MacRumors

Apple surprised us with the first beta of iOS 27.2 today instead of releasing an iOS 27.1 beta. Apple likely went straight to iOS 27.2 to keep iPhone Duo code under wraps for now, since we already know the ‌iPhone Duo‌ will ship with iOS 27.1 when it comes out in October.

This beta includes Apple's revamped Health app, new languages for Siri AI, and a handful of other useful tweaks.

Revamped Health App

The iOS 27.2 beta includes the redesigned Health app Apple showed off at its September iPhone event. The new app is organized into three main tabs: Insights, Longevity, and Browse.

Insights includes your most recent and relevant health info, such as vitals, sleep score, heart rate, and Activity Rings. Longevity shows your health data over time, offering up a Health Age calculated from activity level, VO2 max, sleep time, and other metrics.

The Health Age feature uses in-app assessments that take advantage of the iPhone's camera. You can measure flexibility, strength, balance, and VO2 max. The revamped Health app is only available in U.S. English.

The Health app also has a new icon.

Call Context

Apple added anniversary alerts to the Apple Intelligence Call Context feature. If you make a phone call to someone and you have an anniversary for them set in the Contacts app, you'll see a reminder in the Phone app.

CarPlay

There are themes for CarPlay Ultra that include options for wallpaper, gauge style, and color. Code suggests ambient lighting in supported vehicles will also match the color of the selected theme.

Siri AI Languages

‌Siri‌ AI is available in French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in the iOS 27.2 beta.

Apple TV App

Apple extended Apple TV app profiles to the iPhone and iPad in iOS 27.2. ‌Apple TV‌ app users can create profiles in the account settings section, and then swap between those profiles. Profiles only require a name, profile rating, and information about whether the user is a child.

Creating an account for a child limits content to a PG rating by default, but there is a customize option for more granular control. Users can select age ratings for TV shows and movies that are appropriate for the child based on their age. Profiles are useful for parents that want to hand over an iPhone or ‌iPad‌ to a child to watch TV content while also restricting content that's not age-appropriate.

There's also a new option to turn on sign language interpretation when available. It can be toggled on in the TV app settings.

ASL FaceTime API

Back in May, Apple said it would add a new API to FaceTime allowing developers who make sign language interpretation apps to add a human interpreter to an ongoing video call.

That feature appears to be live in iOS 27.2.

Clock

Apple tweaked how alarms appear in the Clock app. The a.m. and p.m. readouts are now smaller than the time.

Music

In the Music app, some of the red accents have been removed. The Play and Shuffle buttons in Library are black instead of red, as are all of the icons next to the Library sections.

Siri

App Access in the ‌Siri‌ section of the Settings app is now named "Excluded Apps." Tapping on "Add Apps" brings up a list so multiple apps can be excluded at once. Apps previously had to be excluded one by one.

Adding an app to the Exclude list prevents it from showing up in ‌Siri‌, Search, and suggestions.

Podcasts

Apple renamed Up Next to New Episodes, with a Continue Playing option directly below it.

App Tracking Transparency

According to Apple's release notes for the update, App Tracking Transparency supports an alternative expanded prompt for EU users along with re-prompting on an annual basis. The alternative prompt is required for users in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Romania.

Apple executive chairman Tim Cook is expected to attend a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, reports Bloomberg.

Cook stepped down as Apple CEO and transitioned to executive chairman on September 1, with John Ternus taking over. Part of Cook's new role includes engaging with policymakers around the world.

U.S. President Donald Trump invited Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, among others. The dinner will be held next week during Xi's visit to Washington.

Cook has attended multiple state dinners with Xi. Earlier this year, Xi held a state dinner for Trump in Beijing where Cook was present, and in 2015, Cook was seated next to Xi at a state dinner then-President Barack Obama hosted.

Note: This discussion thread is located in our Political News forum with special rules.

With the iOS 27.2 beta, Apple is testing the new Health app that it previewed at its September iPhone event. The app has been entirely overhauled, with new Insights and Longevity tabs that give you more information on your health and fitness metrics.

The Insights tab shows your most recent health data, such as Activity Rings, heart rate, sleep score, and vitals. It'll eventually show personalized guidance, but that feature hasn't been added yet.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 owners will see a readiness score calculated from recent activity, vitals, and sleep score to help them decide whether to take a recovery day or push harder.

The Longevity tab looks at your health data over time to calculate your Health Age based on activity level, VO2 max, sleep time, and other metrics. It also uses fitness assessments you can do right on your iPhone to check flexibility, balance, and VO2 max.

