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WhenAppleopened its first retail stores in Tysons, Virginia, and Glendale, California, back in 2021, the goal was to let peopletouchthe tech and connect with it in a way that glossy print ads never could.
While your local Apple Store may still be a bustling place on the regular, the retail world has changed a lot over the past twenty-four years.
Online shopping dominates, and most of us have giddily traded the instant gratification of immediately leaving a store with product in hand for the one-click convenience of cashing out your virtual shopping cart in your PJs, only for your shiny newiPhoneor AirPods to show up on your doorstep a few days later.
But what if there was a third option? One with the benefits of both?
What if you could buy an iPhone, AirPods, or a new set of Apple AirTags in your PJs, step outside, and have them rain down from the sky into your eager arms within the hour?
You could call itthe most literal version of AirDrop to date.
And, in parts of the U.S., you can now call it a reality — thanks to Amazon.
If you’ve ever ordered an Apple product online, you’re probably well aware of the usual routine: confirmation email, obsessive tracking, and the anxiety loop of peering out of the window every five minutes while your parcel is “out for delivery” — lest you be plundered by porch pirates.
However, in a handful of U.S. cities, some Apple products are skipping the store, skipping the delivery truck, and skipping the porch entirely.
Instead, they’re arriving by air.
Skipping the Apple Store for Amazon is already something of a surreal experience. It’s a bit like finding your new-age vegan nutritionist slipping Big Macs into bags behind the counter at McDonald’s.
To protect your purchases from their 13-foot free-fall on delivery, Amazon has developed a new “Trampoline” box for drone deliveries. The packaging offers extra cushioning to prevent any damage from the fall.
The news in pictures: Cleared for landing, and rolling out nationwide
Right now, those in College Station, Texas, and the West Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona, can opt for drone delivery on their purchases through the Amazon Shopping app. However, the company is looking to expand its drone delivery program over the coming months and years.
However, that experience is set to get all the more unique following theFAA’s approval for Amazon to deliver several new categories of productsby drone, including iPhones, AirPods, and AirTags — joining more than 60,000 other eligible products ready to arrive by air.
According to Amazon, the entire delivery process takes just 60 minutes or less, with customers able to select the drone delivery option through the Amazon Shopping app.
At which point, one of Amazon’s MK30 drones will secure your package, take flight, and head towards your preferred delivery spot, which could be your driveway or yard. Once at the location, Amazon’s drone drops to a height of 13 feet, scanning for any obstacles (including cars or pets), before safely dropping your (cushioned) parcel for collection.
At present, Amazon’s drone delivery service is only available for a select catalog of items and in the following areas:
College Station, Texas
West Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona
However, Amazon is testing the program in other areas and looks to scale its drone delivery service to more states and cities across the U.S. over the coming months and years.
Given the MK30 drone’s 5 lbs weight limit, we may not be too far off from a day when your nextMacBook Airdoesn’t only earn its moniker from its lightweight build, but also its method of delivery.
Apple has marked the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 as ‘vintage’
This means there are fewer repair options should you need them
The next step is to declare them ‘obsolete,’ but that’s not happened yet
If you’re still rocking aniPhone 7 Plusor aniPhone 8, we’ve got some bad news:Applehas just added them to itslist of “vintage” products, meaning your repair options have just become a little more limited.
Apple declares a product to be vintage when the company stopped selling it more than five but less than seven years ago. Apple does this from time to time with older devices – after all, it can’t offer ongoing support for every device it’s ever produced on an indefinite basis. But the news will still come as a disappointment to anyone still using one of these phones.
iPhone products vintage worldwide
iPhone 4 (8GB)
iPhone 5
iPhone 6s (16GB, 64GB, 128GB)
iPhone 6s Plus
iPhone SE
iPhone 7 Plus
iPhone 8 (64GB, 256GB)
iPhone 8 (PRODUCT)RED™
iPhone 8 Plus (PRODUCT)RED™
iPhone X
iPhone XS Max
apple
What does this mean in practice? Well, when Apple classifies a product as ‘vintage’, it cuts back on the support it will offer to owners. In theory, you’ll still be able to get one of these productsrepaired by Appleor an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), but it depends on whether the parts are still available. If they aren’t, you won’t be able to get genuine components when it’s time to repair your phone.
After a product has been classed as vintage, the next step is for Apple to label it ‘obsolete’, and this usually occurs when more than seven years have passed since Apple last offered the device for sale. The iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 8 were discontinued in 2019 and 2020, respectively, which means you’ve still got another year or two until they’re classed as obsolete.
Launched in 2016, the iPhone 7 Plus was the larger version of theiPhone 7, and it came with water and dust resistance, a solid-state Home button, new color options, and revised antenna bands. It also controversially marked the removal of the3.5mm headphone jackonce and for all.
The iPhone 8, meanwhile, was released in 2017 and came withwireless charging,True Tone technology, a better chip, and improved cameras. It launched alongside theiPhone X, which was the first all-screen iPhone and consigned the Home button to history.
This is the second time in recent months that Apple has added devices to its vintage products list. In mid-April,the iPhone 6S was marked as vintage, alongside the 2018Mac mini. Don’t be surprised to see further products added to Apple’s list over the next year.
You may not be stuck using Apple Pay for much longer
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Can you imagine being able to tap your iPhone and pay for something without having to use Apple Pay? That situation is very real for German iPhone users, with reports that PayPal’s tap-to-pay feature is now available to use in the country (viaiPhone Ticker).
Actually, this isn’t a huge surprise. The EU’sDigital Markets Act(DMA) already forced Apple to open iPhone NFC chips to third-party payment providers. PayPal also announced that it would introduce this feature in Germany in apress releaseat the start of the month.
