The iPhone 16 Pro is also rumored to feature a huge camera sensor, and it is also speculated that the iPhone 16 models will have a dedicated camera shutter button. The display on the iPhone 16 models is also expected to feature thinner bezels, offering more screen real estate for the phones.

Recently, it was reported that the Apple iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max models will feature Samsung's M14 OLED panels, which are specifically developed for flagship phones and offer better performance and lifespan.

Now, another rumor related to the processor of the iPhone 16 series has appeared on the internet. According to the latest report by China's CTEE, Apple has ordered between 90 and 100 million processors for this year's iPhone 16 lineup. This is 10 million more than the range of 80 to 90 million chips for last year's iPhone 15 series.

This suggests that this year, Apple is expecting over 100 million unit sales for the iPhone 16 series, up from last year's iPhone 15 series. The website also claims that there could be some changes in Apple's chip naming strategy.

Previously, Apple used the new chip known as A17 Pro for the two Pro models of the iPhone 15 lineup. Meanwhile, the standard models have a year-older A16 chip. However, this year, according to the report, Apple may power all iPhone 16 models with a chip labeled A18.

It is expected that the base model and the Plus iPhone 16 models will get a slightly enhanced version of the A17 Pro chip, but it will be labeled as A18. On the other hand, the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max models will get a new chip labeled the A18 Pro. The A18 Pro chip is rumored to pack advanced Apple AI features and graphics capabilities.

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• Apple will allow users to customize their lock screen time and contact posters with different numerals from 12 Indian languages: Arabic, Arabic Indic, Bangla, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Kannada, Malayalam, Meitei, Odia, Ol Chiki, and Telugu.
• Apple Translate is adding support for Hindi, one of the most widely spoken languages in India. This Hindi translation support can be used wherever translation is supported in iOS.
• Live Voicemail transcription is adding support for Indian-accented English.
• iOS will add support for alphabetical layouts for 11 Indian languages (Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu), so users can type in Indian scripts directly.
• Siri is adding support for nine Indian languages, including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Siri will also work better with Indian English accents and can now reply in Hindi.
• iOS text search now supports Indian languages, including Assamese, Bangla, Devanagari, and Gujarati. It can also find content using different spellings of the same word.

Apart from the above India-specific features, Apple also revealed that the Move to iOS app will be faster and more reliable. This will allow users to easily transfer their data from Android devices to iOS devices wirelessly or with a cable.

Apart from regular OS improvements, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive Apple Intelligence, a brand-new AI feature designed to assist users with various everyday tasks. Apple Intelligence will be free to use and will initially be available in U.S. English this fall.

Via: Ishan Agarwal (X)

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Some folks are reporting being left with bricked Pixel 6, 6 Pro, and 6A phones after they factory reset them. Google is aware of the issue and is investigating, according to a comment from a member of the Pixel support forums’ product expert program.

 

Users in the forum thread, which was spotted by Indian tech outlet Tech-Issues Today, say that after attempting to reset their phone, the phone doesn’t boot, throwing up an error message:

 

“Cannot load Android system. Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message, you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device.”

The phone offers the option to try again, which reportedly fails, or try a factory reset again, but during the wipe, a separate error says the phone is missing a file called tune2fs, which appears to refer to a Unix command line tool used to set file system parameters.

 

A picture of the error message from the Pixel help forums.

Image: Pixel Help forum

 

Some people reported seeing the issue after updating their phones, but the complaints seem to stem from a factory reset, not a specific software update. One Reddit member cobbled together complaints about the issue across all three Pixel 6 phones, and some of those who have experienced it say they can’t recover the phone using Google’s official tools for doing so.

 

Google did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

 

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Speaking of the Galaxy Z Flip6, it is expected that the phone will come with upgraded cameras. Recently, images of the alleged dummy units of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6 were also leaked, suggesting that the display crease is here to stay this year as well.

Moreover, an Australian retailer prematurely listed the Galaxy Z Flip6 and the Galaxy Z Fold6 on their retail website. The listing revealed both foldables in all color options they are expected to launch in. It is also speculated that there will be some online exclusive colors as well.

Now, ahead of their official debut, we have our hands on the wallpapers that will purportedly grace the home screens of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip6 and the Galaxy Z Fold6. These high-resolution wallpapers are courtesy of YTECHB.

Here's a preview of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 wallpapers. Notably, for the Galaxy Z Flip6, there are four wallpapers, blue, green, yellow, and gray, and they are available in 1080x2638 pixels resolution.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 Wallpapers

   

 

   

Whereas for Galaxy Z Fold6, three wallpapers in gray, blue, and pink are available in two resolutions, i.e., 904x2314 and 1812x2176. Please note that the below wallpapers are of low resolution.

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 Wallpapers

        

 

        

To download the high-resolution wallpapers, you need to download them from the below Google Drive link:

• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 wallpapers
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 wallpapers

Did you like the new Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6 wallpapers? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Recently, high-quality renders of the Galaxy Watch7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, and Galaxy Buds3, were leaked, showing us what we already know. Now, a massive leak has emerged from Australia, courtesy of Winfuture.de, which shows a premature retail listing of the Galaxy Z Flip6, and the Galaxy Z Fold6.

Notably, the retail listing gives us a peek at the images of Galaxy Z Flip6, and Galaxy Z Fold6 in all the different colors they are expected to launch in. As per the report, Australian retailer Harvey Norman prematurely posted product listings (now taken down) of both premium foldables from Samsung, which not only reveal the different colors but also the pricing of the different variants of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6.

The Galaxy Z Fold6 product listing reveals the device in silver, navy, and pink colors, which are the expected set of colors the foldable could arrive in. Here are the prices of the different RAM and storage variants of the Galaxy Z Fold6 in Australia as per the leaked website listing (via Android Authority😞

• ?GB + 256GB: A$2,749 (approximately $1,820)
• 8GB + 512GB: A$2,949 (roughly $1,955)
• 8GB + 1TB: A$3,299 (roughly $2,185)

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 leaked images

The RAM specs for the 256GB variant could not be located on the website. Moreover, the listing did not reveal the complete specifications of the device, but thanks to a previous leak, we allegedly know what's coming.

