A day after releasing iOS 26.1 to the public, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 26.2 to developers. The next major point of iOS 26 packs several big changes and expands the availability of some features to the EU.
Below is everything new in iOS 26.2 beta 1.
The M3 Ultra-equipped Mac Studio is among the most powerful Macs you can currently buy. Despite featuring faster cores, Apple indirectly confirmed it will not launch an M4 Ultra chip.
This won’t be the case with the M5, as the company reportedly plans to launch an M5 Ultra-powered Mac Studio in 2026.
Apple’s nifty new feature that lets AirPods translate speech in real time will reportedly become available to EU residents while they’re in Europe next month.
That will put an end to an odd situation: Currently, non-Europeans can use the AirPods Live Translation feature while in Europe, and EU residents can use it when traveling outside the European Union but not within the EU.
iOS 26.1 arrived on Monday, but Apple always keeps pushing ahead. As a result, iOS 26.2 beta 1 reached developers Tuesday.
The same goes for iPadOS 26.2 beta 1, watchOS 26.2 beta 1, tvOS 26.2 beta 1 and visionOS 26.2 beta 1. However, macOS Tahoe 26.2 beta 1 did not arrive with the rest.
Apple is working on its first low-cost laptop, a strategic departure from its traditional premium approach that could shake up the education and entry-level PC markets, according to a new report. And some responses on social media suggest the PC industry is, indeed, “freaking out” over it.
A decade after Apple Watch launched, WhatsApp finally launched a dedicated app for the smartwatch Tuesday — ending years of frustration for users who could only respond to notifications from their wrist. The messaging service brings full chat functionality to your wrist with support for messages, voice notes and calls, Meta said.
The SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive packs up to a terabyte of storage, but is tiny enough that you can leave it plugged into your MacBook. SanDisk touts it as “the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive.”
Outgrown the storage capacity of your older MacBook? This drive could be just the boost you’re looking for.
The mini SSD can even be used with an iPhone, as well as an iPad.
The older Apple Home architecture will live for a few more months. Apple previously planned on phasing out the architecture in late 2025.
Instead, the HomeKit architecture will stop functioning on February 10, 2026.
iOS 26.1, which Apple released Monday, brings five features you should check out immediately after you install the update.
The biggest change gives you a way to customize the legibility of Liquid Glass, the major user interface overhaul Apple delivered to all its software platforms this year. But there’s plenty of other cool stuff you don’t want to miss.
Other key upgrades come to Apple Music and the iPhone’s alarm clock interface. Plus, there’s a setting that can keep your iPhone battery from draining in your pocket. And for iPad owners, there’s the celebrated return of Slide Over on iPad.
The iPhone App Store is now accessible on a Mac. And iPad users can research what macOS applications are available. Anyone can see what Apple Watch apps are available. All of these are possible now that Apple finally put the App Store on the web Monday.
It’s long overdue, and still missing a feature many users would like.
Apple’s long-delayed Siri upgrade will reportedly “lean on Google’s Gemini” model to power many of its features. It will also include an AI-powered web search.
However, this Gemini integration will supposedly function differently from how Apple currently integrates ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence.
Although Wi-Fi 7 is theoretically more than four times faster than Wi-Fi 6E, tests of wireless performance on newer iPhone models that support the upgraded standard show no real improvement in speed. This is reportedly because Apple did not implement the Wi-Fi 7 changes that would boost performance over iPhones with Wi-Fi 6E.
In Apple’s defense, it did implement the portion of Wi-Fi 7 intended to make wireless connections more reliable. That’s arguably the part of the standard that benefits average users the most.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumor about the 20th anniversary iPhone whets our appetite for this glorious device. It’s just over the horizon, and it sounds like an absolute stunner.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
Record numbers of customers upgrading their gear helped push up Apple’s revenue into record territory last quarter, and that’s boosting AAPL’s stock price.
Here are the products that the company says are the most popular with upgraders in Q4 2025. Some you might be able to guess, but there’s a very conspicuous absence from the list.
Apple’s long-delayed AI-powered Siri upgrade remains on track for a 2026 debut, CEO Tim Cook said Thursday. That offers some reassurance to users after multiple setbacks pushed the originally planned 2024 release back by more than a year.
So, what can we expect from a smarter Siri voice assistant when it finally arrives?
A decade after the first Apple Watch came out, WhatsApp is testing a dedicated app for the smartwatch. This would make replying to messages, viewing existing conversations, and sharing voice notes easier.
Currently, Apple Watch users can only respond to unread WhatsApp messages through the notification center. There’s no way to do anything else.
Apple set a new record for iPhone revenue in its most recent financial quarter. Total company revenue reached $102.5 billion, an 8% increase over the same quarter of last year. And earnings per share hit $1.85, a rise of 13%, the company said Thursday.
Plus, Apple CEO Tim Cook predicted the current quarter will be “the best ever in the history of the company” — and AAPL’s stock price shot up in after-hours trading.
iFixit did its traditional teardown of the M5 iPad Pro on Thursday and gave Apple’s newest tablet a much better reparability score than previous models. That doesn’t mean the computer is easy to fix, though.
Watch the teardown to take a deep dive into the guts of the M5 iPad Pro.
The tariff Apple must pay to import iPhones and other products assembled in China will be cut in half — down to 10%. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the change after a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday.
It’s a change that could save Apple billions of dollars.
Apple is making two developer-focused changes to the App Store. Developers can now upload additional documentation and assets while their app is under review.
Secondly, developers can create up to 70 custom pages — double the previous limit.
As Slow Horses season 5 wraps up with its sixth episode Wednesday, Apple TV cues up a second thriller, Down Cemetery Road, in collaboration with novelist Mick Herron. You can watch its first trailer below, or jump right into the first two episodes. The new series stars Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson. It’s based on Herron’s “Zöe Boehm” book series.
Reviews of Down Cemetery Road so far seem thrilled with the show. “If you like Slow Horses, you’ll love conspiracy thriller Down Cemetery Road,” raves Time magazine. It “hits the sweet spot of thrills and odd-couple comedy,” adds AV Club. Critics call Thompson’s performance “magnificent” and “superb,” among other superlatives.
Imagine being on a long plane flight and one of your new AirPods Pro 3 earbuds keeps whistling in your ear. Infuriating, eh? That’s what some users of Apple’s latest wireless earbuds say happens while flying.
It certainly doesn’t happen to every user. But there’s no easy solution for those experiencing the problem. Still, there are a few things you’ll need to be ready in case you’re unlucky.
Apple could bring the iPhone’s water-resistant design to the iPad. The company has internally tested an iPad mini casing with an IP rating.
Unlike iPhones, iPads typically aren’t exposed to the same environmental challenges. So, Apple never made iPads with an IP rating, but that could eventually change.
The next-generation iPad mini will be upgraded with a gorgeous OLED display, according to a generally reliable source of Apple insider info. It’s apparently part of a drive that will eventually see an OLED screen coming to the iPad Air, too. But there’s bad news about the budget iPad.
The move comes as the oft-predicted OLED MacBook Pro moves closer to release.
Apple seeded the release candidates of iOS 26.1 and macOS Tahoe 26.1 to developers and the public on Tuesday. This is usually the final step before new versions launch — which should happen next week. The highlight is a new setting that makes the controversial Liquid Glass UI less transparent.
Release candidates for iPadOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1 and visionOS 26.1 also went out to on Tuesday.