The feature is for iPhone only for now. Sorry, Android users, but it should work with payment terminals that support Mastercard. Based on my limited experience of travelling in Germany, that isn’t likely to be difficult.
The Vergenotes that this isn’t the first third-party tap-to-pay system to come to iPhones. While Norway isn’t actually a member of the EU, local payment app Vipps was the first company to take advantage of the newly opened NFC system back in December.
Obviously, PayPal is a much bigger deal, and it’s unlikely that it will limit tap-to-pay to the German market for long — assuming everything goes well.
While most of the DMA-imposed changes to iOS are limited to the EU,Apple has confirmed that it would be opening tap-to-pay in other regions as well— including the U.S. That process all kicked off withiOS 18.1, which arrived in October.
According to Apple, developers will be able to offer “in-app contactless transactions” for various things, including payments, car keys, transit passes, IDs, hotel room keys and even reward cards. Government ID support is also expected to arrive at some point in the future.
The changes also allow iPhone users to accept contactless payments via NFC. That means you can send money to your friends by tapping your phones together, rather than going through the motions of finding their account on Venmo or some other payment provider.
The appropriate APIs were made available to developers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Brazil. It’s up to PayPal (or whoever else might be interested) to make it happen.
There’s no denying that AirPods are the best wireless earbuds for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. With Apple-exclusive features like location finding, control customization, and automatic in-ear detection, they make the experience a lot smoother for Apple users.
But while AirPods are indeed most compatible with Apple devices, at the end of the day, they’re still just Bluetooth earbuds. This means you can readily connect them to any other Bluetooth-enabled source out there. AirPods can work with Android phones, non-macOS computers, and even smart TVs.
The question now, though, is: can you connect your AirPods to two different devices at the same time? Maybe you have an iPhone and an iPad and want to use the earbuds with both. Or perhaps you prefer to borrow your significant other’s AirPods instead of buying your own.
The short answer to that is yes: AirPods can be paired with two or more devices at once. They’ll still only work for one device at a time, but you won’t have to repeat the pairing process after each use. But how exactly would this look if you were using two Apple devices versus two random ones with different operating systems?
AirPods will work flawlessly with two other Apple products, especially if they are signed into the same Apple ID. All you need to do is pair them to each of your devices — hold the open charging case next to your iPhone or iPad and follow the prompt that appears. If you have a Mac and paired the AirPods to your iPhone first, they should automatically connect without any extra steps.
Once paired, your devices will remember the AirPods and connect to them right away the next time you use them. If they don’t, you can go to your Bluetooth settings, where you should find the AirPods as an available option. Besides quick connection, using the AirPods with two Apple devices you own also means you get to enjoy one of the best hidden AirPods features – automatic device switching. All models, except for the AirPods 1, can transfer audio to any other Apple device with the same Apple ID.
Here’s how it works: Say you’re watching YouTube on your iPhone, then decide you’re more in the mood to listen to an audiobook on your Apple Watch. As soon as you play the audiobook, your AirPods will disconnect from the phone and switch to your watch. You won’t need to connect it manually. If you change your mind, you can easily move back to your iPhone by hitting the back arrow that appears on your handset.
If you’re not a fan of automatic device switching (it can be annoying and disruptive at times), you can turn it off. Launch Settings, open Bluetooth, and press the info icon to the right of your AirPods. Then, go to “Connect to this [device]” and choose “When last connected” instead of Automatically.
So you want to pair the same AirPods to two Apple devices, but they use different Apple IDs — maybe your other device is a work phone, or you’re just borrowing your sister’s AirPods. In this case, the process is a bit different. You’ll still need to pair the two devices to your AirPods as you normally would, but unlike devices with the same Apple ID, the AirPods won’t automatically switch to the other device. This means you’ll have to do so manually.
On iPhone or iPad, long-press on “Bluetooth” from the Control Center and choose “AirPods.” If you have an Apple Watch, start playing the audio you want to listen to, then select your AirPods from the list. For Mac computers, press the Bluetooth icon at the top and click on AirPods. Finally, on Apple TV, wait for the AirPods to pop up, then hit the TV button on the remote.
Depending on what devices you’re using, automatic connection (where the AirPods automatically connect to the mobile device, computer, or TV they were last used with) may or may not work. We’ve personally tested this on an iPhone 15 Pro, an iPhone 7, and AirPods 2. The AirPods automatically connected to the iPhone 15 Pro but wouldn’t do so on the iPhone 7. We had to tap on it from the Bluetooth menu.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the original owner of the AirPods (the first Apple ID it was linked to) would always get access to the earbuds’ location. Having said that, if you ever move away from the owner’s device, you’ll get notified about it, and the owner can track the AirPods’ location on the Find My app.
AirPods two devices from different ecosystems
The beauty of AirPods is that they aren’t completely exclusive to Apple devices. You can use your AirPods with PCs, Linux computers, Android, and any other non-Apple operating system. For instance, you can pair them to an iPhone and a Windows PC simultaneously or have your AirPods connect to two Android phones.
As usual, you’ll need to pair the AirPods to every device before use. The process is the same for Apple devices if you’ll be using one. For other devices, though, follow these steps to get your AirPods paired:
Turn on Bluetooth on your Android, Windows, or Linux system. Go to your device’s Bluetooth pairing screen. Activate the AirPods’ pairing mode:
For AirPods 1 to 2 and both AirPods Pro models: Open the charging case and long-press on the back button.
For AirPods 4 models: Open the lid and double-tap the invisible button on the front.
For AirPods Max: Hold down on the noise control button.
Back on your device, tap “AirPods” when it appears on your available Bluetooth list.