Coming to the Galaxy Z Flip6 website listing, the product was spotted in silver, green, blue, and yellow colors. Here are the listed prices of the different variants of the clamshell phone:

• ?GB + 256GB: A$1,799 (~$1,190)
• ?GB + 512GB: A$1,999 (~$1,325)

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 leaked images

Sadly, the RAM specs could not be located on the leaked website listing, and there was also no mention of a 128GB variant of the phone. Although the leaked listing doesn't provide us with any information regarding the specifications of the Galaxy Z Flip6, it is rumored that the phone would come with upgraded cameras and a bigger battery. Recently, first-party cases of the Galaxy Z Flip6 and the Galaxy Z Fold6 were also leaked.

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It is rumored that three of the four cameras on next year's Galaxy S25 Ultra could see upgrades. A new report by The Financial News out of South Korea has popped up online suggesting that Samsung may power the Galaxy S25 series with a MediaTek chipset. According to the report, this could be true for handsets in some regions.

Until now, Samsung has always released its Galaxy S series with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chips in most regions, and some regions have also received the Exynos-powered variants. For instance, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor is inside this year's Galaxy S24 Ultra in all areas and the Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus in some regions.

However, Samsung has also released the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus, powered by Exynos 2400 processors, in other parts of the world. According to the latest report, Samsung is purported to use three chips in some combination of the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra. Reportedly, this could happen because of an increase in the price of Qualcomm Snapdragon flagship chips.

Earlier, it was reported that Samsung could continue to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Exynos 2500 processors for the upcoming Galaxy S25 series. Interstingly, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo played a spoiled sport as he claimed that Qualcomm could be the sole supplier for the entire Galaxy S25 series. Currently, these are all rumors, and we advise you to take any information with a pinch of salt.

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It seems like Google has no intention of hiding the main hero of the show because a teaser on the Google Store page confirms the official debut of the Pixel 9 series at the hardware event in August. This year's Pixel series appears to be arriving much earlier because the Pixel 8 series was launched in October 2023.

The teaser subtly shows off the design of the Pixel 9 series, aligning with the leaks that circulated last month. According to the previous leak, the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL would pack a rounded rectangular camera module and would feature prominent round edges, which is also evident in the teaser shared by Google.

Although the official teaser doesn't share many details about the Pixel 9 series, it prominently displays "IX," seemingly confirming the moniker for its upcoming flagships. The page's URL also has "google_pixel_9_pro" in it, leaving no doubt that the Pixel 9 series is indeed launching in August.

Earlier, it was reported that the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro would be of the same size as the iPhone 15 Pro. Their elder sibling, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, could be close to the size of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro were leaked to have a dual-camera setup on the back, whereas the Pixel 9 Series is shown to come with a triple-camera setup.

Moreover, the early test models of the Pixel 9, powered by the Tensor G4 chipset, were also spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark, suggesting modest improvements over the Pixel 8. Apart from the Pixel 9 series, Google is also speculated to launch the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Fold 2 as well.

Source: Android Authority

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Normally, Google reveals new hardware in early October, as it did in 2023 when it revealed the Pixel 8 smartphone family, among other products. Today, 9to5Google reports it has received its invite to attend the 2024 Made by Google event on August 13. That's nearly two months earlier than the event that was held last year.

Not only is there a change in the date, but a change in the venue as well. Past Google hardware press events have been held in New York City. The 2024 event will instead be held at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Even the invite is a bit different. Google stated that the event will feature not only new Pixel devices and Android updates but also some Google AI reveals. That could mean more AI features that will be added to the new Pixel phones.

Speaking of which, Google is expected to show off the new Pixel 9 lineup of Android smartphones. Unconfirmed rumors claim that the company will release three new models instead of the normal two: the Google Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL. We could also see a new Pixel 9 Pro Fold foldable smartphone as part of the media event.

In addition, there have been other rumors and leaks about an upcoming Pixel Watch 3 smartwatch that could show up at the August 13 event. Other hardware that might show up may include a new Chromecast with Google TV dongle, which has been rumored for some time. We won't have to wait very long for our speculation to end.

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The feature is part of the Files app, where you can erase your connected external disk and reformat it using different options: APFS, ExFAT, and MS-DOS (FAT). These options appear when you right-click or long-press an external drive in the Files app and choose "Erase," according to Cadle.

He noted that the Disc Utility on macOS has the same format options, with the "exception of macOS extension formats which wouldn’t make much sense for this feature on iPadOS." Furthermore, MacRumors verified that the drive reformatting options are also coming to the Files app on iOS 18 (available on these models).

Cadle talked about the feature on its ByteBits substack and wrote:

This is a major improvement for iPad power users and it will be interesting to keep an eye out for new improvements to this functionality and others within the Files app over the course of the iPadOS 18 beta cycle.

 

It seems Apple may be taking a similar tact to the way they incorporated much of the functionality of the Preview app into the Files app via Quick Look, but now with functionality from Disc Utility.

The ability to format an external drive without needing a Mac comes in handy as Apple continues to add more features to its mobile operating systems. This includes the recently introduced Final Cut Pro for iPad update, which works together with the new Final Cut Camera app to record live multicam footage using your iPhone or iPad. Final Cut Camera lets you record a video directly to an external storage if you have an iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max.

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For starters, you can configure the new dark mode for home screen icons, try new wallpapers, use Game Mode, change flashlight focus, record Spatial videos, and share Wi-Fi-passwords with Android users. But the iOS 18 update, which feels more like a ‘catch-up with Android’ game, also brings visible changes to unclutter the Settings app.

A new addition you’ll find at the bottom of the Settings app is a section called “Apps.” It's the new home for all of the apps and games installed on your iPhone, previously dumped on the main page of the Settings app.

