The new Apple Foundation models that power this new system have been built with Google Gemini but run on-device or via a private cloud. The data is only ever used for requests and never stored; it also can’t be accessed even by Apple.

The foundation models are deeply integrated across the operating systems and cover language, images, voice and text. This means that it can interact with you through every part of the operating system and almost every application.

More than just a voice assistant

Siri now has its own app in iOS 27 and across all of this year's new platforms. This allows you to revisit past conversations you’ve had, pick them up again, and start new ones. You can also still access Siri through the voice prompt of ‘Hey Siri’, by clicking on the Siri floating symbol or by holding down the main button on the top right of your phone.

Siri now has a more conversational interaction and allows you to ask follow-up questions or react to context. So if you’re in your messages, mail or music, you can easily ask questions around what’s in front of you for Siri to answer.

This same technology follows across iPadOS and even MacOS, where you can use the Spotlight tool to engage Siri and even use visual intelligence by selecting an area of the screen to reference.

Better image editing

The advances in Apple Intelligence aren’t limited to just Siri. The photo editing tools are now also powered by AI to deliver more advanced adjustments and generation. Firstly, the clean-up tool can remove larger objects, with more accurate results. There are now three options for the process, with ‘fast’ using on-device processing and ‘high quality’ using private cloud computing. There’s also an ‘auto’ option which will pick the best option depending on your current data connection.

A new ‘extend’ tool allows you to generate content beyond the edges of the photo for when you want to zoom out or change the ratio of the image. Meanwhile, the ‘spatial reframing’ tool lets you virtually adjust the angle that the picture was taken from, keeping the subject in the same place but changing the background. Both of these functions make use of private cloud computing for the full image generation.

These functions don’t just work on newly taken photos; you can apply them to older pictures in your library, even those not taken on an Apple device. The tools are also available directly in the lock screen wallpaper selection, so that you can better adjust your images to fit.

Image Playground gets more real

One area I’m quite excited about is the expansion of Image Playground in iOS 27 and beyond. This contains new generative models to enable it to produce a range of new image styles, including photorealistic images. This is achieved using private cloud computing and images contain IPTC metadata and hidden SynthID watermarks to show it’s been digitally generated.

As before, you can pick from people in your photo library (including multiple people) or from individual photos. The results can be output in different image ratios, such as landscape, portrait or square. While you can’t pick from your labelled pets in your library, you can take an individual picture of your pet and use that as a basis.

Notifications and context

Two new Apple Intelligence features are designed to save you time and help you avoid missing updates. Call context can surface helpful information when you’re on a call or messaging. So confirmation details for a hotel or flight booking can be easily surfaced without searching through past emails, and quick actions from messages can be set as reminders in a single click.

Notify Me is a function within Safari that can be used to stay up to date on changes within your favourite websites. The function can be set to check back monthly, weekly, daily or hourly, and you can ask it to look for things like a price change, a new feature or service or a registration or ticket sale opening. You could even set it to tell you when T3 writes something new about Apple – though expect daily updates!

Premium benefits

All the Apple Intelligence features will be made available to all users when the new versions of the software launch later this year, though initially in a beta form. There will, however, be some limits on the number of operations you can perform each day. Those with iCloud Plus memberships will have higher limits and will therefore be able to perform more AI operations.

This is a similar setup as we’ve seen with Google Gemini and ChatGPT, so it’s no surprise Apple is also adopting it. I also suspect those who will want to use it the most will already have one of the higher iCloud tiers, for all the other benefits it gives, so those hitting that daily limit should be minimal.

Historically, Apple has released its new line of iPhones in early September and this year is likely to be no different. New iPhone 18 models are expected, along with iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max handsets, as well as a possible iPhone Fold.

If you want to try out some of the new iOS 27 features, you can download the public beta on your phone today. Our article shows you exactly how to do it.

The Apple iPhone X was a huge deal when it launched back in 2017, much like the folding iPhone will be this year if it finally arrives. It marked the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and was the first major design change of that decade, too. It removed the Home Button at the bottom of the screen, for starters.

As a result, the iPhone X was the first iPhone to introduce Face ID, albeit with a notch at the top of the display rather than the neat and tidy Dynamic Island we have today.

What can we thank the iPhone X for?

It also reintroduced a more premium material for the iPhone again, opting for stainless steel over the aluminium frame we had seen on the iPhone 6, 7 and 8.

You could even argue that it was the device responsible for the Pro models we know today. It normalised the idea of a more expensive iPhone alongside the regular options and paved the way for the iPhone 11 Pro, which launched two years later after the iPhone XS.

It's safe to say, then, that the iPhone X wasn’t just any regular iPhone. But despite that, its time is up. Not from a software perspective – that happened back in 2022 with iOS 16 being the last software build to be supported – but from a parts perspective.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple has updated its “Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty” support article, and the iPhone X has been added to the obsolete product list. It was moved from the vintage product list.

That means Apple has discontinued hardware service for it, so service providers can no longer order parts.

Usually, products appear on this list about seven years after they are released. The vintage list of products is said to be for devices between five and seven years old, and while parts are still available to service these, they are limited.

With the iPhone X now coming up to nine years old, it’s had a good run, so it’s not too surprising to see it move to obsolete. It also leaves a great legacy behind, so we look forward to what the 2027 iPhone brings for the twenty-year anniversary.

Let’s just say it has some big shoes to fill.

Apple should soon announce its annual iPhone launch event, currently rumoured to be taking place on 9 September, but there will be one this missing this year – the iPhone 18.

It is widely expected that the next Apple presentation will unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max and long-awaited iPhone Ultra. However, we'll more than likely have to wait until early next year for the standard model (as well as an iPhone Air 2).

That will disappoint some, with the price of the iPhone 18 Pro maybe proving too rich for those more budget conscious. Thankfully though, it looks like patience will be rewarded, with at least one industry expert predicting a couple of significant upgrades worth waiting for.

Analyst Jeff Pu has a decent track record of predicting Apple's intentions and he suggests that the iPhone 18 will arrive with Pro-level features.

Big upgrades heading to iPhone 18

According to 9to5Mac, which claims to have seen his latest research notes, there will be a notable change to the Dynamic Island, which will first be seen on the iPhone 18 Pro in the next few weeks.

The 18 Pro is said to be getting a smaller Dynamic Island to cut down on the screen-busting cutout. Its functionality will remain the same, but the pill-shaped black bar will be less obstructive when not in use (such as with the new Siri AI).

In addition, Pu claims the iPhone 18 could come with a healthy RAM boost, even during the global components crisis. He believes it will be upped to 12GB of RAM – 50% more than on the iPhone 17.

That's likely to ensure the phone works well with the new Apple Intelligence and Siri AI features coming with iOS 27 next month. It should also make the device more speedy to use generally.

It would also be a significant differentiator between the iPhone 18 and expected iPhone 18e model also expected early next year. That's tipped for 9GB of RAM.

Another renowned analyst, Ming Chi-Kuo predicted the standard model would come with 9GB, but that never made much sense – why not just buy the 18e in that case?

We'll probably have to wait a bit longer to see how this all pans out, with the iPhone 18, Air 2, and iPhone 18e currently tipped for next spring. However, at least we have Apple's first foldable to keep our attention first.

With less than a month left, Apple should soon announce the date it'll host its annual iPhone launch event and we'll finally get to see the much-rumoured iPhone Ultra. We certainly hope so, as the speculation is going overtime right now.

The latest concerns its front-facing cameras, of which there are claimed to be two, one on the outer display, one on the inner. And it's said that they'll be oddly placed – for an Apple device anyway.

That's because trusted leaker Ice Universe posted a brief video of alleged screen protectors for the forthcoming foldable on his X feed, and they reveal a couple of interesting aspects.

First, the camera hole on the outer display is in the top-right-hand corner – a first for Apple. Every other iPhone has had its camera, notch or Dynamic Island in the top centre. In addition, the camera on the inner display is also said to be ranged to one side.

This latter placement makes more sense – Apple would need to keep the sensor as far away from the hinge.

As 9to5Mac suggests, the manufacturer of the accessories could have got it wrong, or used its own guesswork, but Apple has never made anything like the iPhone Ultra before, so all bets are off.

The other odd element of the protectors is that they show a weirdly shaped display – round corners on one side and flat on the other. However, Ice Universe suggests this could be to protect the glass, but the display underneath might be rounded on each corner.

The hinge would have to have a flat edge, of course.

Some commenters actually like the idea of an irregularly-shaped iPhone though, with @NevamiZ going as far as knocking up a concept.

Whatever the outcome, we're sure the iPhone Ultra will prove to be a real talking point. And if you want to get an idea of the sort of thing it'll be capable of, you only need to check out our review of the similarly shaped and sized Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

As for the rest, we'll know for sure in just a few short weeks.

During WWDC in June, Apple announced a number of new features coming to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch later this year, when the new software is released. The software will be iOS 27 for iPhone, iPadOS 27 for iPad, macOS Golden Gate for Mac and watchOS 27 for Apple Watch, and they are expected to arrive in their final form at some point next month.

But if patience is a virtue you don’t possess, you can sign up for Apple’s beta program, which lets you download the public betas of the software for each device and try out the new features before they officially arrive. For iPhone, we’re currently on iOS 27 public beta 3, after it was released at the beginning of this week.

What does iOS 27 public beta 3 add?

The headline addition in public beta 3 is Siri's voice customisation option, which was present but greyed out in earlier beta builds – it's finally been switched on.

You can now tweak how fast and expressive Siri sounds, choosing between two base voices. However, the feature is restricted to the iPhone 17 Pro models and iPhone Air, as it requires on-device processing (and that needs the A19 Pro chip). If you are running the beta on an older iPhone, you won’t see this option appear.

Elsewhere, as detailed by the MacRumors YouTube, Apple has introduced testing of Live Recognition, a new accessibility tool that uses the iPhone’s camera to identify and describe your surroundings in real time.

Photos gets a toggle for star ratings, letting you rate your favourite shots, while Control Centre now shows your cellular signal strength alongside Wi-Fi at the top of your screen.

There’s a neat new trick for AirPods owners too, with a handy Adaptive Audio slider (in the Liquid Glass style, of course) for balancing transparency and noise cancellation.

Reminders also gets a redesigned Liquid Glass icon, while the Lock Screen gets black icons at the bottom of the screen, switching from transparent to help them show up better.

You can sign up for the public beta on Apple’s beta website. However, if you’d rather wait, iOS 27 is expected to launch around the same time as the new iPhone models, usually in early September.

Although we're still awaiting official confirmation, Apple will host a launch event next month where it will undoubtedly reveal at least three iPhone models – the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max and the much-rumoured iPhone Ultra foldable.

However, that won't be the end of its iPhone launch plans. It will follow those up with three additional devices over the coming months, with an additional three devices being spotted in iOS 27 code.

References to the six unreleased iPhones were found in the latest developer beta (iOS 27 beta 5) by Macworld. It claims to have found a lineup of internal codenames – V62, V63, V64, V67, V68, and V69 – in system files "related to the iPhone's battery drivers and Battery Intelligence features".

These codes are thought to directly relate to the iPhone Air 2, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, iPhone 18, iPhone Ultra, and the iPhone 18e respectively.

The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max have long been thought to be scheduled for the September launch event, along with the iPhone Ultra. However, speculation has long suggested that Apple will delay its other devices this year.

The iPhone 18 and iPhone Air 2 will follow early next year, it's claimed. While the iPhone 18e will likely arrive in spring, much like its predecessor. The trio could all launch at once, in fact.