Apple plans to offer a $119 laboratory panel from Quest Diagnostics, which will also contribute to the Health Age score. For now, you can upload your recent lab results.

Getting the most out of the Health app requires an Apple Watch or another fitness device that integrates with it.

While the Health app is being tested in the iOS 27.2 beta, it won't be part of the iOS 27.2 release. It will instead launch later this year.

The iOS 27.2 beta that Apple released today adds a feature that reminds you it's your anniversary when you call someone, as long as you've added the date in the Contacts app.

On the date of your anniversary, when you go to call the person, you'll see a reminder that it's an important day so you don't forget to say something. The anniversary alert uses Call Context, a feature Apple added in iOS 27.

Call Context brings up information from emails and other sources when you place a phone call. If you place a call to an airline and you have an email with a flight confirmation number for that airline in the Mail app, it surfaces that confirmation number so you don't have to go digging for it.

In ‌iOS 27‌, Call Context works with birthdays, and it shows a fireworks animation when you're placing a call. iOS 27.2 adds anniversaries, but unfortunately, it doesn't come with a new animation.

The Call Context anniversary option draws from your Contacts app. To add an anniversary to a contact, open the Contacts app and select their name. Tap "Edit" in the corner, then tap "add date," and the first suggestion under date is anniversary.

You can also ask Siri AI to add the anniversary date to the person's contact card if you have a device that supports Apple Intelligence.

iOS 27.2 is in beta right now, and it is expected to launch in October.

Apple's new iPhone lineup asks buyers a new and challenging question: Is a foldable display worth feature compromises?

Alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max, which start at $1,199 and $1,299 respectively, there is now the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable iPhone, which starts at $1,999. All three are brand new, all three feature the same A20 Pro chip, and all three sit at the top end of Apple's lineup.

The Duo is not a Pro model, though, and Apple's own wording makes that clear. For example, its rear camera array is branded the 48-megapixel Dual Fusion system rather than the Pro Fusion system, and the word Pro appears nowhere in its name. The $700 premium over the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max buys a folding 7.6-inch display, not a better camera.

All three models still share a large amount of hardware. The shared features include:

• A20 Pro chip with a 6-core CPU, 7-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, dual 16-core Neural Engine, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing
• Apple C2 modem (except on the Pro Max in the United States), N1 wireless networking chip, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, Thread, and the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip
• Super Retina XDR OLED displays with ProMotion up to 120Hz, Always-On display, Dynamic Island, and 3000 nits of peak outdoor brightness
• Ceramic Shield 2 front with 3x better scratch resistance, Ceramic Shield back, and IP68 water resistance to a depth of 6 meters
• Camera Control, a 48MP Fusion Ultra Wide camera at 13mm and f/2.2, Photographic Styles 3, Dual Capture, smart focus tracking, and 48MP macro photography
• Apple Intelligence and Siri AI in iOS 27
• Emergency SOS, Crash Detection, Roadside Assistance, Messages, and Find My via satellite
• USB-C with USB 3 speeds, MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging up to 25W, and dual eSIM
• 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage options

The comparison below outlines every difference between the Pro models and the Duo:

Display

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
iPhone 18 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 18 Pro Max: 6.9-inch display	7.6-inch inner folding display and 5.4-inch outer display
iPhone 18 Pro: 2622-by-1206 resolution at 460 ppi iPhone 18 Pro Max: 2868-by-1320 resolution at 460 ppi	Outer display: 1398-by-2034 at 460 ppi Inner display: 1878-by-2670 at 430 ppi
	Nano-texture finish and wide-angle OLEDs on the inner display
	Supports Apple Pencil with USB-C

Design and Build

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
Aluminum unibody	Polished titanium frame with a 3D-printed hinge cover
Action button
Face ID enabled by TrueDepth technology	Touch ID in the side button
Dual ambient light sensors	Four ambient light sensors
Compatible with ‌MagSafe‌ cases, wallets, and wireless chargers	Compatible with ‌MagSafe‌ cases and wireless chargers
Black, Silver, Glacier, and Burgundy options	Night Sky and Star White options
Made with 40% recycled content, including 85% recycled aluminum in the enclosure, 100% recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, 80% recycled steel in the battery enclosure and vapor chamber chassis, and 100% recycled tungsten in the Taptic Engine	Made with 35% recycled content, including 100% recycled aluminum in the internal structural frame, 85% recycled titanium in the enclosure, and 100% recycled titanium in the 3D-printed hinge cover
50% of manufacturing electricity sourced from renewable electricity	60% of manufacturing electricity sourced from renewable electricity