The user interface is familiar. You’ll find a search bar with a voice search option at the top of the Apps section. The apps and games listed here are categorized alphabetically and you can use the selector on the right edge to quickly jump to each section.

You can tap on an app or game on the list to find all the related settings, just like the previous iOS versions. Note that the Apps section includes third-party as well as Apple-made apps/games installed on your iPhone.

We have published a detailed guide on how you can lock and hide apps on iOS 18. An important thing you'll notice in the Apps section is your hidden apps and games aren’t directly visible. So, if you want to change the settings for such apps, you'll have to scroll down to the bottom and find an option called "Hidden Apps" (which unlocks via Face ID or Touch ID).

Another change you’ll notice is Apple has started putting more text in the Settings app. Different pages for features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Personal Hotspot, General, Accessibility, and more have a knowledge card at the top.

It shows a small description of what the particular feature does with a link to a support page where you can read more about it. However, the knowledge card isn’t visible on all the pages. You won’t find it on the Battery, Camera, Screen Time, and other pages.

Apart from that, Apple is trying to tidy up the Settings app on iOS 18 by removing certain things. For instance, Apple has removed the entire Passwords section because it’s now available as a cross-platform password management app we discussed in detail.

On the Control Center page in the Settings app, the options to add and organize controls have been stripped away. Now, it only shows a toggle button to enable or disable the Control Center within apps.

That’s because iOS 18’s redesigned Control Center now includes a new Controls gallery, where Apple displays all the options in one place and new controls from third-party apps. Here, you'll also find a power button in the top-right corner that makes it easier to power off your device instead of long-pressing the side button.

So, these are some changes coming to the Settings app on iOS 18. However, keep in mind that the app's features can change over time as further beta versions are released, and the actual implementation in the stable version of iOS 18 may look or work differently.

Note: If you plan to install the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your device, it's recommended that you back up all your data and proceed with caution. Pre-release versions of Apple software may contain bugs and unexpected problems that can harm your data or affect the normal working of your device.

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What you need to know

• Windows Phone is dead and I won't let it go. 
• Microsoft killed Windows Phone in a tweet a few years back, throwing away years of developer work and billions of dollars in investment. 
• Microsoft dabbled with Android and the Surface Duo range, but that seems to be dead too, now. 
• Despite Microsoft's phone hardware efforts being dead, we can still dare to dream, proven by designer Proloy Karmakar. 

In an alternative universe: the year is 2024, Windows 11 Mobile just overtook Apple iOS in global market share, clinching 31% of the phone using masses. More affordable devices that don't compromise on overall quality proved incredibly popular with businesses, owing to seamless integration for device management via Azure Active Directory. The devices also became increasingly popular with the every day consumer, too, owing to superior AI-powered camera technology, alongside sleek but heavily customizable user interface. 

The app gap is no longer an issue, as progressive web apps became increasingly powerful, complete with direct hooks into the Windows 11 Mobile OS. Microsoft also just kick started a UWP 3.0 initiative, to help developers take advantages of synergies between Windows 11 Mobile, Windows 11, and Windows on Arm, starting with the Surface Pro 11 and Surface Phone 4. 

It's fun to dream. Perhaps fun is the wrong word, but in any case, Windows Phone is dead dead dead, and never coming back. Even still, it's fun to imagine what could have been. An excellent graphic designer by the name of Proloy Karmakar just posted a series of concept images for what "Windows 11 Mobile" might have looked like, and it's a gut punch reminder of what Microsoft potentially sacrificed.

Its elder sibling, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra, or Moto Razr 50 Ultra, has already appeared on multiple certification websites, including BIS and EEC, and some real-life images of the phone have also showcased the foldable phone design from Motorola. A leak suggests that the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra could cost €1,200 (roughly $1292) in Europe for the 12GB RAM and 512GB storage option.

After months of leaks and rumors, Motorola has finally announced that the Motorola Razr 50 and the Razr 50 Ultra will launch in the US on June 25. Reportedly, both foldables are expected to launch on the same date in China as well. However, there is no confirmation if Motorola will debut the Razr 50 and the Razr 50 Ultra in India on June 25 or not.

In an official post on X, Motorola has posted a video teaser of the phones in shades of Blue and Orange. The teaser also hints that the Motorola Razr 50 and the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra might be available in seven color options.

The specifications of the phones are still under wraps, but it is expected that the Motorola Razr 50 could feature a 6.9-inch FHD+ OLED 120Hz refresh rate display panel and could also feature a 3.6-inch 120Hz cover display, an upgrade from the 1.5-inch OLED cover display found on the Razr 40.

The Moto Razr 50 is speculated to be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300X processor and could be paired with 6GB of RAM. It is expected that the phone could come with a 3,950mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

On the other hand, the Moto Razr 50 Ultra, has a 6.9-inch FHD+ OLED inner display, and a 3.6-inch cover display, both supporting 120Hz refresh rate. The Moto Razr 50 Ultra is expected to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor and paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB/512GB of internal storage.

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A subsequent report said that this device will feature an aluminum body, smaller cutouts at the top of the screen for the Dynamic Island, and an improved front-facing FaceTime camera. The rear camera module will move from the left corner of the rear panel to the top center.

Today, Bloomberg's chief tech correspondent Mark Gurman passed along some more information about the iPhone 17 line in his weekly Power On newsletter. According to Gurman, who has many sources and contacts inside the company, what Apple has done with the incredibly svelte iPad Pro (2024) tablets released last month is just the beginning of a trend toward thinner Apple products including the MacBook, the Apple Watch, and the iPhone.

The impressively thin M4 iPad Pro starts a new trend for Apple products. Image credit-Apple

Gurman says that he has been told that Apple is working on developing a "significantly skinnier phone in time for the iPhone 17 line in 2025." This sounds like Gurman is talking about one specific model within the iPhone 17 series which would second the earlier reports about the iPhone Slim that would be released in 2025. The Bloomberg scribe states that Apple wants to offer consumers the thinnest and lightest products in each category of device it sells.