We don't know much more about each phone, with no extra details found in the code so far. But the staggered release could make for an interesting few months for Apple fans, that's for sure.

When will Apple's September event take place?

We don't yet have an official date for Apple's next event, but the current thinking is that it will take place on Wednesday 9 September 2026 – that's according to Bloomberg's resident Apple expert, Mark Gurman.

As for pre-orders, although Apple tends to open orders on the first Friday after its events, the US will be marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11, as it'll be 11 September at the end of that particular week.

It'll be more likely that pre-orders will start the week after this year. Or we might even have to wait a little longer for the iPhone Ultra, for example, as the RAM and components crisis has made production schedules hard to predict.

Either way, if you already have an iPhone capable of the new Apple Intelligence features – ie. the iPhone 15 Pro and up – you'll be able to download the full release of iOS 27 and get arguably Apple's biggest suite of software upgrades in years. That could keep you going while you wait.

We’ve been waiting over two years for Apple’s new personalised, AI-powered Siri to arrive. The company first revealed it during WWDC 24, but following a number of delays, it never fully launched. Little was said about it at WWDC 25, but then at WWDC 26 this year, Apple showed off the new assistant in all its glory. It was better than many expected.

Rebranded as Siri AI, the new assistant will launch with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate and watchOS 27 when they arrive – likely next month alongside the new iPhones.

However, not all devices compatible with the new software will support Siri AI.

Your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch need to be able to support Apple Intelligence for Siri AI, and as 9to5Mac points out in a report, even then, some features, like the ability to customise Siri AI’s voice, will only be available on selected hardware.

What devices are compatible with Siri AI?

These are the models that will support Siri AI across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro – at least at the start.

• iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17e
• iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max
• iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max
• iPad Pro (M1 chip and later)
• iPad Air (M1 chip and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• All Mac models with Apple silicon (M1 chip and later, and A18 Pro chip)
• All Vision Pro models
• Apple Watch Series 9 and later
• Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later
• Apple Watch SE 3

Note that Apple Watch needs to be paired with an Apple Intelligence supported iPhone to run Siri AI.

Here’s where the complications come in, though.

For some Siri AI features, including the ability to change the pace and expressivity, you will need specific devices. According to Apple, that's the “iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, iPad models with M4 and later and at least 12GB of unified memory, Mac models with M3 and later and at least 12GB of unified memory, and Apple Vision Pro (M5)”.

So while Siri AI is almost here for older devices, it might be time to upgrade anyway.

There are some big changes coming to the iPhone with iOS 27 when it launches later this year. There's Siri AI for starters, which I’ve found surprisingly helpful in my first beta experiences.

However, alongside the more contextualised Siri are updates to native apps, including new icons for Maps and Photos, a slider to increase or decrease the Liquid Glass effect, and new photo editing tools.

What will Captured by Me offer in Photos?

Look a little deeper into the Photos app though, and there are improvements coming here too. Shared albums and slideshows are being tweaked within iOS 27, but as spotted by 9to5Mac, there is also a new Captured by Me feature that effectively acts as a camera roll.

As its name suggests, this feature will present any photos or videos that you yourself have taken on your iPhone. You won’t see any screenshots or photos friends have sent you in this section, nor any other content, so there will be no dog memes or random screenshots you’ve snapped while doomscrolling.

The Captured by Me feature can be found in the Utilities section of the Photos app, and it’s present in the latest iOS 27 beta if you want to try it out for yourself.

There is also an option to filter by Captured by Me in the iOS 27 Photos app. If you tap on the Library tab at the bottom of the Photos app and then the filter icon in the top right (three lines), you will see Captured by Me appear in the list. Tap on that, and you’ll find all the photos and videos you’ve ever taken with your iPhone’s camera.

Apple hasn’t revealed exactly when the final build of iOS 27 will be released, but if previous years are anything to go by, it should be early September, alongside the launch of the new iPhones.

As mentioned though, if you can’t wait that long to try out the Captured by Me feature, you can download the public beta of iOS 27 now.

At the end of July, Apple rolled out a new subscription service to help you get your hands on the latest iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch. The catch is that, for now at least, it's a US-only affair.

Called Apple Upgrade, the scheme is essentially a device leasing plan. Rather than paying the full price upfront or spreading the cost through a traditional instalment plan, eligible customers pay a monthly fee to use a device, with the option to swap it for a newer model, buy it outright, or hand it back once the term is up.

The scheme is backed by buy-now-pay-later specialist Klarna and covers Apple's core hardware lineup. It's restricted to the latest models though, and not all of them are available (sorry MacBook Neo).

The iPhone and Apple Watch can be leased over 12 or 24 months, while Mac and iPad are available on 24- or 36-month terms. We assume that's because these devices are more expensive.

How much do devices cost on Apple Upgrade?

Entry pricing starts at $17.99 a month for iPhone, $11.99 for Apple Watch and iPad, and $24.99 for Mac. The exact amount depends on the model you choose and whether an old device is traded in to bring the cost down.

Those old devices can be an Apple device, as you would expect, but you can trade in an Android phone too.

Anyone signing up to Apple Upgrade will need to go through a soft credit check that Apple says won't affect your credit score. You should get approval within minutes, whether applying online or at a physical Apple Store, and there are a couple of perks available within the scheme. These include the ability to earn cashback through Apple Card if you use that for payment.

Notably, the launch spells the end of the road for the older iPhone Upgrade Program and iPhone Payments scheme in the US, both of which are being retired now that Apple Upgrade is live.

Which devices are included in the Apple Upgrade program?

Apple’s Upgrade program includes the latest Apple devices, including the iPhone 17 models, Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. You can also use it with the MacBook Air (M5) and iPad Pro (M5).

The iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, Apple Watch SE, MacBook Neo, Mac mini, iPad (A16), and Studio Display are not currently available as part of the Apple Upgrade program.

Will Apple Upgrade launch in the UK?

Apple is yet to mention whether it will be bringing the Apple Upgrade leasing scheme to the UK or anywhere else outside the US. The official announcement doesn’t mention international availability, and there's no confirmed timeline for a wider rollout either. Sad times.

There's is some hope, however. Apple's AppleCare One protection bundle launched stateside first before reaching UK, France, Germany and Australia a year later, so hopefully the Apple Upgrade program could follow the same playbook.

For now, UK buyers wanting to spread the cost of a new Apple device will need to stick with existing options, such as 0 per cent finance deals through Apple's retail partners or standard carrier contracts. Apple itself offers the Flexible Finance Account option for now.

Apple has been offering its Care+ device insurance around the world for many years, but its AppleCare One subscription plan has only been available in the US... until now.

The plan, which launched in the States a year ago, is now rolling out in the UK, Australia, Germany and France too. It enables owners of multiple Apple devices to cover them all for a single monthly fee.

It includes coverage for drops, accidental damage and even loss or theft, where the devices will be repaired or replaced at no extra cost. And the subscription covers up to three devices for a standard fee of £16.99 per month (in the UK), with additional products able to be added for £4.99 per month extra each.

That provides big savings on purchasing AppleCare+ for each separate device. For example, if you have an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad, you will save up to £11.48 per month with AppleCare One against each being covered individually.

You can also swap an existing AppleCare+ plan for AppleCare One at any time.

It's also not exclusive to new devices – you can enroll products that are up to four years old, as long as they are eligible. That means they will have to be in a good condition at the time of inclusion, but can have general wear and tear. A diagnostics check may be necessary before they can be added.

Other Apple devices that can be covered include MacBook, HomePod, AirPods, Apple TV, and even an Apple Pencil.

What if I only have one Apple product?

Of course, this level of protection is not necessary if you only own one Apple device, but there's also a new version of AppleCare+ you might be interested in.

Available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, the plan now includes theft and loss, so you can have your product replaced if stolen or missing.

The plan covers up to two thefts/losses per year, while AppleCare One covers up to three thefts or losses.

You can find out more about AppleCare One on the dedicated website. Those who've recently bought an Apple device or have an existing AppleCare+ subscription can sign up or switch over directly on an iPhone, iPad or Mac.

For the last couple of months, there have been no end of reports on the rumoured iPhone Ultra. We’ve seen everything from dummy leaks to give us an idea of what it could look like, to specification rumours to let us know what we can expect in terms of things like screen sizes.

Most reports of late haven’t focused on whether Apple will launch a folding phone (that much appears to be clear) but on when. And there have been a few about its release date, with claims that could be significantly delayed, slightly delayed, or barely delayed at all.

Will the iPhone Ultra be delayed, or won't it?

Now it seems to be been flipped again. A report on DigiTimes (via 9to5Mac) suggests the delay could be back on.

DigiTimes writes that “Foxconn is now carrying out 'final mass-production adjustments' for the device”, which could lead to "production hurdles".

However, there is nothing in the report to confirm whether those adjustments are routine or an issue. So unfortunately, we are back to things being a little up in the air.

We're choosing to look at this positively though.

Samsung has just announced its latest folding phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8 with a new, wider format. It is widely thought this new shape will be showcased on the iPhone Ultra too, offering a squarer phone when folded and an iPad mini-like aspect when unfolded.

So with Samsung having put its marker down, all eyes are now on Apple and what it will bring to the folding phone space. Sure, the phone might release a little later than the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro XL, to give those devices a chance to sell, but we suspect the “final mass-production adjustments” won’t stop us seeing a folding iPhone this year.

If it is indeed on the cards.

References to a battery health feature deep in the iOS 27 beta code have given a big hint to Apple's future folding phone plans with a reference to "batteries". That pluralisation might seem like nothing, but it could point to the split cell arrangement of batteries in a folding phone.

Apple is thought to be preparing its first folding phone, generally known as the iPhone Ultra. Traditionally, the battery in book-type folding phones is split in two, so there's a cell in each half of the phone to make the best use of space.

That's led MacWorld, which found the code, to believe that this references the iPhone Ultra. The code string discovered says: "The batteries in this iPhone are performing as expected".

This is exciting because no iPhone model currently has multiple batteries, so it's thought that this feature might be to support and monitor the split cells in the iPhone Ultra.

This isn't the first time that references have been made to features that a folding iPhone might offer – previously we saw references to fold state and display numbers in the code.

Apple is expected to launch a 4:3 aspect folding phone, shorter and wider than we've seen from most other manufacturers in the past – more like a folding iPad mini.

The iPhone Ultra is expected to sit at the top of Apple's range price wise, above the iPhone 18 Pro Max that it's expected to launch alongside in September. It's said to have a 7.8-inch internal display and a 5.5-inch cover screen.

As is always the case with Apple, it's hard know what the company is planning until launch day, so there's no shortage of speculation out there.

But to play devil's advocate, there's a further explanation that might apply to the use of the word "batteries". Apple is known being rather conservative with its batteries and charging speeds, but one of the things that enables faster charging is a dual-cell battery.

This splits the battery into two storage cells and it allows for faster charging because there's the potential for better heat management. That also typically allows for higher capacity batteries too.

It could be that the reference to "batteries" is this, with Apple planning to support faster charging speeds on future devices with a dual-cell design.

However, with so much speculation pointing to Apple's entry into the folding phone segment – including brands changing their own folding phones to match Apple's plan – it's highly likely that this is, in fact, pointing towards Apple's iPhone Ultra with a battery in each half of the phone.

Apple announced iOS 27 during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June and with it, several new features that will be coming to compatible iPhones later this year. But you don’t have to wait to try many of those new tricks, the public beta is now available to sign up for and download.

