SpaceX plans to launch a telecommunications service, Apple begins preparations for the highly anticipated iPhone event in September, confidential Apple files remain accessible to some former employees via iCloud, the iPad Air may finally get a new design, the iPhone 18e might come with more RAM, the iPhone Air 2 may feature five major upgrades, reasons for the slowdown in services revenue growth, Meta launches a new low-cost programming agent, Apple suspends Telegram for a short time, WhatsApp adds an “@everyone” feature, Apple’s sales in India exceed $10 billion for the first time, Apple’s incoming CEO brings a former executive back to his team, and finally, Fitbit data can now be synced with the Apple Health app, plus other exciting news on the sidelines…
SpaceX plans to launch a telecommunications service to compete with major mobile carriers
SpaceX has announced plans to transform its Starlink service into a full-fledged mobile communications network to compete with carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, following its acquisition of a portion of EchoStar’s telecommunications spectrum. Instead of relying on traditional cell towers, the company plans to use a large number of low-cost ground stations linked to Starlink dishes to provide coverage.
Although experts believe that competing with major carriers will be difficult due to the limited spectrum SpaceX possesses, the company intends to launch the next generation of Starlink Mobile satellites in 2027, promising a service much faster than the current system. These plans have alarmed investors, leading to a decline in the shares of major US telecommunications companies following the announcement.
Vulnerability in iCloud Private Relay
Two security researchers have discovered a vulnerability in Apple’s iCloud Private Relay, a feature available to iCloud+ subscribers designed to hide the user’s IP address while browsing via Safari. According to the researchers, some websites that use or claim to use Passkeys can obtain the user’s real IP address without any notice or interaction. They also pointed to two other features in WebKit that could lead to IP address and DNS server data leaks in some cases. Apple has confirmed it is investigating these findings, while researchers advise users to rely on a VPN if they require a higher level of privacy until an official fix is released.
Apple Vision Pro reduces the duration of some surgical procedures by nearly 20%
A scientific study conducted by the University of California, San Diego, showed that using the Apple Vision Pro headset during certain tear duct surgeries helped doctors finish procedures about 19% faster compared to relying on traditional screens. The headset enabled surgeons to view the endoscopic feed directly in front of their eyes without needing to turn toward an external monitor, providing a more comfortable working posture and reducing physical and mental strain. All surgeries achieved successful results without complications, and all participating surgeons expressed a preference for using the headset, noting that the study is still preliminary and requires larger trials to confirm these results.
Foldable iPhone may drive sales of similar phones up by 20%
New reports expect global sales of foldable smartphones to rise by 20% during 2026, driven by Apple’s anticipated entry into this market with its first foldable phone, which rumors suggest may be named “iPhone Ultra.” Despite rising component costs and shortages of certain electronic chips, analysts expect continued growth in this category, with Samsung remaining in the lead and Apple, Huawei, and others contributing to increased demand.
Reports indicate that Apple is preparing to unveil its new device in conjunction with the iPhone 18 Pro series, while the last quarter of the year is expected to be the strongest period for foldable phone sales as new devices from several companies reach the market.
Apple begins preparations for the September event
Apple has begun preparations for its highly anticipated annual event in September, during which it is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, as well as the first foldable iPhone. As part of the preparations, the company has opened applications for its US retail store employees to participate in organizing the event at the Apple Park headquarters, where they will welcome guests, manage attendance, and assist with security and logistics. Expectations suggest the conference will be held during the first half of September, possibly on the 8th or 9th, while participating employees will be selected via a lottery, with results announced in mid-August.
Apple develops a copy-and-paste feature between iPhone and Windows devices in Europe
Apple is working on a new feature that will allow users to easily copy text and content between iPhones and Windows-based computers, in response to a request made by Microsoft under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act requirements. The feature will rely on granting the user one-time permission to sync the clipboard between the two devices, providing an experience similar to the Universal Clipboard feature found between Apple devices. The company explained that developing this technology requires significant engineering effort, so it is expected to be completed by late 2027 before being rolled out to users, with the possibility that it may initially remain exclusive to EU countries.
Confidential files remained accessible to some former employees via iCloud
A new report revealed that some former Apple employees inadvertently retained access to internal and confidential company documents via iCloud even after leaving their jobs. This is due to the integration of work accounts with personal Apple accounts, which led to the continued syncing of some files and the arrival of updates to their devices. Apple confirmed that this issue is not related to the lawsuit it filed against OpenAI, and that it is not legally pursuing employees who retain these files unintentionally. However, the report suggests that continued access by some former employees to internal documents raises questions about file management mechanisms, especially since Apple is known for its strong focus on privacy and security.
iPad Air may finally get a new design
Expectations suggest that Apple may make its first major design change to the iPad Air since 2020, with the release expected in early 2027. Reports indicate that the device may come with an OLED screen for the first time alongside an M5 chip, making it the biggest update it has seen in years. Analysts believe these changes could be accompanied by a thinner design and new features, especially if the device draws inspiration from the design of the upcoming iPad mini, which is rumored to get an OLED screen, a vibration-based speaker system, and a water-resistant chassis. So far, Apple has not confirmed any of this information, but it remains among the most prominent expectations for the upcoming release.