Dimensions and Weight

	‌iPhone 18 Pro‌	‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
Height	5.91 inches (150.0 mm)	6.43 inches (163.4 mm)	4.64 inches (117.8 mm) closed 4.64 inches (117.8 mm) open
Width	2.83 inches (71.9 mm)	3.07 inches (78.0 mm)	3.31 inches (84.1 mm) closed 6.48 inches (164.6 mm) open
Depth	0.34 inch (8.75 mm)	0.34 inch (8.75 mm)	0.44 inch (11.3 mm) closed 0.21 inch (5.2 mm) open
Weight	7.44 ounces (211 grams)	8.78 ounces (249 grams)	8.96 ounces (254 grams)

Rear Cameras

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
48MP Pro Fusion camera system	48MP Dual Fusion camera system
48MP Fusion Main camera: 24mm, second-generation sensor-shift OIS, 100% Focus Pixels	48MP Fusion Main camera: 26mm, sensor-shift OIS, Hybrid Focus Pixels
Variable aperture on Main camera: f/1.48, f/1.8, f/2.8, and f/4.0	Fixed f/1.6 aperture on Main camera
12MP optical-quality 2x "telephoto" sensor crop at 48mm from the Main camera	12MP optical-quality 2x "telephoto" sensor crop at 52mm from the Main camera
48MP Fusion Telephoto camera: 100mm (4x), f/2.8, tetraprism, 3D sensor-shift OIS and autofocus
12MP optical-quality 8x Telephoto sensor crop at 200mm, f/2.8, from the Fusion Telephoto camera
LiDAR scanner
0.5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x optical zoom options	0.5x, 1x, and 2x optical zoom options
8x optical-quality zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, for a 16x optical-quality zoom range	2x optical-quality zoom in, 2x optical zoom out, for a 4x optical-quality zoom range
Digital zoom up to 40x for photos and up to 24x for video	Digital zoom up to 10x for photos and up to 6x for video
Adaptive True Tone flash	True Tone flash
Four studio-quality mics
	Smart Take and Duo Preview

Pro Capture Features and Formats

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
Pro controls for lens aperture, shutter speed, white balance, and viewing histogram
ProRAW
Apple Reference Image (Fusion Main camera only)
Spatial photos
Spatial video recording at 1080p at 30 fps
ProRes video recording up to 4K at 120 fps with external recording
ProRes RAW video recording
Apple Log 2
Academy Color Encoding System (ACES)
Genlock
Image formats captured: HEIF, JPEG, and DNG	Image formats captured: HEIF and JPEG
Video formats recorded: HEVC, H.264, ProRes, and ProRes RAW	Video formats recorded: HEVC and H.264
Video playback formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes	Video playback formats include HEVC, H.264, and AV1

Front Cameras

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
18MP Center Stage front camera, f/1.9	12MP Center Stage outer camera, f/2.2
Autofocus with Focus Pixels on the front camera
Front camera Pro controls, ProRAW, ProRes, ProRes RAW, Apple Log 2, and Academy Color Encoding System
	Kid Cue on the front camera
	Under-display FaceTime camera on the inner display, f/1.8, limited to 1080p video at 30 or 60 fps with no Night mode, portraits, or Photographic Styles
	Duo ‌FaceTime‌
Optical zoom with the rear camera in ‌FaceTime‌	Zoom with the rear camera in ‌FaceTime‌

Battery and Charging

‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
Built-in rechargeable battery	Dual built-in rechargeable batteries
iPhone 18 Pro: Up to 24 hours typical use iPhone 18 Pro Max: Up to 30 hours typical use	Up to 24 hours typical use
iPhone 18 Pro: Up to 36 hours video playback iPhone 18 Pro Max: Up to 45 hours video playback	Up to 44 hours using the outer display, up to 31 hours using the inner display
iPhone 18 Pro: Up to 33 hours streamed video playback iPhone 18 Pro Max: Up to 40 hours streamed video playback	Up to 37 hours streamed using the outer display, up to 26 hours using the inner display
50% charge in around 15 minutes	50% charge in around 20 minutes

Price

	‌iPhone 18 Pro‌	‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max	‌iPhone Duo‌
256GB	$1,199	$1,299	$1,999
512GB	$1,399	$1,499	$2,199
1TB	$1,799	$1,899	$2,599
2TB	$2,399	$2,499	$3,199

For most buyers, the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ or ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max is the better choice. They offer the same A20 Pro chip as the Duo, a more versatile camera system, and a lower price. Choose the Pro if you prefer a smaller, lighter phone, or pay $100 more for the Pro Max if you want a larger screen and longer battery life.

