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Apple commits $500M to US-based rare-earth recycling firm MP Materials

Apple is investing $500 million in MP Materials, the only fully integrated rare-earth mining company currently operating in the United States, as part of a broader effort to strengthen the domestic rare-earth supply chain. The tech giant announced on Tuesday that with this deal, it’s committed to buying American-made rare-earth magnets developed at MP Materials’ flagship facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The factory will develop a series of neodymium magnet manufacturing lines specifically designe

MP Materials stock rips 22% higher after $500 million Apple deal for rare earth magnets

People look at iPhones at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City on May 23, 2025. Apple and miner MP Materials announced a $500 million deal Tuesday for rare earth magnets and the development of a recycling facility that will reinforce the iPhone maker's U.S. supply chain. MP Materials stock climbed 22%. Shares of Apple were marginally higher. As part of the agreement, Apple will buy rare earth magnets created at the company's facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Both companies will combine

Could the Galaxy Z Fold 7 really be the world’s thinnest foldable after all?

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR A side-by-side comparison shows that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 may actually be thinner than the Magic V5. HONOR claims the Magic V5 measures 8.8mm, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures 8.9mm. The unique way the company measured the Magic V5 may explain the discrepancy. When Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 7, it impressed with a thickness of just 8.9mm. This measurement was enough to have it tie with the OPPO Find N5 for the world’s thinnest book-style folda

9to5Mac Daily: July 15, 2025 – Apple leadership, Mac growth

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by 1Password: For a limited time, get $20 off the easiest way to stay secure online with 1Password—featuring a new passkey feature that lets you go passwordless on compatible apps and sites. New episodes of 9to5Mac Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe

Webb spots 'Infinity Galaxy' that sheds light on black hole formation

Discoveries keep pouring out of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Researchers observed an unusual cluster, which they dubbed the Infinity Galaxy. It appears to support a leading theory on how some supermassive black holes form. Although "Infinity Galaxy" sounds like a place Thanos would hang out, it merely describes its appearance. Two compact, red nuclei, each surrounded by a ring, give the cluster the shape of an infinity symbol. What's inside is more interesting. (After all, this is a

10 tiny tools I carry with me everywhere - how they work

My keychain essentials. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET I've collected my fair share of multitools and gadgets, but I've lost track of how often I've needed one -- only to realize it's sitting at home or in the car. Carrying a full toolbox everywhere just isn't practical. What I do have with me almost all the time, though, is my keychain -- and it turns out, it's the perfect way to keep essential tools within reach. Also: Are Amazon Basics tools worth it? My verdict after testing the top-sellers

The best power banks you can buy in 2025: Expert tested and reviewed

Almost everyone I know owns at least one power bank, and the ubiquity of these portable chargers means that you can pick up cheap units in gas stations and dollar stores. But my extensive testing suggests that these are false economy, and you're very likely buying something that at best won't last long, or at worse could even be dangerous. This is why I recommend buying power banks from reputable brands. Don't worry -- I still work to keep those brands honest by extensively testing every power

KDE's official Android TV alternative is back from the dead

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works Lately, some KDE projects have seen a revival, like Karton (the native virtual machine manager for KDE) and the improved ISO Image Writer. Now, another abandoned KDE project, Plasma Bigscreen, is looking to return from the dead after long-time Plasma Mobile contributor Devin decided to spend a week overhauling the thing. If you have not heard of it, Plasma Bigscreen is a Plasma shell for telev

See How ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Built Itself a Bigger, Better M3GAN

For better or worse, M3GAN’s sophomore outing in M3GAN 2.0 brought with it much more action-packed mania than the killer-doll horrors of the original. That, and of course the awkward inconvenience of M3GAN’s body being destroyed in the climax of the first film, meant her return for round two needed a mechanical do-over… including a few upgrades for good measure. Now that M3GAN 2.0 is heading home digitally today, you can see just how the team behind the movie made those upgrades to make the all

Joby Aviation says it is doubling production at its air taxi manufacturing hub

JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, stands near an electric air taxi by Joby Aviation at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 12, 2023. Joby Aviation is ramping up its manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. as it races to roll out air taxi service in 2026. The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) maker said Tuesday that it's launching production at its remodeled components facility in Dayton, Ohio, and plans to double capacity at its

Finding value with AI automation

Today's opportunity: Significant automation gains When leaders respond to immediate panic, new business risks and mitigations often emerge. Two recent examples highlight the consequences of rushing to implement and publish positive results from AI adoption. The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2025 on companies struggling to realize returns on AI. Just weeks later, it covered MIT’s retraction of a technical paper about AI where the results that led to its publication could not be substanti

