MacRumors

OpenAI today said it is making GPT–5.6 Luna the default model for Free and Go ChatGPT users, giving them access to a newer, more capable model to replace GPT–5.5 Instant. The company is letting Free and Go users access unlimited text chats, with no text-based rate limits. Limits will still apply for file uploads, images, and other ChatGPT tools. There's also a new Think button coming that turns on higher reasoning.

For Plus and Pro users, GPT–5.6 Sol is more reliable with facts and gives more focused answers. OpenAI added a slider to let users select how much thought ChatGPT puts into a response, plus the company tweaked the detail the model offers for each question to prevent it from giving extra information when it's not needed.

OpenAI says GPT–5.6 Sol will avoid unnecessary formatting and will offer a "helpful correction when simply agreeing wouldn't be useful." It is also supposed to make fewer mistakes, especially when answers depend on dates, numbers, sources, rules, or assumptions. The Sol update is only for Chat, and the version for Work and Codex is unchanged.

ChatGPT's Instant and Thinking experiences have a more consistent tone and behavior so it doesn't feel like switching to a model with a different tone or style.

Plus and Pro users have access to the updated GPT–5.6 Sol and the slider in ChatGPT starting today. GPT–5.6 Luna is becoming the default model for Free and Go users this week, with unlimited text chats and the Think button coming next week.

The changes apply to the ChatGPT app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, an update to the ‌macOS Tahoe‌ operating system that came out last year. ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.6.1 comes a little over a week after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.6.

Mac owners can download the software by opening the System Settings app and then navigating to the Software Updates section.

According to Apple's security support document, ‌macOS Tahoe‌ 26.6.1 fixes a vulnerability that could allow an attacker to authenticate to Screen Sharing without valid credentials. Apple fixed the issue with improved state management.

Apple also released updates for macOS Sonoma 14.8.9 and macOS Sequoia 15.7.9 with the same fix.

Samsung's newest line of smartphones and smartwatches launches tomorrow, making today your last chance to get pre-order discounts on these devices. While you can find some offers on Samsung's website, we're tracking better savings on Amazon this week.

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

If you pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 or the Fold8 Ultra you can get a $350 Amazon gift card. The new Galaxy Z Flip8 comes with a $200 Amazon gift card. These offers are for unlocked models of each smartphone and don't require trade-ins, although you can deepen your savings if you do trade in an older phone.

On Samsung.com, you'll get a $200 Samsung gift card with the pre-order of the Galaxy Z Fold8 and Fold8 Ultra, and a $150 gift card for the Galaxy Z Flip8. You can also increase savings with the addition of a smartphone trade-in.

Amazon is also offering straight cash discounts on pre-orders for the new Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2. The 40mm Galaxy Watch9 is available for $379.99 with a $50 Amazon gift card, and the 44m model is available for $409.99 with a $50 gift card.

For the Galaxy Watch Ultra2, Amazon has this model for $699.99 with a $100 Amazon gift card for pre-orders. Over on Samsung, you'll find the same smartwatch prices and Samsung gift card credits if you prefer shopping directly from the retailer.

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.

Apple today updated its U.S. trade-in estimates, raising values for most iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models and adding several Android phones to the list for the first time.

As first noted by 9to5Mac, some devices gained nearly 30% in estimated value compared to the last update in May.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max now tops Apple's iPhone estimates at up to $720, up from $695, and increases run all the way down the lineup to some of Apple's oldest supported models:

• iPhone 16 Pro Max: $695 to $720
• iPhone 16 Pro: $560 to $630
• iPhone 16 Plus: $465 to $485
• iPhone 16: $460 to $480
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: $490 to $530
• iPhone 15 Pro: $410 to $420
• iPhone 15 Plus: $325 to $340
• iPhone 15: $320 to $335
• iPhone 14 Pro Max: $375 to $405
• iPhone 14 Pro: $320 to $335
• iPhone 14: $225 to $235
• iPhone SE (3rd generation): $80 to $85
• iPhone 13 Pro Max: $320 to $340
• iPhone 13 Pro: $260 to $285
• iPhone 13: $195 to $205
• iPhone 13 mini: $150 to $155
• iPhone 12 Pro Max: $220 to $240
• iPhone 12 Pro: $180 to $195
• iPhone 12: $125 to $135
• iPhone 12 mini: $85 to $90
• iPhone 11 Pro Max: $150 to $160
• iPhone 11 Pro: $135 to $145
• iPhone 11: $100 to $110
• iPhone XS Max: $90 to $95
• iPhone XS: $65 to $70
• iPhone XR: $80 to $90
• iPhone 8: $35 to $40