The camera system is the clearest reason to choose an ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ over the ‌iPhone Duo‌. Alongside a more advanced Main camera, the Pro models offer a variable aperture for greater control over depth of field and a dedicated Telephoto camera for subjects you cannot get close to. These advantages matter even if you never use professional capture formats: The Pro gives you more flexibility both when framing a shot and when controlling how it looks. If photography or videography is a priority, choose the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌. Buyers who also use ProRAW, ProRes, or manual controls have even more reason to do so.

The ‌iPhone Duo‌ is worth considering if you frequently wish your phone had a larger screen for reading, documents, taking notes, or watching video. Its 7.6-inch folding display and ‌Apple Pencil‌ support are unique in the iPhone lineup and could reduce the need to carry a separate tablet. If you would unfold it several times a day for those sorts of tasks, the benefit may outweigh the camera compromises and higher price. If most of your use involves messaging, social media, and taking photos, there is less reason to pay extra for the ‌iPhone Duo‌.

The compromises also extend beyond the rear cameras. Both of its front-facing cameras are also inferior. The ‌iPhone Duo‌ also replaces ‌Face ID‌ with ‌Touch ID‌ and drops the Action button, so buyers will need to adjust. It also lacks the Pro models' LiDAR Scanner, adaptive True Tone flash, four studio-quality microphones, and spatial photo and video recording.

You also need to be comfortable with the Duo when it is closed. Despite its smaller outer screen, it is wider and thicker than either Pro model and slightly heavier than the Pro Max. Battery life is another reason to favor the Pro Max: The Duo matches the smaller Pro's rated typical-use battery life, and using its inner display reduces its video playback time substantially.

The price gap remains significant at every storage tier. A 1TB ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max is only $100 cheaper than the entry-level ‌iPhone Duo‌, but that Duo has just 256GB of storage. At the same capacity, you pay $700 more than the Pro Max or $800 more than the Pro. That premium needs to be justified by how much you would use the folding screen and how much you care about some of the device's compromises.

Buy the Duo if you have a clear idea of the things you would regularly unfold it to do, or if experiencing Apple's first foldable and a radically new kind of iPhone is itself worth the premium to you. If you are unsure how the larger screen would fit into your routine, the Pro models remain the stronger purchase with their traditional "slab" form factor and host of superior specifications.

The ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ Max are available to pre-order now. ‌iPhone Duo‌ pre-orders open on October 16 ahead of an October 23 release.

With iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2, Apple extended Apple TV app profiles to the iOS version of the app.

Apple brought ‌Apple TV‌ profiles to tvOS with tvOS 26.2, but the feature has been limited to the ‌Apple TV‌ until now.

‌Apple TV‌ app users can create new profiles in the account settings section, which can also be used to swap between profiles. Profiles only require a name, profile rating, and information about whether the user is a child.

Creating an account for a child limits content to a PG rating by default, but there is a customize option for more granular control. Users can select age ratings for TV shows and movies that are appropriate for the child based on their age

Profiles are a useful feature for a parent that wants to hand over an iPhone or iPad to a child to watch TV or movie content because it restricts what's available without impacting what the parent sees when signed into their own account.

In the iOS 27.2 beta, Apple Siri AI is available in new languages, including French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.

In the launch version of iOS 27, ‌Siri‌ AI is limited to English.

Apple previously said that new ‌Siri‌ AI languages would be coming in October, so that likely means iOS 27.2 will see an October launch.

Apple just seeded the first beta of iOS 27.2 to developers for testing. Yes, you read that correctly: iOS 27.2, not iOS 27.1.

Why no iOS 27.1 beta? The answer likely relates to the iPhone Duo.

Apple previously announced that the iPhone Duo will ship with iOS 27.1, which means that software version will contain all sorts of references to the device hidden within the code. If an iOS 27.1 beta were to have been released today, it could have spoiled some smaller iPhone Duo details that did not make it into Apple's event.

The earlier iOS 27.2 beta versions at a minimum will likely have little to no iPhone Duo references within the code to prevent leaks.

Eventually, the iOS 27.1 and iOS 27.2 codebases will presumably converge, but we will have to wait and see how Apple goes about this exactly.

iPhone Duo launches on Friday, October 23.