North Korean XORIndex malware hidden in 67 malicious npm packages

North Korean threat actors planted 67 malicious packages in the Node Package Manager (npm) online repository to deliver a new malware loader called XORIndex to developer systems. The packages collectively count more than 17,000 downloads and were discovered by researchers at package security platform Socket, who assess them to be part of the continued Contagious Interview operation. Socket researchers say that the campaign follows threat activity detected since April. Last month, the same acto

At last, I finally found a portable 4K projector worthy of replacing my TV

ZDNET's key takeaways Xgimi's Horizon S Max is on sale now for $1,899. It offers sharp, vibrant picture quality that punches well above its price tag, and the new gimbal design is easy to set up. Its minimal port selection might be a problem for some. View now at B&H Photo View now at Xgimi more buying choices I won't bury the lede: the Xgimi Horizon S Max is one of the brightest projectors I've tested, and that's one of the prime concerns with replacing a TV for a projector. The Horizon S Ma

60% of managers use AI to make decisions now, including whom to promote and fire - does yours?

Mohamad Faizal Bin Ramli/Getty Images A recent survey from Resume Builder finds that half of managers are using AI to make crucial decisions about their direct reports, including which employees are promoted -- and which are fired. The survey polled 1,342 managers in the US, 60% of whom reported relying on AI to make decisions about their employees: 78% and 77% used the technology to award raises and promotions, respectively, while 66% and 64% used it to determine layoffs and terminations, res

Trump Lets Polymarket Off the Hook, Ends Probe Into Crypto Betting Platform

If you bet “Donald Trump ends an investigation into a Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency platform,” you can claim your winnings. According to Bloomberg, two investigations into the prediction market Polymarket have been shut down by the Trump administration, just in time for Republican lawmakers’ planned “Crypto Week.” The probes, which were launched toward the end of the Biden administration, included an investigation by the Department of Justice into whether Polymarket was allowing U.S.-based

Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab is worth $12B in seed round

Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by OpenAI’s former chief technology officer Mira Murati, officially closed a $2 billion seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz on Monday, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. The deal, which includes participation from NVIDIA, Accel, ServiceNow, CISCO, AMD, and Jane Street, values the startup at $12 billion, the spokesperson said. Several outlets reported in June that Thinking Machines Lab was close to closing this $2B funding round at a $10 bill

MP Materials stock rips 24% higher after $500 million Apple deal for rare earth magnets

People look at iPhones at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City on May 23, 2025. Apple and miner MP Materials announced a $500 million deal Tuesday for rare earth magnets and the development of a recycling facility that will reinforce the iPhone maker's U.S. supply chain. MP Materials stock climbed 24%. Shares of Apple were marginally higher. As part of the agreement, Apple will buy rare earth magnets created at the company's facility in Fort Worth, Texas. Both companies will combine

It's a huge week for crypto in DC But the industry may not get everything it wants

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2025. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters It's "Crypto Week" in Washington. The cryptocurrency industry is set to notch a major win this week if the House can pass two bills that would set up a long-lobbied-for regulatory framework for digital assets. The stablecoin bill, known as the GENUIS Act, has already passed the Senate and looks set to become the first standalone crypto measure signed into law should the House do the same. But the real

Jeff Bezos taps former Amazon Alexa head to lead $10 billion Earth fund

Jeff Bezos gestures as he leaves Aman Venice hotel, ahead of his expected wedding, in Venice, Italy, on June 25, 2025. Jeff Bezos is bringing in a veteran Amazon executive to oversee his $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund. Tom Taylor, who previously ran Amazon's Alexa voice assistant division, will serve as the new president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund, the former tech executive wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday. Taylor announced his retirement from Amazon in 2022 after roughly 23

This new power bank is a Qi 2.2 first. Here’s what it means for your next phone

TL;DR The UGREEN MagFlow is the first power bank with official Qi 2.2 certification. Qi 2.2 enables faster 25W magnetic wireless charging with improved heat control. Most Android phones can’t take full advantage yet, but support is expected to grow. Magnetic wireless charging has been a talking point in 2025, with Android phones like the Galaxy S25 offering partial support through accessories, but no true adoption of the full Qi 2 standard. However, UGREEN’s latest announcement of a new miles

Blender 4.5 LTS Released

The final frontier. After years of work, support for the popular backend in Blender is now on par with OpenGL. It’s not enabled by default yet; make it so in the Preferences. Make sure to keep your drivers up to date! Blender works closely with hardware manufacturers to ensure Vulkan performs as good as possible. See the supported platforms and drivers, and the current limitations.