Unchanged models include the iPhone 16e, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone X, and iPhone 8 Plus. Every current ‌iPad‌ also gained value:

• iPad Pro: $690 to $720
• iPad Air: $460 to $490
• iPad mini: $265 to $300
• iPad: $235 to $260

The Mac saw some of the largest percentage increases in today's update, led by the Mac mini's roughly 28% jump:

• MacBook Pro: $690 to $855
• MacBook Air: $520 to $580
• Mac mini: $375 to $480
• iMac: $355 to $380
• Mac Studio: $1,045 to $1,305
• Mac Pro: $2,045 to $2,195

The iMac Pro remains unchanged. Apple Watch estimates rose across most of the lineup:

• Apple Watch Series 10: $150 to $165
• Apple Watch Series 9: $130 to $135
• Apple Watch Series 8: $90 to $95
• Apple Watch Series 7: $65 to $70

Unchanged models include the Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), Apple Watch Series 6, and Apple Watch SE (1st generation).

Android trade-in values were more mixed. Apple added several newer Samsung, Google, and OnePlus phones to the list for the first time, while some existing estimates fell:

• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G: $130 to $125
• Samsung Galaxy S22+ 5G: $80 to $85
• Samsung Galaxy S22 5G: $80 to $85
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G: $95 (new)
• Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: $315 (new)
• Google Pixel 9 Pro: $305 (new)
• Google Pixel 9: $210 (new)
• Google Pixel 8 Pro: $165 to $155
• Google Pixel 7 Pro: $95 to $90
• Google Pixel 7: $65 to $60
• OnePlus 13: $250 (new)
• OnePlus 13R: $165 (new)

Unchanged models include the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, Google Pixel 8, Google Pixel 8a, OnePlus 12, and OnePlus 12R.

As always, Apple's listed values are estimates, with the company noting that final offers can vary based on a device's condition and configuration, and that not all devices are eligible for trade-in credit.

It is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a foldable "iPhone Ultra" in the first half of September, and the devices should be released in the second half of the month. The regular iPhone 18, a lower-end iPhone 18e, and a second-generation iPhone Air will reportedly be announced around March 2027.

It has been estimated that the U.S. starting prices of the iPhone 18 Pro models could be $200 to $300 more compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models.

Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of August:

• Smaller Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that Face ID's flood illuminator will be moved under the screen on the iPhone 18 Pro models, paving the way for a smaller Dynamic Island on the devices.
• LTPO+ Displays: The next Pro models are expected to have the same overall design as the iPhone 17 Pro models, including 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras. However, the displays will reportedly use so-called LTPO+ display technology, which should contribute to longer battery life.
• Variable Aperture: The main 48-megapixel Fusion camera on both iPhone 18 Pro models is rumored to have a variable aperture, which would allow users to control the amount of light that passes through the camera's lens and reaches the sensor. This would provide greater control over depth of field. However, given that iPhones have smaller image sensors due to smartphone size constraints, it is unclear exactly how meaningful this improvement would be.
• A20 Pro Chip: Apple's next-generation A20 Pro chip is expected to use TSMC's first-generation 2nm process, whereas the A19 Pro chip is 3nm. With a 2nm architecture and a new packaging design, the A20 Pro chip should deliver solid year-over-year performance and power efficiency gains.
• C2 Modem: Apple's custom C1 cellular modem for 5G and LTE debuted in the iPhone 16e last year, and that was followed by a C1X chip in the iPhone Air. Apple says the C1X modem is up to twice as fast as the C1 modem, and the most power-efficient modem in an iPhone ever. The improvements should continue with Apple's third-generation C2 modem in the iPhone 18 Pro models.
• 5G via Satellite: With the C2 modem, the iPhone 18 Pro models will reportedly support 5G via satellite for web browsing without Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.
• N2 Chip: Most of the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air are equipped with an Apple-designed N1 chip that enables Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread. Apple says the N1 chip also improves the overall performance and reliability of features like Personal Hotspot and AirDrop. iPhone 18 Pro models are expected to have Apple's next-generation N2 chip, but it is not yet known what improvements would come with this upgrade.
• Dark Cherry: The special color for the iPhone 18 Pro models will reportedly be Dark Cherry, alongside Light Blue, Dark Gray, and Silver. The existing Cosmic Orange and Deep Blue colors are expected to be discontinued.
• Simplified Camera Control: Apple is expected to simplify the Camera Control button on the iPhone 18 Pro models, by removing touch sensitivity and haptic feedback. The redesigned button will only have pressure sensitivity.
• Redesigned Rear Ceramic Shield: The rear Ceramic Shield area for MagSafe is rumored to feature a more frosted and seamless appearance on the iPhone 18 Pro models compared to the current two-tone design.
• Larger Battery (iPhone 18 Pro Max): According to alleged Chinese regulatory database filings, the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have nearly a 10% larger battery compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max.
• Thicker Design (iPhone 18 Pro Max): It has been rumored that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will be thicker than both the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 18 Pro.