The first beta of iOS 27.2 includes Apple's redesigned Health app, giving developers a chance to try out the features ahead of launch later this year.

Apple's developer notes for the feature say the Health app is being tested in this beta, but it won't be in the launch version of iOS 27.2. It will instead come later in the year.

The Health app will incorporate Apple Intelligence to turn data and metrics collected by the Apple Watch into personalized guidance. Here are the new features we can expect:

• Insights - The Insights tab offers an Apple Intelligence-generated summary of timely information like your latest sleep metrics or a new peak in VO2 max. There are options to get custom advice on readiness, fitness, heart health, and more in the For You section.
• Personal Guidance - Personal guidance is part of the Insights tab. It knows what's important to you, and will make relevant suggestions. Apple says if you're working on your cardio, you might see a suggestion to incorporate intervals into your morning run. Recommendations adapt to each user and their data.
• Readiness - The new Apple Watch models calculate a readiness score that takes into account recent activity, vitals, and sleep score. It gives a 0–10 score with recommendations on activity level. Readouts include Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. Info is shown on the watch, in the Fitness app, and in the Health app's Insights tab.
• Fitness - Insights incorporates your daily activity and it updates throughout the day.
• Vitals - The Vitals option in the Health app has new overnight views and daytime views. HRV is incorporated as a metric, offering a better look at your ability to recover from stress. It measures overall HRV and recovery HRV.
• Longevity - There is a new Longevity tab in the Health app. It uses metrics from your iPhone and Apple Watch to assess overall health across heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement health, metabolic health, hearing, and nutrition. The section shows you how well you're doing in each category, and how each metric is classified against the latest clinical guidance.
• Health Age - Health Age is part of the Longevity tab. It uses metrics like VO2 max, resting heart rate, HRV, sleep, and biomarkers from blood work to determine how your health metrics compare to your actual age. It will help you figure out what habits make the biggest impact on your health, and how you can improve.

At-home health assessments like a VO2 max test will be coming to the Health app, taking advantage of the iPhone's camera to track your movements as you follow instructions from a trainer. There will be in-depth physical assessments for measuring flexibility, strength, balance, and movement mechanics in addition to VO2 max.

Apple also plans to eventually offer U.S. users the option to buy a bloodwork panel from Quest that covers more than 50 biomarkers. The test is priced at $119, and users will be able to order it right in the Health app.

Not all of the new features are going to be available in the beta. CNET says ordering labs, personalized health info in the Insights tab, and personalized recommendations will not be available until later in the year. Features are going to roll out progressively.

Apple is testing the next macOS Golden Gate update, and developers can download the ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ 27.2 beta as of today. The beta comes just two days after Apple launched ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ 27.0.

Registered developers can download ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ 27.2 by opening up the System Settings app, clicking on General, selecting Software Update, and opting into ‌macOS Golden Gate‌ betas.

Apple removed two Apple Intelligence features from the launch version of ‌macOS Golden Gate‌, but said they would be coming back in a future software update. It's possible the features will return as soon as the 27.2 release.

Apple delayed Suggestions in Messages, a feature that lets the Messages app offer actions based on the context of conversations. If someone asks for a photo, Messages might suggest inserting it with a tap. If someone invites you to an event, Messages can suggest adding it to the Calendar app.

Apple also pulled the ‌Apple Intelligence‌ feature that automatically updates weak and compromised passwords using Safari.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 27.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming just two days after the iOS 27 launch. Apple also seeded an iPadOS 27.2 beta.

Registered developers can download the beta updates by opting in under Settings > General > Software Update and selecting the ‌iOS 27‌ developer beta.

Siri AI will be available in new languages later this year, and support could be added in iOS 27.2. Apple is adding French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in October.

Two Apple Intelligence features were removed from the launch version of ‌iOS 27‌, and those could also be reintroduced as soon as iOS 27.2. Apple delayed suggestions in Messages conversations and the option to automatically fix compromised and weak passwords using AI.

Apple also plans to debut a new Health app experience, and we could see that in the beta as well.

Apple releasing an iOS 27.2 beta ahead of a iOS 27.1 beta is a surprise, especially because the company plans to ship the iPhone Duo with iOS 27.1. Apple may be holding iOS 27.1 until the Duo comes out, just to keep the features under wraps. iOS 27.1 will add updated app layouts and features built for the iPhone Duo's two displays. The ‌iPhone Duo‌ will have a vertical dock, vertical Dynamic Island, new dual-screen app layouts, side-by-side app multitasking, and exclusive Camera app capabilities.