At one time, Apple was forced to add some thickness to its devices to accommodate larger batteries, improved cameras, and more features. But thanks to impressive new chips and the tandem OLED technology that results in a thinner display on the new M4 iPad Pro tablets, the latter is much thinner than the previous 2022 iteration of the premium slates.

For example, the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024) is only 5.1mm thick which is 20% thinner than the 6.4mm thickness of the 2022 model. And the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024) also tips the scales at 1.28 pounds compared to 1.5 pounds for the previous model. Thinner and lighter might end up Apple's mantra over the next few years.

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Siri may do more than make the edges of your iPhone a glowy rainbow when iOS 18 drops this fall. Apple Intelligence features won’t be out until 2025 for anyone not testing them in beta this year, but reports suggest that Siri itself will still get natural language updates and other key features before the year is out.

For instance, users will be able to type to Siri without diving into accessibility settings, and it will be more conversational, understanding you even when you trip over your words, according to Mark Gurman in today’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.

He also writes that Siri will “have greater knowledge of Apple products,” presumably referring to the device support features Apple mentioned during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

Apple could offer instructions for how to do things in iOS this year. Image: Apple

For another fun tidbit: Right now, iOS 18 beta testers can change Siri’s wake word to whatever they want using a new accessibility feature called Vocal Shortcuts by going to Settings > Accessibility > Vocal Shortcuts > Set Up Vocal Shortcuts > Siri (not “Siri requests”), as 9to5Mac wrote last week. You have to pause after saying the new wake word or your phone won’t acknowledge it, and the change doesn’t extend to your HomePods. But crucially, the new wake word works even if you turn off “Hey Siri” in the current developer beta. That’s great news if you’re tired of your iPhone activating when you’re trying to talk to your HomePod.

Apart from direct Siri improvements, Apple has also said ChatGPT will be available for free in iOS 18 later this year, though Gurman writes that it may not make the first version of iOS 18. When it comes, Siri will offer to punt requests it can’t handle to a GPT-4o-powered ChatGPT, giving users the opportunity to agree or decline (along with a disclaimer about its trustworthiness).

We won’t know until any of this rolls out if Siri is actually getting good now, but there are at least signs that we could finally get the digital assistant we’ve been waiting for. It’s not clear if the upgraded Siri won’t come to HomePods or iPhones other than the iPhone 15 Pro, though, like Apple Intelligence. Hopefully, the Siri improvements stand apart from the new generative AI features, and less-capable devices like the iPhone 15 and iPads without Apple’s M-series chips will get at least some of them.

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Apple has announced its next era. Your experience of using an iPhone, Mac, or iPad will be guided by, and suffused with, artificial intelligence. Apple calls it, of course, Apple Intelligence. It’s coming later this year. That’s right: We have another “AI” to deal with.

You may have heard plenty about how it makes Siri smarter, rewrites your emails and essays, creates never-before-seen emoji, and turns rough sketches into bland AI art.

It truly is a vision of the future. And, while not groundbreaking, thanks to the usual Apple gloss it may well be one of the most friendly, intuitive, and useful implementations of generative AI seen to date.

However, the pressing factor for most of us is that we are not invited, and the iPhone is the worst affected of Apple’s devices.

To use Apple Intelligence, you need an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. A regular iPhone 15 won’t do, meaning a mobile well under a year old is, at least in this specific sense, obsolete. Mac users just need an Apple Silicon computer, meaning one released in 2020 or newer.

Exclusion Zone

A more cynical take on this is that these exclusion timescales are tied to the average upgrade cycle of phones and laptops. A person might be considered normal if they upgrade their phone every year. Buying a new laptop every year means you are probably foolish, a theft-magnet, or just plain clumsy.

The reality is a lot more complicated. The computation required for at least some parts of Apple Intelligence is quite different to that of the average iPhone or Mac task.

And this has all been obscured to the average generative AI or chatbot dabbler so far because of the way all of us have been introduced to the form. When you use ChatGPT, Midjourney, or even Adobe Photoshop’s Generative Fill feature, your own computer is doing almost none of the real work.

That is done on remote cloud servers, which perform the necessary calculations then simply beam the final result over to your phone or laptop. In this sense, generative AI to date has been rather like a digital assistant, such as Siri or Alexa. It can, at times, do great stuff. But little to none of it is really happening on the device on which it is used.

Apple Intelligence will try, at least in part, to change that.

Apple’s Familiar Privacy Play

Why? “You should not have to hand over all the details of your life to be warehoused and analyzed in someone’s AI cloud,” said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, during Apple's announcement of the new features.

“The cornerstone of the personal intelligence system is on-device processing. We have integrated it deep into your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and throughout your apps, so it’s aware of your personal data without collecting your personal data.”

On-device AI processing is a privacy play, a classic Apple strategy. But it’s not the first to make this move. Microsoft was. Its Copilot+ standard is a similar concept, but based solely around laptops. Copilot+ laptops have dedicated AI hardware designed to allow for on-device AI processing. The two even rely heavily on the same core artificial intelligence, that of ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

Which leads us to this completely justified question: Why the hell can’t my $900 iPhone 15 do this stuff too?

Neural Thinking

NPU is the term: the tech under the spotlight that separates older “non-AI” hardware from the new stuff our purses are meant to quiver in anticipation for. It stands for “neural processing unit.”

The latest phones and tablets have one of these in addition to the CPU (central processing unit) and the GPU (graphics processing unit). Its specialization is in carrying out an awful lot of operations simultaneously—and in the context of phones and laptops, doing so while using minimal power is key.

Just as generative AI has pebble-dashed the internet and wider society with what might charitably be called “stuff,” the creation of that stuff also requires a wide and shallow type of work.

For those who want to get slightly more technical, NPUs excel at matrix manipulation. This is the core form of work that powers chatbot LLMs and other generative AI. In each case, an AI starts off with a prompt and gradually homes in on a final result—be it a picture or a sentence of prose—through matrix manipulation.