Bookmark our iPhone 18 and iPhone 18 Pro roundups to stay up to date with more rumors.

Apple and its manufacturing partners are racing to secure enough mobile DRAM to complete production of the iPhone 18 Pro and its first foldable iPhone, with around $1 billion worth of unpackaged processors reportedly sitting idle as they wait on memory chips, according to semiconductor analyst Tim Culpan.

With less than six weeks until the expected debut of the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ and the first foldable iPhone, widely rumored to be called the "iPhone Ultra," assemblers are working with Apple to hurry DRAM shipments, Culpan reports. Apple leans heavily on Micron for the memory but also buys from SK Hynix and Samsung. Apple and its assemblers are said to remain confident they can meet initial demand, though sources are concerned that online order wait times could stretch out while retail inventory dries up quickly.

This year's iPhone lineup is set to introduce the "A20 Pro" chip, Apple's first chip built on TSMC's N2 process, which started shipping in volume earlier this year. Production is reportedly progressing well, with good volume and yields, but completed wafers are piling up because the DRAM needed to package them has not arrived. Because packaging cannot be completed without the corresponding DRAM, Culpan estimates that TSMC is currently sitting on roughly $1 billion worth of Apple processors that cannot move to the next stage of production.

The bottleneck apparently threatens to ripple into the final stages of iPhone production. Main logic board assembly and final assembly are handled primarily by Foxconn and BYD in China, and delays in packaged processor deliveries could compress their production schedules even if Apple ultimately secures enough memory for launch.

The squeeze reflects a broader memory shortage as AI infrastructure spending eats into global DRAM supply. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the pressure during the company's July 30 earnings call, saying Apple was "seeing some very significant constraints currently, with limited flexibility in the supply chain."

The crunch already forced Apple to raise prices and shift production priorities, with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reporting this week that Apple is steering buyers toward the MacBook Pro and away from the MacBook Air.

Assemblers have reportedly been told that Apple plans to build around 200 million units combined across the iPhone 18, ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌, and ‌iPhone Ultra‌ over their lifetimes, with the Ultra accounting for less than 10% of that total. The rest is expected to be split evenly between the Pro and standard models. The foldable iPhone will likely cost more than $2,000, making it the most expensive iPhone Apple has ever sold.

You can get up to $190 off multiple models of the M5 MacBook Air on Amazon this week, with deals focused mainly on 13-inch models this time around. These are the lowest prices we've seen on the notebooks in the wake of Apple's price hikes in June.

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.

In terms of 13-inch models, Amazon has the 16GB/1TB 13-inch MacBook Air for $1,419.00, down from $1,599.00. This one is available in two colors on Amazon, and it's accompanied by a discount on the 24GB/1TB model.

We aren't currently tracking any discounts on the 15-inch M5 MacBook Air models this week. 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.

Apple has expanded support for the Apple Account Card in the Wallet app to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Malta.

The Apple Account Card option for Wallet started rolling out in 2022, and Apple has been gradually expanding to more countries since then.

The card displays the balance associated with a user's Apple Account and can be used to make purchases in the Apple Store, online, or for apps, subscriptions, and other Apple services.

Amazon today has the AirPods Pro 3 available for $189.99, down from $249.00. This is now the best price we've seen on the AirPods Pro 3 since Prime Day, and one of the overall best prices we've tracked so far in 2026.

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

This model of the AirPods Pro launched in September 2025 and has 2x better Active Noise Cancellation than the previous generation, better audio quality, a revised fit that's meant to improve comfort and stability, Live Translation for in-person conversations, and heart rate sensing for workouts.

Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

Apple's attempt to use Chinese memory maker CXMT as leverage against Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has backfired, with the two Korean chipmakers ending up with more pricing power rather than less, DigiTimes reports, citing South Korean and Chinese trade press.