The AirPods should then connect to your non-Apple device, and you can now use them to listen to music and watch movies. When you want to transfer to a different device, you’ll have to select the AirPods from the Bluetooth settings manually (applicable for both Apple and non-Apple products). Auto device switching, unfortunately, doesn’t work. You also won’t get other Apple-exclusive AirPods features.
What works in this case, though, is the auto-connection feature. Whenever you use your AirPods, they will automatically connect to the last device used, regardless of whether it was your iPhone, Windows PC, or Android phone. The AirPods will connect right out of the case, so you won’t have to bother doing so manually.
A few weeks ago, Google announced a bunch of new features targeted at digital travel planning, such as hotel price tracking and deploying AI as a personal guide. Among them was also aneat trick that could extract address details from screenshotsand save them to Google Maps.
That feature has now started to roll out slowly. Users started receiving it this week, it seems, and earlier today, Google also released a blogupdateinstructing users on how to enable it. For now, it is focused on iOS, but the facility will soon land on Android, as well.
I often save Google Search listings, social media ads, and blog posts about a certain place, restaurant, monument, or stuff related to my travel plans as screenshots. It’s the quickest way to save such information, especially for scenarios where you don’t have the time to type it all as a note.
Woah this new Google map feature where it can scan screenshot and save the place. Genius! Something I’ve needed for a long time bc I have so many random screenshots— coleen 🌴🐺 (@fluffybbom)May 4, 2025
When I eventually return to them, I mostly use Google Lens to extract the text details from those screenshots, and accordingly save them either in my planner notes, or custom lists in Google Maps’ “You” section.
Now, thanks to Gemini, the AI assistant will automatically look for such information in screenshots saved on your phone, and add them to a dedicated list in the Google Maps app. “Places you save will show up on the map, and you can easily share the list with your travel buddies,” Google said back in March.
The new feature is somewhat similar toGemini’s file analysis capabilities. When you open a document, let’s say a PDF, in the Files app, you will see a Gemini chip at the top that lets you ask Gemini questions about the contents of the file. It works quite well, actually.
In order to let Gemini scan your screenshots and automatically add them to a dedicated list in Google Maps, follow these steps:
1. Make sure that you are running the latest version of the Google Maps app on your iPhone.
2. Open the Google Maps app and tap on the “You” option in the bottom row. Google
3. On the next page, you will see a new list named Screenshots, with a “Try it out!” badge attached to it.
4. When you tap on it, the app will show a brief tutorial video on how it works. At this point, you will need to grant the app permission to access the media files stored locally on your iPhone.
5. The next time you take a screenshot with address-related information mentioned in it, it will be scanned in the background. When you open the Google Maps app afterward, it will inform you that there are new location details ready for review.
6. Approve the addresses that you want to save, and they will automatically be added to the list. Users will also be able to do a manual screenshot scan from within the “You” tab in the app.
7. The saved addresses will appear in the “Screenshots” list and the map view.
Apple’s HDR usually does a good job in extreme lighting, but sometimes the results can just look a little flat
(Image credit: Rod Lawton)
You used to be able to switch the iPhone’s HDR mode off, right? I remember when you had the option to use HDR or not, or even save a non-HDR version of the photo as well. So I went looking for that option on my iPhone and it’s gone. It’s not just moved to a different place, it’s gone altogether.
It turns out it was removed some time ago and you no longer have this option even in thebest iPhones.Apple’s support page says:
“By default, iPhone automatically uses HDR when it’s most effective. On some iPhone models, you can manually control HDR instead. On iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 models, iPhone SE (2nd generation), and iPhone 12 models:
“Go to Settings > Camera, then turn off Smart HDR. Then from the camera screen, tap HDR to turn it off or on. On iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X: Go to Settings > Camera, then turn off Auto HDR.”
So that’s it. Now we’ve got HDR photos whether we want them or not. To be fair, the iPhone does usually do a good job – but not always. It’s ‘proper’ HDR, where the camera is merging separate exposures and not just doing a bit of shadow adjustment.
However, sometimes it can look a little unnatural – and sometimes the iPhone compresses the tonal range so much to capture it all that the photo just looks a bit flat.
The lighting in this scene was pretty spectacular and it needed the iPhone’s HDR capabilities – but the result just looks a bit gray and flat and there’s no way to switch off the HDR mode on the iPhone(Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The problem is not necessarily the HDR process itself, though, but the way the iPhone processes the HDR image, and that’s something youcanchange.
This is something that only more serious photographers would want to undertake, since you need to swap to a desktop photo editing app, but it does make it possible to exploit the iPhone’s terrific HDR capabilities in a much more controlled and creative way.
1. Shoot RAW
With the RAW option enabled, the iPhone will capture a raw DNG file. The picture will still look exactly the same on the iPhone and in Apple Photos, because Apple is applying its default HDR tone curve to the RAW file just as it would if you had set the camera to shoot JPEG or HEIF images.
The difference is that the RAW data is still there, and it contains a lot of extended dynamic range data.
2. Export the RAW file from Apple Photos (desktop)
Back in Apple Photos on your Mac, you can Export RAW iPhone photos in their original format. They will be saved as DNG files that you can open in other software.
If you did a whole set of shots on your iPhone, you can export them all at once and import them intoLightroomorCapture One. Or you can launchPhotoshopand open these DNG files individually.
If you open an iPhone’s DNG raw file in Adobe Camera Raw, you can swap to a more interesting profile, like Adobe Landscape, and use AI masking tools to add much more dramatic tones and colors, making full use of the extended dynamic range captured by the iPhone(Image credit: Rod Lawton)
If you use Photoshop, these DNG files will open inAdobeCamera Raw initially, where they will look pretty much as they did on your iPhone. But if you check over in the edit tools in the right sidebar, you’ll see that Adobe has automatically applied its AppleRaw Profile – and you can swap to one of the others to get a completely different look.