Yes, beta software can be buggy (the idea is that the more people who test and report these glitches, the better the final software should be when it arrives), but if you don’t mind the odd crash or stall, the iOS 27 beta is well worth downloading.

Siri AI is one reason for this – I have been running the developer beta of iOS 27 since WWDC and have been very impressed with what Siri AI has managed to do so far.

It found a restaurant I went to in Barcelona, a recipe my mum sent me in 2023, and told me when I was free for lunch in July. But there are other great features coming with iOS 27 you'll want to try too. Here are three of my favourites.

Clean Up in Photos

Apple released the original Clean Up in 2024, allowing you to remove unwanted objects from the background of photos, like a bin or bench that ruins your shot. It was pretty good, but with iOS 27, it’s much more convincing.

It can remove larger objects and fill in the space more accurately. You can also use it on older images, so if you have a picture from a holiday a couple of months or years ago, with a pesky tourist in the background ruining your otherwise excellent selfie, give it a try and you might be surprised.

Change the way your AirPods sound

AirPods have always sounded pretty decent in my opinion, but the iOS 27 public beta allows you to tweak the way they sound to your preferences.

There is a new Custom EQ setting available with the software, allowing you to fiddle with the mids, highs and lows. The setting will work on AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2.

Automatically change compromised passwords

The iOS 27 public beta has a feature that enables Safari to change any compromised passwords for you automatically. This might not sound like a big deal, but I have 500 compromised passwords apparently, and the main reason I have so many is that I haven’t found the spare time change each one in turn.

This feature is therefore enough of a reason on its own to download the new software, for security reasons if nothing else.

How to get the iOS 27 public beta

To download and install the iOS 27 public beta, head to Apple's public beta website.

Once you're signed up, you’ll need to head to Settings > General > Software Update and then choose the ‌iOS 27‌ Public Beta to install the update.

I do recommend backing up your phone though, so you can switch back to iOS 26 should you want to.

If you can't wait for the new features coming when the iPhone 18 models launch this September, there's good news. You don't have to wait any longer!

Apple has just released its first Public Beta of iOS 27 and if you have an iPhone 11 or newer, you can download it now. Public Betas are available without the usual restrictions of the developer Betas, and can be downloaded from the same menu as regular OS updates.

To try it for yourself, simply go to Settings > General > Software Update, and select the Beta updates option. Once this is selected, you will be able to download the public beta. It is recommended to back up your phone before doing this, and note that not all apps will work correctly at first. So if you need access to certain apps, especially for medical use, it's best not to download a beta.

AI Assistant

The biggest change for iOS 27 is the new Siri AI assistant. This is powered by Apple Intelligence but has been built with Google Gemini, so is expected to offer a similar amount of power to the Google system, while remaining safely within the Apple ecosystem.

Siri AI is designed to better answer your queries with a more conversational approach, understand personal context, control features and commands in apps and access a wider pool of topics on whatever comes to mind.

There's now also a dedicated Siri app, where you can review previously asked questions and pick up the thread again, or keep for reference. you can also adjust how Siri sounds more comprehensively, including pitch, speed, tone and accent.

You can also try the new Siri for yourself by heading to Settings > Siri and select "Try the new Siri (Beta)".

More iOS 27 features

In addition to the Siri AI, iOS 27 introduces new photo editing features, allowing you to reframe your shots after taking them, including using the Extend feature, using AI to expand beyond what you actually have taken. The clean up mode has also been enhanced to provide a more accurate object removal process.

Image Playground now goes beyond creating fun versions of your portraits. You can create high quality images of just about anything you can describe in a range of photo styles, including photo realistic options.

Beyond Siri, the new OS can provide suggestions in the form of quick actions from messages and mail, to do things like add to reminders, create a calendar event or search for a photo. The Call context can also provide relevant information such as confirmation codes and booking references from your email while on a call.

There's also stronger child safety features for parents to keep kids safe, with restrictions on time allowances and schedules, and easy adjustments on the go.

The design has also had a refresh, with updates to the look of Liquid Glass , and the system is designed to work faster, with up to 30% faster app launches, 70% faster photo loading and 80% faster AirDrop transfers.

Compatible devices

• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17e
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11
• iPhone SE (2nd generation and later)

Anyone remember yo-yos? That’s what it feels like when we write up the rumours surrounding the folding iPhone. Will the iPhone Ultra launch this year? Will it be available to buy immediately? Are there issues with the hinge? Has it entered mass production? All these questions have contradicting answers out there on the web.

For example, it was only the beginning of the week where we reported that while the proposed Ultra is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro in September, it was unlikely you’d be able to get it on day one.

Supply chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo claimed Apple will have very limited supply at launch “with 3Q26 shipments at 0.5 - 1 million units”.

All is not lost

But now, a new report by MacRumors claims the iPhone Ultra is back on track to ship in September.

Apparently, Chinese financial title Cailian Press, has spoken to a number of sources within Apple’s supply chain, and they've confirmed the device is in mass production.

This was supported separately by East Money, another Chinese outlet, as well as The Bell, which is based in Korea. The MacRumours report also said that Foxconn, which is typically the assembly partner for iPhone, has been on a mass hiring spree.

Cailian Press revealed sources it had spoken to weren’t aware of any delay and a September window is therefore on track.

We still wouldn’t be overly surprised if you will need to be quick off the mark to make sure that’s the case, though. While Samsung and Google has been making foldable phones for some time now, especially in the case of Samsung, this will still be a first for iOS fans and that could make it more popular than expected.

But it’s good news that we could see the new device sooner than previously suggested. And we’d rather it wasn’t too tricky to buy, as that’s no fun for anyone.

Let’s hope instead that this is the last time we pull our yo-yo up before September, though we suspect there will still be more news on this until things are made official.

Although its products were mostly beige in the 70s and 80s (a colour it called "putty"), Apple has since embraced colour with a passion.

Essentially starting with Sir Jony Ive's crazy ideas to add vibrant hues to iMac cases, the company has since released its products in all manner of colourful themes. Indeed, some of them – such as the most recent Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro – have proved more popular than the standard models.

And the Product Red devices have raised more than $270 million (£201 million) for the fight against AIDS over the last two decades, showing there's more than just an expanded range at stake.

I myself am a sucker for a different colour when it comes to phone and devices upgrades – and I'm looking forward to seeing if Apple does indeed have a scarlet iPhone 18 Pro up its sleeve this year. But until then, it's also worth taking a look back, as seeing the different colours Apple's adopted over the years is a fun and fascinating exercise for lovers of tech design.

Thankfully, Akash Wadhwani and The Data Drop has made it very simple for us to do just that. The site is a cornucopia of intriguing, interactive collections wrapped in gorgeous design – and the latest shows every colour of every Apple device since those infamous iMacs.

Like a virtual museum, it takes us through the history of Apple's most colourful creations, from Mac and iPod to iPhone and Apple Watch. And click on any of the products and you get information on the colour and release date.

It's a great collection – like a Where's Wally (Waldo) for Apple lovers.

And to be fair, it's a beacon of brightness at a time when prices are soaring, stock is shrinking, and tech launches are becoming fewer and farther between.

The only thing we will say though, perhaps it's for the best that Apple ditched that strange baby nappy brown chosen for the second-gen iPod Shuffle. We'd keep it that way.

Apple has overhauled the engine behind RAW photography on iPhone, and the before-and-after examples shown during a developer session at WWDC 26 (via 9to5Mac) suggest it could outperform what dedicated professional cameras produce straight out of the box.

Shooting in RAW means the unprocessed data is saved straight from a camera's sensor rather than a compressed JPEG, which allows photographers to push exposure, colour and white balance much further in editing without the image falling apart.

Apple builds this processing into the operating system itself via its Core Image framework, and the pipeline already knows how to handle the quirks of nearly 800 different camera models, from third-party mirrorless bodies to iPhones’ own sensors.

That pipeline is getting its ninth rework with iOS 27, arriving alongside macOS 27 and iPadOS 27 later this ‘fall’. Apple engineer David Hayward introduced RAW 9 during the session "Enhance RAW image processing with Core Image," describing it as the company's biggest step forward yet in this area.

You can watch the full session on the Apple Developer site should you wish to, but in a nutshell, RAW 9 will see a single machine-learning model handling both sharpening fine detail and stripping out noise, running on the iPhone's Neural Engine chip.

What will RAW 9 be able to do?

The session had some examples to show what RAW 9 would be capable of too, including a Canon 5D Mark III image of a crayon box captured at ISO 51,200, a setting that usually leaves colour data a bit of a mess.

Apple's outgoing RAW 8 engine salvaged the scene to some degree, but RAW 9 cleanly separated out each individual crayon colour, right down to capturing the shine on their surfaces.

In a second example, embroidery yarn shot on a Fujifilm X-T5 presented sharper lettering and far cleaner texture under the RAW 9 system.

That’s not even the best news though. RAW 9 will work with existing RAW photos already sitting on your phone, so when iOS 27 lands later this year, those photos will be able to be reprocessed and you might be surprised with how much better some shots could become.

We’re just a couple of months out from September (we know, the year flown by) and if you follow the technology launch calendar, you’ll know that means a couple of things.

First, we should see some new foldable phones and potentially smartwatches from Samsung soon, with its next Galaxy Unpacked event taking place on 22 July. Second, Google should treat us to some new Pixels, probably sometime in August. And lastly, Apple’s next iPhones should follow in September, and with a little twist to the norm this year, too.

Will the iPhone Ultra launch the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro?

It is widely speculated that Apple will finally introduce a folding iPhone this year – the iPhone Ultra. However, a new report suggests the device may face delivery delays, so it could be tricky to get hold of one.

Supply chain analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac) has claimed the folding iPhone will have very limited supply at launch.

“My latest industry survey indicates that assembly shipments for the foldable iPhone in 2H26 will be roughly 7-8 million units, with 3Q26 shipments at 0.5-1 million units, or about 10 per cent of the total," he explained in a report.

"By comparison, estimated 3Q26 shipments of the iPhone 18 Pro / Pro Max total roughly 20-22 million units, significantly higher than the foldable iPhone and already meeting the inventory requirement for an official launch.”

Based on those numbers, it’s fair to say it could be exceptionally difficult to get your hands on a folding iPhone before the end of the year. In his report, Kuo also noted that delivery times could be as much as six weeks and potentially longer.

The device is expected to thinner than the iPhone Air when unfolded, at below 5mm and it is thought to offer a similar shape to the iPad mini when open. According to rumours, the iPhone Ultra could have a 5.5-inch external display, and a 7.8-inch internal display.

For now, there is no official confirmation on whether the folding iPhone will launch this year alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models. If it does, though, it might be worth expecting Apple to take the same approach as it did with the iPhone X to avoid disappointment.

Apple has reportedly increased the number of iPhone Ultra folding phone models in manufacture, as the company expects high interest in the new device. It's said that Apple will manufacture 10 million units of the new iPhone Ultra model.

The revised figure comes from Nikkei Asia (via 9to5Mac), increasing the estimate from the original order for 7-8 million phones. That's almost a 30% increase in the expected numbers that Apple will produce, according to a source close to the company.

The new folding iPhone is expected to land with a high asking price, expected to be around $2,500 (around £1,900, but Apple often doesn't directly exchange prices in different regions).

While the estimates for these devices are increasing, the report also says that Apple is increasing iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max numbers too, while the message going out to suppliers is to forecast "up to 85 million new iPhones for the second half of 2026".

