Apple didn’t increase iPhone pricing, but you’re still going to pay more.

It seems every year the rumors are finally going to come true, and Apple will raise the base price of the iPhone. With tariffs this time around, everyone was sure to see some sort of price increase. It was the perfect time to do it, but it was also a huge political gamble since increased pricing might have political backlash, and more talks of Trump and tariffs would put a sour taste between Tim Cook and Trump’s relationship.

Not only did we not get a price increase for the base iPhone 17, but we got a free storage upgrade from 128GB to 256GB for the same starting price of $799. That is absolutely wild, considering the screen and many other aspects of the phone are on par with the iPhone 17 Pro.

The iPhone 17 Pro did get a $100 price increase, but it also got a storage increase, making it the same price as last year. Technically this isn’t a price increase.

The iPhone Air did get a $999 price as I assumed, but that also is in line with the 16 Plus from last year at 256GB. Not to mention a new phone can’t really have a price increase year over year if it just debuted.

So, what is Apple doing to keep up revenue? They’re playing the pricing ladder game beyond hardware and are using services to increase revenue.

AppleCare+ used to be $199 for a Pro device without Theft and Loss for two years, but now a single year of AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss (the only option now) is $140 for a single year. That’s $40 extra in Apple’s pocket each year per iPhone. Similar trends are there for Apple Watch where it used to be $79 for two years without Theft and Loss, and now it’s $59 for one year with Theft and Loss. That’s another $20 each year in Apple’s pocket.

AppleCare One is also a new convenient way to add three devices on AppleCare+ for $19.99, further adding more customers at a more palatable price point that normally would not buy AppleCare+.

Let’s not forget AppleTV+ that went from $9.99 to $12.99 recently. Those few extra bucks are enough to push someone into an Apple One tier since the odds are high people are also paying for at least one other service, and for a few bucks, they can share the services with up to five other people. And Apple isn’t shy about mentioning it either:

9to5Mac:

In a statement, Apple said that Apple TV+ has expanded its deep library of originals since launch, and that Apple One is the “the easiest way to enjoy all of Apple’s subscription services in one plan at the best value.” As before, a single subscription can be shared with up to six people through Family Sharing.

These subtle pricing strategies in their Services category are leading the way with a linear curve in revenue compared to the seasonal peaks and troughs that they have with hardware sales. The margins on services are usually much higher than hardware, giving them that boost in profits that otherwise might be diminished by tariffs.

How my iPhone 16 Pro Max looks like after 11 months of use (an OCD perspective).

I’ve seen some of the most disgusting iPhones over the course of my existence, and I get it that most people don’t care about their phones as long as it works. I, however, am not one of those people. My iPhone is not just a tool…

It’s jewelry.

A hard look at the fine craftsmanship and attention to detail is something I do more often than I would like to admit to admire the fine precision from the folks over at Cupertino. To throw a case on every once in a while is fine for protection, but putting on a screen protector is where I draw a hard line. The smooth transition between metal and glass will be utterly destroyed, leading to a mediocre experience when twirling the device in hand or dancing between swipes and edge gestures.

To keep the pristine look of my main device, I usually resort to a thorough cleaning of my right front pocket and my right back pocket - the two homes for my iPhone - making sure there’s no lint nor any fine grains of sand that can easily scratch the screen. I even have a toothbrush that is exclusively used for cleaning the top speaker, bottom speaker, microphone holes, USB-C port, and dust around the rear cameras, always making it look brand new.

You really can’t tell this phone is even used, even though I used it daily.

That’s right, I sold my 16 Pro Max in anticipation of the iPhone Air. My current device of choice has been an iPhone 13 mini, which is now thankfully fresh with a new battery from Apple since it was becoming chaotic.

Here are some pics of my iPhone 16 Pro Max before it went to its new home. I still get goosebumps admiring the shiny, brushed, titanium chassis. You would be hard pressed to tell that it was even used for 11 months.

I miss ProMotion and the giant screen, but it’s only a few more days for the next best thing.

Maybe we’ll see a fingerprint reader instead of Camera Control for iPhone Fold?

No lint or dead skin here…

or here.

Part of me feels a bit of regret, selling a physical SIM version of the 16 Pro Max, but I think I will be alright.