Case closed? Are we simply in an NPU world now? Sure, but we have been since at least 2017. Apple introduced the Apple ANE (Apple Neural Engine) in 2017, seen in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. It’s an NPU.

It was needed back then, years before AI was as much of a buzzword as it is today, because Apple has actually used forms of AI and machine learning in iOS for ages.

Perhaps Apple Intelligence isn’t all that different—there’s just more of it. And the software scene has already proved some of these new “AI” features are being artificially gated, paywalled, behind new hardware.

A hobbyist software historian who goes by the name of Albacore online has got some of Microsoft’s Copilot+ features working on hardware that shouldn’t, in theory, be able to run it—a cheap Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go notebook. It costs a fifth to a quarter of the price of a Copilot+ laptop.

“Getting Recall working was moderately challenging, I suppose. I've been reverse engineering Windows bits for close to 10 years, so tracking down checks and restrictions is practically second nature to me,” Albacore tells WIRED.

How does it work? “Track down what guards the features, devise a plan for altering the check so it's always happy no matter the real requirements, and then wrap it in a nice installer. Some testing and edge case hunting later, the app was ready,” Albacore says.

You can read about how to get it working yourself in an article over at Tom’s Hardware.

“I'd say Recall works nicely even on older, less powerful hardware—the only aspect where you can notice lag is searching across the timeline,” says Albacore.

Recall is the most contentious, and headline pick, of Microsoft’s new AI features. Much like the new version of Siri, it can access your past actions, browsing history, and emails to turn Windows’ Universal search into something closer to an omniscient PA.

The part that doesn’t work so well on the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Go is Cocreator in the Paint app, Microsoft’s generative equivalent to the many image-generation features in Apple Intelligence.

“You can see the image generation process spin up and take a lot of resources, but it still crashes in the end, unfortunately. Perhaps an equally old chip but with more RAM would fare better, but I don't have that at my disposal at the moment,” says Albacore.

Making Memory

RAM: This may be the crux of why recent iPhones don't support Apple Intelligence even though they have as much AI and machine learning power as a MacBook that does support it. According to the Geekbench benchmarking tool, an iPhone 14 actually has a more powerful NPU AI chipset than an M1 MacBook.

However, those older phones have only 6 GB of RAM. All iPhones on the Apple Intelligence guest list have 8 GB of RAM.

Why does RAM matter? When AI models are run locally rather than in the cloud, they have to be stored in RAM or vRAM, the graphics card equivalent. Even the fastest SSD drives are not nearly fast enough for the job.

A lot of fanfare was made about the PlayStation 5’s 5,000 MB per second SSD, and how it let game developers stream visual assets off storage in real time. The DDR5 RAM in the average PC can reach bandwidth of up to 64 GB per second, while the fastest of Nvidia’s cards made for machine learning and AI, the H200, has a 4.8 TB per second bandwidth. That is almost 1,000 times higher than the transfer rate of the PS5 SSD.

The Nvidia H200 and its predecessors also provide handy context that should bring expectations for the iPhone 16’s offline AI abilities back into line. These graphics cards power the servers that perform the cloud AI computing required for all our frivolous ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion requests. They have up to 141 GB of vRAM per card, and cost tens of thousands of dollars a piece. And you need a bunch of them to house the latest GPT-4 backend intelligence—hundreds of GB of vRAM in total is necessary.

We’re miles away from consumer tech stuff here.

Even the consumer-grade Nvidia RTX gaming cards are going to be far more adept at most AI tasks than this new supposedly-made-for-AI hardware.

“GeForce RTX GPUs are ideal for AI PC users looking for the best AI experience,” says Jesse Clayton, Nvidia’s director of PC AI. “They deliver the fastest AI performance, up to 1,300 TOPS, and the most mature AI software stack, and accelerate more than 500 AI-enabled applications and games.”

For reference, Microsoft Copilot+ PCs set the benchmark at just 45 TOPS, which stands for trillions of operations per second.

Back to Earth

The iPhone 15 Pro Max can afford maybe 2 to 4 GB of RAM, and its NPU is rated at 35 TOPS. Whatever features Apple Intelligence can use offline will have to be based on a small, relatively simple AI model.

Apple’s own website tells us that Sharing Suggestions, Memories, and scene recognition in Photos are “on-device,” as are Siri Suggestions, voice recognition, and transcription.

A little logic suggests all the generative AI stuff primed to get people excited, and steal all the jobs kids once dreamed of having, can’t be done locally on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Or an iPhone 16 Pro Max, come to that.

And what’s left starts to look an awful lot like features other phones have already, or similar to what Albacore has managed to get working on modest NPU-free hardware.

The next question is whether the iPhone 16 will even get the full suite of Apple Intelligence features, or whether it will continue to be used as a Pro-series upsell in the next generation.

The first Apple Intelligence features will be available later this year on the public release of iOS 18, expected to land in September alongside the iPhone 16. We'll find out then.

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Now, Smartprix has shared an alleged spec sheet for the Galaxy Z Flip6, which is also set to be unveiled next month. According to the leaked spec sheet, Samsung has packed two key upgrades with the Galaxy Z Flip6 over the Galaxy Z Flip5. For the most part, the clamshell phone appears to have the same specifications as its Galaxy Z Flip5.

If the leaks are true, then the Galaxy Z Flip6 could come with a 4,000mAh battery, a 300mAh bump from the current Galaxy Z Flip5. There is no mention of the charging speeds in the leaked info, but it is expected to be capped at 25W.

The camera is another area where the Galaxy Z Flip6 might get an upgrade. Earlier, a leak surfaced suggesting that this year's clamshell could pack a 50MP primary camera, and the latest leak corroborates the previous leak. The leaked detailed spec sheet mentions a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture, expected to be the same as found on the Galaxy Z Fold5.

However, the other cameras seem to be unchanged, and it would remain a 12MP ultrawide camera and a 10MP selfie shooter. Under the hood, the Galaxy Z Flip6 could be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor and that's where the upgrade ends. Yes, the price is also said to have increased by $100 for all storage variants compared to the Galaxy Z Flip5, and that could count as an upgrade.