While demand for the new folding model seems to be increasing, it will be dwarfed by demand for the updated iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

In a change to the normal launch cycle, it's been rumoured that Apple will be launching the iPhone Ultra alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September, with the iPhone 18 expected to follow at an event in March 2027.

That will allow Apple to focus on its premium models and drive sales of higher value phones, before the availability of more affordable models the following year. In 2026, the updates to the iPhone 17 were so good, that we said in our review that if you don't need a telephoto camera, then take the iPhone 17 over the Pro.

When the new iPhone models do launch in September, the iPhone Ultra is expected to garner most of the attention, with the iPhone 18 Pro expected to have much the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro, but introduce a few new elements like new colours, a variable aperture camera and new core hardware.

The iPhone Ultra will go head-to-head with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, a wider format of folding phone from Samsung who has dominated much of the book-style folding phone market outside China to date.

The switch in format has seen the iPhone Ultra likened to a folding iPad Mini and it's expected that Apple's experience from iPadOS will help usability on the larger display.

Those of you who keep up to date with your iPhone rumours will know that things are set to change from later this year. While we'd normally expect to see a full suite of new handsets every Autumn, things could be very different this time out.

According to a slew of rumours from the last year or so, the base model iPhone will be left out of the Autumn event. That will leave only the Pro models and the long-awaited iPhone Ultra – the brand's first foldable phone – launched at that event.

Instead, the base model iPhone 18, the iPhone 18e and the iPhone Air 2 are all slated to arrive early in 2027. That could give rise to one of the most phone-heavy release years the brand has ever had, with six models slated to drop.

That would see those three married with another trio in the following Autumn, with the iPhone 19 Pro models and an iPhone Ultra 2. It's a lot to take in, and it also confirms that Apple is anticipating a yearly release cycle with its Ultra device.

Some had called that into question, after the launch of the iPhone Air. That – at least according to these rumours – seems to be on a two-yearly launch cycle, and some predicted that a foldable would follow suit.

The leak also suggests that all three of the models launching in the early part of 2027 will come with no major upgrades to the screen specs. That will disappoint some users, though it is likely a necessary evil to combat price hikes in the wake of the RAMageddon crisis.

Personally, I'm more annoyed about the splitting of the model family. Having the Pro version of a device launch prior to the standard version just feels clumsy and confusing.

Anyone who has been following the Apple story and, specifically, via the technology media will remember "bargate" – the moment in 2010 when a prototype iPhone 4 was accidentally left in a bar and found its way into the hands of Gizmodo.

It ended in criminal proceedings and a lot of ill feeling. And it could be argued that the tech site has never truly been the same again.

Well, as scandalous and shocking as it was at the time (and admittedly, a little exciting), it could turn out to be nothing in comparison with the new, major Apple leak.

As revealed by Reuters, a data breach at one of Apple's main suppliers – Tata Electronics – has resulted in many thousands of files hitting the dark web and slowly winding their way onto the general internet. And many of those contain images and documents about the forthcoming iPhone 18 Pro.

Trusted leakers Evan Blass and Ice Universe have each posted videos of the alleged device, too. And while it hasn't been confirmed whether they were part of the data breach, they do seem official.

Ice Universe calls it the "biggest leak in Apple's history".

The online leaker credits Evan Blass (@evleaks) for the video, but it seems to have been taken down Blass' own feed. He's followed up with another angle instead.

If these are genuinely of the iPhone 18 Pro, it's clear to see that the phone will look almost identical to the current 17 Pro model. That's likely the case with the iPhone 18 Pro Max too.

Ice Universe does even state that the "real star" will be the foldable iPhone Ultra. And that's where Apple will be even more worried.

What else is coming from the huge Apple data leak?

Considering the stolen data dump comprises an estimated 200,000 files, how many of them relate to the iPhone Ultra?

If they start to get out more widely, Apple will have a tricky task in containing the leak – and controlling the narrative.

Some companies wouldn't care that much and embrace the "free" publicity and hype, but that's never been Apple's way. It would rather have some surprises to behold during its iPhone keynote and in many ways, we agree.

It's just becoming harder to do these days – after all, how much of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Unpacked will truly show us something we don't know about its new foldables? And we've seen plenty of other smaller leaks and CAD renders to have a good idea of what everything looks like from both manufacturers.

But there is something to be said about the mystique of a big tech launch – so we hope Apple has at least something else up its sleeve, and doesn't have to spend the next few months firefighting its "biggest leak" in its history.

So, that means it could be worth looking back rather than forward, and seeing whether iPhones already on the market could offer the best value moving forward. That's what I've been doing this Amazon Prime Day, and it's left me thinking the iPhone Air might just be the best iPhone deal hidden in plain sight right now.

When we reviewed the iPhone Air last year, we were impressed by its build quality and design, unsurprisingly, and that impression has only become more cemented over time. It's really amazing how thin and light the phone is, especially when compared with the Pro models that you might be used to.

That makes the Air really nice to carry around in a pocket or bag by comparison, and its big screen ensures you don't feel any real compromise. Crucially for future-proofing it also has the A19 Pro chip inside it, which means that all of Apple's much-anticipated Siri AI upgrades will work when they're deployed, which is far from true for every iPhone released in the last few years.

The big question for me remains around battery life, given that's my beef with my slowly ageing 15 Pro. I now have to carry a slim battery pack around with me most of the time, since navigation kills the phone pretty fast, and that's a bummer that I'd like to avoid with the Air. Since it's less than a year old, it's hard to know how the battery will hold up over time, but I'm hopeful that it could be solid for a good few years.

I'm mulling this one over, but if you've been eyeing up the Air for while, then you might want to pull the trigger more quickly – this price might not last all that long.

It seems that RAMageddon is about to claim another victim – and this one is going to hurt millions of us. Fresh rumours and reports over the price of the iPhone 18 Pro suggest it's going to hit consumers in the wallet like never before.

It comes after Tim Cook confirmed that price rises were "unavoidable" across the Apple portfolio. The reason seems clear – ongoing RAM and component shortages arising from the unprecedented needs of AI data centres.

Now, the folks over at the Wall Street Journal have taken an educated guess at the cost of the new handset. That could see a start price of US$1,399 (approx. £1,050 / €1,220 / AU$1,995) for the handset. It's worth noting that Apple often prices its devices to the same number irrespective of location, so the actual figure could be more bleak here in the UK and Europe.

Sticking with the US pricing for ease, that would represent a US$300 price hike over the current entry point for the iPhone 17 Pro. It's going to be a pretty gnarly pill to swallow for consumers, particularly after a few years of miniscule or no rises.

What's more concerning is that it's likely to shape a trend across the wider phone market. It's no secret that Apple's size and influence makes it a bit of a figurehead.

If the cost of an iPhone goes up to account for the RAM shortage, you can bet your bottom dollar that every other phone will also go up to match it. That makes the whole thing less appealing, and could have some really devastating consequences for the market at large.

It feels like an inevitability at this point – particularly as there seems to be no sign of the RAM shortage easing in the near future – but it's still a nuisance for cash-strapped tech lovers.

We've been writing about the iPhone Ultra for more than a year – previously as the "iPhone Fold" – but it's only now that we've realised what it really is. And you know what? It's not actually an iPhone at all.

Nope, while it might still be called iPhone Ultra on release (although that's not confirmed, either), at its heart it's actually a foldable iPad. A foldable iPad mini, to be precise.

Serial Apple leaker Jon Prosser has revealed a set of new renders on his FPT (FrontPageTech) YouTube channel, which show the concept more clearly.

He claims the animated renders are the "most accurate" and up-to-date yet, and they show an inner display that looks more like an iPadOS homescreen than iOS. So, is this an iPhone than opens, or actually an iPad that folds?

It's actually both, of course, but you'll only likely buy one to use that internal screen regularly – after all, why not just buy the iPhone 18 Pro Max if you want a big screen iPhone?

It's raison d'être is to be a bigger screen device that you can fold in half to more easily carry around. So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I put it to you that it's actually an iPad mini Ultra. Ahem.

All that aside, Prosser's new renders certainly make the device look good – with that (almost) crease-less inner display and a relatively slim build. We're not sure exactly, but it would be good to see some of the more iPad-centric features found in iPadOS creep into the iOS 27 system it is likely to employ – such as Stage Manager and Apple Pencil support.

Prosser also states that it'll only be available in white or black, although it will also be interesting to see the cases Apple could release – how much extra girth could they add?

But, perhaps the biggest question mark that still lingers is on pricing. With Tim Cook saying this week that Apple products will get more expensive due to the RAM crisis, and the iPhone 18 Pro even thought to cost $200 extra this year, will the iPhone iPad mini Ultra break the $2,000 / £2,000 barrier?

Sadly, I think it's inevitable. We'll find out for sure come September.

Tim Cook will soon step down as Apple CEO, with engineer John Ternus set to take over in September, but it seems one of his last jobs before he goes is to confirm a price hike on Apple products.

"Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable," Cook told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. "We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable."

No other details were shared, including which products that are to be affected, but the move always seemed inevitable.

Component costs have risen to record highs in the last year or so, with the prices of RAM and storage in particular being three to four times more than they were previously.

And sadly, while the focus of the recent WWDC 26 was mainly dedicated to the upcoming launch of Siri AI, it and other AI systems are largely to blame.

Why is AI to blame for the RAM crisis?

The global RAM shortage – often referred to as "RAMageddon" – has been enacted by the rapid rise of AI data centres. They require vast amounts of RAM chips, and so AI companies have been snaffling them up faster than an anteater at a picnic.

It has had a knock-on affect with other components too, including SSD storage, and so many tech products have seen price increases or even cancellations this year. Analytics firm CCS Insights even believes we'll see the mobile phone market shrink by 15% by the end of 2026 as a result.

Apple was initially thought to have safe guarded itself by stockpiling chips prior to the crisis, but is clearly running out of available hardware. And as Cook has confirmed, it will now pass on its costs to consumers.

This could mean that the expected iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max models will be more expensive than their predecessors when they arrive in September. The much-rumoured foldable iPhone Ultra was already expected to be in the $2,000 - $2,500 category.

However, the price increases could start sooner, with existing devices seeing big hikes.

So, if you are after an Apple product and not waiting for its fall (autumn) releases, you should consider taking the plunge now. Or better still, wait until next week and see what the Amazon Prime Day sale has to offer.

Apple announced a new version of Siri during WWDC 26, which drags the voice assistant kicking and screaming into the AI era. And so, after a false start in 2024 following the announcement of Apple Intelligence, a more capable Siri AI will debut with the arrival of iOS 27.

It'll also spell the end of the current assistant, which has seemingly had its run.

We've already tried out Siri AI, which now has a dedicated app, and it promises much greater scope than Siri previously offered. Like Google's Gemini is to Google Assistant, Siri AI is to Siri and that experience is going to be universal across all Apple devices.

It helps Apple reset its position with AI, having struggled to deliver the experience that was originally promised – and when iOS 27 lands, phones from the iPhone 15 Pro and newer will get access to the new and improved Siri AI.

The reason that Apple has taken so long to reach this point is because it basically had to start again. The voice assistant – first announced in 2011 – has become the subject of much ridicule over the years, as rivals like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant outstripped its functionality.

But that now changes, with Apple's agreement with Google to use Gemini technology a part of the puzzle.

In a recent interview (via 9to5Mac), Mike Rockwell – who now leads the team developing Siri – confirmed that Apple "rebuilt Siri from the ground up, literally, tore it to the ground".