The new MagSafe Battery for iPhone Air might seem like a misstep, but it makes perfect sense for two reasons.

Control and optimization.

The iPhone Air is the first iPhone to have all chips be Apple-designed chips, giving them unprecedented control of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and cellular efficiencies. The Apple-developed A19 Pro can talk to the N1 network processor and the C1X cellular modem at a more optimal level, maximizing battery and function based on multiple factors.

If Apple made a single battery pack for all new iPhones, it would be a more generic experience across the board since the iPhone 17 lineup still uses a 3rd party Qualcomm modem. The Battery Pack wouldn’t meet Apple’s standards of true optimization. It would still be better than a generic 3rd party battery pack that just destroys battery health, but this unique, intimate relationship with the MagSafe Battery and the iPhone Air makes it outlast the iPhone 17 Pro Max at 40 hours of video playback vs 39 hours, making the combo the best battery life of any iPhone to date.

Remember - Love is in the Air.

Who knows, maybe in the future when all iPhones have Apple-designed chips, Apple could go back to making one MagSafe Battery Pack that is optimized across the board.

Apple Watch Series 11 not only keeps Jet Black, but makes it closer to being the most luxurious Apple Watch we have.

Apple doubled-down on Jet Black this year, keeping it around for another year and making the screen more scratch resistant:

The cover glass of aluminum models of Apple Watch Series 11 offers 2x more scratch resistance. Made from a unique Ion-X (ion-exchanged strengthened) glass — a custom, proprietary glass that is already the toughest in the industry — the display is now treated with a breakthrough Apple-designed ceramic coating that bonds to the glass at an atomic level through a physical vapor deposition process, significantly hardening the surface. The titanium models will continue to have a sapphire front crystal, the most scratch-resistant and crack-resistant material covering a display.

The Achilles heel of any non-sapphire display just got 2x better scratch resistance, but it’s up to the influencers to test how much more scratch resistant it truly is. Jet Black has objectively become more durable than its original debut with iPhone 7, so the new glass is promising. Ion-X glass already has the upper hand when it came to glare in bright lights, but it would be wonderful to see even less glare with this new ceramic coating.

Influencers, please test the following:

1. Is the screen actually more scratch resistant than last year?

2. Compare the Ion-X glass from both Series 10 and Series 11 and let us know if the glare is better, worse, or the same.

iPhone Air - first bend test makes its debut.

Courtesy of a Tom’s Guide interview with Joz and John Ternus in collaboration with Lance Ulanoff from Tech Radar. See it for yourself.

iPhone Air is the Goldilocks of iPhones.

Just a few hours before Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event, I expressed my true emotions about the iPhone Air and what it would take for me to buy one:

I can deal with the lack of ultra wide and telephoto cameras.

I can deal with the lack of reverse wireless charging.

I can deal with a binned A19 Pro or standard A19 chip.

I can deal with worse battery life.

But please Apple, for the love of God, give us a truly immersive, gorgeous display.

The display is a 1:1, uncompromised panel matching the iPhone 17 Pro, and the 6.5 inch display is not too big and not too small.

It is just right.

Love is in the Air.

Powerbeats Pro 2 can also integrate with the Fitness app and help you close your rings like AirPods Pro 3.

When Powerbeats Pro 2 were released back in February, you had to use a third party fitness app on iPhone in order to log your heart rate, calories, etc. Now with iOS 26, you can use Apple’s own Fitness app and track your heart rate with a workout.

The fine print in AirPods Pro 3 press release:

Heart rate sensing with AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2 during workouts is available in the Fitness app on iPhone with iOS 26, iPad with iPadOS 26, and Apple TV with tvOS 26 when also paired with iPhone or Apple Watch. Apple Fitness+ requires a subscription.

The Powerbeats Pro 2 got a lot of flack from the fitness community due to its woes with accurate heart rate monitoring and lack of consistency in getting readings. It worked better on Android for God’s sake.

AirPods Pro 3 are a signature Apple product, and it needs to work well all the time in order for people to take its heart rate sensing capabilities seriously.

The displays on iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro are all equally great this year - financially it makes the most sense.

