MacRumors

WhatsApp today announced a series of updates to group chats, including an "@all" mention feature, three new poll upgrades, and a faster way to spin off new groups from existing ones.

The most notable addition is @all, which lets a group member alert everyone in a chat at once instead of tagging people individually. WhatsApp says the feature is meant for important, time-sensitive messages, such as school or office closures, event deadlines, or last-minute changes to plans. In groups with more than 32 members, only admins can use @all. The mention will surface even in muted chats, though WhatsApp says users can mute @all specifically in their notification settings if they want to opt out.

Polls are also gaining three improvements. Poll creators can now set an end time that automatically locks voting once it passes, hide voter names so participants can respond without others seeing their choices, and edit a poll's question for up to 15 minutes after posting it to fix typos or add clarity.

WhatsApp is also simplifying group creation. A new "Create a similar group" option lets users start a new group chat populated with members from an existing one in a single tap, rather than adding participants one by one. WhatsApp suggests the feature for splitting off side conversations, such as planning a surprise party away from the group being surprised, or diving into a specific topic without cluttering the main chat.

Today's changes come as a continuation of updates introduced earlier this year, when WhatsApp added group message history, member tags, and event reminders. WhatsApp has more than 100 million users in the U.S. and over 3 billion globally.

Amazon this week has brought back notable discounts on the M4 iPad Air, with a trio of markdowns on the tablet. This includes both 11-inch and 13-inch models of the brand new 2026 M4 iPad Air.

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

Specifically, the 128GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M4 iPad Air has dropped to $689.99, down from $749.00. You'll also find low prices on the 128GB and 256GB Wi-Fi 13-inch tablet, both of which we're only tracking on Amazon.

The new iPad Air features the M4 chip, C1X modem, and N1 networking chip, which brings support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In terms of design, the 2026 models are identical to the 2025 iPad Air tablets, with an edge-to-edge display, slim bezels, and aluminum chassis.

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Apple's annual sales in India surpassed $10 billion for the first time in the fiscal year ending in March, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, as the company continues to widen its retail footprint in the country.

Revenue grew at a double-digit percentage rate over the 12 months through March, up from about $9 billion a year earlier, with iPhones accounting for a significant majority of the total and demand for iPads and MacBooks also rising.

Apple has asked a federal judge for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI as its trade secrets lawsuit escalates, and OpenAI responded hours later with a detailed public rebuttal that includes internal messages and legal correspondence.

Reuters reports that Apple yesterday filed a motion seeking to bar OpenAI and two former employees, Chang Liu and Tang Tan, from accessing, using, or disclosing its alleged confidential information, along with a request for expedited discovery. "Apple will be irreparably harmed absent a preliminary injunction," the company said in its filing.

Apple originally sued OpenAI on July 10, alleging that former Apple engineer Liu and former Apple design executive Tan ran a scheme to funnel confidential product information to OpenAI's hardware business. OpenAI has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, saying it has "no interest in other companies' trade secrets."

Late on Monday evening, OpenAI published a blog post titled "Apple is getting this wrong," calling the lawsuit "careless, aggressive and oddly personal." The company disputes Apple's account of its pre-litigation contact, saying Apple's outside counsel emailed the wrong person in February after confusing two Asian last names, and published the underlying email chain showing the mix-up, along with an apology from Apple's counsel. OpenAI says it heard nothing further about the specific allegations for five months before Apple filed suit.

OpenAI published iMessage exchanges it says show Apple employees repeatedly asking Liu for help locating files and technical information after his January 22 departure, including directing a colleague to AirDrop files from his Apple-linked iCloud account. The same messages show an Apple employee still asking Liu about internal files as late as March 5, with another participant in the thread calling the exchange "highly irregular."

OpenAI also defended Tan, who spent 24 years at Apple before joining io Products, the hardware startup he co-founded with Jony Ive, which merged with OpenAI in July 2025. "Tang has always been clear with the team that we do not want, and must not use, any confidential information from other companies," OpenAI said.

Apple's complaint claims more than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI. A hearing on Apple's injunction request has not yet been scheduled.

Apple briefly removed Telegram from the App Store on Monday night after a review found content that violated its guidelines against child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but restored the app a short while later, according to Reuters.