Apple had previously "built a first version of this that was sort of incremental on top of the original Siri that added tool calling, and we had it working. But we didn’t feel it was really delivering on the vision and the experience that we wanted to do".

That means the new Siri is now a completely different beast to the previous version: this isn't the old Siri with bits bolted on: "It allowed us to build a profoundly more capable Siri. So it’s a Siri that has its own application, it’s natively multimodal, it’s privacy from the ground up," said Rockwell.

While Siri will be supported on iPhone models back to iPhone 15 Pro – the same as Apple Intelligence – the very best version of Siri AI, which allows "expressive voices and more advanced dictation" will only be available on iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Those are the models that have 12GB RAM – something that Apple typically doesn't talk about, and doesn't include in the specifications on its product pages. Now, in the AI era, RAM becomes much more important.

It'll also be available on any new iPhone models coming later this year, of course – such as the company's first foldable, the iPhone Ultra.

For those with an iPhone older than iPhone 15 Pro, we expect that "old" Siri will keep plodding on, but a bit like Google Assistant, it will likely stay in place but get no new functionality.

Giving a child a phone or tablet is never an easy decision – the internet is wonderful, but there are many parts of it that aren’t, and it’s difficult to stay on top of our own devices, let alone constantly monitoring our children’s too.

Indeed, the UK government has just announced a ban on social media platforms for under-16s, which comes into affect next year. So the subject is clearly a concern for many.

Apple is one of the brands looking to do something about its own devices.

It already offered a number of new child safety features for its iPhones, iPads and Macs, but those are expanding with iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 later this year. From a new Ask to Browse feature to redesigned Screen Time controls, here’s what’s new and why they should make it easier to keep your child safe.

Set up is easier

The starting point for all of Apple's parental controls is a child account, which Apple is making easier to set up.

In my WWDC 26 demo, it took around five minutes to set up a box-fresh device for a child. You are walked through the account creation process step by step, with initial options allowing you to choose to set up a device for someone 12 or younger, a teen aged 13-17, or an adult over 18.

Once a child account is active, age-appropriate restrictions are automatically applied across the system, from blocking adult websites in Safari to filtering out age-inappropriate apps in the App Store.

You can also decide exactly which apps are available on the device from the outset, with the option to start with a minimal set, such as Phone, Messages and Photos, and add more over time as your child grows.

In addition to selecting ‘Allowed Apps’, you can determine ‘Allowed Websites’ and select the rating for what content is allowed, too, like '9+' or ‘Clean’.

Control in your hands

Building on the existing Ask to Buy feature, which requires your permission before a child downloads an app, Apple has introduced Ask to Browse for Safari.

It works in a very similar way: when a child tries to visit a website that hasn't been pre-approved, a request is sent to the parent's device via Apple’s Messages app. You, as the parent, can then approve or deny it from wherever you are. The feature works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Pre-approved websites are clever too. You can make sure something like Times Table Rock Stars (TTRS) is approved, while limiting YouTube by only approving certain channels and YouTubers, for example.

It means the pre-approved website list can be as granular as you want, giving you more control over what your child can and can’t access.

There’s control over contacts, too. It was previously possible to set Communication Limits, allowing parents to select the contacts a child could talk to during specific times. However, with the new software, this feature has been extended.

If a child wants to add a new contact, they first need parental approval with the request coming through in Messages, like Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse, where the parent can then accept or decline.

There’s also a feature called Communication Safety, which already automatically blurred nudity detected in Messages and FaceTime video calls, though sadly not apps like WhatsApp at the moment.

With the new software, this feature will now detect and block gore and violent content in shared images and videos as well, and it is turned on by default for all users under 18. Again, this will work in Apple’s native apps, though there are APIs that would allow third-party apps to adopt the feature.

In the future, I’d love to see Communication Safety expand to look out for bullying or specific words that might indicate bullying in messages, but for now, these features all contribute to making it easier to keep children safer on devices, and that’s great to see.

Easier monitoring

Parental controls on Apple devices have long had Screen Time, but it was somewhat limited. With iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate, there is a new Time Allowance feature that lets parents set separate limits by app category – like Entertainment, Games, and Social Media.

Apple provides age-based starting points drawn from expert research that you can adjust to suit your family.

The redesigned Screen Time dashboard, meanwhile, gives you a cleaner, at-a-glance view of daily usage and the apps your kids are using most.

You can pause device access instantly, in case someone isn’t doing what they are told and they need a time out. On the flip side, you can also extend a limit quickly if your kid needs a few more minutes to finish something or perhaps you are giving them a reward.

Other features coming with iOS 27 include a Screen Time Passcode Notifications alert for parents if the Screen Time passcode is entered on a child's device. This might give you a heads-up if a child is attempting to change their own restrictions.

User Reporting Tools are also being expanded globally, allowing harmful content to be flagged directly to Apple from more countries and regions. And the company has also launched a dedicated website for parents, covering setup guides, recommended settings, and answers to common questions.

Determined teenagers will always find workarounds, and no features replace actual conversations with your children about how to behave online and the dangers of online. But the new tools coming with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 are considered, easier to set up and maintain than those that came before.

They're certainly a step in the right direction, which I am thrilled about.

We’ve been waiting a while (since WWDC 24, if you’ve been counting), but the new, more personalised and contextualised Siri will finally arrive this year. It comes in the form of Siri AI, and was revealed at Apple’s WWDC26 alongside new Apple Intelligence features, which include new photo editing tools and Suggestions in messages.

I’ve now had a few demos of the new Siri AI, but I have also been playing with it myself on my iPhone 16 Pro Max using the iOS 27 Developer Beta. I must admit, I have been pleasantly surprised so far.

Siri AI actually does what I want

There are a few things I have asked Siri AI to do. I started with asking it to find my Swedish auntie’s marinade recipe that my mum had sent me in Messages. The recipe is in Swedish and my mum sent it as a photo back in 2023.

My prompt to Siri AI was: “Can you find the BBQ marinade recipe I was sent by Mum”. Much to my surprise, Siri summarised the conversation my mum and I had had about the marinade and highlighted a couple of messages at the bottom of the results in the "sources". Tapping one of the two listed messages took me to the photo I needed.

I also asked Siri AI to tell me which dates in July I could do a lunch meeting (turns out I am pretty free in July except a few dates, which Siri listed for me), and I asked Siri AI to create an event every Friday in July from 6pm to 8pm, which it managed without a problem.

When my friend Aaron sent me a message in the Messages app asking if I was free for dinner on a specific date, I asked Siri to check my calendar and find alternatives when it noted a clash. It then constructed a message in a similar tone to the rest of our conversation to respond to him.

Other examples I tested Siri AI with included asking it to pull a packing list from an email I received with information about WWDC, and add it to a Reminder list with a note to pack when I got back to the hotel. I didn’t tell it which hotel but Siri knew.

When I asked it to show me photos from my holiday to Sweden last year, it pulled up all the photos I took, along with ones from this year. And asking it how much I spent on train station parking last month also returned the right result (based on me prompting it with the sender to look for in my email receipts).

There are a few things Siri AI didn’t quite manage, yet

Of course, Siri AI is still very much in beta, and with this come a few dropouts and errors.

While it found the messages with the photo of the marinade I was talking about earlier, it didn’t pull out the photo in its initial response. I had to click on the message from the source, then the photo and then I was able to ask Siri to translate it, which it then did brilliantly.

When I asked it how much I spend on my window cleaning every month, it told me I had a direct debit going out (which it knew from my emails), but despite the email saying the amount, Siri didn’t give me this.

I also asked it for my driving licence number, knowing that I had a photo of it in my Photos, but it didn’t retrieve this surprisingly.

What about the new Apple Intelligence features?

As for the Apple Intelligence features, these seem to work very well. The Reframe feature for photos is very impressive, allowing you to adjust the composition of a shot after you took it.

I got it to reframe a shot of me next to a WWDC sign, and it handled my patterned dress, as well as the translucent sign. Extend also works well, expanding a photo by up to 25% on each side and I had good results with Clean Up too, especially when selecting the "High Quality" option.

Suggestions also work well, with helpful buttons like "Add to Calendar" appearing when someone suggests a date in a message, and the ability to use natural language to describe a calendar invite is much more user-friendly than filling in all the fields separately.

I enjoyed playing around with creating Shortcuts using natural language, too – my test subject Aaron is going to enjoy receiving a message when I leave the Apple Visitor Centre after I finish this story.

A couple of things worth remembering

I use Apple’s native apps, including Mail, Messages and Apple Photos, so I am probably one of the best use cases for Siri AI at the moment.

In the Developer Beta of Siri AI, it wasn’t able to use context from an open WhatsApp chat screen with Aaron to search my calendar for the new lunch date that had been suggested, instead only pulling from the initial message in Messages about dinner.

There will also no doubt be a number of other hurdles Siri and third-party developers still need to overcome.

But from my interactions so far, Siri AI is head and shoulders above the current assistant, which, is quite frankly useless in comparison. It’s taken a couple of years more than I'd have liked, but so far, Siri AI actually seems to be pretty good.

During its WWDC 26 keynote, Apple revealed that iOS 27 will work on pretty much every iPhone released in the last seven years – from the iPhone 11 and up.

However, it has now also been confirmed that the vast majority of them won't be getting all the new features. In fact, only a small handful will support the most powerful on-device Apple Intelligence and Siri AI capabilities.

That's because, as 9to5Mac explains, the more advanced features will require at least 12GB of RAM to operate, while most older iPhone models have a maximum of 8GB. Of those currently available, only the iPhone 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air fit that particular bill. Even the iPhone 17 is not powerful enough.

The same is true with other Apple devices. You'll need an iPad running on at least M4 silicon and with 12GB of RAM, or a Mac on M3 with 12GB.

The better news is that most of the new features will work on other models too, although they will require data connections and are likely to return slower results, as they'll need to use Apple's remote Private Cloud Compute services to process commands.

We don't know yet which models those will be, and whether all iPhones will support the remote services. However, it is likely many of the more creative features, such as the enhanced Image Playground, will be included in that category.

When will the new Apple Intelligence and Siri AI launch?

Siri AI will arrive with the full release of iOS 27 – likely in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and new, foldable iPhone Ultra.

It will be restricted to supported iPhones set to English language as default.

Unfortunately, that won't include any devices in the EU. Apple has decided to withhold Siri AI support from users in the European Union on privacy and security grounds, as it gets to grips with the ramifications of the EU's Digital Markets Act.

Many of the Apple Intelligence features unveiled during WWDC will be more widely available across multiple countries.

A developer beta of iOS 27 is available to download now, but it is highly inadvisable to do so unless you know what you're doing. The software can be bug-ridden and missing some other important phone features.

A public beta will follow in July.

Several new features are coming to iPhone when iOS 27 launches later this year, from performance improvements like faster AirDrop transfers (not that I find it particularly slow now) to new child safety features.

The new (and very long-awaited) Siri AI is unsurprisingly a highlight of the upcoming software, along with a few new Apple Intelligence features. So, here are the top five iOS 27 features that really caught my attention during my in-person demos at WWDC 26. They are the ones I'm looking forward to most.

1. A more helpful assistant in Siri AI

We’ve been waiting a long time for the new contextually aware Siri – two years in fact – but from what I was shown, it looks like it might finally be ready to be a helpful personal assistant.