Besides the size, every minute spec of the display is identical across the board with the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro devices. I compared every bullet point and there is no difference. Quite surprising, and really blurs the line whether or not most people should even consider the Pro lineup.

Yesterday I wrote about how the iPhone Air should have the same display as the 17 Pro in order to fit the premium narrative, and Apple definitely delivered.

Kudos to Apple, but it also makes financial sense. Last year the iPhone 16 Pro jumped to 6.3 inches and the regular 16 was still 6.1 inches, requiring two separate production lines. Now that both phones have the same screen size, why engineer an inferior 6.3 inch display for the regular iPhone 17, when you can just use the same display across the board and save time and engineering costs?

Apple brings back the MagSafe Battery Pack exclusively for the iPhone Air, but will it work with other iPhones?

Looks like I got an answer to one of my biggest requests, but being limited to only one device is a miss. There are still a lot of unanswered questions:

1. Will it work sideways on older iPhones that don’t have a plateau?

2. Can you charge other iPhones with a USB-C cable?

3. Can you plop MagSafe compatible AirPods on it to charge them wirelessly?

The product page does say it will charge other smaller accessories via USB-C, so there’s hope it can also charge other iPhones partially. As for wireless charging, technically it should work and charge other iPhones and AirPods since it is MagSafe.

iPhone 17 Air’s display really needs to match the iPhone 17 Pro to give it that futuristic, “invisible device with a full edge to edge screen,” feeling.

The iPhone 17 Air is really in a weird position. It’s more premium and less premium in many ways, and we’re just a few moments away from finding out the narrative behind the iPhone 17 Air (if that’s even the real name).

The one thing that really would make me stay away from it is an inferior screen compared to the iPhone 17 Pro. It should have at least the following features:

• Same thin bezels as the iPhone 17 Pro.

• Same Dynamic Island as the iPhone 17 Pro.

• Always On Display.

It would be icing on the cake if it had the following (alleged improvements):

• Improved anti-reflective display.

• Higher peak brightness.

The rumored smaller Dynamic Island is being touted as a Pro only feature, but I would argue if there is a smaller Dynamic Island, it has to be on the 17 Air since Apple is already tight for space.

I can deal with the lack of ultra wide and telephoto cameras.

I can deal with the lack of reverse wireless charging.

I can deal with a binned A19 Pro or standard A19 chip.

I can deal with worse battery life.

But please Apple, for the love of God, give us a truly immersive, gorgeous display.

Apple Live Events - visceral reactions from the past.

Most of us don’t get to see the Apple events live in person, but we used to get a feeling of what it was like to be there when we had true live events. In honor of the past, I wanted to share some of my most favorite moments from past live events. These are unscripted reactions from the crowd showing their true reaction, enthusiasm, and shocked surprise of what just went down.

It’s easy to reference the original iPhone launch, but that whole video had plenty of awe and reactivity that would be hard to capture today.

Here are three more recent reactions that really stuck in my head.

1. Apple introduces Microsoft to the stage for the iPad Pro.

Released all the way back in September 2015, the first iPad Pro was the beginning of the modern era of computing, blurring the lines of tablet and computing device. To highlight its much bigger 12.9-inch screen, Apple wanted to demo some productivity apps, and who knew productivity better than…Microsoft???

Microsoft and Apple were more ferocious competitors back then when Microsoft was in the smartphone game, so this was a huge surprise for the audience, and Phil Schiller and Kirk Koenigsbauer leaned into it really well. The audience was in silence until Phil broke it with a classic, “Yeah!” (that Microsoft!)

2. The screaming woman who really loves Dark Mode for iPhone.

Dark Mode for iOS was revealed in June 2019 at WWDC, the last truly live WWDC event. Right before Craig Federighi was about to demo Dark Mode on iOS and was walking towards the demo station, a lady just screams out of excitement with Craig acknowledging her enthusiasm. Small classic moment that got the audience laughing.

3. The bargain price and cheers of the Pro Display XDR gets spoiled by the $999 Pro Stand.

The Pro Display XDR is still a bargain compared to other reference monitors without a shadow of a doubt, and Apple’s presentation of it and it’s “bargain bin” pricing of $4999 was still palatable. What wasn’t that tasty though, was the price of the $999 Pro Stand, which flabbergasted the audience. You could hear the low rumbling chatter, throwing off John Ternus’ final words.