Reports of the removal began circulating around 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday, with searches for Telegram on the ‌App Store‌ returning nothing and the app's direct listing showing a "page can't be found" error. Existing users were not affected and could keep using the app throughout, and Telegram remained available on the Mac App Store. The app returned to the ‌App Store‌ roughly 40 minutes later, around 10:10 p.m. ET. Apple confirmed the reason for the takedown in a statement:

We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material. The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it.

Telegram said the action stemmed from a single account. "Apple reported one user sharing CSAM, who was immediately banned," the company said, adding that it has removed more than 337,900 groups and channels related to CSAM in 2026, on top of 29,640 removals in 2025 following reports from groups including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, a longtime critic of ‌App Store‌ policy amid his own antitrust fight with Apple, argued on X that the takedown showed the need for more competition in app distribution. "Apple's ‌App Store‌ desperately needs competition worldwide," Sweeney wrote. "Apple capriciously removes a vital communication and privacy tool from availability to a billion users, and sadly this is business as usual." He went on to question the consistency of the standard Apple applied, noting the company "did not elaborate on how, if that is the standard for app removal, any communications app could operate at scale, including iMessage."

Monday's action echoes a February 2018 removal, when Apple pulled both Telegram and its Telegram X client over what founder Pavel Durov described at the time as "inappropriate content," restoring the apps only after Telegram added extra safeguards.

Apple is working on a new feature that will support cross-device copy and paste between iOS devices and Windows PCs.

Microsoft asked for the feature using Apple's EU interoperability request system for developers, which Apple implemented to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Apple began evaluating the request in March, and on June 26, proposed a project plan.

Microsoft described how the feature would be used:

• Copy text or other supported content on their iPhone and paste it directly on their Windows PC, and vice versa.
• Perform common productivity workflows without needing to foreground an app or take explicit repeated actions to initiate a transfer.
• Experience clipboard synchronization as a lightweight, continuous capability rather than a manual, app-driven operation.

Apple proposed a solution that would let an iPhone share and import items from the pasteboard to a paired accessory, like a Windows PC. Apple plans to use a solution similar to the Accessory Notifications option it added for third-party wearables in the EU in iOS 26.5. Users would need to give a paired device one-time permission to paste content from an iPhone.

To adopt this solution, you will need to adopt AccessorySetupKit in order for the user to consent to the necessary permissions allowing the pasteboard to be shared with your accessory. This solution will require the user to perform a one-time consent to sharing the pasteboard with each paired accessory that will receive this functionality.

Right now, an app can only read an iPhone's clipboard if the app is actively running in the foreground and the user grants clipboard access with each copy/paste action. For its own devices, Apple has a Universal Clipboard feature with cross-device copy and paste between iOS and macOS.

Microsoft complained that the clipboard restrictions imposed on apps prevent the continuous synchronization of clipboard content from an iPhone to a PC or other connected device in the background.

Apple says introducing cross-device copy and paste is a significant engineering effort, with work expected to be complete by fall 2027. It will be shipped first in a developer beta for testing ahead of a public release. If the feature is added toward the end of fall 2027, it could be early 2028 before the public gets access.

It is likely that cross-device copy and paste will be limited to iPhone and Windows users in the European Union, though it is possible Apple could implement it worldwide.

Apple has brought some features it was required to support under the DMA to all countries, like eSIM transfers from iPhone to Android and simpler data transfers when switching between Android devices and iPhones. Other features, like AirPods-style pairing and notification forwarding for third-party wearables, have only rolled out in the EU.

Ted Lasso season four is set to premiere Wednesday, and to celebrate the debut, Apple is hosting a Ted Lasso look-alike contest in New York.

"Think you have the stache to make fans believe? Join the fun this August 6 at Apple Fifth Avenue Plaza for a Ted Lasso Look-Alike contest," reads Apple's Facebook event page. Apple has a set of contest rules instructing participants to visit Apple Fifth Avenue to be judged on "the degree to which they look and act like the character Ted Lasso."

There will be a three-round contest with eliminations in each round. Ten semifinalists will be selected after round one, five finalists will make it past round two, and three finalists will be selected in round three. The event starts at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time and runs until 7:00 p.m.