Siri AI is a redesigned assistant powered by Apple Intelligence and unlike the old Siri, it handles open-ended questions, brainstorms ideas, and holds natural back-and-forth conversations.

It understands personal context, surfacing buried emails, old photos, or saved notes with a simple request. It can also take actions across apps like Messages, Music, and Reminders, and tap into the web for up-to-date answers on pretty much any topic.

A new, dedicated Siri app keeps all your conversations synced across iPhone, iPad and Mac, and it can also write drafts and match your personal tone for each recipient you reply to, as long as you have at least two messages with them for context.

2. Clever new photo editing skills

The enhanced photo-editing skills were rumoured before WWDC kicked off, but I’ve now seen them in action, and they are impressive.

A new ‘Tools’ icon appears alongside Adjust, Filters and Crop when you tap to edit a photo. From here, there’s a Reframe feature that allows you to change the composition of a photo – perhaps you got the angle slightly wrong or didn’t notice the sign in the background, for example.

Clean Up, which lets you remove unwanted objects from a photo, has also been upgraded. In the demo I saw, Clean Up was able to remove a chair and large cuddly toy from an image, place a child’s leg in its place and even match the stripy sock from the child’s other leg.

There’s also Extend, which lets you expand a photo by 25% in any direction.

3. Context-aware suggestions

Siri Suggestions bring intelligent, context-aware actions into Apple’s native apps and this is one feature I am really looking forward to see expand.

To start with, in Messages and Mail, quick actions might be suggested based on your conversation, such as adding a calendar event or opening the Photos app to send a photo.

It can also proactively surface relevant information during phone calls, such as pulling up a confirmation code from your inbox while you're on the line with an airline.

It’s taken further with the Shortcuts app, where you can simply describe a task in plain language, and Siri can build a multi-step automation that connects actions across multiple apps. I can see plenty of potential here.

4. Fixing passwords without my input

This is not one to be underestimated. If you have compromised passwords in the passwords app, you’ll have no excuse for not sorting those out with iOS 27.

The Passwords app in the new software takes the hassle out of keeping your accounts secure. It automatically alerts you to any weak or compromised passwords and can update them on your behalf with no manual effort from you required except one quick tap.

5. Personalising Liquid Glass

This one might not seem that exciting, but for those who found the Liquid Glass design of iOS 26 a little hard to read, there’s a new slider in iOS 27 that will help.

The slider can be found in the Appearance section of Settings, and will allow you to personalise how Liquid Glass looks across your iPhone.

It can be dialled anywhere from ultra clear to fully tinted, with the latter making it a little easier to see. The new software also improves the underlying Liquid Glass design itself, with more uniform refraction and better contrast.

Apple has said iOS 27 will be available from this fall (autumn), though there should be a public beta available from July if you want to try some of the new features out beforehand.

It will be compatible on iPhones from the iPhone 11 and newer, but Siri AI and Apple Intelligence features require an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 model or iPhone 17 model.

The iPhone Ultra is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro in September 2026. That will see Apple with its first foldable phone, but thanks to WWDC 2026 a number of references to the forthcoming device might have surfaced.

The first of these cropped up in the iOS 27 developer beta, which was released immediately after the keynote. That's given some users time to dive through the code and find new references.

Highlighted by 9to5Mac, X user @samhenrigold pointed out that within the code were references to "foldState" and "angleDegrees", as well as a new MobileGestalt key to highlight the number of displays on a device.

MobileGestalt is a system library in iOS that the device can refer to – and in the past, all iPhones have had one display, so there's been no need to find out how many displays there are. In a folding phone, you'd need that information, because there are two.

That perhaps hints that iOS 27 is ready to support a new format of device.

Elsewhere, some users have spotted that iPhone mirroring on macOS can be resized to look like an iPad, with many suggesting this is preparation to support the iPhone Ultra's unfolded display.

While there might not be a need to mirror the iPhone Ultra's main display, it perhaps gives an insight into how apps might shift from the external display to the main internal display.

That's not the only place where this happens: with the introduction of Xcode's Device Hub, apps can quickly be resized, again giving us a good look at how developers might adapt apps for a different display. Of course, this could just be about making apps work better across iPhone and iPad.

Although digging through the details of code and minor references for a hint of iPhone Ultra might seem a little desperate, there's another Easter egg that some are pointing to. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is a smoking gun, but definitely looks like it's designed to get people talking.

Part of the presentation by Stacey Ford takes place in mock workshop environment, with tables filled with tools and devices in pieces.

On a quick pan we pass some of the usual suspects, like an Apple Watch in bits, there's the latest iPhone and then a tray with some thicker devices on them. Some are pointing to these as folding device prototypes.

As I said, it's hardly a smoking gun. The tray in question has a blower brush (common in photography) and what looks like a pocket magnifying glass of some type, so there's sort of a photography theme happening there and very little that looks like an iPhone Ultra.

Still, if you're looking for it, you'll find it, even if it's not actually there.

If you've been around the tech space for a while, you'll know that the near-constant back-and-forth between Apple and the European Union is almost perpetual. The two often find themselves at loggerheads, which has caused some high-profile moments over the years.

Now, it seems to be rearing its head once again. Mentioned briefly at WWDC 2026 and noted in the footnotes of its press briefing, Apple confirmed that the new Siri AI feature would "not be available initially in the EU."

Well, that's a half truth, actually. It'll be available across MacBooks, Apple Watches and Apple Vision Pro, but will be held back for iPad and iPhone users.

Why? Well, it all comes down to the EU's Digital Markets Act. That's nothing new, and is designed to ensure fair competition in digital spaces, but forcing larger technology gatekeepers to follow rules around open app stores, data sharing and more.

Now, that's not too much of an issue for Android phones, where that kind of open functionality has been a feature for years. But Apple has made a big deal of its walled garden design, so it's more of a change there.

According to a press release from the brand, Apple offered a range of solutions to effectively find a middle ground, which were rejected by the EU. That release goes on to regale horror stories about some – notably unnamed – AI agents stealing data and altering files.

Personally, I'm slightly sceptical. While I have no doubts that Apple wants to keep its users walled into its own services, I can't help but feel that these claims are somewhat embellished – particularly with other brands seemingly able to comply.

Still, there's one ray of light for those of us in the UK – it's not set to affect us. The issue only arises for those in the 27 member states of the EU, leaving the UK unaffected.

After two years of waiting, Siri AI is now here. Announced (again) at WWDC 2026, the new AI-powered assistant looks set to be the big highlight of the event, complete with the promise of some killer features.

For starters, the system is built on the brand's next-gen Apple Intelligence platform. That's built in collaboration with Google's Gemini, which should offer a more stable base than Apple's previous attempt. It's pretty recognisable, too, so anyone who has spent a long time using Gemini in the past will feel right at home.

The new Siri can use personal context, as well as context from what's on your screen, in order to provide a more natural, conversational experience. In the presentation, we see the user ask where a location in an image is, with Siri able to recognise it and share a location.

It'll also be able to recognise the people and faces in your image library, making it easier than ever to find images. You can say things like "find the picture of John from our trip to the park in April" and it should be able to do just that.

The voice has also changed, with a lot more expressiveness in its delivery. It's quite cool, if a little cringey, especially when you hear it trying to use modern slang and language. It's a bit like hearing your Granny do the same.

You can even adjust the pace and expressivity of the voice, as well as change the accent, to really tailor the assistant to exactly how you'd like them to respond.

There are lots of dedicated changes for the system on Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro and MacBooks, too. Most notably, that includes the ability to speak to Siri from the Spotlight window on Mac, and to simply look at the Siri window and start speaking on Vision Pro.

Apple has announced that iPhones released as long as seven years ago will continue to support the latest iOS software. All handsets that can run iOS 26 will essentially run iOS 27 too.

Speaking during the WWDC 26 keynote address, the company revealed that the iPhone 11 and above will work with the next big upgrade.

The iPhone 11 was released in 2019 and so was never expected to meet the cut this time around, but it'll get many of the new features and tweaked Liquid Glass design – much like the latest devices, too.

The list also includes a couple of iPhone SE models as well.

iOS 27 iPhone compatibility list

• iPhone SE (2nd generation)
• iPhone SE (3rd generation)
• iPhone 11
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro
• iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 17e

Of course, not all of the new features will make their way onto the older devices. The current Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and above, for example.

It would be hugely surprising for the new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence capabilities to appear on anything less.

However, there will be plenty of other new tools and features that will be available, such as the tweaked Liquid Glass design where you can adjust the translucency of the background. Or the new parental controls to limit content for youngsters.

That makes sense considering many parents hand their older iPhones down to their children.

We'll undoubtedly find out more about iOS 27, Siri AI and Apple Intelligence over the coming days, as WWDC progresses. Make sure you come back to T3 to find out exactly what's happening out in Cupertino.

While today's WWDC event is likely to showcase a lot of software from Apple, there's another event expected later this year with more significance. That's because the brand is slated to drop a bevy of hardware this Autumn, including its first attempt at a foldable phone.

That's expected to debut as the iPhone Ultra, and has been leaked once again. Notable and respected tech industry insider, Sonny Dickson, has shared a new suite of images of a dummy unit of the handset.

The images themselves show off a fairly similar design to others we've seen before, though this unit definitely looks a lot more finalised. The unit features a shorter, fatter design than other units currently on the market, which more closely resemble the aspect ratio of standard phones when folded.

Personally, I'm not such a fan of this stubbier appearance, but it does make it a better alternative to something like the iPad Mini. See, where most standard foldable phones open out to something almost square, this device will open out to a more traditional tablet aspect ratio.

That's likely to be the big sell for Apple, with a product which could feasibly replace both an iPhone and an iPad for most users. It's a marked departure from Apple sales of old, where the goal was to embed users in a multi-device ecosystem.

Elsewhere, Dickson suggests that the device will only be available in one colour – white. That's another shocking suggestion, with other devices at least offering a darker hue.

We also see the previously suggested top-mounted volume buttons, which sit atop the back panel. That also houses the power button on the side, which should ensure the placement of those buttons doesn't change when the device is folded or unfolded.

Regardless of what you think of it, this device is certain to shake up the market when it launches.

Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference for 2026 – WWDC 2026 for short, or 'Dub Dub' as it's lovingly known – is now over. And it was a pivotal moment for Apple.

The current CEO, Tim Cook, presented for his final time – as John Ternus will take over in September, just in time for the iPhone 18 launch. WWDC 2026 gave us a preview of the software that'll bring, though.

The show was all about iOS 27, plus Apple's other platforms – macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS – because the next-generation of Siri, called Siri AI, will be key for the whole ecosystem. And it's powered by Google, just delivered in a very 'Apple way'.

With the 8 June keynote now behind us, you can catch the biggest headlines below, or read our musings from throughout the day, post by post. There's a lot more to come, too, as this WWDC was a major one – and the iOS 27 opinions (with the beta software imminent), backwards compatibility, and Siri AI region limits are all talking points.

WWDC 2026 biggest news headlines:

• The 5 best new features coming to iOS 27
• Apple's Siri AI is finally here – and will look familiar
• We tried out the new Siri – here are our honest thoughts
• Your older iPhone will support iOS 27 – here's what's compatible
• While iPhone owners in the EU won't get Siri AI yet, those in the UK will

Splitting a restaurant bill could finally become painless if a new Apple Wallet feature arrives as expected in iOS 27.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is working on a tool that can scan a receipt, work out who owes what and send payment requests automatically using Apple Cash. It could end up being one of the most useful iPhone upgrades yet.