The iPhone 17 ‘Air’ reveal needs to have Phil Schiller levels of nerdery during its presentation.

iPhone 17 Air is not only a thin iPhone, but it is a sign of things to come. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple’s foldable device (said to launch next year) is essentially two iPhone Airs attached to a hinge (to put it crudely). The engineering of this device is going to carry over in a lot of ways to the next generation of devices, be they iPhones or iPads.

It won’t be a traditional “One more thing” event for the masses, but it sure as heck will be for engineers and designers. It needs to be talked about with a level of nerdery that just screams authenticity and excitement. A scripted performance just isn’t the same.

Hopefully we get this enthusiasm and excitement in post-event interviews.

The ultimate MagSafe and Qi2 charging station.

Aukey just announced the best wireless charging solution to date (via MacRumors):

MagFusion Ark has a 6-in-1 design that includes a base that can charge up to three devices and three detachable power bank spheres for a total of six charging points. All six of the charging spots support Qi2.2 speeds, and Aukey says it is an ideal charger for multi-person households.

When docked, the spheres can recharge from the base while also charging devices that are placed on them, and when removed from the base, they function as 6,700mAh power banks. Each sphere also includes a PD 3.0 30W USB-C port for bidirectional charging, and they have an active cooling system to prevent overheating. The spheres also serve as a magnetic stand for FaceTime calls, videos, and more.

The flagship MagFusion Ark will ship with the base and three spheres, but there will also be one-device and two-device base options, with spheres that can be purchased separately.

Aukey has not provided details on the MagFusion Ark's price, but more detail will be available when it launches in the first quarter of 2026.

Currently I use Anker’s orb-like charger that resembles Aukey’s, but it has 7 more ports in the rear. It’s quite a stretch to reach from my bed to dock my phone since I’m limited by cord length, but with detachable orbs that act as their own battery source and have active cooling makes for a more robust charging solution. Just take it anywhere you want!

Looks like Apple won’t be fixing ‘Swipe to Switch Watch Face’ until watchOS 27.

My own critical analysis a few months ago:

No longer the default option, the swipe came back as a 2nd string option due to its glitchy performance. On my 7 and a half year old Series 3 Apple Watch, with its latest software version (Watch OS 8), in the year 2025, you can swipe between watch faces and everything is in memory and seamless. Extremely smooth, with the hour, minute, and seconds hands perfectly in sync between swipes. It just works!

Somehow the architecture of watchOS 10 fundamentally changed some of the inner workings of the Apple Watch, and after almost 2 years now, it’s as if the watch face has to “load” each and every time you swipe watch faces. It feels and looks buggy, especially when you go from an analog watch face to a digital watch face that is full of data. It juuust (barely) works.

The Tips app on your iPhone even demos how to change your watch face, referring to the touch and hold method vs the swipe method.

I’m sure there are Apple Watch engineers who cringe every time they swipe from one watch face to another, knowing that this problem still exists and needs to be fixed. I understand why it’s not a high priority, but it’ll be two years in June when they announce watchOS 12.

Two years is long enough.

With the latest (and possibly final) developer Beta 9 on watchOS 26, this problem still persists. Not a deal breaker, but it just doesn’t feel Apple-like to leave it this clunky.

It feels like Android.

Red Apple Watch faces that are easy on the eyes when sleeping and maintain your visual acuity (in-depth guide).

For a simple watch face when going to sleep, you could use the Sleep Focus and get a minimal watch face, but the problem is you have to tap the screen to see the time, which defeats the purpose of an always-on watch, and maybe your just overpowered by sleep and moving your other arm feels like a real drag in the moment.

The next best option? Minimal red watch faces.

Having a minimal watch face is always the best choice when going to bed, since blue light can strain your eyes and disrupt your sleep. Depending on which Apple Watch you have, you can use different watch faces with a minimal appearance that won’t launch apps with accidental taps and sear your eyes.

There’s nothing more scary than checking the time at 2AM because you hear some sounds, and now you’re blinded by your watch face. The moment you gain some ability to see in the dark again, you see your child almost right up against your face letting you know they leaked themselves.

Now that makes two of you.