• Round One, Ted Energy - Contestants have to introduce themselves in character and have a two-minute dance break. Judging will be based on optimism, posture, and presence, along with costume commitment and participation level.
• Round Two, Head Coach - Semifinalists will participate in a trivia game and will be judged on the level to which each participant embraces the Ted Lasso character. The round will be judged on trivia results, costume commitment, mustache authenticity (Apple says 'stick-ons OK; real grows extra credit'), and The Believe Factor (something unique and special).
• Round Three, Ted Talk - Each remaining contestant will present a 30- to 45-second pep talk to the crowd. It will be judged on how moved the crowd is, costume commitment, and Ted Energy.

A first-place winner will receive custom Beats headphones and a custom soccer scarf, while the two runners-up will get the scarf alone. Full rules are on Apple's site for the event.

Season four of Ted Lasso will premiere on Wednesday, August 5, and it has 10 total episodes. One episode will be released every Wednesday through October 7. In the new season, Lasso returns to Richmond to coach a second-division women's soccer team. Ted Lasso favorites including Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Jeremy Swift will star in the series.

Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus is rehiring Laura Legros, a former vice president of hardware engineering who retired from Apple in 2022, reports Bloomberg.

Legros previously managed product delivery, development schedules, and coordination across engineering teams. Under Ternus, she will work across different parts of the company, and report directly to him.

According to Bloomberg, Legros was one of Ternus' most trusted deputies before she retired. She has presented at past Apple events, introducing the 2018 MacBook Air and the 2020 iPad Air.

As he prepares to take over, Ternus has been shadowing current CEO Tim Cook and leading executive meetings. He has met with company leaders to work on product plans, and has been spending time with Apple's design teams.

Ternus will take over as Apple CEO on September 1. Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman to engage with policymakers around the world.

The latest update to the Google Health app for iOS allows Google Health data to sync to Apple Health. Google's app is used to collect data from wearables like Fitbit trackers and the Pixel Watch.

Sync to Apple Health. Share your data like your exercise records, sleep, vitals, steps, and more from Google Health to Apple Health.

Google Health (previously the Fitbit app) collects fitness, sleep, and wellness data from a connected wearable device. Steps, distance traveled, heart rate, sleep, and more can now be added to Apple Health. As noted on Reddit, some data such as HRV doesn't transfer over.

Syncing can be enabled after downloading the update by selecting Connections, choosing Apps and services, and then adding Apple Health.

Apple Health data already synced to Google Health, so the new update adds two-way sync between the platforms. Fitbit devices have never had native sync to Apple Health, and users previously had to use a third-party syncing utility or a workaround to transfer data.

Version 5.05 of the Google Health app is available from the App Store for free. The update also adds Smart Health Links for sharing medical records with providers or family members.

Apple Pay expanded to the Philippines today, which means iPhone and Apple Watch owners in the country can add supported debit and credit cards to the Wallet app for contactless payments.

Credit and debit cards can be added by opening the Wallet app and tapping on the "+" button. According to users on Reddit, supported banks include UnionBank, GoTyme, Metrobank, and Chinabank. Cards are verified using SMS or phone call.

Once an eligible card is added to the Wallet app, it can be used at retail locations that support ‌Apple Pay‌. Reddit users have been able to add their cards to Apple Wallet and make ‌Apple Pay‌ purchases at stores like Starbucks and 7-Eleven.

‌Apple Pay‌ is available in a long list of countries around the world, with details on supported banks. The Philippines hasn't been added to Apple's site yet, but Apple should soon have a full list of participating banks.

The way Apple combines work and personal iCloud accounts left some employees able to access confidential documents after departing the company, reports The Information. The site spoke to more than half a dozen former Apple employees who were unknowingly left with access to sensitive content.

The former employees said many Apple files they had been shared on over their careers at the company—including planning documents for product launch events—continued to sync to their personal devices through the iCloud storage service after they left Apple. In some cases, they even received notifications about fresh updates to the documents. Some former employees said they were petrified to delete the files for fear that doing so would attract Apple's attention.

Apple files get mixed in with employees' accounts because the company encourages them to use their personal Apple Accounts with their work ‌iCloud‌ account. Employees are given a 2TB ‌iCloud‌ plan and are able to merge the storage with their existing Apple Account or create a new account. Since only one primary account can be signed in at a time, most opt to use their existing account to avoid having to carry two iPhones.