This year, Apple has explored CXMT and fellow Chinese chipmaker YMTC as potential DRAM suppliers, and had progressed to testing CXMT's chips as memory shortages pushed up the cost of almost all Apple devices. Apple hoped a credible Chinese alternative would pressure Samsung and SK Hynix into cutting their own prices, a tactic it has used before with OLED suppliers and contract manufacturers.

CXMT is barred from EUV lithography tools under U.S. export controls, so it has to rely on older DUV equipment that, per a cost analysis cited by TechTimes, requires around 30% more wafer starts to produce the same output. That extra cost means matching Samsung and SK Hynix's prices is CXMT's floor, not a discount it's able to offer, so when Apple pushed for a lower LPDDR5X quote, CXMT turned it down and held pricing at or above the Korean suppliers' own rates.

With that threat neutralized, Apple seemingly lost its main point of leverage. Digital Daily reports that Chinese device makers Huawei and Xiaomi have already locked up most of CXMT's output through long-term, high-price contracts, so the company doesn't need Apple's business badly enough to negotiate.

The result is the opposite of what Apple wanted; without a credible cheaper alternative to point to, Samsung and SK Hynix face less pressure to lower their own prices, at the same time they're shifting production toward high-bandwidth memory for AI servers and tightening the broader DRAM supply. The setback comes after Apple's CXMT plans drew pushback, with politicians demanding Apple commit to not buying Chinese memory chips at all.

OpenAI has asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple's lawsuit accusing the AI company of stealing trade secrets, calling the allegations "meritless."

Lawyers for OpenAI said Apple's suit twists the actions of its employees. Bloomberg reports that the filing defends Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple as VP of product design for iPhone and Apple Watch before leaving to co-found io Products with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. io merged with OpenAI in July 2025. OpenAI said Tan followed normal industry recruiting practices when interviewing Apple staff.

OpenAI also defended senior systems engineer Chang Liu, one of two former Apple employees named in the suit. Apple claims Liu accessed confidential hardware files over several weeks after finding an authentication bug. OpenAI said Liu was simply helping a former Apple colleague find information for their own work, and published excerpts of text messages it says back up that account. "Apple should not be permitted to use a baseless and pretextual lawsuit," OpenAI's lawyers wrote.

OpenAI's motion argues Apple never properly identified what information actually counts as a protectable trade secret. The company said it has no interest in Apple's confidential material because it is "building something entirely new and different from anything at Apple."

Axios reported that OpenAI's filing also disputes how Apple built its case. According to OpenAI, Apple's own security practices, including letting staff use personal iCloud accounts for work and later reviewing personal messages left on company devices, are what gave former employees leftover system access in the first place, not evidence of a coordinated theft. The 31 page filing repeatedly frames the case as Apple trying to cover for its own struggles, with variations of the word "fail" appearing nearly 50 times.

OpenAI's filing also revisited an earlier dispute over how the two sides first fell out of contact. Apple's suit had claimed OpenAI never responded to its outreach in February, and that the two sides discussed the matter with OpenAI's general counsel. OpenAI says neither is true, and that the breakdown traced back to Apple's own outside counsel confusing two OpenAI employees with similar surnames and sending a message to the wrong person.

This week's motion follows the suit Apple filed against OpenAI in July, which accuses the company of running a scheme to pull confidential product information out of job candidates and new hires. Apple and OpenAI had spent about two years partnering to build ChatGPT integration into Siri, but the relationship soured as OpenAI moved into hardware, a shift accelerated by its acquisition of Ive's startup. Apple's suit claims more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI.

Apple escalated the case further this week, asking the same judge for a preliminary injunction to stop OpenAI from using any alleged trade secrets while the case continues, along with expedited discovery targeting Liu, Tan, OpenAI and its foundation, and io. Apple said its investigation has since turned up 11 more former employees who may have been witnesses or otherwise involved, beyond Liu, Tan, and previously named OpenAI employee Yu-Ting Peng.

Apple claims one former employee met with Liu and Peng before Peng's OpenAI interview and discussed proprietary information about unannounced products, and that another took screenshots of confidential documents relating to an unannounced Apple product before their own interview. Apple also said that after it filed its complaint, several former staffers now at OpenAI reached out about returning Apple issued devices they had kept.

OpenAI called that injunction request "based on false information and completely unnecessary" in a public blog post responding to Apple's filing. OpenAI has a court ordered deadline of August 17 to formally respond to Apple's preliminary injunction request. The judge is set to hear arguments on October 1.