To avoid further leaks, use these watch faces.

Note: All these watch faces are red to the naked eye, maintain your night vision, and give off significantly less light than Apple’s Sleep Focus watch face.

Apple’s Sleep Focus watch face.

A quick tip before we get started - when you select the default red color, tap the red color circle and turn the digital crown to make the red as dark as possible.

All the colors above the dash mark can be edited this way.

Apple Watch Series 3

If you’re still stuck on the Series 3, you have two choices for an all red watch face:

Modular - The Series 3 stopped getting updates after watchOS 8, keeping the older Modular watch face. This has a special advantage since you can change the color of the time, something no longer available with the new Modular watch face. Simply disable all complications, choose red as your color option, and you have the most minimalist, least distractive watch face.

Since you can change the color of even the time, just get rid of all complications…

to get this minimalist watch face that’s easy on the eyes.

X-Large - The X-Large watch face in red is another solid option. You get one spot for a massive complication, still giving you time in big font on a single line. The Series 3 version of X-Large on watchOS 8.8 has a unique problem because none of the complications are static, meaning touching the massively sized complication will open its respective app. The Moon Phase complication for example is actually a static complication in later versions of watchOS, but in watchOS 8.8, it opens the World Clock app.

The only option is to turn off complications and keep the huge font.

The regular X-Large face is the way to go. As neat as the complication looks, it’s not ideal for sleep since the touch target is huge.

Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, SE 1st generation

These three watches were updated to watchOS 10, giving them an advantage with the X-Large face, but taking away the Modular watch face as we knew it. The new Modular watch face becomes more modernized with an extra Date complication and rounder fonts, but now the time can only be had in white, disqualifying the watch face since a truly red watch face cannot be achieved.

Bummer.

The new Modular watch face has multiple colors, but the time is always white when the background color is turned off.

X-Large - The X-Large face gains more complications in watchOS 10, with the key feature being static complications. These static complications don’t interact to touch and don’t open any apps, making it impossible to get any white light exposure. You can choose from two different static complications that are all red in the Astronomy category:

1. Moon

2. Solar System

Depending on the Moon phase, you could get a brighter image, which is why I recommend the Solar System complication for the least intrusive look.

The Moon and Solar System widgets work as static complications, but Solar System is the better option since it’s almost invisible.

Apple Watch Series 6 thru Series 10, SE 2nd generation

X-Large - on watchOS 11 and later, you get three static complications:

1. Earth

2. Moon

3. Solar System

Earth can get bright if you’re a daytime napper in a blacked out room like myself, so once again, the best complication is Solar System.

Solar System wins every time, but Earth and Moon still give off way less light than the Sleep focus watch face.

Photos - the Photos watch face in watchOS 26 gives you the ability to put any photo as a wallpaper, and more importantly, you can select the color of the time, just like the old Modular watch face on the Series 3. Selecting the time color is not always an option depending on the photo but for our purposes it is.

Use the following process to get an all-black watch face:

1. Take an all-black photo (or just use this sample).

2. Select Create Watch Face.

3. Select the Photos Watch Face.

4. Select your preferred Time Size.

5. Pick your font.

6. Pick your Numerals.

7. For Style, pick Natural.

8. For Time Color, select the red time color and slide the gradient to dark red as described earlier in this article.

9. Turn off all complications.

Note: For whatever reason, you can only change the color of the time on the iPhone and not on the watch directly.

Take a look at how similar it is to the original Series 3 Modular:

Original Modular (left) vs new Photos (right).

Photos watch face with small, medium, large and X-large time sizes.

I will admit I do cheat a bit with the Photos watch face and add a complication on top. It is such a small touch target that I have never activated it by accident. The Top complication does make the time even smaller, making it closely resemble the original Modular watch face on the Series 3:

Original Modular (left) vs new Photos (right). That complication is Wind Speed if you’re wondering. And yes, it matters a lot to me.

Apple Watch Ultra and Ultra 2

These watches get watchOS 26, so they will benefit from the X-Large and Photos watch faces, but with two additional Ultra-exclusive watch faces - Modular Ultra and Wayfinder. Not only are these exclusive watch faces, they are also the only watch faces that support Night Mode, making everything turn red.