For example, if you choose the Adobe Color Profile, it might look like all your extended shadow and highlight detail is gone. In fact, it’s still there and you can use Adobe Camera Raw’s tonal adjustments – or, even more interesting, its masking tools – to bring it all back.
But now you’ve got much more control over the tones and contrast and you’re not stuck with Apple’s own HDR rendering.
So this is not a simple On/Off switch on your iPhone any more, but it is a way to get much better photographic results from the iPhone’s automatic HDR merging and Apple ProRaw files.
It makes the iPhone an even more serious photographic tool than it was before.
Here’s my finished photo. It shows the huge tonal range the iPhone HDR can capture, and just what you can do with its RAW DNG files in a photo editor(Image credit: Rod Lawton)
I carry the best camera phones with me every day, but sometimes, a special event provides an opportunity to compare. The New York Botanical Garden in New York City is hosting its annual orchid show, so I brought my favorite camera phones and my own dedicated camera to see how these phones perform.
I used theApple iPhone 16 Pro,Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, andOnePlus 13to take hundreds of photos – more than 300 samples each – of the thousands of blooms to see how they managed to capture these perfect spring memories, and the results shocked me!
Why? Because the OnePlus 13 held its own against both of the top contenders and my Fujifilm X-T5. I was surprised by how buggy the Apple iPhone 16 Pro camera has become and how inconsistent the color accuracy on the Galaxy S25 Ultra can be. While I wouldn’t call the OnePlus 13 my clear winner, you can see the results below, and the competition is tight.
This photo was taken with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
This photo was taken with the Fujifilm X-T5
To judge these images, I look for color accuracy and lighting foremost. I want to see the natural colors of the flowers. Then I want fine details. Finally, I expect a dreamy, blurred bokeh background that looks natural and isolates my subject without distraction.
What surprised me most on this trip was how much the camera software matters. As expected,Samsungoffers the most camera options, though some features require additional software and downloads. I was disappointed that the OnePlus 13 offered very little control – I couldn’t force the camera to shoot at its highest 50MP resolution using the native app.
The Apple iPhone 16 Pro, however, was the worst of all. Its Camera app crashed often, especially if I used the new Camera Control button to open it. It also had trouble focusing on the proper subject.
I also brought along my dedicated camera, aFujifilm X-T5, with a 23mm f/2 lens. That’s the exact same specs you’ll find on Fujifilm’s incredibly popularFujifilm X100VI, and I wanted to see how today’s best camera phones compared to today’s hottest point-and-shoot camera performance.
The Fujifilm has impeccable color accuracy and soft bokeh, so it offers a great comparison to see which smartphones produce images that look like a real camera.
A focus on focus with phalaenopsis and dancing lady orchids
This is my ideal shot, with the moth orchid in focus and the dancing lady orchids floating in and out of the focal plane
Taken with Fujifilm X-T5 w/ 23mm f/2 lens
The iPhone 16 Pro could only focus using its macro camera, which produced terrible color results
The Galaxy S25 Ultra produced nice results with dreamy looking dancing lady orchids, but the image is underexposed
The OnePlus 13 crafted the superior photo, with more of the moth orchid and dancing lady orchids in focus
The first photo is my reference shot, taken with my Fujifilm X-T5. The colors are perfect, with bright white on the moth orchid, crisp yellow on the dancing lady orchids, and a pleasant royal blue on the background wall.
The iPhone 16 Pro had immediate problems with this shot. When I used the main photo mode, the camera app was unable to focus on the moth orchid alone. I allowed the iPhone to turn on macro, which reduced the resolution, and I got this terrible shot with too-warm colors and a seemingly narrow aperture that brought most of the flowers into focus instead of just a few.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra was more accurate with its color, though the image looks underexposed, considering the wealth of natural light in the Botanical Garden. The focal plane is also a bit narrow for my taste, and it was hard to bring all of the moth orchids into focus.
The OnePlus 13 created the best photo among all the camera phones, with excellent color, bright details and lighting, and the right focus on the flowers I want. It’s the lowest resolution of the bunch, though, so printing later may be problematic.
The iPhone photo lacks some detail, but produces the most pleasant bokeh results and accurate colors
The Galaxy S25 Ultra captured plenty of detail, but the image is underexposed and looks a bit warm compared to the real thing
The OnePlus 13 forced this capture as a Macro image, which means the background blur is mostly absent
While the iPhone 16 Pro doesn’t capture the most detail in this shot, sometimes detail isn’t exactly the point. I wanted accurate colors, enough detail to see the fine strands in the filaments, and a little bit of blur on the background buds to make the clockvine stand out.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13 had trouble focusing on just the clockvine, so I let those phones default to macro mode. This was a big mistake, as you can see. The colors and details may be there, but there is no blur to the background, and everything seems flat.
The iPhone 16 Pro did the best job capturing the real color of this jade vine
The Galaxy S25 Ultra rendered this jade vine a bit flat, though it was easier to see the details in the petals.
This OnePlus 13 image has bad color reproduction, rendering the flowers more green than they were in reality
Taken with the OnePlus 13
This was purely a test of color to see which camera phone could properly render the remarkable hue of this jade vine in bloom. The flowers are shimmering and almost metallic in color, a blue-green that will test the limits of what you consider blue or green (and you canIs My Blue Your Blueif you want to see your blue-green boundary).
The iPhone 16 Pro may lack the detail of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the iPhone produced colors that were true to life, while the Galaxy phone struggled to recreate the real thing. Usually, Galaxy phones oversaturate colors, but here, the jade vine looks a bit duller.
The OnePlus 13 simply flubbed this shot. It got the colors wrong. This is a problem with the OnePlus 13. When it works, it produces photos that look spectacular. When it goes wrong, it goes very wrong, and it makes you wonder if you accidentally switched to a different phone.
