GoKawiil
Tech News
Apple is said to be overhauling the lesser-known display areas inside its retail stores, internally called 'Avenues,' to prepare shoppers for an upcoming home product. The change reportedly signals that Apple wants dedicated in-store space to educate customers on a new category of device before it launches.
USB-C laptop chargers can be safely used to charge phones, and will speed up charging only if the phone supports higher-wattage fast charging via USB Power Delivery. Phones capped at 18-20W input won't charge any faster on a 65W or 100W charger, since the device only draws what it's rated for. Charger safety depends more on certification and build quality than wattage, as counterfeit units can pass dangerous voltage spikes and cheap cables may lack required safety components.
A hobbyist developer has released a major update to their QuickTake program for the Apple II, adding full support for the Kodak DC50 Zoom camera from 1996. The update enables picture downloads, thumbnail previews, deletion, and settings adjustments over a custom serial cable, achieved after reverse-engineering the camera's protocol using tools like dcraw, libgphoto2, and old Kodak software.
Several widely-used smartwatches, including Google's Pixel Watch 2, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro, and multiple Apple Watch models, will lose software support in 2026. The devices will continue basic functions like fitness tracking and notifications but won't receive further feature updates or, in some cases, security patches. Apple is reportedly retiring five watch models in a single watchOS release, one of its largest support cuts to date.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is preparing a new iMac powered by the M6 chip, its first Mac processor built on a 2nm process, along with some unspecified new color options. The redesigned iMac is expected to ship before the end of the year, ending a roughly two-year gap since the last update and skipping the M2 and M5 generations entirely.
Mark Gurman reports that Apple insiders who've handled the upcoming foldable iPhone Ultra praise its pocketability, hinge durability, iPad-style app layouts on its roughly 7.8-inch inner screen, and its usefulness as a camera viewfinder. The device, expected to launch soon with a 5.5-inch outer display, is rumored to cost over $2,000 and use Touch ID rather than Face ID, with only a main and ultra-wide camera.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports Apple is making major layout changes to its retail stores this fall, including reorganizing the Avenues sections and adding new accessory bays. While Apple was expected to release only a refreshed HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K, the scope of these store changes suggests the long-rumored smart home hub with a display may launch at the same time.
Drivers experiencing Siri going silent or unresponsive during CarPlay use may not be facing an Apple problem at all. The issue can stem from iPhone settings, a faulty CarPlay connection, or limitations in the vehicle's own infotainment system rather than Siri itself. Users can typically activate Siri by holding the car's voice-command button or the CarPlay Home button, though 'Hey Siri' support varies by vehicle.
Most wireless earbuds ship with silicone ear tips, which are cheap to produce but often fail to seal properly given how much ear shapes vary from person to person. Because earbuds rely on the ear tips alone to create a seal, a poor fit lets sound leak out and outside noise in, weakening bass response and noise cancellation performance. Swapping to a better-fitting tip, particularly memory foam versions, can significantly improve both comfort and audio quality without buying new earbuds.
A former Netflix subscriber who canceled the service a year ago tried several alternatives before unexpectedly settling on Apple TV+. The writer had long avoided the platform due to its high price, limited content library, and lack of perks like free trials or Family Sharing for non-Apple device owners.
WIRED's Reece Rogers tested iOS 27's rebuilt Shortcuts app, which now includes an Apple Intelligence feature called 'Describe a Short' that lets users create automations by typing plain-language requests instead of manual scripting. Rogers, a longtime Shortcuts skeptic, says the tool successfully generated useful daily automations, including a habit-breaking shortcut that questions him whenever he opens Instagram, though some glitches occurred during beta testing.