Modular Ultra - Simply remove all complications, and pick how you want your time to be displayed. Either select the red color or activate Night Mode to ON to have a big beautiful red clock (or small) with no distractions.

Wayfinder - Once again, remove all complications, and turn ON Night Mode to get an all-red analog watch face.

Wayfinder (left), Modular Ultra (right).

Source: MacRumors

Honorable mentions

There are a few other watch faces that get honorable mentions, but they don’t meet my strict criteria of solid red color with no active complications. They still shine too much light compared to the red watch faces I mentioned above, almost equivalent to Apple’s Nighttime watch face.

Numerals Duo - The top number in the darkest red isn’t a true red, shining white light at you.

Meridian - If you select the Fall 2021 (PRODUCT) RED color, you get a fully red dial, but the hour and minute hands are outlined in white.

Close, but no cigar.

Even the Digital Time complication is all red, making this one receiving the highest honorable mention.

Typograph - Similar to Meridian with the standard red color.

Will Apple gatekeep Night Mode to the Ultra lineup?

It’s hard to say what Apple will do with the Series 11, because if they open up Night Mode (which I am all for), it would change the whole dynamics of having the perfect bedtime watch face. Many more watch faces would qualify with an all red look, but we’re only a few weeks away from finding out.

iPhone 13 mini - what does a typical day with 77% battery health look like?

How long does an iPhone 13 mini with 77% battery health last on iOS 26?

Let’s just say it needs a trusty companion, the MagSafe Battery Pack.

Here is my (typical) log from a few days ago, with less than normal usage:

1. 5:30am - 100% battery

2. 6:32am - 77% battery

3. 12:18pm - 20% battery

4. 12:19pm - Dropped to 15%…attached MagSafe Battery Pack

5. 1:05pm - charged to 76%…detached MagSafe Battery Pack

6. 4:55pm - 17% battery

7. 4:56pm - 9% battery right after connecting MagSafe battery pack.

8. 6:00pm - 50% battery with MagSafe Battery Pack drained.

9. 9:07pm - 23%

10. 9:08pm - 14%

11. 9:09pm - 2%

12. 10:00pm - Dead iPhone, right before I was about to cast something to my Chromecast.

Apps used: Safari, YouTube, Messages, X, WhatsApp, Files, News.

Nothing taxing. The phone does run smoothly most of the time, but it does start to hiccup and slow down as the charge level drops. Other times, it will hiccup even when the battery is nearly full, probably because the phone is a bit warm from charging.

Again nothing taxing, just basic apps. No gaming, no 3D rendering, and no camera usage.

The main issue with poor battery health is predicting how long it will last when it is low on battery. My battery collapsed from 23% to 2% in less than two minutes, but it lasted almost an hour.

In the end, I am able to get a full days use out of it from 5:30am to 10pm when I go to work with a fully charged MagSafe Battery Pack. On a vacation day, I would need to keep a charger close by. It’s time for a Genius Bar appointment to get the battery replaced.

EE, a UK based mobile network operator, will have new family plans that limit internet usage for teenagers - as long as they don’t use Wi-Fi.

BBC:

Its new Sim-only mobile plans will filter the web at different levels depending on the age of the child using it, with three separate tiers of protections.

The plans will also have other features such as reduced internet speeds for younger teens to "limit streaming", as well as protecting against scam calls.

But EE can only control what is accessed by using mobile data using its network - meaning it cannot filter content accessed via wi-fi, which is operated separately.

Sounds like a way to profit off of parents’ fears and desire to do what’s right for their kids, but the uptake of many of these parental controls is really slim. Even on iPhone, setting up Screen Time and Parental Controls is cumbersome, and it took several tries for me to get things right for my kids. It also doesn’t help that you have to remember another 4-digit passcode.

I’m not alone in this battle:

EE ambassador and TV presenter Konnie Huq said at a launch event for the new plans she felt "like her mum in the old days" - who she recalled struggling to work the family's TV remote controls.

Meta, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, says take-up of its numerous parental controls is relatively low.

Technology analyst Paolo Pescatore told the BBC that EE's plans are "a huge step in the right direction" but implementation of such controls "is no easy feat."