Best Photo:Apple iPhone 16 Pro
The big problem with macro on smartphones
This is a 50MP image from the Galaxy S25 Ultra main camera. The colors are inaccurate and too warm, though the background has a pleasant blur
This is a ‘macro’ image from the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The color is good, but the image is mostly in focus, with little pleasant background blur.
Taken with Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Macro photography is when you get very close to a subject, and smartphones today will all try to switch to a macro mode when you are trying to shoot close up. Whenever possible, you should turn off this macro mode because it will ruin your photo.
First of all, macro is usually handled by the ultra-wide camera, not the main camera. That means it uses a much smaller sensor, which ironically means it cannot capture the same high level of detail. On the iPhone and Galaxy phones, your macro photos will be around 12MP even if your camera is set to shoot at 48MP or 50MP, respectively.
Worst of all, it’s clear that these phone makers don’t take macro photos very seriously. When the camera shoots in macro mode, you can see an obvious shift in quality, both in terms of resolution and color accuracy. Here are some examples below.
This is from the main camera on the iPhone 16 Pro. The color is slightly warmer, but the background is nicely blurred to isolate the orchids in front.
This is a ‘macro’ image from the iPhone 16 Pro. The color is fine but the background is so jumbled and distracting that it’s impossible to appreciate my subject.
Taken with Apple iPhone 16 Pro
The OnePlus 13 does a better job with its macro mode. You can see here that the color remains consistent, and the only thing that shifts is the focal plane and the details in the image. Still, the photo from Macro mode is unpleasant, with a noisy and distracting background, while the main camera image is much nicer, with a pleasant background bokeh blur.
This is an image from the OnePlus 13 main camera in Photo mode. The background is pleasantly blurred, and the colors are consistent.
This is an image from the OnePlus 13 in ‘macro’ mode. The color is good, but the background is noisy and distracting.
Taken with OnePlus 13
Best Macro Photo:OnePlus 13
Which phone is the best? All of them (but they all have issues)
Which of these camera phones is the best? The Apple iPhone 16 Pro produced images that looked closes to my Fujifilm X-T5 camera, with color that was true to life and a depth of field that made photos look like they were taken by a real camera.
However, the iPhone 16 Pro was buggy. The Camera app crashed often, especially when I tried opening the camera through the newCamera Controlbutton. Also, Apple offers far fewer camera control options and shooting modes than the other phone makers. It also had trouble focusing on a subject as close to the lens as the other camera phones without switching to the dreaded Macro mode.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra produced results that looked fantastic, most of the time. It did a much better job focusing and capturing details than the other two cameras, but it had a very hard time producing accurate colors. Shooting thousands of orchids, the Galaxy S25 Ultra often blew out the red portions of flowers so that all detail was lost. It tended to render images warmer than reality, and the difference between image quality when you switch modes can be vast.
The OnePlus 13 was pleasantly surprising. It shot images that had plenty of colorful pop, and photos were mostly accurate – until things went wrong. That’s the big problem with the OnePlus 13. I’d call it the best camera phone, but things go wrong too often and the results can be terrible, with colors that are simply inaccurate. I also wish there was a way to force the camera to produce high-resolution images, instead of only 12MP shots.
In the end, I’d have to recommend the iPhone for its more consistent photos and better color accuracy, even if the app has problems. If I could trust the OnePlus 13 with more consistent results or take advantage of the full resolution of the camera, it would be my favorite, but for now, the iPhone remains the camera phone to beat.
Apple Home now supports select Matter-enabled robot vacuums
Assuming your vacuum is supported, you could soon be saying, ‘Siri, vacuum the kitchen’
It’s been a long time coming, as support was originally promised by the end of 2024
If you’ve been dreaming about one day saying, ‘Hey Siri, have the vacuum clean the living room and the kitchen,’Apple’s answering your prayers. Well, at least if you have one of the eligiblerobot vacuum cleaners.
WithiOS 18.4– Apple’s latest software, which is rolling out right now alongside iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4, tvOS 18.4, and HomePods software – Apple Home can now play nice and control eligible Matter-compatible robot vacuums fromRoborock, iRobot, andEcovacs.
It’s been a long time coming, to say the least.
Apple first promised that support for these smart home cleaners would arrive by the end of 2024, but it took a little bit longer – four months exactly. Still, the support is here with the latest release.
So what does this mean? Well, if you have a supported model from those three brands, you can add your robot vacuum to your Apple Home and control it right from there or even integrate it into an existing automation.
That latter means you could set up a routine to have your vacuum cleaner start up a session when you leave the house on Wednesdays to ensure that when you return, the floor is clean.
Additionally, withinApple Homeor via Siri from really any Apple device, you’ll be able to ask the robot vacuum to clean a specific room or ask for it’s status. Now, you may need to update your robot vacuum cleaner. Roborock announced many firmware updates today that will enable the models to work with Apple Home when they roll out in early April 2025. Those include the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Saros Z70, Saros 10, Saros 10R, Qrevo Curv, Qrevo Edge, and Qrevo Master.
Models from Ecovacs andiRobotwill likely require software updates as well, and we’ll update you when we hear more about those. Regardless of whether an update is required, it’s excellent to see Apple make good on its promise of rolling out robot vacuum support to Apple Home, and it really will bolster the smart home offering.
Of course, we’re all stillwaiting on the AI-infused Siri as part of Apple Intelligence, which could make smart home control even better, but that’s set to arrive ‘in the coming year.’ That’ll likely need to arrive before thesmart home display– aka a HomePod with a screen – that I and many others dream of, if it ever arrives.
The most recent pair of AirPods Max with USB-C lacked something important for audio fans — a wired listening mode. The cable in the box was only there to charge the cans rather than listen to music.
