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Here's What Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Display Could Look Like

2025-06-25 15:07:28

If you've been following iPhone 18 Pro reports recently, you'll know that there are two competing rumors from usually reliable sources about how Apple plans to integrate Face ID into the display, and both of them likely affect the fate of the Dynamic Island – and in turn the overall look of the display itself.


Last month, The Information's Wayne Ma said that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max would have "only a small hole cutout in the top-left corner to accommodate the front-facing camera."

Unless Apple opts to still periodically display the familiar pill-shaped interface element in its iOS 27 software, Ma's wording suggests that the devices might not have a Dynamic Island at all. Taking Ma's report as a cue, developer Filip Vabroušek has helpfully attempted to visualize what such an iPhone 18 Pro model could look like (see below – and ignore the iOS version shown).

All well and good, you might think. However, Counterpoint Research VP Ross Young this week lobbed a grenade into Ma's settled territory by claiming that the iPhone 18 Pro will still have some visible Face ID elements.

For this reason, Young believes that the devices will still have a Dynamic Island, albeit a "smaller" version compared to the one on the iPhone 14 Pro through iPhone 16 models. Vabroušek has again stepped in to give us a peek at this alternative implementation.



Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on at least some iPhone models launching next year, so there are now multiple sources who believe that iPhone 18 models will still have a smaller Dynamic Island rather than only a front camera hole.

So there you have it: two rival interpretations of what the iPhone 18 Pro's display could look like. It's quite a big deal for anyone who plans to upgrade their iPhone next year, considering how much time we spend staring at the screen.

As for the 20th anniversary iPhone, due in 2027, Young's roadmap also threw a spanner in the works by refuting claims by the likes of Gurman that it will be the first iPhone with a truly uninterrupted display with no cutouts.

Young now believes that the first iPhone with both under-screen Face ID and an under-screen front camera will be released all the way in 2030, suggesting that a truly all-screen iPhone remains a full five years away.
This article, "Here's What Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Display Could Look Like" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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iOS 26 Brings Major Improvements to Image Playground

2025-06-25 06:28:33

Image Playground is Apple's image generation app that launched last year. Most people may not have a lot of use for the cartoonish images that it produces in iOS 18, but you're going to want to take another look at it in iOS 26 because Apple has improved its algorithms.


People look more natural in the images generated by the app, with more realistic eyes and more variation in hair that better matches sample photos.

As a quick recap, ‌Image Playground‌ lets you type in any phrase to generate an image in one of three non-realistic styles. You can also select pre-determined scenes and props that Apple suggests, and generate images featuring your friends and family. It's these images where you will see the biggest difference in ‌iOS 26‌, because the content generated based on images of people has changed quite a bit.

Animation

In ‌iOS 18‌, photos generated using the Animation style have blunt hair with little variation, lots of contrast, and unnatural looking faces, but in ‌iOS 26‌, features are softer, hair is more varied, and it has more flow. Clothes also look more natural, though ‌Image Playground‌ doesn't often bother matching outfits.



‌Image Playground‌'s Animation style in ‌iOS 26‌ seems to take more liberty with image backgrounds, pose, and body shape, and it's better at small details like specific eyebrow shape.

Sketch

With the Sketch style, ‌Image Playground‌ is again better at matching facial expression, features, and hair style. The image on the right looks more like MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera than the middle image.

Illustration

Illustration has some of the same characteristics as Sketch, better capturing colors and inventing better backgrounds.

Animals and Landscapes

The changes to ‌Image Playground‌ can also be seen in images of animals, food, places, and more, in all three built-in styles.

Emotions

‌Image Playground‌ seems to be better at reflecting emotion, too. For this image, the modifier "sobbing" was added to the image. It didn't quite show tears, but there is more emotion in the ‌iOS 26‌ face on the right. There's even a dedicated "Expressions" menu, with options that include laugh, happy, mad, sad, shocked, thinking, thumbs up, and thumbs down.

ChatGPT Integration

ChatGPT image generation capabilities are included in ‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 26‌, so there are an expanded range of styles to choose from. There are a few suggested options, including anime, oil painting, vector, print, and water color styles, all of which use ChatGPT rather than Apple's capabilities to create the image.


The output is similar to what you get if you use ChatGPT 4o for image generation, and you can make those cute anime-style images that have been floating around the internet.


There's also an open-ended "Any Style" option to create images with ChatGPT, and that adds more range to what's possible with ‌Image Playground‌. ChatGPT can essentially mimic any style that you ask it to, and it can generate realistic images, which is not something that Apple's image generation technology does.


As with standard ‌Image Playground‌ image generation, you can make a text-based request or upload an image to ChatGPT and ask it to use that as the basis for an image. Images that you upload and text requests can be combined.

Creating images with ChatGPT uses up tokens, and if you have a free account, you probably won't be able to create more than one or two images. Taking advantage of ChatGPT image creation features in ‌Image Playground‌ beyond that requires a paid account.

Genmoji

‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 18‌ does not support creating Genmoji, and that's a separate feature located in the Messages app. In ‌iOS 26‌, you can use ‌Image Playground‌ for ‌Genmoji‌.