The main display is speculated to be a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED with 2640 x 1080 pixels and 120Hz refresh rate. The cover display is expected to be a 3.4-inch Super AMOLED with 720x768 pixels, which is the same as the Galaxy Z Flip5, but it could see an increase in peak brightness.

Unfortunately, this year as well, there will be no DeX support for the Galaxy Z Flip6. However, there could be some improvements, such as a minimal folding screen crease and a thinner hinge. The phone is expected to come in 256GB and 512GB storage options.

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iPhone's upcoming software update will arrive with several features, including a dark mode of Home Screen apps, Apple Intelligence service, flashlight improvements, Game Mode, T9 dialer, and new wallpapers.

The Passwords app will launch on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the $3,499 Vision Pro headset later this year and will be available for Windows through the iCloud for Windows app. However, if you're interested, you can try the new app by installing the latest developer betas on supported iPhones, iPads, and Mac models.

Let's see how the Passwords app looks and feels on the iOS 18 Developer Beta (you will get a similar user experience on iPadOS 18 but on a bigger screen).

Note: If you plan to install the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your device, it's recommended that you back up all your data and proceed with caution. Pre-release versions of Apple software may contain bugs and unexpected problems that can harm your data or affect the normal working of your device.

All your passwords in one place

On the surface, the Passwords app does many things that are already possible on iOS 17 through the Passwords page in Settings. Speaking of which, Apple has made the Settings app a bit lighter on iOS 18 by kicking out the Passwords page.

While the Passwords page lists all your user credentials, the new app brings more to the table. It includes categories for Passkeys, security codes, and Wi-Fi passwords saved on your device and iCloud account. You can find more information, such as the total count of credentials saved for each category.

A search bar at the top of the main page lets you find credentials from different categories, except Wi-Fi. To do so, you'll have to use the search bar on the Wi-Fi page in the app.

Sort and filter your passwords

You can click on any of the categories to manage your stored credentials. For instance, when you go to the 'All' page, it shows the passwords you have saved for different apps and websites. You can tap on the "Double-arrow" button in the bottom-left corner to filter and sort your passwords by recently created, date edited, date created, alphabetically, and more.

To manually add a new password, click on the "+" button in the bottom-right corner of the All page and fill in the details. It's worth noting that you can use the 'Notes' section to find your passwords quickly and efficiently.

You can type related information, for instance, keywords like "streaming," to all the credentials related to streaming apps. So, the next time you type "streaming" into the search bar in the Passwords app, it will list all the relevant credentials.

Similarly, you can manage Passkeys and Wi-Fi passwords stored in your iCloud account by visiting their dedicated pages in the Passwords app. If you want to delete passwords or Wi-Fi credentials, you can use the 'Select' button present in the top-right corner of each page.

If you want, you can delete all the Wi-Fi passwords you have ever saved using the 'Select All' button in the top-left corner of the screen.

Use Siri to find passwords

The Passwords app on iOS 18 also works with Siri. You can simply say, "Show my passwords," or ask the virtual assistant to find a particular password. For instance, you can say, "What is my Netflix password?" and it will automatically open the Passwords app with the required details.

Create groups to share passwords

You can create groups with trusted contacts, such as your friends or family, to share passwords and passkeys across devices. This eliminates the need to share passwords by using unsafe means, such as sending them in plain text over messages.

Again, this functionality is available on iOS 17 and is now accessible through the Passwords app. You can find the option to create a shared group in the bottom-left corner of the Passwords app. Each group member can choose what passwords they want to share with others. The person who created the group can add or remove other members at any time.

So, this is how the Passwords app works on the iOS 18 developer beta. However, keep in mind that the app's features can change over time as further beta versions are released, and the actual implementation in the stable version of iOS 18 may look or work differently.

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The iOS 18 update previewed earlier this week has a small but useful addition that lets you share Wi-Fi passwords from iPhone to Android in a few simple steps. While playing around with the iOS 18 developer beta (available on these iPhone models), we found that the freshly-baked Passwords app lets you share passwords as QR codes.

Note: If you plan to install the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your device, it's recommended that you back up all your data and proceed with caution. Pre-release versions of Apple software may contain bugs and unexpected problems that can harm your data or affect the normal working of your device.

Share Wi-Fi passwords from iPhone to Android

1. Open the Passwords app on iOS 18 Developer Beta.
2. Tap on the Wi-Fi category listed on the main page.
3. Go to the Wi-Fi network that you want to share with others. The network you're connected to will have a blue-colored icon.
4. Tap on "Show Network QR Code" to reveal a QR code for that Wi-Fi network.

You can ask an Android or iPhone user to scan this QR code directly to join your Wi-Fi network. Alternatively, you can take a screenshot of the QR code to save it for later access or share it using a messaging app. A similar feature is also coming to Windows 11.

In addition to Wi-Fi networks, the feature also works with personal hotspots you have previously used on your iPhone. Since the Passwords app is available on iPadOS, the feature should work similarly on an iPad.

Keep in mind that the app's features can change over time as further beta versions are released, and the actual implementation in the stable version of iOS 18 may look or work differently.

Password sharing across Apple devices has been around for several years now. The feature, introduced with iOS 11 in 2017, can share Wi-Fi passwords across two Apple devices when they are placed close to each other.

There isn't much for Android in it, but Apple users can rely on the "QR your Wi-Fi" Siri Shortcut to generate shareable QR codes for their Wi-Fi networks. Moreover, users can view their saved Wi-Fi passwords on iOS 16 (or later) and share them manually.

The stable version of iOS 18 will be out later this year with many features, including a dark mode for Home Screen apps, flashlight improvements, Game Mode, T9 dialer, Apple Intelligence, new wallpapers, and more.

