Apple

Apple

#641: Across the Country the Short Way

Apple has finally begun paying up for the Siri eavesdropping scandal. After a long-running legal battle, Apple has not only agreed to pay a $95 million settlement but has also begun payouts. According to reports on social media cited by USA Today, many Apple users have begun seeing the funds credited to their accounts. While official figures cap at $20 per device, some users who filed for more than one device reported receiving as low as $8.

What Patreon is referring to is the mandate Apple announced in 2024 around subscription billing changes. It said that Patreon must move all its creators to subscription billing using Apple's in-app purchase system by November 2025 or else Patreon would risk removal from the App Store. Apple made this decision because Patreon was managing the billing for some percentage of creators' subscriptions, and the tech giant saw that as skirting its App Store commission structure.

This feels like a wait-and-see meeting, and we should all be listening to see if there's any hint or a bias towards a future action.

I'm heartbroken by the events in Minneapolis, and my prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families, with the communities, and with everyone that's been affected. This is a time for deescalation. I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, when we treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they're from, and when we embrace our shared humanity.

With platforms that have arguably become the best devices on which to run and build AI, Apple is under great pressure to prove it can also provide AI services people will trust and use, while retaining the essential simplicity of the Apple user experience. For good or ill, the importance of AI will only grow in the coming years, meaning Apple is under serious pressure not just to deliver something good, but also to deliver something that satisfies expectations.

If you prefer over-ear headphones to earbuds and own an iPhone or another Apple device, the AirPods Max with USB-C are worth a look, especially now that you can buy them at Best Buy as part of a flash deal for $429.99 ($120 off) through tomorrow, January 27th. That's $30 shy of their lowest price to date, and a notable deal given these over-ears don't often drop below $449.99 outside of big sales events.

More ads are coming to App Store search results starting in March, Apple shared on an advertising help page. The company first said that it would increase the number of App Store ads last month, and this new rollout of search ads will begin on Tuesday, March 3, according to a developer email viewed by MacRumors. "Search is the way most people find and download apps on the App Store, with nearly 65 percent of downloads happening directly after a search," Apple says.

The financial campaigner James Daley has launched a 1.5bn class action lawsuit against Apple over its mobile phone wallet, claiming the US tech company blocked competition and charged hidden fees that ultimately harmed 50 million UK consumers. The lawsuit takes aim at Apple Pay, which they say has been the only contactless payment service available for iPhone users in Britain over the past decade.

The quest for edge AI seems central to Apple's future approach, and to support it the company will consider the acquisition of smaller AI firms who can deliver optimized, compressed AI models. The company also intends to work with third-party models to shrink and adapt them to work more fully on Apple's hardware. Doing so is important, as the more intelligence Apple can put at the edge, the more it can reduce demand on hosted cloud-based AI, which will reduce infrastructure costs.

Apple Inc. has expanded the job of hardware chief John Ternus to include design work, solidifying his status as a leading contender to eventually succeed Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Cook, who has led Apple since 2011 and turned 65 in November, quietly tapped Ternus to manage the company's design teams at the end of last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Apple is working on an AI-powered wearable pin with cameras and microphones designed to pick up a user's surroundings, according to a report from The Information. The rumored device is reportedly the size of an AirTag, with "thin, flat, circular" housing made from aluminium and glass. The Information reports that Apple's rumored AI pin will have a standard lens and a wide-angle lens, along with three microphones, a speaker, a physical button on one of its sides, and support for wireless charging.

[Apple] already dominates the premium end of the market. If they want to increase shipments, they have to go lower,

The iPad Mini is my favorite Apple tablet for its size. It is small enough to pack alongside my laptop and powerful enough to rekindle my love for photo editing. But over the last two generations, I've wished Apple would offer a better screen, as the smudgy LCD panel isn't ideal for reading or color accuracy. That could finally happen as soon as this year.

Apple has begun to set up shop at its emerging tech campus in North San Jose, an expansion that is poised to bring hundreds of workers to the city. The company moved workers into an office building at 2509 Orchard Parkway in late 2025 and has launched preparations to place more employees at a nearby office building at 2325 Orchard Parkway, the company told this news organization.