Meta today launched Muse Code, a terminal coding agent available for macOS and Linux. Muse Code is in beta, and it is powered by Muse Spark 1.2, ‌Meta‌'s newest model.

‌Meta‌ CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Muse Code can accomplish complete software engineering tasks across large repos. It can plan out changes, write code, and validate results using multiple persistent subagents.

Muse Code is ‌Meta‌'s equivalent of OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code, and it is ‌Meta‌'s first major push into agentic coding.

There are several default skills available, such as /plan for turning a task into an approval-gated plan, /grill for stress testing a plan, and /goal for working toward the successful completion of an objective. Muse Code maintains an append-only local event log of every model call, tool run, approval, and edit, so it can resume where it stopped if it crashes.

Muse Code can be used through the Mac's terminal after a one-command install, and there is no dedicated app available. The model is priced at $1.25 for 1 million input tokens and $4.25 for 1 million output tokens, but ‌Meta‌ is offering a discount for users who give the company permission to use their prompts and completions to train future AI models.

With the Contributor tier enabled for ‌Meta‌ model training, Muse Spark 1.2 is priced at $0.10 for 1 million input tokens and $0.20 for 1 million output tokens. The Standard tier costs more and does not let ‌Meta‌ use prompts to train its models.

The more affordable Contributor tier is rate limited at 60 requests per minute and 2,100,000 tokens per minute, while the Standard tier allows for 3,000 requests per minute and 4,000,000 tokens per minute.

Disney could introduce an ad-supported Disney+ free tier in the future, according to comments Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro made during the company's latest earnings call (via The Wrap).

D'Amaro said Disney is considering a free tier that could allow it to reach people unwilling to pay for a subscription, but no launch plans were shared.

First, we see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that's more price-sensitive. Expanding our reach is, as we've talked about before, one of our strategic priorities. Second, unlike a lot of our AVOD competitors, we're fairly well sold, meaning more inventory would actually help us accelerate our ad revenue growth. And then finally, as you mentioned in your question, a free offering could help us drive top-of-funnel Disney+ subscriber growth. So nothing specific to announce today, but definitely something that we're considering.

Disney+ competitors like Apple TV and Netflix don't have a completely free tier, but services like Tubi and The Roku Channel offer free content, as does YouTube. Disney+ has approximately 130 million global subscribers and is one of the most-watched streaming services in the United States.

Disney also signed a deal with TikTok, which will see TikTok creators use characters and scenes from Disney movies and shows for short-form videos. The videos will be available on TikTok and on the Disney+ Verts section for vertical video.

SpaceX shared plans to create a cellular service during its first earnings call after its IPO, reports Reuters. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said the company will "build out terrestrial" with the spectrum that it acquired from EchoStar.

She added that SpaceX intends to make Starlink a "true mobile service" that will win "quite a few" customers from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Shotwell declined to discuss the costs involved in the endeavor and said SpaceX had "great and new ideas" on how to build a mobile service, such as a large number of lower-cost base stations paired with Starlink dishes instead of cell towers.

SpaceX agreed to pay $19.6 billion to acquire 65 MHz of wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar in 2025. The spectrum will allow SpaceX to expand its direct-to-cell Starlink satellite service to include ground-based infrastructure.

Analysts told Reuters that without an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) agreement with a major carrier, it would be extremely difficult for Starlink to compete with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. 65 MHz is tiny compared to the spectrum owned by the big U.S. mobile operators, and they're unlikely to lease capacity to a competitor.

SpaceX plans to launch its next-generation Starlink Mobile satellites in 2027, and upgraded service that's "100 times better" than current direct-to-cell service is targeted for the end of that year. Shares of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon fell 2 to 4 percent following the SpaceX earnings call.

SpaceX already has a partnership with T-Mobile to power T-Mobile's T-Satellite feature that offers direct-to-cell satellite connectivity to customers.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Comedy series Ted Lasso is back, with the first episode of season 4 available to stream as of today. It's been three years since the season 3 finale aired, and many expected it to be the last.

The show returns to its underdog roots in season 4, with titular character Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) moving back to Richmond to coach a second-division women's football team.

Fan-favorite actors like Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Jeremy Swift return, with new cast members Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, and Abbie Hern. Most of the actors who were on the men's AFC Richmond team will not be returning, including Phil Dunster's Jamie Tartt.

Ted Lasso is one of Apple's most popular TV shows, and it won back-to-back Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series for the first two seasons.

