Welcome back! 🍎
Here’s the latest with Apple.

• Apple’s AI hardware plans

• The $599 MacBook

• Big changes in iOS 26 Betas

• & more!

📊 Poll

Last week, we asked: Do you want a ChatGPT-like chatbot from Apple?

Here were my favorite replies:

This week: Would you buy a battery-powered home camera if Apple made it? Would you ditch your Ring/Nest camera for it? More on this below.

🗞️ The Latest

⚙️ Apple’s AI Hardware Roadmap

Apple is planning its most aggressive move into the smart-home market with some new AI hardware, along with a revamped Siri. Here’s the latest.

• Apple is planning to release a tabletop robot in 2027 that will feature a lifelike Siri with conversational abilities, face tracking for video calls, and a design nicknamed the “Pixar Lamp.”

• Both the robot and smart display will run a new OS called Charismatic, designed for multiuser households with voice-focused controls and facial recognition.

• The iPhone screen might even serve as a joystick for letting users move the robot to show different people in a room during video calls.

• As for the “lifelike Siri” that will be able to engage with users throughout the day and more easily recall information. It’s being designed to engage in back-and-forth discussions for things like planning a trip or getting tasks done. This will be similar to ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode.

• This new Siri will also get a visual overhaul, with the report indicating that it could look like an animated version of the Finder logo.

• Apple is also working on battery-powered cameras with facial recognition and automation features for household functions, aiming to compete with Ring and Nest.

• But before those products come, we’ll get a new smart home speaker with a display in mid-2026, along with the revamped Siri (aka LLM Siri) in the Spring.

My take: With all of the negativity surrounding Apple and AI lately, this is the kind of news that was needed to remind people Apple is still going to be a big player in AI software and hardware.

I think the most interesting thing from this report is the “lifelike Siri” that’ll be added to the tabletop robot. If you’ve used ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode, you can envision how useful this would be to have built-in to a (seemingly) always-on robot on your kitchen counter. This will be especially useful with the built-in HomeKit support and access to all of your other Apple applications like Notes, Reminders, etc.

With that being said, I think it’s best to take these release dates with a grain of salt, as Apple has not officially announced any of this yet. Let’s start with the release of LLM Siri next Spring, then we can start to get more excited for the future hardware.

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😳 The $599 MacBook

Apple is rumored to launch a new low-cost MacBook as early as later this year. Here are the details.

• Apple’s low-cost MacBook could start at just $599 and launch in late 2025 or early 2026, according to a new report from DigiTimes.

• This MacBook is expected to have a 12.9-inch display and the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro. This would be the first Mac ever to be powered by an iPhone processor!

• The A18 Pro chip lacks Thunderbolt support, so it will likely have standard USB-C ports instead.

• Based on prior reports, this laptop will be ultra-thin, lightweight, and come in Silver, Blue, Pink, and Yellow finishes.

• Annual shipments could hit 5-7 million units, boosting MacBook sales by 30-40%!

• The current MacBook Air starts at $999 ($899 for students), so this would be Apple’s cheapest MacBook by a wide margin.

My take: If Apple releases a $600 MacBook, it will sell like hotcakes, and I do not think that anybody buying it will care that it’s being powered by an iPhone chip or care about Thunderbolt support.

I can see this becoming the go-to device for a kid’s first laptop after they graduate from an iPad. Or for someone older who doesn’t do anything but check their email and browse the news.

I do find it funny that we have iPads with Mac chips, and soon a MacBook with an iPhone chip.

🍏 Latest iOS 26 Betas Get Big Improvements

This week, Apple dropped a new round of Betas for iOS 26, and they offer the best experience yet. Here's the latest.

• On Monday, Apple released iOS 26 Beta 6 to developers, and it comes with several new changes, including a dramatic change to app launching speeds!

• Apple has significantly sped up the animation speed when you tap to open an application from your Home Screen. So much so that the comments on my video have people convinced that this makes their phone feel brand new.

• This update also includes multiple new ringtones. One of them is called Dreamer and it’s so good that Mashable called it their song of the summer, and a follower made a 1-hour version of it.

• Also in the update: Apple removed the Camera scrolling toggle, some tweaks were made to Liquid Glass, there’s a new onboarding process, and more.

• Later in the week, on Thursday, Apple released iOS 26 Public Beta 3. And because this update had a new build number, Apple re-released Developer Beta 6 to align the build numbers.

• Also on Thursday, we saw the public release of iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 to bring back the Blood Oxygen monitoring feature! I made a video on this update to show how it works.

My take: For the first time in the iOS 26 Beta cycle, I can say that Beta 6 feels significantly better than prior builds. You can still tell it’s in Beta, but I think most would find it to be quite stable. We should be seeing iOS 26 release to the public in about a month from now!

📰 Quick Bites

• 'A19 Pro' Chip Coming to Studio Display 2

• Report: Apple Testing Revamped Siri With Apps Like Uber & YouTube

• Live Translation Coming to AirPods

• iPhone 17 Pro to Start at $1,049 With Doubled Base Storage

• Elon Musk Threatens to Sue Apple Over App Store Rankings

• Apple Denies Musk's ChatGPT Favoritism Claims, Says App Store Has No Bias

• Netflix Finally Rolls Out Redesigned Interface to Apple TV

• United Airlines Now Lets You Watch Hit Apple TV+ Shows For Free

• MacBook Pro With OLED Might Launch Later Than Expected

• AOL Dial-Up Internet Service to End After 34 Years

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