Now, thanks to anupcoming update from Apple, the USB-C equipped AirPods Max aren’t just getting cabled listening, but you’ll also find a couple of different modes out of the box. Lossless audio (up to 24bit, 48Khz) and low latency mode could make them a much tougher contender for thebest wireless headphones.
You’ll be able to use the cable that comes in the box with your AirPods Max to listen to music, and there’s a new cable you can buy that will let you plug your headphones into a 3.5mm headphone jack — a big bonus for music producers.
Once plugged in, you can listen to music at a much higher, lossless bitrate — 24-bit 48Khz. That’s not quite as high as some of thebest music streaming servicesgo, likeQobuz, but it’s a big step up from the wireless limitations that the Max has been subjected to before.
That means you’ll be able to get more detail out of yourApple Musiclistening. It’s also going to apply to much higher-quality Spatial Audio mixes. Apple also thinks it will be a big bonus to music producers, who can now get much better sound out of their AirPods Max and connect to their mixing hardware physically.
Apple says, “Using the USB-C cable, AirPods Max will become the only headphones that enable musicians to both create and mix in Personalised Spatial Audio with head tracking.”
Also coming to the AirPods Max and their new wired listening is a low latency mode. That will reduce the time it takes for audio to reach the headphones, perfect for gaming and live-streaming applications.
AppleCEOTim Cookchanneled his inner Phil Collins this week by posting “There’s something in the Air” as a teaser; and now we know which Air he meant – Apple has justannounced a new iPad Air M3 tablet with a refreshed Magic Keyboard.
Will that be the only Air update from Apple this week? We’re staying tuned and keeping this Live Blog fresh with Apple news.
The new iPad Air comes in 11-inch or 13-inch sizes, both of which cost the same as before. You can pre-order the 11-inch model for $599 / £599 or the 13-inch version for $799 / £799 ahead of a March 12 delivery, in your choice of Blue, Purple, Starlight, or Space Gray color options.
Apple also quietly updated the base iPad today, doubling the base storage but keeping the A16 chip. This means it won’t get Apple Intelligence – an odd decision, considering how much Apple has been promoting its AI features.
So where does this leave the much-rumored MacBook Air M4? Speculation from the likes of Bloomberg reporter and accurate Apple tipster Mark Gurman suggested thatApple was set to announce the MacBook Air M4 any day now. This iPad Air M3 announcement likely doesn’t change that, it just means waiting a little longer.
Of course, Apple remains as tight-lipped as ever, so this page will act as a one-stop-shop for the latest rumors, opinion and speculation so far building into what could be a larger Apple announcement on the horizon.
Of course, Tim Apple didn’t say “iPad Air” in his hint on X, he just said “Air,” which is why we’ve been anticipating a MacBook Air refresh, but is it possible there is another Air on the way? Maybe I just have smartphones on the brain after an exciting start to 2025, with some of the best phones we’ve seen already making an early appearance, but I think it’s possible, if remotely so, that Apple could talk about a new iPhone.
I don’t mean the iPhone 16e, of course, I mean the hotly-anticipatediPhone Air. Samsung showed off aGalaxy S25 Edge, a super-thin version of its latest flagship smartphone, and that seemed to make sense considering all the rumors we’ve heard about a slim new iPhone.
Apple usually launches new iPhone models in September, but the iPhone 16e just launched, and it wouldn’t hurt sales too much to announce an upcoming member of the family, just to get people excited (and maybe help buyers forget about Samsung).
If Apple announces the iPhone Air this week, I’ll take a bow, but don’t hold me responsible if it never comes up.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has taken to X to shed a bit more light on what we could see tomorrow. As he previously reported, the MacBook Air with the upgraded M4 processor is still expected to arrive this week, but we also might be getting some other devices.
It would make sense that Apple wants to finish updating its entire Mac lineup to its latest and greatest chipsets. The MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac were all upgraded to the M4 chip series in October of 2024, leaving the MacBook Air, Mac Sutido, and Mac Pro needing an update at some point.
While it’s fully expected that if the MacBook Air’ does get an upgrade, they’ll replace the M3 chip with the base M4, Gurman predicts that the new Mac Studio will get an M4 Max chip, but instead of an M4 Ultra it’ll be the M3 Ultra. Still likely plenty powerful, though.
It initially looked odds-on that Apple would announce the MacBook Air M4 today, rather than a new iPad Air – but the rumor mill isn’t always correct, and it was new iPad day instead.
Does this mean the new MacBook Air is on the back burner? Not at all – in fact, I’d imagine we’ll see that laptop refresh sooner rather than later. Maybe even tomorrow, if we’re lucky.
While Apple isn’t quite adopting the12 days of OpenAIapproach we saw last year, when the ChatGPT maker made a new announcement every day for almost a fortnight, it is definitely moving away from big events towards smaller announcements.
With that in mind, keep your eyes peeled this week for a MacBook Air M4 refresh – we’ll be here to update you the second it’s announced.
5 March 2025 at 00:30
When can you buy the new iPad Air M3?
(Image credit: Apple)
You can pre-order the new iPad Air M3 right now, with availability starting from March 12. So that’s just over a week to wait, but which version should you get? I’ve broken down the pricing below.
With the maxed out version iPad Air M3 costing $1,449 / £1,449 / AU$2,499 (that’s with 1TB storage and both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity), it might not sound so mid-range.
