Author: Ethan Caldwell
Ethan Caldwell is GeekBlog's resident Apple specialist, covering the entire Apple ecosystem - iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and the software that ties them together. A longtime iOS user and gadget collector, Ethan tracks Cupertino's every move, breaking down Apple keynotes, A- and M-series chip benchmarks, iOS feature updates and the rumor mill into clear, practical takes that help readers decide whether the latest Apple hardware is worth the upgrade.
Apple just released iOS 26.4 for iPhones (along with 26.4 versions for iPadOS, macOS Tahoe, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS) with eight new emoji (orca, ballet dancer, distorted face, treasure chest, trombone, Sasquatch, landslide, and fight cloud) and Apple Intelligence features you may never use, such as “Playlist Playground,” which turns any prompt into a generated playlist in Apple Music. But buried at the bottom of the software update’s changelog is the “fix” that we’ve all been waiting for: “Improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly.” That’s right, if you’ve noticed yourself making more typos compared to before iOS 26, you should…
At the same time Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3 last year, the company also introduced a new feature called Live Translation. It makes the idea of the Babel fish, so evocatively described in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a reality: Something sitting in your ear that can instantly translate between languages, on demand.Rather than an exotic fish though, here we have wireless headphones from Apple. This isn’t actually exclusive to the latest earbuds, despite the launch timing—it’ll work with the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation and the AirPods Pro 2, as well as the AirPods Pro 3.…
My favorite modern iPhone was the iPhone 13 Mini. It solved the battery woes of the iPhone 12 Mini while keeping the same one-handed form factor. However, the phone didn’t generate enough sales, and Apple killed and replaced it with a Plus model. Even the Plus model failed to capture the public’s attention, and Apple quietly sunsetted it last year, replacing it with the sleeker, slimmer iPhone Air. Earlier reports suggested that the iPhone Air was not selling well and seemed like another failure. However, new data from Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence suggests that those reports might be exaggerated. The iPhone…
Kerry Wan/ZDNETThe iPhone 17e, Apple’s latest budget iPhone, hit stores and carriers this month. The “entry-level” iPhone 17 boasts some strong features, including the same A19 processor as the regular iPhone 17, a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display, MagSafe charging, and Apple Intelligence. If you’re interested in picking one up, consider this deal from Visible: Right now, new customers can get a new iPhone 17e for free when you sign up for the Visible+ Pro plan.As is the case with most “free” phone deals, there are some caveats here: You’ll have to pay for the phone up front or…
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