The best option really is to use on-device tools or a third party tool that works cross-platform and master that one app. For me, that’s Screen Time and Parental Controls on Apple devices, for now.

Another real risk of these plans - funneling kids to use public Wi-Fi more than usual, which is a whole different set of risks.

Apple announces “awe dropping” event.

It’s time to start randomly speculating what the image is supposed to mean. Based on past invite images, it could either be a wallpaper (iPhone X, 11, and 12 invites were wallpapers), or a new Liquid Glass color morphing finish for the iPhone to pair well with the new Liquid Glass interface design.

Or we could be getting some sort of infrared camera capabilities on the pro iPhones? Who knows.

Fun fact - if you have a touchscreen device, you can interact with the Apple logo and move your finger around to create your own light path. On Mac, you can also move your mouse over the Apple logo to see similar light animations.

Wireless MagSafe charging is better for your iPhone’s battery health than wired charging.

I have had my iPhone 16 Pro Max since October 2024, and I have been using wireless charging I would say, at least 90% of the time. I have a combination of MagSafe and Qi2 chargers in my bedroom, spare room, and kitchen.

With 270 cycles, I still have 100% battery health, even with installing and running iOS 26 betas. I use a standard MagSafe puck in the kitchen, and I use the Anker MagGo Magnetic Charging Station (8-in-1) at night. Every time I use a cable to charge my device, I do notice it charges faster, but it also makes the device hotter since it’s fast charging. Most people will fall in this scenario because they’ll probably use their laptop chargers to charge their device, which provides the fastest speeds, and also the most heat.

Wireless technology has gotten so advanced, that even if it technically is less efficient, the device doesn’t reach higher temperatures, still giving you better battery health in the long run. Of course I stand by this claim only for MagSafe and certified Qi2 chargers. I’m not the only one as Brandon Butch goes a bit deeper in his video explaining his wireless charging experience during some of his testing. He found wired charging to be 4 degrees hotter than MagSafe charging on his iPhone 16 Pro.

Brandon also used a 90% charging limit, and I have been using an 80% charging limit on my 16 Pro Max. If I was on the regular 16 Pro (I’m leaning heavily towards the 17 Pro), I would also bump it up to 90% to give me that extra juice.

Check out his video for more tips on how to maximize your iPhone’s battery health.

How to disable headphone safety notifications on iPhone and Apple Watch.

Normally this isn’t good advice, but I had to get rid of these safety notifications for my sanity. My background noise sleep setup coupled with earplugs is my ultimate sound proofing system for working the graveyard shift, and there’s nothing worse than your speaker warning you about loud volumes along with your watch vibrating with the same notification during a deep sleep session.

These can be disabled only in certain regions, but thankfully the US is one of them. The settings are buried, but on iPhone:

1. Go to Settings.

2. Accessibility.

3. Audio & Visual.

4. Headphone Notifications.

5. Toggle OFF.

On Apple Watch (or your iPhone’s Watch app):

1. Go to Settings.

2. Accessibility.

3. Headphone Notifications.

4. Toggle OFF.

If you’re in a region that doesn’t allow you to toggle Headphone Notifications off, and you are in a similar situation where you need loud white noise and use ear plugs at the same time, you can try and re-categorize your Bluetooth speaker:

1. Go to Bluetooth.

2. Select your device’s settings by clicking on the blue “i” logo.

3. Click on Device Type.

4. Select Other.

I think this will work. Logic would say, since your devices are technically no longer connected to headphones, you shouldn’t get any Headphone Notifications, right?

I don’t know exactly what the “other” category does, but audio still plays through my Bluetooth speaker.

For my hardwired devices such as my Bose SoundDock XT, I was able to change the settings so the audio levels are not recorded under the Health app.

Toggling this feature OFF should not give you Headphone notifications.

If you have a lightning to headphone jack or USB-C to headphone jack adapter connected to an external speaker, you can change the settings to (hopefully) avoid getting headphone notifications:

1. Go to Settings.

2. Sound & Haptics.

3. Headphone Safety.

4. If you have an iPhone with a lightning port, you will see the words Lightning Adapters on the bottom. If you have a USB-C iPhone you will see the words USB-C Audio Accessories on the bottom.

5. Click your option, and toggle OFF Connected To Headphones.