But that’s unlikely to be necessary for most people – I’d personally be tempted by the 11-inch (512GB) Wi-Fi version, which looks ideal for travel, streaming and photo editing. Your needs may vary though, so here’s a price breakdown for every model…
Model
$US
£UK
AU$
iPad Air M3 11-inch (128GB), Wi-Fi
$599
£599
AU$999
iPad Air M3 11-inch (256GB), Wi-Fi
$699
£699
AU$1,199
iPad Air M3 11-inch (512GB), Wi-Fi
$899
£899
AU$1,549
iPad Air M3 11-inch (1TB), Wi-Fi
$1,099
£1,099
AU$1,899
iPad Air M3 11-inch (128GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$749
£749
AU$1,249
iPad Air M3 11-inch (256GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$849
£849
AU$1,449
iPad Air M3 11-inch (512GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$1,049
£1,049
AU$1,799
iPad Air M3 11-inch (1TB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$1,249
£1,249
AU$2,149
iPad Air M3 13-inch (128GB), Wi-Fi
$799
£799
AU$1,349
iPad Air M3 13-inch (256GB), Wi-Fi
$899
£899
AU$1,549
iPad Air M3 13-inch (512GB), Wi-Fi
$1,099
£1,099
AU$1,899
iPad Air M3 13-inch (1TB), Wi-Fi
$1,299
£1,299
AU$2,249
iPad Air M3 13-inch (128GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$949
£949
AU$1,599
iPad Air M3 13-inch (256GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$1,049
£1,049
AU$1,799
iPad Air M3 13-inch (512GB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$1,249
£,1249
AU$2,149
iPad Air M3 13-inch (1TB), Wi-Fi + Cellular
$1,449
£1,449
AU$2,499
4 March 2025 at 23:26
What’s new with the Magic Keyboard?
(Image credit: Apple)
Arriving in the slipstream of the new iPad Air M3 is a refreshed Magic Keyboard for the Air series – so what’s new?
The new keyboard attachment – which costs $269 / £269 for the 11-inch model, and $319 / £319 for the 13-inch one – gives you a larger trackpad than before, and also a row of function keys that you could previously only get on the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.
That means you can quickly tweak things like screen brightness or music volume, and generally get a more laptop-like experience. That’s important because, with its new M3 chip, the latest iPad Air could tempt those who think (with some justification) that theiPad Pro 13-inchis overkill for their needs…
4 March 2025 at 23:00
New base iPad misses out on Apple Intelligence
(Image credit: Apple)
We’ve previously said thatthe Apple Intelligence launch is a mess– and Apple’squiet refresh of the entry-level iPadisn’t going to help change people’s minds about that.
Apple base iPad – now called the iPad (A16) – comes with a new chip, double the starting storage (128GB, up from 64GB), and the same price tag as before (starting at $349 / £329). But bizarrely, that A16 chip means it can’t support Apple Intelligence.
Granted, Apple Intelligence features still aren’t exactly living up to their potential, but it’s strange for Apple to add a new product to its iPad lineup that doesn’t support the features it’s been crowing about for the last six months.
It might also make it difficult to recommend the new cheaper iPad, but we’ll see when we get it in for testing…
4 March 2025 at 22:15
Apple announces… a new iPad Air M3
(Image credit: Apple)
Well, that wasn’t quite the MacBook-flavored news we were expecting, but we’ll take it for now – Apple has just announced a new iPad Air with an M3 chip plus a new Magic Keyboard.
The new Air comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes – and the chip upgrade hasn’t affected its price tag either, with the prices starting at the usual $599 (11-inch) and $799 (13-inch). The new Magic Keyboard, meanwhile, has a bigger built-in trackpad and a new 14-key function row.
Will the new iPad Air be an option for those waiting for the new MacBook Air M4? Probably not, judging by our Managing editor Matt Hansen’s experiences whenswapping his laptop for an iPad. But Apple’s new Air certainly looks like a compelling mid-range tablet option.
The only question now is when we’ll see that MacBook Air M4…
4 March 2025 at 21:37
The page for the MacBook Air M3 is still up and running. Usually if there’s a product drop that’s imminently imminent, then Apple tends to have a message saying its updating the store.
Equally, pre-orders for a new MacBook Air might not go live on the same day as the announcement. Watch this space.
4 March 2025 at 21:32
As an FYI, I’m keeping an eye on theApple Newsroom webpage, just in case Apple suddenly drops its announcement today.
4 March 2025 at 21:00
I reckon Apple’s announcement will come on Wednesday
(Image credit: Getty Images)
So when do I think Apple will make an announcement? I’m predicting Wednesday.
Historically, Apple has favored Tuesdays for its product launches, but the iPhone 16e was launched on Wednesday, February 20. And my gut instinct tells me Apple could drop its announcement tomorrow, which would be two weeks on from the last announcement.
I feel that makes sense as it give some room for the nws to breathe before we get into the weekend. Of course, I could be totally wrong.
4 March 2025 at 20:20
Don’t expect a new iPad Air this week
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
But then maybe Apple could go a bit rogue and reveal a new iPad Air.
However, putting aside Gurman’s speculation that new iPads won’t get revealed this week, I’m not convinced we’ll see a new iPad Air this week.
That iPad uses the M2 chip, so is arguably due a specs boost. But I’m not sure the iPad Air necessarily need a lot more power. For power-users the M4-equipped iPad Pros exist, albeit at pretty high prices.
Then again, giving a refreshed iPad Air an M3 chip would be one way for Apple to use up any M3 chips it had lying around and give it something else to announce. If that’s the case, then I tend to agree with Gruman and don’t expect to see a new iPad Air get revealed today; likely Apple will keep such an announcement in its back pocket for a reveal later.
4 March 2025 at 20:10
As I mentioned earlier, the blue line that strikes through the word ‘Air’ has the look of a MacBook Air when closed, so would point towards a revealed of a new Air models.
4 March 2025 at 19:59
(Image credit: Apple)
Speaking of AI, I’d expect Apple announcement to lean hard on talking about Apple Intelligence and its integration into macOS, along with how an M4 chip-equipped Air will be poised perfectly to crunch through onboard AI tasks.