Since the ‌iPhone Duo‌ will launch on Friday, October 23 and will ship with iOS 27.1, Apple will need to release the iOS 27.1 update before then. If iOS 27.2 includes new ‌Siri‌ AI languages, it too will launch sometime during the month of October.

Alongside new betas of iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, and macOS Golden Gate 27.2, Apple has released the first betas of watchOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, and visionOS 27.2. The betas come two days after the 27.0 software updates were released.

Registered developers can download the betas through the Settings app on each device.

Two new Apple Intelligence features are coming to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 in late 2026, and Apple could start testing them as soon as watchOS 27.2. Live Rewind will allow users to double-press the Digital Crown to get a transcription of what was said in the last 15 seconds, while Siri Recap will turn conversations users have had during the day into high-level notes.

There's no word on what's being added in visionOS 27.2 and tvOS 27.2, but Apple is expected to introduce a new version of the Apple TV 4K with ‌Siri‌ AI support sometime before the end of the year.

Last week, our team discovered code in the iOS 27 Release Candidate that revealed there will be a new NFC-based way to redeem Apple gift cards by tapping them on the back of a compatible iPhone, and now a demo of the feature has surfaced.

While the functionality does not appear to be live yet, Karta co-founder David Anderson figured out a workaround to get the new gift card interface to appear on iOS 27 and shared a video of it in action on his LinkedIn page today.

Apple's new gift cards will have fine print on the bottom of the card that says "hold iPhone here to redeem," and then a redemption flow will automatically pop up on iOS 27. You can then proceed to check the balance of the card and redeem it. Alternatively, the fine print says that customers can still visit apple.com/redeem for manual redemption.

Specifically, customers will be instructed to hold the top, rear side of their iPhone near the bottom of the Apple gift card to initiate NFC-based redemption.

NFC-based redemption will seemingly help to combat Apple gift card scams, but we do not have all of the details yet. During the redemption process, Apple will verify that the card is authentic and unspent, according to iOS 27 code. For security reasons, the interface may show "this card has been blocked" or "cancelled" if necessary.

iOS 27 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, all of which support NFC, so this new Apple gift card redemption method should be widely available. However, the feature has yet to be announced by Apple and we do not know when it will launch.

The new Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 have hardware changes that allow for faster charging, but you will need to use the new version of the Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger included in the box in order to achieve this boost. If you need extra ones for your own charging stands or travel or so forth, Apple released the new version of the charger on its online store last week, with U.S. pricing set at $29.

We have confirmed that the new version of the Apple Watch charging puck — model A3277 — can deliver up to 10W of power to enable the faster charging speeds. The previous version of the charger is limited to 5W. Accordingly, you will also need to use a USB-C Power Delivery charger that is rated 10W or higher for the fastest charging.

With just 15 minutes of charging, Apple said the new charger can add 12 hours of battery life to the Series 12 and 18 hours of battery life to the Ultra 4.

The previous Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 can get 8 hours and 12 hours of battery life respectively with a 15-minute charge, according to Apple. Using the new charging puck will not speed up these times, as the Series 12 and Ultra 4 have hardware changes, so you need both a new watch and the new charger for the fastest charging.

Model	New Charger	Previous Charger
Apple Watch Series 12	12 hours of battery life in 15 minutes	8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes
Apple Watch Ultra 4	18 hours of battery life in 15 minutes	12 hours of battery life in 15 minutes
Apple Watch Series 11	8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes	8 hours of battery life in 15 minutes
Apple Watch Ultra 3	12 hours of battery life in 15 minutes	12 hours of battery life in 15 minutes

As mentioned, the new 1-meter Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB-C Cable is available to order for $29 U.S. on Apple's online store.

Apple memory supplier SK Hynix is in exploratory talks with Intel about manufacturing memory chips in the United States for the first time, according to Reuters.

One option would see the South Korean chipmaker lease part of Intel's planned manufacturing complex in Ohio. Another would involve a joint venture with Intel and major cloud providers seeking to secure memory supplies, people familiar with the discussions said. No decisions have been made, and other arrangements remain possible.

SK Hynix supplies Apple with memory alongside Samsung and Micron. The discussions come as AI infrastructure spending puts pressure on the supply of memory for consumer devices, including iPhones and Macs. Chipmakers have been directing more production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI processors, leaving smartphone and computer manufacturers competing for available supplies.