Season 4's initial episode can be streamed now, with a new episode set to be released each Wednesday through October 7. To celebrate the new season, Apple is hosting a Ted Lasso look-alike contest at its Fifth Avenue location tomorrow.

Apple TV is priced at $12.99 per month, and it can be watched across Apple devices, on popular smart TVs, on set-top boxes like Roku, on gaming consoles, and on the web. ‌Apple TV‌ is also included in Apple One subscription bundles.

Sunbird Messaging today reintroduced its app that brings iMessage to Android users. Sunbird is now available on the Google Play Store following an early access testing period.
The app allows Android users to send "blue bubble" messages to iPhone users instead of the standard green bubbles. It incorporates iMessage, RCS, and SMS/MMS messages in one app.

Sunbird was previously available from late 2022 through late 2023, but the company shut it down due to security concerns. The app was sending a user's Apple ID credentials to a Sunbird server to function, with the information sent unencrypted over HTTP. An attacker could intercept all Sunbird messages and media attachments, and Sunbird employees had access to a platform that stored all message content.

The app returned in an invite-only beta in April 2024, but it hasn't been publicly available until now.

Sunbird says messages are encrypted on-device and in transit, and are not stored on Sunbird servers. An ‌Apple ID‌ is required to use Sunbird, and the company claims passwords are used once to set up a session and are then destroyed. More security information is available on Sunbird's website.

Back when Sunbird launched, it promised features Android users didn't have, like typing indicators, read receipts, and higher-quality media. Those features are now available for Android to iPhone chats because Apple has adopted ‌RCS‌, so Sunbird is mostly offering a different bubble color. iMessage through Sunbird does not register a phone number, and users will appear to contacts by email address.

Android users can try the app free for 14 days. A subscription is priced at $2.99 per month or $24.99 per year.

Apple's paid Safari protection feature that promises to keep your IP masked doesn't always work, according to security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry. It turns out iCloud Private Relay can expose your real IP to websites that use or pretend to use passkeys.

‌iCloud‌ Private Relay is a service included with paid ‌iCloud‌+ plans. It is supposed to hide your IP and DNS information when you browse the web using Safari, but it is not a VPN that masks all traffic from a device. Passkeys use the WebAuthn standard, which stores a private key on your device, not the Safari browser. The request the system sends to the website isn't protected by Private Relay and can leak your IP address.

WebKit hands WebAuthn ceremonies to the operating system's credential service, which issues the HTTPS request itself, directly from the device and unaware of any proxy the host app configured. A page can set rpId to a host of its choosing, and the fetch fires even without user interaction: with mediation: "conditional" and no UI ever appears. [...]

Because the fetch is issued by the operating system's credential service rather than by Safari, it never enters Private Relay's proxied path. The destination server sees the device's real IP address either way.

An attacker who wants to find someone's protected IP can do so by setting up a website that uses WebAuthn. There is no visible passkey prompt and no other indication that an IP address has been accessed in the background.

The researchers also found two other WebKit features that can leak IP addresses and DNS data. DNS prefetching (added in iOS 26) reveals a user's real DNS servers, while WebTransport (added in iOS 26.4) can reveal an IP address.

Apple told 404 Media that it is investigating the report.

Mysk and Haj Bakry created a website to let you test whether Apple's service is leaking your IP address. Since the issue is baked into how WebKit works, some third-party browsers are affected too. Apple will need to address the issue, and in the meantime, users can opt for a VPN for more protection.

Amazon today has a few deals on the Apple Watch Ultra 3, providing $99 discounts on select models. We did track these models at $149 off during Prime Day this year, but those discounts are long gone and Amazon's prices today are still solid second-best options for anyone who missed those sales in June.

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

You can get the Apple Watch Ultra 3 for $699.99 in Natural and Black color options, down from $799.00. There are also a few Milanese Loop models on sale for $799.99, down from $899.00.

We've collected some of the Apple Watch Ultra 3 models currently on sale on Amazon in the list below. Amazon provides an estimated delivery date of August 10 for most of the watches, although Prime members should see same-day delivery in many locations.

• Black with Black Ocean Band - $699.99 ($99 off)
• Natural with Anchor Blue Ocean Band - $699.99 ($99 off)
• Natural with Blue/Bright Blue Trail Loop (M/L) - $699.97 ($99 off)
• Black with Black Milanese Loop (Large) - $799.99 ($99 off)
• Natural Milanese Loop (Large) - $799.99 ($99 off)

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.