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Apple iPhone joined the dark side several years ago with the release of iOS 13. Now, its maker is bringing the Dark Mode to iPhone's Home Screen and app icons with the iOS 18 update announced at WWDC 2024.

iOS 18 is scheduled for a release during the fall season, sometime around the launch of the upcoming iPhone 16 series. However, its developer beta is already out, and you can install it on a supported iPhone model.

Note: If you plan to install the iOS 18 Developer Beta on your device, it's recommended that you back up all your data and proceed with caution. Pre-release versions of iOS may contain bugs and unexpected problems that can harm your data or affect the normal working of your device.

With that said, let's have a look at how you can enable the Dark Mode for app icons and customize your Home Screen. Although this article is about iOS, you can customize iPadOS 18 in the same way.

Turn on Dark Mode for iOS app icons

1. If you're running iOS 18 developer beta on your device, long-press in the empty part of your Home Screen to enter the so-called "jiggle mode."
2. Tap on the Edit button in the top-left corner > Customize.
3. A menu will appear at the bottom with several theme options, such as Automatic, Dark, and Light.
4. You can choose the 'Dark' option to give a dark effect to the app icons and widgets on the home screen. The Automatic option, when selected, switches from light to dark theme depending on the time of the day.
5. When you select the Dark option, you can tap on the Sun-shaped icon in the top-left corner of the menu to dim your home screen wallpaper.

This is how you can change the visual appearance of your home screen app icons and widgets. Note that the Dark Mode for the home screen only works with Apple-made apps right now, but third-party developers will update their apps once iOS 18 is out.

Change the color of app icons and widgets on iOS 18

If you don't like dark mode for some reason, you can change the color tint of the app icons and widgets on the home screen to whatever you like.

1. Tap and hold in an empty space on the home screen > Edit > Customize.
2. Now, the fourth option you'll find on the menu is Tinted. You can use this option to color the app icons from countless options available.
3. The Tinted option displays two sliders that you can use to select a particular color tint and its intensity. You can also use the color picker in the top-right corner of the theme options menu to choose a color from your wallpaper.
4. The Sun or brightness button in the top-left corner also works with the Tinted option to add a dark effect to the wallpaper.

The Tinted option brings a whole new level of color customization that you can do to your iPhone's Home Screen. A difference here is that the color tint works with non-Apple apps and widgets as well. It seems to go the extra mile as the color you pick using the Tinted option shows up virtually everywhere on the Home Screen, including the App Library.

In other words, if you have added a Photos or Maps widget to your Home Screen or Today View, the color tint will superimpose the images. It is possible that this is happening because the feature is currently under development.

Remove names from app icons on iOS 18

Another thing you can do on the iOS 18 Home Screen is remove the names written below the app icons. To do so, long-press on the Home Screen > Edit > Customize.

Here, you can tap on 'Small' and 'Large' to change the size of the app icons. When you pick the Large option, the app names will be removed, and their icons will get bigger. As of now, the feature doesn't let you remove the app's name and see smaller-sized app icons.

However, if you want to see bigger app icons with their names, you can use the Display Zoom feature in Settings > Display & Brightness.

Re-arrange apps on the iOS 18 Home Screen

The iOS 18 update lets you re-arrange app icons and place them anywhere on your Home Screen. This was not possible with iOS 17, where app icons automatically get pulled to the top of the screen.

This way, you can personalize your icon layout however you like or arrange the icons according to the wallpapers you set. To re-arrange app icons, long-press on the Home Screen until the icons jiggle, and then move them anywhere you want.

This is how you can customize your home screen apps on iOS 18. However, keep in mind that these features can change over time as further beta versions are released and the actual implementation in the stable version of iOS 18 may look or work differently.

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The iOS 18 update, apart from the host of features, also added a bunch of new wallpapers to the supported Apple iPhones that you can use to decorate your home screen. However, since the iOS 18 update is rolling out in beta, not everyone can get the taste of the new wallpapers unless you are brave enough to download it and deal with the bugs that it could pack with it.

Thankfully, we have our hands on the fresh set of wallpapers that Apple introduced with iOS 18, courtesy of iClarified. The best part is that you don't need to download and install iOS 18 beta on your iPhone to get these wallpapers. Not only iOS users, but even Android users, who fancy having an iPhone wallpaper on their home screen, can download the wallpapers.

Here's a preview of the iOS 18 wallpapers that Apple has introduced. Notably, there are four new abstract wallpapers, pink, yellow, azure, and purple, with each having a light and dark version. Please note that the below wallpapers are of low resolution.

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2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of May): Nearly 2,400 news posts

The biggest feature in iOS 18, the one that affects the most people, was a single item in a comma-stuffed sentence by Apple software boss Craig Federighi: "Support for RCS."

 

As we noted when Apple announced its support for "RCS Universal Profile," a kind of minimum viable cross-device rich messaging, iPhone users getting RCS means SMS chains with Android users "will be slightly less awful." SMS messages will soon have read receipts, higher-quality media sending, and typing indicators, along with better security. And RCS messages can go over Wi-Fi when you don't have a cellular signal. Apple is certainly downplaying a major cross-platform compatibility upgrade, but it's a notable quality-of-life boost.

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Apple Intelligence, the new Siri, and the iPhone

iOS 18 is one of the major beneficiaries of Apple's AI rollout, dubbed "Apple Intelligence." Apple Intelligence promises to help iPhone users create and understand language and images, with the proper context from your phone's apps: photos, calendar, email, messages, and more.

 

Some of the suggested AI offerings include:

 

• Auto-prioritizing notifications
• Generating an AI image of people when you wish them a happy birthday.
• Using Maps, Calendar, and an email with a meeting update to figure out if a work meeting change will make Federighi miss his daughter's recital.

 

Many of the models needed to respond to your requests can be run on the device, Apple claims. For queries that need to go to remote servers, Apple relies on "Private Cloud Compute." Apple has built its own servers, running on Apple Silicon, to handle requests that need more computational power. Your phone only sends the data necessary, is never stored, and independent researchers can verify the software on Apple's servers, the company claims.

