Chance Miller

Benjamin and Chance discuss all the new features in iOS 26.2, including some fancy Podcast AI updates and a puzzling decision to remove Apple Watch Wi-Fi syncing in the EU. Also, Apple launches a browsable App Store on the web, and is set to pay $1bn annually to Google to use Gemini models as the underpinning of new Siri. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, the pair react to the new Apple TV intro, and get hyped for the premiere of Vince Gilligan’s new series, Pluribus.

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Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.2 this week, with changes for Apple News, Apple Podcasts, Liquid Glass, and more.

As it turns out, iOS 26.2 also brings a big improvement to Apple Music: support for offline lyrics.

Apple is rolling out a Liquid Glass redesign to another one of its apps. A new version of Shazam is now available on the App Store with a “sleek, new Liquid Glass look.”

The update also makes it easier to quickly glance at the recent songs you’ve identified with Shazam right on the Home tab.

Apple Card has a new perk for cardholders. Apple announced today that Apple Card now offers 3% Daily Cash back for car rentals with Hertz. In addition to that boosted Daily Cash, you’ll also get lower rates, free emergency service, and more.

As part of iOS 26, Apple launched a redesigned boarding pass experience for flights in the Wallet app. The new design features Live Activities, quicker access to key flight details, and more.

Last month, United became the first US airline to roll out support for the new set of Wallet features. Air Canada also recently launched support for the features.

Now, Delta is following suit …

One of the headlining features of watchOS 26 is Sleep Score, which provides a nightly score and classification of your sleep on Apple Watch.

With today’s release of the first betas of watchOS 26.2 and iOS 26.2, Apple has a few changes in store for Sleep Score.

As we reported earlier today, iOS 26.1 is now available to iPhone users everywhere. The update brings changes to Liquid Glass, updates to the Music app, and more. Here are Apple’s full release notes for the update.

Apple has launched a dramatic new web interface for the App Store. You can now get the full App Store experience right in your browser, with dedicated pages for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision, Watch, and TV app libraries.

At WWDC in 2020, Apple announced a new car key feature that lets people use the Wallet app on the iPhone or Apple Watch to control their car. While adoption of this feature has been slow, head below to find the full list of cars that support Apple car key integration.

Unlike any ‘Pro’ iPhone before it, the iPhone 17 Pro is available in a bright cosmic orange color. This trend of bold colors might continue with the iPhone 18 Pro lineup next year.

A new report from Weibo user Digital Chat Station, which has previously shared accurate iPhone rumors, says the iPhone 18 Pro could be available in brown, purple, and burgundy.

Channels is a powerful and fan-favorite cord-cutting app that makes it easy to watch, record, and organize TV shows and movies.

Channels 7.0 is rolling out now for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, and it’s full of new features and changes to celebrate the app’s 10th anniversary.

During Apple’s earnings call with investors yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook provided a (vague) update on Apple’s work on the next-generation version of Siri.

The Apple CEO assured investors that the company is “making good progress” on the more personalized version of Siri ahead of a launch “next year.”

Benjamin and Chance react to a bevy of Bloomberg reports about Apple’s future plans, from touchscreen Macs to ads in Apple Maps and a future OLED iPad mini.

And in Happy Hour Plus, the 1X NEO robot makes waves with a launch that demonstrated perhaps the biggest divide between the hype and the reality of the product. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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The iPad mini has always been an awkward member of the iPad family. Its form factor and price have made it hard to recommend. It’s also gone through periods of apparent neglect by Apple.

In 2021, however, the iPad mini entered a new era with a fresh design and a bigger 8.3-inch screen.

Now, it looks like the iPad mini is about to enter its next era … and Apple could fix its biggest problem.

Last year, Apple was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that it failed to properly address and fix crackling and Active Noise Cancellation issues affecting first-generation AirPods Pro units.

As reported by Reuters, Apple this week convinced a US judge to dismiss part of this proposed class action lawsuit.

Over the years, Apple has vastly expanded the Health app on iPhone with ways to track weight, fitness, and much more. Earlier this year, we broke down the best smart scales for syncing weight with an iPhone.

Another measurement that can integrate with Apple’s Health app is blood pressure. Here are some of the current options on the market for syncing blood pressure with the Health app on your iPhone.

The rollout of digital IDs in Apple Wallet is gaining momentum. The feature just expanded to its twelfth state this month, with the addition of West Virginia. You can view the full list of states and territories with Apple Wallet support for digital IDs and driver’s licenses here

Once your state adds support for Apple Wallet IDs, however, the next big question is where you can actually use that new digital ID. Things are a bit patchwork right now, but here’s what you need to know.

Apple might have a big expansion of its iPad apps in store. A new report today says that Apple could soon release four new iPad apps: Pixelmator Pro, MainStage, Motion, and Compressor. These apps would join Apple’s existing pro-level apps Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, which came to the iPad last year.

Apple’s VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, Jennifer Bailey, delivered a keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference this weekend. During her talk, Bailey touted the current state of Apple’s payment efforts, sharing new stats on Apple Pay’s fraud prevention, the growing versatility of Apple Wallet, and more.

Two years ago, T-Mobile announced a controversial decision to ditch its AutoPay discount for Apple Pay and credit cards payments. Its reasoning at the time, of course, was that it pays higher processing fees on credit card transactions, so it saves a few dollars by restricting AutoPay to debit and bank payments only.

Unfortunately, T-Mobile is now cracking down on a popular workaround that allowed customers to get an AutoPay discount and still use a credit card or Apple Pay for payments.

After a summer of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26 to everyone last month. Now, attention has shifted to iOS 26.1. This update is available to developers and public beta testers now, and will likely be released to everyone later this month. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s new in iOS 26.1.