In February, Apple reportedly agreed to pay Samsung twice as much for memory chips needed for iPhone 17 production. More recently, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was reducing its 2026 hardware shipment plans because of DRAM shortages, with supply constraints also affecting the Mac Studio, Mac mini, and MacBook Air.

It remains unclear which types of memory SK Hynix would manufacture under a potential agreement with Intel. Its products include DRAM used in smartphones, computers, and servers, NAND flash storage, and HBM for AI processors. The report does not mention whether a U.S. facility would produce memory for Apple devices.

SK Hynix already has an advanced packaging facility under construction in West Lafayette, Indiana. That project will package DRAM wafers manufactured in South Korea into HBM chips, rather than fabricate the wafers domestically.

Amazon has the first cash discounts on Apple's brand new Mac mini and Mac Studio, with up to $49 off select models. One of the best deals is on the M5 Max Mac Studio with 36GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, on sale for $2,449.99, down from $2,499.00.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

All of these deals are pre-order discounts on the 2026 Mac mini and Mac Studio, which officially launch on September 22. Regarding the Mac mini, you can get the 16GB RAM/256GB SSD Mac mini for $879.99, down from $899.00, and the 16GB RAM/512GB SSD model for $1,069.99, down from $1,099.00.

In terms of upgrades, Apple said the Mac mini with the M6 chip delivers up to 40% faster CPU performance, up to 4× faster performance for AI tasks in particular, up to 2× faster graphics performance, and up to 2× faster storage speeds compared to the previous-generation model with the 10-core M4 chip, 32GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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In iOS 27, available now, Apple has made some changes and additions to the iPhone's stock Camera app, including the addition of a new Siri mode.

Available in addition to the Video, Photo, and other camera modes, Siri mode can be accessed by swiping across the mode carousel at the bottom of the screen.

The new mode uses Visual Intelligence to identify objects in the frame and provide information about them. It can be used to identify plants, animals, food, and more. If it's food you want info on, for example, it can tell you what it is, and how many calories are in it.

Other examples Siri mode can be used for include capturing a photo of an event flyer and adding a date to the Calendar app, text translation, splitting a bill, and more.

In Siri mode, a button on the right lets you search Google Images, and a button on the left lets you ask a specific question. So you can ask for help to cook the food in the frame, for instance.

Apple has also tweaked the way the camera interface works in other ways. Quick access tools for activating flash, Live Photo, and Night mode are now located at the top-center of the UI, while the full set of tools can be accessed from the bottom-right instead of the top-right. It's also possible to customize which controls are displayed at the top of the screen.

Apple made iOS 27 available to download on supported iPhone models on September 14, a few days ahead of the launch of new iPhone 18 Pro models on September 18.

The first iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reviews have been published today by selected tech websites and YouTube channels, ahead of the devices beginning to arrive to customers and launching in stores this Friday, September 18.

While the iPhone 17 Pro models featured a major design overhaul last year, the iPhone 18 Pro models look the same overall and have a set of more incremental year-over-year upgrades related to the cameras, battery life, and performance.

With the new A20 Pro chip, the first 2nm chip in a smartphone, Apple said the iPhone 18 Pro models deliver up to 20% faster CPU performance and up to 40% faster graphics performance compared to the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pro.

Gizmodo's Raymond Wong benchmarked the A20 Pro chip:

I ran Geekbench 7's CPU benchmark on the iPhone 18 Pro and compared results with the iPhone 17 Pro. Both phones were running the official iOS 27 release. The iPhone 18 Pro scored 4,027 for single-core and 11,540 for multi-core, and the iPhone 17 Pro mustered 3,258 on single-core and 9,167 on multi-core. That works out to a 24% boost for single-core performance and a 26% boost for multi-core.

A revamped vapor chamber cooling system in the iPhone 18 Pro models is three times larger than the one in the iPhone 17 Pro models, for better heat dissipation. This allows the A20 Pro to achieve peak, sustained performance for longer.

Wong on the iPhone 18 Pro's thermal management:

I don't think the iPhone 18 Pros got hot once doing anything normal that would cause it to heat up. Not even shooting 4K resolution video at 60 fps under the heatwave that baked Cupertino during the Apple launch event could overheat it.

Both of the iPhone 18 Pro models have longer battery life compared to the previous generation — especially the iPhone 18 Pro Max. If we go by Apple's offline video playback metric, the iPhone 18 Pro Max has up to 15% longer battery life compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Fast charging to 50% now takes 15 minutes, down from 20 minutes.