 

Siri is getting AI-powered upgrades across all platforms, including iOS. Apple says that Siri now understands more context in your questions to it. It will have awareness of what's on your screen, so you could say "Add this address to his contact card" while messaging. You could ask it to "take a light-trail effect photo" from the camera. And "personal context" was repeatedly highlighted, including requests to find things people sent you, add your license number to a form (from an old ID picture), or ask "When is my mom's flight landing?"

The non-AI things coming in iOS 18

On the iPhone itself, iOS 18 icons will change their look when in dark mode, and you can customize the look of compatible icons. Control Center, the pull-down menu in the top-right corner, now has multiple swipe-accessible controls, accessed through a strange-until-you're-used-to-it long continuous swipe from the top. Developers are also getting access to the Control Center, so they can add their own apps' controls. The lock screen will also get more customization, letting you swap out the standard flashlight and camera buttons for other items you prefer.

 

Privacy got some attention, too. Apps can be locked, such that Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode is necessary to open them. Apps can also be hidden and have their data prevented from showing up in notifications, searches, or other streams. New controls also limit the access you may grant to apps for contacts, network, and devices.

 

Messages will have "a huge year," according to Apple. Tapbacks (instant reactions) can now include any emoji on the phone. Messages can be scheduled for later sending, text can be formatted, and there are "text effects" that do things like zoom in on the word "MAJOR" or make "Blown away" explode off the screen. And "Messages via satellite" is now available for phones that have satellite access, with end-to-end encryption.

 

The Mail app gets on-device categorization with Gmail-like labels like "Primary," "Transactions," "Updates," and "Promotions." Mail can also show you all the emails you get from certain businesses, such as receipts and tickets.

 

The Maps app is getting trail routes for US National Parks. Wallet now lets you "Tap to Cash," sending money between phones in close proximity. Journal can now log your state of mind, track your goals, track streaks, and log "other fun stats."

 

Photo libraries are getting navigation upgrades, with screenshots, receipts, and other banal photos automatically filtered out from gallery scrolls. There's some automatic categorization of trips, days, and events. And, keeping with the theme of iOS 18, you can customize and reorder the collections and features Photos shows you when you browse through it.

 

This is a developing story and this post will be updated with new information.

 

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The annual WWDC keynote is chiefly the venue for Apple to reveal its updates for its operating systems. With big changes expected to be on the way for iOS 18, some users may wonder whether their aging iPhone will be able to run it at all.

On Monday, a leaker known to AppleInsider for accuracy on such matters posted to X that an earlier post from April was "confirmed." That earlier post said that all iPhone models that are compatible with iOS 17 will work with iOS 18.

If true, that means there won't be any iOS 17 devices dropped off the supported device list for iOS 18.

What iPhones will support iOS 18

•     iPhone SE (second generation)
•     iPhone SE (third generation)
•     iPhone XR
•     iPhone XS
•     iPhone XS Max
•     iPhone 11
•     iPhone 11 mini
•     iPhone 11 Pro
•     iPhone 11 Pro Max
•     iPhone 12
•     iPhone 12 mini
•     iPhone 12 Pro
•     iPhone 12 Pro Max
•     iPhone 13
•     iPhone 13 mini
•     iPhone 13 Pro
•     iPhone 13 Pro Max
•     iPhone 14
•     iPhone 14 Plus
•     iPhone 14 Pro
•     iPhone 14 Pro Max
•     iPhone 15
•     iPhone 15 Plus
•     iPhone 15 Pro
•     iPhone 15 Pro Max

Note that iOS 18 running on a device does not mean that all features will be supported. For example, most of the Apple Intelligence features in the device are expected to need an iPhone 15 or newer.

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It turns out that iOS 18 might bring that sort of improved privacy security to the iPhone. A report says Apple will let users lock various apps with Face ID. If accurate, the feature will also support Touch ID on older iPhones that can still get iOS 18.

Meta and other companies let you lock chat apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger with Face ID. That prompted me to ask for similar protections for iMessage. These chat apps can contain sensitive information.

If I were to lose my iPhone or have it stolen, I’d like to know that sensitive apps have another layer of protection beyond the Lock Screen. This is similar to the login protection for finance apps, which you can associate with Face ID unlock where available.

The Notes app is another key iPhone app to lock down with Face ID. Considering you can protect independent notes with Face ID or a password, you should be able to lock the entire app.

The ability to add an extra layer of protection to sensitive iPhone apps is even more useful on a shared device like the iPad.

Say you let kids use your iPad for entertainment, you won’t have to worry about them reading messages and notes or deleting any content.

A Face ID authentication scan on iPhone. Image source: José Adorno for BGR

According to MacRumors, Face ID authentication is coming to standalone iPhone apps. The blog mentions “Mail, Messages, Notes, Phone, Photos, Safari, Settings, and more” apps getting support for Face ID.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter have reportedly informed the site about the feature. That’s certainly a great privacy upgrade, and I can’t wait to see it in action.

I will point out one issue. Face ID is associated with the Lock Screen password on the iPhone. Getting back to the iPad example, if your children know the iPad’s password, they’ll be able to unlock the protected apps. If thieves steal your Lock Screen password, they’d also be able to access those apps.

I’m speculating here, but if Face ID scans fail, you’ll need an alternative to get into your apps. That’s usually the Lock Screen password.

A better option would be for Apple to let users pair Face ID with a different password for locking down apps. After all, reports say that iOS 18 is also going to debut a standalone password manager app. That’s another request I’ve had for Apple for years. It would be easy to store that app password in a safe place. That’s where I’m getting at.

On that note, the upcoming password manager app will likely work with Face ID authentication as well.

Finally, I’ll add that macOS 15 should copy these privacy security features. If I can lock down access to iMessage on iPhone with Face ID, I should be able to do the same on macOS with Touch ID.

We’ll get our answers soon enough. Apple will introduce all its software features for iPhone, iPad, and Mac on Monday. Whether iOS 18 will add Face ID support to Apple apps or not, there is a way to use Face ID to lock any iPhone app right now.

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