhone actually serves. There’s also exciting new rumors about a second-generation Studio Display, and more doubts about whether Apple will be able to deliver Siri intelligence features in the short-term.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Humane shuts up shop and sells to HP. We reflect on the failings of the Ai Pin idea. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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The all-new iPhone 16e is here, headlined by an A18 chip, Apple’s first-ever cellular modem, a 48MP Fusion camera, and more.

Here are a few tidbits you might’ve missed …

Apple has officially taken the wraps off of the all-new iPhone 16e. The device features an all-new design paired with the A18 chip inside, a 48MP camera, and full Apple Intelligence support. It also features the first-ever Apple-designed 5G cellular modem, the C1 chip.

The new iPhone 16e starts at $599 for 128GB and will be available to pre-order Friday, with the first orders arriving on February 28.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that Apple will launch a new product today, Wednesday, February 19. The most likely release is the much-anticipated iPhone SE 4, but there are a few other possibilities. Here’s everything you need to know.

Nomad makes some of our favorite Apple accessories across charging solutions, Apple Watch bands, and more. Today, the company has released a new version of one of its most convenient charging accessories: the ChargeKey.