‌Genmoji‌ is a style that you can select, and choosing it opens up an interface where you can choose an emoji or multiple emoji to customize. One of the new ‌Genmoji‌ features in ‌iOS 26‌ is the option to combine emoji to make new emoji rather than starting from scratch with a character, and this capability is available in ‌Image Playground‌ in addition to the Messages app.

You can tap multiple emoji to create a new one, or choose an emoji and then add text-based descriptions to make tweaks. There is no option to use photos for ‌Genmoji‌. The ‌Genmoji‌ that you make are added to your emoji keyboard and they can be used in Messages.

Labeling

When you send someone an image generated with ‌Image Playground‌ in ‌iOS 26‌, like over AirDrop, it is labeled as a generated image in the file name.
This article, "iOS 26 Brings Major Improvements to Image Playground" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Nomad Launches iPhone Wallet With Find My Integration

2025-06-25 05:37:02

Nomad today announced the launch of the Leather Mag Wallet for iPhone, which includes an integrated Tracking Card that works with Apple's Find My app.


The Leather Mag Wallet attaches to the back of a MagSafe ‌iPhone‌ using a magnetic connection, and it serves as an alternative to Apple's own Leather Wallet with ‌MagSafe‌. Nomad made the wallet from vegetable-tanned Horween leather that will develop a unique patina over time.

Nomad's Mag Wallet is able to hold up to four standard credit cards, and it connects to ‌Find My‌ so if it comes off of the ‌iPhone‌ and is lost, it can be found with the ‌Find My‌ app. ‌Find My‌ network integration is included, so if you are out of range, it will be able to connect to Apple products owned by others to relay its location. ‌Find My‌ also includes features for playing a sound and getting a notification when the wallet is left behind.

There is a rechargeable battery inside and the Mag Wallet can be charged using any Qi or ‌MagSafe‌ charger. The battery lasts for up to five months. The wallet can be attached to any ‌MagSafe‌ ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPhone‌ in a ‌MagSafe‌ case, and it comes in black and brown colors.

The Leather Mag Wallet can be purchased from the Nomad website for $79.

This article, "Nomad Launches iPhone Wallet With Find My Integration" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Says Some iCloud Services Experiencing Issues

2025-06-25 04:13:07

Several of Apple's iCloud services are experiencing issues at the current time, with the System Status page reflecting problems with ‌iCloud‌ Mail, ‌iCloud‌ Storage Upgrades, ‌iCloud‌ Web Apps, iWork for ‌iCloud‌, and Photos.


‌iCloud‌ Web Apps and iWork for ‌iCloud‌ are both listed as having an outage at the current time, and Apple says that some users may be experiencing problems.

The other services are shown with a yellow "Issue" warning, but they have the same note about some users experiencing problems with the service. The outages have been ongoing since 2:36 p.m. Eastern Time.

Update 5:53 p.m. ET: Apple added Find My and ‌iCloud‌ account sign in to the list of services experiencing problems.

Update 6:41 p.m. ET: The ‌Find My‌ issue has been resolved, but the other services are still having issues.
This article, "Apple Says Some iCloud Services Experiencing Issues" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple's Invites App Gets More Backgrounds

2025-06-25 02:50:43

Apple today updated its Invites app, adding a new event background options for customizing the look of event invitations that are sent out. Apple says that the added background options are ideal for planning a pool day, drinks with friends, or a watch party for the big game.


There are several new backgrounds in the "Photographic" section, including clouds, a lime slice in soda water, lemon slices in punch, a frosty beer, watermelon slices, a pool inner tube, a disco ball, orchid flowers, bamboo shoots, a zoomed in shot of a chrysanthemum, a colorful set of pickleballs, tennis balls, footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, golf balls, a beach with clear water, a green bokeh background, brocade fabric, grass, colorful flowers, rainbow sparkles, a multi-colored light pattern, and champagne glasses.


Apple launched the Invites app back in February, and this is the second update the app has received. In May, Apple added the option to include links in event invitations.

Invites is an event planning app that supports creating custom invitations with unique background images, fonts, and relevant information like directions and the weather. It also has easy-to-use event managing and RSVP tools.

While Invites is free, it is an iCloud+ service, so an ‌iCloud‌+ subscription is required to create an event. ‌iCloud‌+ plans are priced starting at $0.99 per month, and they include additional ‌iCloud‌ storage and features like Private Relay.

Though an ‌iCloud‌+ subscription is needed for creating an event, anyone can RSVP to an invitation, including those without iPhones.

The Invites app can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

This article, "Apple's Invites App Gets More Backgrounds" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Seeds Updated Beta Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

2025-06-25 02:14:45

Apple today provided developers with new beta firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, with an 8A293c version number. The firmware is only available to developers at the current time, and a device running iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26 is required to install the update. This is the second beta so far.


The new firmware adds several features that Apple is debuting alongside ‌iOS 26‌, ‌iPadOS 26‌, and macOS Tahoe.

The ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 and ‌AirPods 4‌ support improved audio quality for phone calls and video calls, plus studio-quality audio recording for interviews, podcasts, and videos. There's also an option to use the AirPods as a camera remote with the Camera app to take photos or start a video recording.

With the latest updates, Apple added a firmware update installation option that's available from the AirPods settings interface when the AirPods are connected to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
This article, "Apple Seeds Updated Beta Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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