The feature is expected to live inside Apple Wallet. You would simply take a photo of a receipt, the software then identifies items and assigns them to different people before calculating exactly what everyone owes.

If it works as claimed, it could put an end to the post-meal maths session that seems to follow every group dinner.

Plenty of apps have tried to solve this problem already. Most still require us to manually enter costs or convince everyone involved to download the same app. Apple's advantage, Wallet is already on millions of iPhones.

The feature is also reportedly tied to Apple Cash, allowing payment requests to be sent automatically once the bill has been divided up. No more trying to remember who ordered the extra round of drinks then.

Apple Watch could be getting this upgrade too. The report claims payment approvals may be handled directly from the smartwatch, while Messages integration could make it easier to send and manage requests between friends.

There is one potential catch. Apple Cash is currently only available in the US, so it's not yet clear how the feature might work in other areas including the UK. Apple could expand Apple Cash, adapt the feature for other payment systems or limit some functionality outside the US.

With WWDC just around the corner, we may not have long to wait to find out if this rumoured feature makes the final cut. And if it does, splitting the bill could finally stop being the worst part of eating out with friends.

Apple could be looking at using liquid metal in the construction of the new iPhone Ultra folding phone. It's thought that it could be used for the hinge.

The details come from a leak on Weibo, but let's just clear something up before imaginations run wild: this isn't liquid metal like the T1000 in Terminator films, able to keep its form while transfiguring into different shapes a normal temperatures.

Instead, liquid metal is an amorphous alloy where the atoms form a disorganised structure rather than a crystalline grid like traditional metals. That allows it to be formed into complex shapes and it allows greater flexibility in manufacturing.

It's called liquid metal because it behaves more like a liquid and it's something that Apple has been interested in for a long time. Indeed, rumours that Apple would use liquid metal for its folding phone appeared in 2025 and was even discussed in 2010 by the likes of Cult of Mac.

The tech has also been referred to as metal glass.

The aim would be to make the hinge lighter and stronger, while being able to form the complex shapes needed and to ensure durability. Liquid metal is a good application for this and Apple won't be the first to use it: it's already used by Oppo.

While the hinge is often highlighted as a point of failure for folding phones, there are two parts to consider. There's the mechanical hinge itself and then there's the display that sits over it. In the folding phones I've owned (or rather my wife has owned) the screen has failed through delamination of the screen at the point of bending.

That could perhaps be aided by producing a stronger hinge that better supports the display from the rear. Oppo's approach here is interesting for exactly that, because it uses a 3D scanning and liquid printing technique to flatten out the hinge and produce a "no crease" hinge.

Apple's first use of liquid metal was to produce a SIM tray tool for the iPad, but since then, the company's interest in the material hasn't resulted in anything substantial – it hasn't been used in a product (that we know of).

The iPhone Ultra could change that, with a much more substantial use of the material that Apple has been interested in for more than 15 years. The iPhone Ultra is expected to be announced in September 2026.

The iPhone Ultra could feature a vapour chamber to help keep the phone cool and sustain performance over longer periods of time. That suggests Apple is positioning it with Pro level performance.

When Apple switched to aluminium in the iPhone 17 Pro models, controversially moving away from titanium, it also introduced a vapour chamber. Together, Apple said that they "efficiently move heat away from the A19 Pro chip, allowing for even higher sustained performance".

That Apple didn't use vapour chambers before might come as a surprise, as they have been common in high-end Android phones for some time.

"This breakthrough in thermal management is key to the most powerful iPhone ever created," said Apple and it looks like that's going to be repeated in the iPhone Ultra.

According to a leaker on Weibo (via 9to5Mac) Apple is going to use a vapour chamber in the iPhone Ultra, which should aid chip cooling.

This will allow the first foldable iPhone to run more intensive tasks for longer, reducing the chance of performance issues under load. It's thought that Apple will use a blend of titanium and aluminium in the device.

We've seen a flurry of leaks for the forthcoming folding phone from Apple, with dummy units starting to surface and giving us a look at the short and wide design that Apple is expected to announce.

Apple's folding phone is expected to be announced in September 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.

Before we get to that point though, Samsung is expected to release a similar format device, with two book-style folding phones expected on 22 July – the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Apple's first foray into the folding phone market comes some seven years after Samsung made its debut. Samsung has subsequently dominated discussion of folding phones and is expected to supply the screen that Apple will use.

The question mark that hangs over folding phones is durability, as well as the high price they attract and questionable advantages over regular phones, often being thicker, heavier and harder to use one-handed.

Exactly how Apple tackles the durability and usability of the iPhone Ultra will be the most interesting aspect over the coming year.

Apple is expected to launch its first folding phone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in September 2026. While Apple's plans remain closely guarded, we've seen a number of recent leaks now joined by this video of a dummy model.

It's not the first dummy that we've seen of the iPhone Ultra, but this model looks a lot more advanced than the device shown off by Unbox Therapy.

The latest video was shared on X (via NotebookCheck) and shows the anticipated device, with a short but wide format. It generally matches previously leaks, but there's no telling what the source of the device is – it could easily be based on existing leaks.

That makes verification slightly tricky: all we can really tell is that this seems to have come from the factory that produced it.

Unlike the previous dummy we saw, which just appeared to be a machined shell, this latest model appears to have sections that look like screens.

The video shows a bit of a struggle to open the phone one-handed, but once opened it appears to be very floppy, suggesting the hinge in far from the hinge that Apple will actually use.

The crease in the screen also appears comical, but I suspect it's just a black plastic sheet that's in place to look like a display.

Otherwise we can see the locations of the USB-C charging port, the buttons and speakers, as well as a large camera bump on the rear of the phone. It's only a dual lens, but it's expected to make the phone thicker than any iPhone previously.

With dummy devices doing the rounds, it's no surprise that we're starting to see case manufacturers starting to flog their wares as the excitement continues to build.

While we're sure that Apple will produce a great quality device, Apple's biggest challenge will be to justify this device's use case. Flip phones are popular because get more compact and have that retro feel to them, but larger folding phones are very expensive and lack a definitive purpose – often it's just a larger display that's easier to view spreadsheets on, but that's about it.

We're expecting a lot more leaks – and speculation – before Apple actually launches its folding phone.

It’s been suggested a few times recently, but the more it is said, the more likely it seems.

Yet another report has claimed Apple is planning to split its iPhone launch this year with the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max still launching as usual, while the regular iPhone 18 is delayed until “early 2027”.

The report comes from Techlusive, though it also mentions the iPhone 18e being delayed until early 2027, and given the launch of the previous iPhone 16e and iPhone 17e, the iPhone 18e wouldn’t be due until early 2027 anyway.

It has never launched alongside the standard iPhone. I’m therefore going to ignore the chat about the iPhone 18e based on this report.

Why it makes total sense to have no iPhone 18

Delaying the iPhone 18 would be a big deal, however, and one that although surprising, makes a lot of sense.

It would allow Apple to focus on the premium models during its next major launch event – not just the iPhone Pro but likely the heavily rumoured folding iPhone Ultra too, which is thought to finally be arriving this year.

The Techlusive report also talks about the iPhone Air 2 not launching until early 2027, which again would be a sensible decision. It had its limelight around the September 2025 launch so it’s only fair to give the folding phone its time to shine should it arrive.

The report says analysts believe the wider launch window is “designed to ease the manufacturing pressures and to optimise supply chain logistics”.

“By splitting the launch, Apple can dedicate its 100 per cent time to its initial launch and production capacity for its most expensive iPhones. Simultaneously, the company will be able to extend the sales life of its existing catalogue during the crucial winter holiday shopping window,” it added.

None of this is confirmed by Apple, of course, so we will need to wait until September to know for sure, but in my opinion, it’s a strategy that makes complete sense and the iPhone 17 remains superb.

We thought iOS 26 and Liquid Glass were big steps forward for iPhone last year, but iOS 27 is looking like it will be even bigger, with the new Siri set to take centre stage.

It’s expected to be fully revealed at WWDC26 in June, and we’ve already seen a number of rumours and reports surrounding the new software. However, a major new leak has given us our clearest look yet at what could be coming – and it's a lot.

What is coming in iOS 27?

Via 9to5Mac, Bloomberg has published illustrated mockups of iOS 27, giving us an excellent first glimpse at the redesigned Siri experience, Siri chatbot, and more features coming to your iPhone this year.

The Bloomberg report claims the images are based on information from sources with knowledge of Apple's internal plans, though it notes the final version revealed at WWDC in June could still differ.

The big change is a completely overhauled Siri.

Rather than the familiar colourful border around your iPhone screen, Siri will now live inside the Dynamic Island. You’ll be able to trigger it in the usual way by saying "Siri" or holding the power button, but you'll see a redesigned animation appear at the top of your screen, Bloomberg says.

There's said to be a new trick too: swiping down from the top centre of the screen anywhere in iOS 27 launches a new "Search or Ask" interface for typing or speaking queries.

"From there users can launch apps, start text messages, ask about the weather, add calendar appointments, search through notes, trigger shortcuts within apps, or search the web using Apple’s new AI-powered search system, which competes with tools like Perplexity," the Bloomberg report says.

"Results are displayed in a rich text card that pops out of the Dynamic Island. Users can swipe down further to open a chatbot-style conversation inside the Siri app."

Apple will also reportedly open iOS 27 to third-party AI agents. This will go beyond its partnership with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, with the likes of Google’s Gemini and Anthropic PBC’s Claude being offered as alternatives. There will be a choice on which one you want to use, are the claims.

Elsewhere, the iPhone’s native Camera app is getting a customisable widget panel, while Photos gains new AI editing tools including Extend and Reframe that have been rumoured previously. AI grammar checking is also said to be on the way.

Nothing is official yet, of course, but WWDC kicks off on 8 June so it’s not too much longer to wait until we should see iOS 27 in all its glory

If you want to see all the leaked pictures, you can head to the Bloomberg report.

If you're frustrated that your iPhone won't play high-quality music over Bluetooth, then there's a simple solution in the form of the Acoustune ATX001. It's a USB-C accessory that can boost the Bluetooth performance of your Apple device.

Apple's problem – despite offering lossless tracks through Apple Music – is that the iPhone is limited in its support for higher quality streaming formats. It turns to AAC for its Bluetooth music and lacks support for formats and standards, such as aptX Lossless and LDAC.

These allow for higher quality streaming over a Bluetooth connections (as long as your headphones or speakers support it), which can mean that you get closer to the quality of the original track.

While many Android phones have offered Qualcomm's aptX and/or LDAC support for years, iPhone users who want more from their audio can plug the Acoustune ATX001 into their device's USB-C port and enjoy the upgrade, according to TechRadar.

The Acoustune ATX001 contains Qualcomm's QCC5181 audio chipset which can bypass and boost the audio processing powers that your phone will offer. That will allow the use of more advanced audio codecs, as long as the headphones you're using are compatible.

It's worth noting that the AirPods Max don't support aptX or LDAC either, so you're better off using something like the Sony WH-1000X series, which have long offered LDAC for a superior listening experience.

While Acoustune ATX001 will use the USB-C on your iPhone, it contains an additional USB-C of its own, so you can plug it in for charging – or indeed use it to connect to wired headphones for a better experience, with support for 24-bit/96kHz audio, a boost over the 24-bit/48kHz native support the iPhone offers.

If you are considering using wired headphones, that's not your only option as there are a number of compact DACs that could be used as an alternative, such as the iFi Go Link Max.