Apple has a managed folder for workplace files that it revokes access to when an employee leaves, but some internal documents aren't saved there automatically and shared files end up mixed in with personal content. Employees can also retain access to iMessage chats and files shared via the Messages app.

Lingering access to Apple systems is central to Apple's lawsuit against OpenAI. In its filing, Apple alleged that former employee Chang Liu breached Apple's systems using a "rare, previously unknown authentication bug" to download files while he was working at OpenAI.

Apple told The Information that the OpenAI lawsuit is unrelated to any files left available on ‌iCloud‌ and that it does not pursue legal claims against former employees who accidentally have Apple documents in their personal ‌iCloud‌ accounts.

This case is about OpenAI employees wrongfully taking Apple's secret and confidential information regarding our unreleased technologies, processes, and products. Nothing in the filing relates to documents shared by, or stored in, iCloud.

Former employees say Apple does not do a thorough enough job going through personal devices to remove sensitive files that have been stored in ‌iCloud‌. In a now-settled legal dispute, chip company Rivos claimed Apple intentionally lets former employees retain access to files "as part of a planned effort to generate a pretextual basis to sue the employees and their new employer for 'stealing' Apple material." In the Rivos case, an employee was targeted for keeping work files in his personal ‌iCloud‌ account.

Another former Apple employee sued by Apple, Gerard Williams, countersued and accused the company of using intimidation tactics to scare people thinking of leaving. Apple sued Williams for breach of contract after he started processor company Nuvia, presenting extensive phone and text records of his communications. The court rejected Williams' claim, and Apple dropped the case in 2023.

In 2025, Apple also accused former Vision Pro engineer Di Liu of downloading thousands of corporate documents to his personal cloud storage shortly before leaving the company for Snap.

The Information does not outright suggest Apple is purposefully allowing former employees to retain access to ‌iCloud‌ files, but points out that Apple's use of ‌iCloud‌ for file sharing and its incomplete wiping of employee accounts are at odds with its heavy focus on privacy and security.

India has proposed extending tax breaks until 2041 for foreign companies that supply machinery to their contract manufacturers, handing a win to Apple as it expands iPhone production in the country, Reuters reports.

Introduced in February, the exemption previously ran only until 2031, and Apple had long since lobbied against being taxed on the high-end iPhone machinery it owns in India. The draft bill still has to be passed by both houses of parliament.

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

Apple last month filed a new legal complaint with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) over the British government's demand for access to encrypted iCloud backups belonging to UK users, according to an order issued by the court and reported by the Financial Times.

The Home Office previously agreed to drop its original demand for a backdoor covering UK and U.S. customers alike, after a diplomatic row with Washington. The British government subsequently issued a new technical capability notice (TCN) to Apple last year, limited to users in the UK.

Technical capability notices are issued under the UK's Investigatory Powers Act, which the government says is necessary to investigate terrorism and child sexual abuse. They can force companies to hand UK security services access to customer data, even when that data is encrypted.

The court notified Privacy International of Apple's new complaint. The group, along with Liberty, had already brought a separate complaint against such notices at the IPT, with that case due to be heard in December.

Apple has long argued that any such backdoor would weaken security for all its customers. Apple and the Home Office are both legally barred from discussing TCNs.

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

Apple today highlighted tomorrow's start for the Leagues Cup, an annual competition among teams from Major League Soccer and Liga MX, with all 62 matches available for Apple TV subscribers to watch at no additional charge in over 100 countries and regions.

The tournament features 18 of the 30 MLS teams and all 18 Liga MX teams, with the top three finishing teams receiving spots in the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup. The Leagues Cup champion will receive a direct berth into the Round of 16 at the Champions Cup as teams vie for qualification to the FIFA Club World Cup and other international tournaments.

Phase One of the Leagues Cup runs from tomorrow through August 13, with the Quarterfinals scheduled for August 25–27 and the Semifinals to be played September 1–2. The final and third-place matches are scheduled for September 6.

In addition to ‌Apple TV‌ coverage, Apple is featuring the Leagues Cup across a number of its other services, including real-time scores and stats in the Apple Sports app, curated warm-up playlists on Apple Music, Maps Guides to every MLS stadium in Apple Maps, and a dedicated Leagues Cup hub in Apple News.