Rumor: iPhone 18e might come with more RAM
The latest rumors suggest that Apple plans to equip the iPhone 18e with 9GB of RAM instead of the 8GB found in the iPhone 17e. This update, according to analysts Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo, is intended to improve the phone’s performance with upcoming artificial intelligence features, especially with the evolution of Apple Intelligence capabilities. Although the increase seems minor, it could give the device better performance in multitasking and running smart features, and the phone is expected to be released during the first quarter of 2027 if these expectations hold true.
Rumor: iPhone Air 2 arrives in early 2027 with five major upgrades
The latest leaks indicate that Apple is preparing to launch the second generation of the iPhone Air during the first quarter of 2027, with a range of important improvements. Most notably, the addition of a second 48-megapixel rear camera for wide-angle shooting, a smaller Dynamic Island, along with the new A20 Pro processor made with 2nm technology, an upgraded N2 chip to improve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance, and a C2 5G modem that provides higher energy efficiency. The phone is also expected to retain a 6.5-inch screen, 12GB of RAM, and an 18-megapixel front camera, and is set to be released alongside the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in early 2027, if these expectations are correct.
Apple: App Store changes and the decline in mobile games affected services revenue growth
Apple explained that the slowdown in services revenue during the last quarter is partly due to a decrease in spending on mobile games, in addition to adjustments the company made to the App Store business model in some countries in response to regulatory and legal changes. Despite these challenges, the services sector achieved record revenue of $30.7 billion, an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year. Services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, and advertising also recorded strong growth, and the number of paid subscriptions rose to about 1.5 billion. Apple also noted that exchange rate fluctuations affected the results, but it expects the services sector to continue growing at similar rates during the next quarter.
Miscellaneous News
◉ Meta announced a new tool called Muse Code that works via the terminal on macOS and Linux systems, helping programmers perform complete coding tasks such as planning, writing code, and verifying results. The tool is similar to competitor solutions like OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code, but it offers very low prices if the user allows Meta to use their data to train future models. In normal mode, the service costs a few dollars per million tokens, while in the “Contributor” plan, the cost drops to just a few cents, with some restrictions on the number of allowed requests.
◉ Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said an attacker exploited a technical vulnerability to plant illegal content within public groups, with the goal of blackmailing their owners and pushing Apple to remove the app from its store. Indeed, Apple suspended Telegram for about 40 minutes before it returned after the content was deleted and the responsible user was banned. Durov emphasized that this is not a general problem with the platform, but an exceptional case, warning that such attacks could pose a risk to any app that relies on user-generated content.
◉ Apple reduced the number of reports that security researchers can submit to the bug bounty program after the platform was flooded with weak or fake reports generated by AI tools. Some companies like Bynario used technologies like ChatGPT to discover dozens of vulnerabilities, but the new restrictions prevented them from reporting all of them, despite the existence of actual serious vulnerabilities. Despite the challenges, Apple continues to review reports and also uses AI to discover new vulnerabilities, having recently fixed about 90 security issues in the iOS 26.6 update, with rewards reaching millions of dollars for critical vulnerabilities.
◉ WhatsApp launched a set of improvements for group chats, most notably the “@everyone” feature that allows alerting all group members at once, which is useful for urgent announcements like school closures or changing meeting times, with its use restricted to admins in large groups. Polls also received three additions: setting a voting end time, hiding participant names, and the ability to edit the question within 15 minutes to correct errors. It has also become easier to create a new group similar to an existing one with a single click, helping to organize side chats without cluttering the original group.
◉ Apple achieved a new milestone in India, with annual sales exceeding the $10 billion mark during the fiscal year ending in March, a notable increase from the previous year which recorded about $9 billion. Most of the revenue came from iPhones, with rising demand also for iPads and MacBooks, reflecting the company’s expanding presence in the Indian market and the strengthening of its stores there. This growth confirms that India has become one of the most important emerging markets for Apple globally.
◉ John Ternus is preparing to take over as Apple’s CEO in September, and he has brought back Laura Legros, the former VP of Hardware Engineering who retired in 2022, to his team. Legros was one of his closest aides and previously oversaw the development of products like the 2018 MacBook Air and 2020 iPad Air, and she will now work directly with him across various departments in the company. This move comes as Ternus continues to attend management meetings with Tim Cook in preparation for leading Apple, while Cook will remain CEO of the Board of Directors to communicate with decision-makers around the world.
◉ Fitbit and Pixel Watch users can now sync their health data directly with the Apple Health app after the latest update to the Google Health app on iOS. The update allows for the transfer of information such as steps, sleep, heart rate, and distance traveled, to be collected in one place within the Apple app, noting that some data like HRV does not transfer. This new feature provides two-way synchronization between the two systems, whereas users previously relied on third-party tools to transfer data.
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