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A writer's iPhone 15 Pro Max has reached 1,000 charge cycles, the threshold Apple designed the device to endure before battery health falls below 80 percent, and it now reports 81 percent health. The phone hasn't triggered iOS's battery service warning, but the owner says daily screen-on time has dropped sharply from over 12 hours when new to barely lasting until evening now.
Apple rolled out iOS 27.0.1, a bug-fix update arriving about two weeks after iOS 27. It resolves an iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max issue that could cause the device to restart when Face ID fails to authenticate, a color artifact appearing in certain zoomed photos, and a touchscreen freeze triggered by opening Notification and Control Centers together.
Apple has issued iOS 27.0.1, its first update since launching iOS 27, addressing an intermittent issue where the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max would freeze or restart, often triggered by failed Face ID authentication. The update also fixes a camera artifact affecting some 18 Pro devices and a screen-freeze bug tied to opening Notification Center and Control Center together, which affects all iPhones on iOS 27. Companion 27.0.1 updates for iPadOS, macOS, and VisionOS were also released with general bug fixes.
HONOR has launched the Magic 9 Pro Max in China, powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip. The phone pairs a 200MP main camera with a 200MP telephoto lens, both featuring 'ultra-night' sensitivity, alongside a 50MP ultrawide camera, and adopts a new rectangular camera plateau instead of the brand's usual circular module. HONOR says it collaborated with cinema camera maker ARRI on image processing and its video pipeline.
Honor has launched its Magic 9 flagship line in China, led by the Magic 9 Pro Max, which features a redesigned camera island inspired by Arri's three-lens turret design. Arri contributed software features including LogC3 shooting, 14 preset Look LUTs, access to its LUT library, and 10-bit 4:2:2 codec support, while the phone's hardware includes a 200-megapixel main sensor, a 3.5x telephoto lens, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. The device also packs an 8,800mAh silicon battery and runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip.
A week after Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max launched with new colors like Glacier, Burgundy and Deep Black, a 9to5Mac reviewer tested numerous third-party cases and shared personal favorites. Highlighted picks include Pitaka's ultra-thin Edge case, made of aramid fiber at 20g and 1mm thick with MagSafe magnets, priced at $59, and Nomad's Sport Case, which offers a soft-touch exterior, metal buttons and microfiber lining for everyday protection.
Interface elements spotted by TestingCatalog show OpenAI testing a new ChatGPT Pro Max subscription priced at $500 per month, or $600 with VAT in some regions. The tier is listed alongside existing Plus and Pro plans, promising OpenAI's most capable models, maximum memory, 100GB of storage, early feature access, and 'Fastest Work and Codex' performance, though OpenAI has not officially announced it.
A reviewer compared Apple's revamped Clean Up tool and new Extend feature in iOS 27, running on an iPhone 18 Pro Max, against Adobe Photoshop's Firefly-powered Generative Fill and Expand tools. The test used six travel photos shot on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, split evenly between object removal and image extension tasks, with settings kept as consistent as possible across both platforms.
Astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission used Nikon DSLR and mirrorless cameras, GoPro Hero4s for interior and exterior video, and iPhone 17 Pro Max phones to document the flight around the moon. Nikon senior manager Michael Corrado described the certification process required for equipment to fly in space and explained why much of the gear astronauts use is years old.
Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in Beijing, making it the first manufacturer to ship phones with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chips. Both models retain a secondary rear OLED display next to the camera module, which shows notifications and widgets and lets users take selfies with the higher-quality rear cameras. The phones launch first in China, with a global rollout planned before the end of 2026, though Xiaomi devices continue to bypass the US market.
Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, both featuring two 200MP Leica sensors alongside a 50MP ultrawide camera. The Pro Max runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 with an 8,500mAh battery, while the Pro uses the standard 8 Elite Gen 6 chip with a 7,000mAh battery. Both models add a hardware privacy screen, a functional rear display, UWB support, IP69 water resistance, and a customizable AI button.
Xiaomi launched the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in China, adding a hardware-based privacy display that can be set to trigger by app, location or via selfie-camera detection of onlookers. Both phones keep the rear secondary screen from last year's models, pack two 200-megapixel cameras, and use Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chips, with the Pro Max getting the higher-end Extreme variant and a larger 8,500mAh battery. Xiaomi says a global release will follow later this year.