Not sure that’ll rock my world but I stand ready to be entertained and informed.
4 March 2025 at 19:55
Then again, I’m not a huge user of the AI-poweredApple Intelligencetools, which I suspect will only get more demanding as they advance.
So having M4 power could certainly make a new MacBook Air more futureproof.
4 March 2025 at 19:53
Speaking from my experience with the MacBook Air M2, I’m rather unfussed on the next-generation Air having a dollop more power.
My Air has enough grunt to deal with basically any everyday task I throw at it. I opted for the model with 8GB of RAM and I don’t think it’s ever felt slow. Sure, it won’t churn through the handful of proper PC games macOS supports, but it can run the excellentBaldur’s Gate 3so one might argue what more does one need…
4 March 2025 at 19:49
(Image credit: Apple)
Dialing in my specualtion, the obvious upgrade for the MacBook Air, and one that I’ve mentioned earlier, would be an M4 chip.
We’ve already seen this system-on-a-chip get used in the latest versions of the iPad Pro, Mac mini and iMac, so it makes sense for new MacBook Air models to get it.
I highly doubt Apple will have tweaked the silicon to work any differently for the MacBook Airs than these other devices, though there’s sure to be more headroom to push the chipset a little harder in a laptop chassis than in the iPad Pro.
4 March 2025 at 19:44
A final request for a MacBook Air upgrade would be a move to OLED displays. I feel Apple could thread the line of balancing bolder display tech with energy efficiency.
But if such an upgrade was coming this year I reckon the rumor mill would have been churning it out by now; we’ve heard no whispers.
When I’m in the office I use a Samsung laptop with an OLED display and adore how rich its colors are, and that deep contrast OLED offers. So there’s potential here, but I suspect Apple will keep OLED panels for its MacBook Pros for a good few years still.
4 March 2025 at 19:39
Other design changes and upgrades I’d like to see could come in the form of faster charging; the MacBook Air is by no means a slouch when sucking up electrical juice but it’s not amazingly quick either.
I’d also not mind a few more ports. An extra USB-C slot would be appreciated, especially if Apple adds it to the right-hand side where there’s seemingly loads of spare space.
And while I doubt Apple will ever do it, I’d love to see a full-sized SD card slot on the next-generation MacBook Air, as that would make transferring photos from my DSLR to macOS far easier than it currently is for me.
4 March 2025 at 19:35
On the flipside, I’d not want Apple to mess with the Force Touch trackpad, which is basically the best trackpad I’ve used on any laptop.
It’s big, smooth and responsive and I adore it. Force Touch is an odd name however…
4 March 2025 at 19:33
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 has a great keyboard that Apple could draw inspiration from.
Other areas for MacBook Air improvement could come in the form of a refreshed keyboard. I love the keyboard on my Air, and my fingers fly across it when I’m writing at speed.
However, there’s not the deepest of key travel and sometimes I feel the keyboard lacks the tactile feel of the amazing keyboard on theMicrosoft Surface Laptopmodels; those balanced snappy responses with a decent bit of travel to make for a wonderfully tactile experience; I feel nostalgic for my oldSurface Laptop 2.
4 March 2025 at 19:28
But there are no rumors indicating to a reworked MacBook Air design. So I’m not going to hold my breath and expect the display notch to have been given a nip and a tuck.
Equally, one can never be 100% sure when it comes to Apple. And the MacBook Air’s design language is a bit long in the tooth for tech standards. So perhaps we could be in for a surprise.
4 March 2025 at 19:26
I’d like a new design for the MacBook Air please Apple
The design of the MacBook Air could do with a refresh(Image credit: Apple)
Having said that I love theMacBook Air M2, I’d not mind a few tweaks to the slim laptop’s design. A 14-inch display, perhaps facilitated by some narrowing of the display bezels and a trimming down of the display notch, would definitely get my attention.
I love the LCD Retina display on my Air M2, but it can feel a tad cramped at times when I’m trying to get work done on the go and at speed.
4 March 2025 at 19:19
As someone still using the MacBook Air M2, which is a fantastic little laptop that’s going very strong after two years of consistent use, I’m not overly convinced Apple really needs to refresh the Air lineup on just a specs basis.
But Apple is Apple, and minor refreshes to its products are to be expected… if not exactly desired.
4 March 2025 at 19:16
Expect M4 chip power
(Image credit: Future)
So what do I and others expect to see from the Apple announcement? Well as discussed it’ll very likely be a pair of new MacBook Air laptops.
While the current pair of MacBook Airs are hardly old, having been refreshed last year with the M3 chip, they don’t sport the very latest chips; those can be found in theMacBook Pro 14-inchandMacBook Pro 16-inch.
Those models rock the ‘Pro’ version of the M4 chip, so we can expect to see non-pro version come to refreshed Airs.
4 March 2025 at 19:09
The last Apple announcement of the newsroom ilk came in the form of theiPhone 16ereveal. Apple simply posted an information drop on its website and had the phone up for pre-order pretty sharpish.
There was a decent amount of information to chew over but one could argue the announcement lacked Cupertino’s normal appetite for showmanship. I expect the announcement this week to be very similar to that of the iPhone 16e’s.
4 March 2025 at 19:05
Thinking differently…
(Image credit: Apple)
In days gone by, Apple would normally have a couple of big events a year with an in-person or live streamed event that would usually see the reveal of a handful of products around specific categories, such as phones, tablets and computers.
But as the crew at Cupertino have started to push out ever-more iterative updates to Apple’s product lines, these events have given away to announcements on social media and Apple’s own newsroom page. To me this lacks the spectacle but does give us regular Apple announcements to chew over.
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