If you're a typical iPhone user using a pair of AirPods on your daily commute, then the upgrade probably isn't worth the bother. But, if you've invested in a good quality pair of earbuds like the Technics AZ100 and want to make use of the higher quality that they support, then the Acoustune ATX001 could be the solution.

You'll have to use the device's app to control the quality, but beyond that, it should all be plain sailing.

The Acoustune ATX001 is listed for £57 / $75 and when I tested a UK address it came up with free delivery, so it sounds like good value too.

The iPhone Ultra might have been exposed thanks to case makers, with images leaking showing the rumoured Apple folding phone from many angles – including the screen.

This type of leak isn't rare, but it should be approached with caution. Before a device is launched, the measurements are supplied to accessory manufacturers so they can make cases and avoid the delay of not being able to support the device as soon as it launches.

Those measurements often feed into the rumour cycle to produce renders of the device before it is released – and sometimes that comes in the form of a device in a case, which is what we have here, shared by Phone Arena.

What's not always clear is whether the phone that we see is based on Apple's details, or if it comes from the same leaks that have been widely reported, with the case manufacturer – in this case iFunSmart – coming up with a few designs in advance.

With all that considered, we're left looking at a case for Apple's iPhone Ultra, the latest name associated with the folding phone.

As this phone folds, this case clips to the front and the back, providing all-round protection, but we get a good look at the two cameras on the rear and the wide aspect cover and main display.

Unlike Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold models, Apple is thought to be looking at a device that's more like a folding iPad than most folding phones that have come before.

There's no notch shown on the screen, as it's expected that Apple will use a fingerprint scanner in the power button, like the iPad. There are two buttons on the "top" of the phone, which are likely volume controls.

The case boasts that it has powerful magnets integrated, there to support the MagSafe functions that the phone is expected to offer. That's about all there is to extract from these images.

In recent leaks, it has been claimed that the device will be 9.23mm thick when folded, suggesting it will be less than 5mm thick when unfolded.

While Apple is working on this wider phone, we've already seen a similar format device announced by Huawei, while Samsung is expected to announce a wider Galaxy Z Fold model on 22 July.

Apple's entry into the folding phone segment will certainly shake things up and provide iPhone owners with a folding option to get to grips with – but what we're really excited to see is what unique functions it offers, something that's been lacking from other folding phones.

Apple’s Image Playground has been around since Apple Intelligence was first introduced in December 2024, when iOS 18.2 was released.

It’s Apple’s answer to the multiple AI-image generation apps that exist, offering users the ability to create images on-device, though the quality of the results is a little underwhelming compared to competing image-generating tools.

What improvements can we expect for Image Playground?

But, that could be about to change. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, Apple has significantly improved the underlying models powering both Genmoji and Image Playground. He claims quality set to receive a "big boost" when iOS 27 arrives later this year.

It will be welcome news for anyone who has created a Genmoji or played around with Image Playground over the past 18 months and thought the results could be better.

Genmoji has generally been considered passable, but Image Playground could certainly improve. In their defence, both tools run on-device models, which naturally come with limitations, though it remains to be seen whether that will still be the case after iOS 27's improvements.

Gurman also said the quality upgrade isn't the only improvement coming. It’s previously been rumoured that iOS 27 will introduce suggested Genmoji based on your photo library, which should make the feature feel a lot more personal and useful day-to-day.

And Image Playground is set to expand its support for third-party AI models. It already works with ChatGPT for image creation, so perhaps it could soon support Google's Nano Banana models and other competitors, too.

Nothing is officially confirmed as yet, of course, but with WWDC 2026 just around the corner on 8 June, we at least don’t have long to wait to see exactly what Apple has in store, not just for Image Playground but Apple Intelligence in general.

It's no secret that the camera quality of phones has gotten better and better over the years. It's a big part of the reason why many have ditched owning a 'proper' camera, with the ease of having it in your pocket worth more than the increased resolution.

But just how good are they really? Well, we're about to find out, as Apple TV is putting the iPhone 17 Pro to the test in a big way.

This weekend, the MLS fixture between LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo will be filmed entirely using those devices, for the first time ever. That's not a typo – there won't be a professional broadcast camera hidden just out of sight, just a stack of the same iPhone you could go out and buy.

The brand has been incorporating the devices into its workflow for a few month now, kicking off with some of its baseball coverage in September 2025. However, those are normally part of a larger slew of more professional kit.

So, will it work? Well, there's only one way to find out – tune in and watch the game on Saturday at 7:30pm PT (3:30am BST).

The game is available to watch for Apple TV subscribers in over 100 countries, and I suspect this one might see higher viewing figures than most, given the interest in the technology. Anyone who isn't already subscribed can sign up for a one-week free trial, just in time to catch the game.

Personally, I'm really excited to see this. While there are all manner of examples of 'good enough' footage from phones, this is one of the first like-for-like tests with real-world significance.

If the output is up to par with professional systems – or, at the very least, not so far behind that the average Joe notices something wrong – it could make it much easier to showcase a wide variety of content without such significant overheads.

We're expecting a wave of new announcements during WWDC in a few weeks time, not least details on the new features coming to iPhone with iOS 27.

But we might not have to wait until Apple's keynote address on 8 June to find out some of them. One has leaked already, and it sounds great for existing and future iPhone owners.

For example, Apple expert Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has reported that the tech giant plans to dramatically upgrade its Camera app, with customisation options that can tune it to your own personal tastes.

At present, you can fine tune your photos, especially on Pro devices, to set different apertures, colour standards, zoom, exposure and much more. But there are so many options, available through multiple taps and button presses that it can get confusing.

The new Camera app – which will likely be part of iOS 27 when it arrives in September – will let you choose exactly which options and modes you want at your fingertips, he says.

"Users will be able to choose which features appear in the Camera app – and where they’re placed," he wrote on Bloomberg.

"That includes controls for flash, exposure, the timer and resolution, according to people with knowledge of the matter."

Will there be other changes in iOS 27?

These upgrades will be just the start, too. Gurman also revealed that there will be numerous design tweaks across the board.

There will be refinements to Liquid Glass while Siri will be completely rebuilt. It will also switch to the Dynamic Island, it is claimed, and a chatbot card can be activated simple by swiping down on the homepage.

We'll find out a lot more during WWDC 26, which promises to be one of the biggest in Apple's history – not least because it will be Tim Cook's last as CEO.

We’re just under a month away from WWDC 26, where Apple typically reveals a number of new features coming to its devices, from iPhone and iPad, through to Apple Watch and MacBooks.

But ahead of the event, which will kick off on 8 June and likely showcase iOS 27 and this year's other big software upgrades, Apple has released iOS 26.5. It still doesn’t bring the smarter and more contextualised version of Siri that we first heard about back in 2024, but there are several new features to pay attention to.

What's new in iOS 26.5?

Available to download and install now, iOS 26.5 introduces end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in Messages with supported carriers. The rollout will continue over time and is currently in beta, but it’s there, and that’s certainly exciting.

There’s also a new Pride Luminance wallpaper that you’ll find in the wallpaper gallery, which will dynamically refract a spectrum of colours.

Meanwhile, Suggested Places has arrived in Apple Maps, serving up locations based on your recent search history and trending places nearby. Those are the main features, but there are a couple of smaller ones that some will also appreciate.

For those who use the Reminders app (if you don’t, then you really should), the snooze feature has been updated. Rather than just allowing you to snooze a reminder until the morning, afternoon or evening, iOS 26.5 will show more specific times. For example, an option might be “remind me at 3pm” rather than just “remind me this afternoon”.

Elsewhere, the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad and Magic Keyboard will all automatically pair with your device via Bluetooth after being connected via USB-C.

If you’re in the EU, iOS 26.5 also brings Live Activity forwarding for third-party accessories like smartwatches, which should make other devices work with iPhone as well as Apple Watch does.

The iOS 26.5 update can be installed now. If you haven’t got it, open Settings on your iPhone, head to 'General' and then 'Software Update'.

Apple has been working on an iPhone Fold for a while now, with more recent rumours referring to it as the iPhone Ultra. Now a new leak appears to point towards it also receiving a screen like no other when it comes to longevity.

A leakster on Weibo shared that the new iPhone Ultra (Fold) will feature a foldable screen that is the most easy to fix of any folding screen yet. The post suggests that when it gets released – and tear-down videos start hitting the internet – it will become clear what this leak was all about.

It calls the screen "highly modular", suggesting this could be upgraded easily.

The Apple foldable display should offer the industry's easiest flexible screen to disassemble and repair, claims the leak.

While this tech is already available with the likes of the Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold – it looks like Apple wants to differentiate itself by offering a display that's more fixable.

Legislation has been moving towards more recyclable and fixable technology for some time now. Until now Apple's fixed built-in battery has flown in the face of this. But it sounds like the company plans to offer a better aligned device in the Ultra by making it very easy to fix.

At this stage it isn't clear if this means it will be so easy to fix anyone can do it themselves. Or it may be referring to how easy the job is for professionals which, presumably, will make it more affordable to do for iPhone Ultra owners that need a screen repair.

Of course making an ultra fixable folding screen also makes you wonder about how breakable the company expects it to be.

What will the iPhone Ultra feature?

Leaks and rumours so far suggest we can expect the iPhone Ultra to arrive this coming autumn with a screen that can change between a smaller 5.3-inch form and an expanded 7.8-inch mode.

The device should measure just 4.5mm thick when unfolded, and roughly 9mm to 9.5mm when folded.

The Ultra should be a mere 0.15mm and a crease angle under 2.5 degrees. All that should mean a screen that's as close to seamless looking as they come.

Under the surface is expected to be an A20 processor, or newer, with 12GB of RAM and a 5,000mAh battery. The rear camera could be a double 48MP dual-lens setup while the front facing offering is likely to have 18MP folded and 18MP unfolded dual lenses.

How much will the iPhone Ultra cost?

The price of a totally new category of iPhone is expected to be high. Apple has introduced new models in the past and the price has been top-end, to get access to these premium new features.

So expect an iPhone Ultra to set a new bar for pricing with around a $2,000/£1,485 starting point.

For several years now, Apple has held an event in September to announce its latest iPhone models. And ever since 2019, when the company first announced the iPhone 11 Pro, the September lineup has included at least one base iPhone model as part of the range. However, a new report suggests that could change in 2026.

There have been an increasing number of rumours suggesting the standard iPhone 18 could be pushed back, with Apple instead revealing the iPhone 18 Pro models alongside an iPhone Ultra (also known as the folding iPhone) and maybe a second generation of the iPhone Air.

Why could the iPhone 18 be delayed?

Supply chain leaker Fixed Focus Digital (via 9to5Mac) claims Apple has extended production of the iPhone 17 beyond its usual schedule and increased its capacity.

Typically, production of the current iPhone models would begin to wind down as we get closer to September and the launch of the new devices, but if production has been extended as rumoured, it could be further evidence that the iPhone 18 is being delayed.

Based on a number of sources, it’s said we might not see a standard model until early 2027 instead. However, it is worth remembering that none of this has been confirmed by Apple itself yet, so if you feel disappointed by this news, there’s still a chance the base iPhone will launch as norma

If there is a delay though, then there are due to be some decent upgrades to the iPhone 18 Pro models according to recent rumours.

It’s thought the Pro models will have a smaller Dynamic Island feature on their displays, offer battery and performance upgrades, and potentially switch to an Apple modem for 5G connectivity.

And then there's the much rumoured foldable iPhone – that will surely get all the attention anyway.