Adding lookbehinds to rust-lang/regex

In a previous blogpost, Erik wrote about how he implemented the linear time matching algorithm from [RegElk+PLDI24] in the popular regex engine RE2. In this one, we're looking at how to do the same thing for the official regex engine from the Rust language. Namely, we add support for unbounded captureless lookbehinds. First, let's discover the newly supported feature and its limitations. Lookbehinds allow regexes to make assertions about things preceding some part of the regex pattern without c

‘Andor’ Gets 14 Emmy Nominations in a Genre-Heavy Year

Television, it turns out, is geeky as hell. That seemed to be the major takeaway as the 77th annual Emmy Award nominations were announced Tuesday, with Severance leading all nominees with 27 total, HBO’s The Penguin coming in second with 24, The Last of Us in fifth with 16, and Andor coming in sixth with 14, including Outstanding Drama Series. Other genre shows, such as The Acolyte, Agatha All Along, Black Mirror, The Boys, Cobra Kai, Dune: Prophecy, House of the Dragon, Invincible, Paradise, P

Fitbit’s Charge 6 fitness tracker is at its lowest price ever at Walmart

The Fitbit Charge 6 is one of the best fitness trackers we’ve tested, and down to an all-time low price of $93 ($66.95 off) at Walmart. The deal includes a six-month subscription to Fitbit Premium, a service that includes guided workouts, a wellness report, and other perks, and usually costs $10 per month or $80 per year. You can get the Charge 6 for $99.95 ($60 off), along with the same six-month subscription, at Amazon. The Charge 6 is the only fitness tracker under $200 with an FDA-cleared E

Sony's 61MP RX1R III fixed-lens compact camera is finally here after a ten-year wait

Sony just surprised the photography world by unveiling the RX1R III, a fixed-lens 35mm full-frame compact camera. Coming nearly ten years after the RX1R II, it has a 61MP Exmor R sensor along with Sony's latest image processing technology that promises low noise and high dynamic range. Apart from all the new tech, the RX1R III is smaller and more streamlined than before and considerably lighter at 17 ounces than its main competition, Leica's Q3 and the Fujifilm GFX100RF. With that, it's designe

Topics: high image just rx1r sony

Apple commits $500 million over several years to buy US-made rare earth magnets

Apple just announced a commitment of $500 million over several years to buy rare earth magnets from the US-based company MP Materials. These rare earth magnets are used in a number of products, including iPhones, MacBooks and the Apple Pencil stylus. The American-made magnets will be shipped throughout the world, to help "meet increasing global demand for the material." MP Materials is the only fully integrated rare earth producer in the country. The two companies have also pledged to work toge

I've tested dozens of ultralight laptops this year, but I keep coming back to this one

ZDNET's key takeaways The Asus Zenbook A14 with 16GB of memory is on sale at Best Buy for $799. It's a fantastic balance of innovation and value with an OLED display, competitive hardware, and a satisfying physical form. While its use case is clearly defined, the laptop has its limits when it comes to high-end performance. View now at Best Buy The Asus Zenbook A14 is on sale for $799 at Best Buy for the 16GB model. When Asus officially announced the Zenbook A14 at CES this year, I wasn't the

My favorite accessory brand finally made a MagSafe wallet with FindMy built-in, and it's super sleek

ZDNET's key takeaways The Nomad Leather Mag Wallet is an $80 MagSafe wallet with built-in Apple Find My technology. It's sleek, holds up to four cards, is made of Horween leather, and is Qi rechargeable. It lacks storage for cash, and the four-card storage might not be enough for some. View now at Nomad Goods Here at ZDNET, we're no strangers to Nomad's top-notch accessories. The brand makes some of my favorite accessory products, including the Slim Sport Apple Watch Band, the Universal Cable

I never leave home without this viral USB-C key ring accessory, and it only costs $25

ZDNET's key takeaways Nomad's ChargeKey V2 is on sale for $25 each. This version of the handy accessory provides charging speeds up to 240W for laptops and data transfer speeds up to 10Gbps. However, some may find its short length too restrictive. $25 at Nomad At the time of last publication, the ChargeKey V2 is backordered and expected to ship starting July 24. As often as I rely on USB-C cables to charge my devices or help with work, I hardly think about them. My mindset has been that they

America’s EV Slowdown Is Here

The era of seemingly unstoppable growth for electric vehicles in the United States has come to a screeching halt. New sales figures for the second quarter of 2025 reveal a market in reverse, with momentum waning as the industry confronts significant headwinds from high prices and persistent consumer anxiety. According to a new report from Kelley Blue Book, the U.S. electric vehicle market, long seen as a bastion of growth, hit a significant speed bump, with sales dropping by more than 6% in a s