Tom's Guide published its typical battery life test, in which the iPhone 18 Pro Max achieved around half an hour longer battery life compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max:

• OnePlus 15: 25 hours and 13 minutes
• iPhone 18 Pro Max: 18 hours and 27 minutes
• iPhone 17 Pro Max: 17 hours and 54 minutes
• Galaxy S26 Ultra: 16 hours and 40 minutes
• iPhone 18 Pro: 16 hours and 17 minutes
• iPhone 17 Pro: 15 hours and 21 minutes

iPhone 18 Pro models have a slightly smaller Dynamic Island at the top of the screen that supports up to three Live Activities at once, up from two.

9to5Mac's Chance Miller on a related Dynamic Island change:

In my testing, what I've actually appreciated most is what happens when you have two Live Activities running at the same time. Thanks to the smaller Dynamic Island, the second Live Activity that appears on the right side can now show more information.

The popular flight-tracking app Flighty showed this off:

The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera on both the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max has variable aperture, allowing you to adjust the amount of light that reaches the image sensor for greater control over depth of field. Apple says this upgrade will allow for improved low-light photography and crisper details in the back of group photos.

Variable aperture options include ƒ/1.48, ƒ/1.8, ƒ/2.8, and ƒ/4.0.

PetaPixel's Jaron Schneider on the variable aperture:

I think Apple's choice not to lock us to the wider aperture was very smart, because sharpness takes a hit when shooting wide open. We noticed that while the center is about as sharp as last year's iPhone 17 Pro when shooting at night, the edges quickly degraded — this is not unusual for a wide-open lens, even on a full-size camera. When you're that wide open, image quality tends to fall off without a bunch of additional glass elements to counteract it. However, the image cleans up nicely at f/1.8 and sharpness peaks at f/2.8. At f/4, sharpness dips again, this time from diffraction, but not substantially. In order from sharpest to softest, it goes: f/2.8, f/1.8, f/4, and f/1.48.

In the Camera app, iPhone 18 Pro users can manually adjust shutter speed, white balance, and aperture, and there is an option to use a histogram. These new "Pro controls" are exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

CNET's Patrick Holland on the Pro controls:

I enjoy these controls, as I have when they've appeared on Android phones. My big criticism is how they're accessed: I use the lens aperture and shutter speed controls quite a bit, but they are located at the bottom of the camera controls drawer. When shooting one-handed, I have to tap, then expand the drawer to get to the bottom. I wish I could customize the position of the icons like I can with settings in the phone's control center. Also, why can't I assign any of these to the Camera Control button on the side of the phone? Imagine focus pulling in a video recording by sliding your finger.

For 5G and LTE, the iPhone 18 Pro is equipped with Apple's second-generation C2 cellular modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max has the C2 modem in every country except the U.S., where it is reportedly still equipped with a Qualcomm modem, perhaps for contractual reasons. Apple said the C2 modem delivers "meaningfully faster uploads" compared to its previous C1X modem while consuming 15% less energy. In the U.S., the C2 is Apple's first modem with mmWave 5G support.

We have not yet found any reviews that tested the C2 modem in a scientific way, but anecdotally most reviewers found 5G performance to be very adequate.

iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max color options: a classic Silver, the return of Black, and special new Burgundy and Glacier finishes.

In our view, there is no massive reason to upgrade to the iPhone 18 Pro models if you are coming from an iPhone 17 Pro or perhaps even an iPhone 16 Pro. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or older, though, upgrading to the iPhone 18 Pro is worth it to catch up on years of enhancements and bump up to a model that supports the new-and-improved Siri, which truly is a lot better and is available on the iPhone 15 Pro and newer.

That's the reality with most iPhone launches nowadays: the devices remain excellent, yet the year-over-year upgrades can sort of feel "meh."

The Verge's Allison Johnson described the iPhone 18 Pro as "excellent and utterly iterative."

And there is the iPhone Duo to consider this year, too.

Engadget's Cherlynn Low:

In the iPhone Duo's shadow, the iPhone 18 Pro certainly feels like an "S" device. But S-year iPhones were never bad iPhones. They were simply unexciting. Similarly, while none of the iPhone 18 Pro's latest features are things you should run out the door to spend money on, it's certainly a meaningful improvement for anyone on an iPhone 16 Pro or older. Of all the iPhones you can buy now, it has the best camera setup, and anyone with the slightest interest in manual photography will appreciate the new variable aperture controls.

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