Apple wants its future glasses and headsets to double as health and fitness devices, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said the ambition traces back to Vision Pro's early development, when Apple weighed a number of ambitious health and fitness features for the headset. Among the ideas Apple explored was a Vision Pro-native take on Fitness+, designed to have wearers work out and follow along with classes while the headset's body-tracking sensors monitored their form. That project stalled and was ultimately scrapped, according to Gurman, both because of technical limitations and because the headset was simply too heavy to wear comfortably during a workout.

Apple has apparently carried that ambition into its smart glasses project once the company shifted its spatial computing focus away from Vision Pro. He draws a parallel to AirPods, which Apple transformed from simple earbuds into a functioning hearing aid system. Sensors embedded in the glasses, he suggested, could eventually let Apple capture movement data in a similar way, opening the door to fitness-tracking functionality later down the line.

Gurman noted that this won't be part of the glasses when they debut next year; he expects the health capabilities to arrive gradually, over a period of years rather than at launch.

He pointed out that the Vision Products Group, Apple's team responsible for glasses and future headsets, is looking to hire a "strategic product design leader" tasked with helping "define the future of health, well-being and fitness experiences across vision products." Whoever fills the role will need to "translate ambiguous opportunities at the intersection of spatial computing, wearables, consumer health and human behavior" into an actual product direction.

The listing also calls for a candidate with "experience developing and validating digital health or fitness products" and "familiarity with sensor-driven experiences." Put together, Gurman argues, the posting confirms Apple's intent to eventually place its glasses alongside AirPods and Apple Watch as health platforms.

Apple's first smart glasses are expected to launch late next year, following a potential unveiling at WWDC.

Apple's first camera-equipped AirPods could launch as soon as next month, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple has reportedly spent years working on camera-equipped AirPods under the code name "B798," as part of a broader AI wearables push that also encompasses smart glasses and a wearable AI pendant. That model had been on track for a 2026 release before slipping to 2027.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that a separate camera AirPods project, code named "B790," has been progressing alongside B798. He noted this isn't unusual for Apple, saying the company "famously creates competing versions of the same product internally." He added that the B790 hardware is closer to production. Pieces of it have turned up in iOS 27's code, and it is reportedly listed internally as a candidate to ship before the year is out.

It is not the first sign of B790's existence. Developer Sam Henri Gold found traces of the same codename buried in the second iOS 27 developer beta last month. Gurman did not mention what separates the B790 hardware from the more advanced B798 model, and it's still an open question whether Apple will ultimately ship both.

Rather than taking photos or video, the sensors in Apple's camera AirPods are expected to hand Siri a live view of a wearer's surroundings, tying into existing Visual Intelligence tools. Because a camera-equipped model is expected to cost more than the current $249 AirPods Pro 3, Gurman previously said Apple is weighing "AirPods Ultra" branding rather than calling them "AirPods Pro 4."

If the B790 model does arrive this year, a September debut alongside new iPhones is the most likely scenario, while the fuller featured B798 version remains slated for late 2027.

Towards the end of July, we began tracking major discounts on the 2026 MacBook Pro, with up to $500 off select models on Amazon. These sales are still available this week, and Amazon has even sweetened the pot for select devices with sales that are better than we saw during the July event.

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

14-Inch MacBook Pro

Prices start at $2,259.99 for the 24GB/1TB 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro, down from $2,499.00. Amazon is also providing $500 off both the 15-Core/24GB/2TB model, as well as the M5 Max 26GB/2TB model, both of which are new low prices in the wake of the price hikes.

16-Inch MacBook Pro

In terms of the larger display models, we're tracking discounts on all four models on Amazon. These start at $2,759.99 for the 24GB/1TB M5 Pro configuration ($239 off), and reach up to $4,499.00 for the 48GB/2TB M5 Max device ($500 off).

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

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Earlier this year, Apple informed the European Union that it had agreed to acquire certain assets and hire employees from PlasmaSolve, according to a notice published today on the European Commission's website.

Apple Inc. ("Apple"), through a subsidiary, will acquire the entire issued share capital of PlasmaSolve s.r.o. ("PlasmaSolve") and offer employment to and hire certain PlasmaSolve employees. PlasmaSolve develops solutions, including a plasma simulation software, to design and optimize plasma-based manufacturing processes.

PlasmaSolve is a Czech materials science firm founded in 2016 that has focused on creating simulation software to assist manufacturers with various plasma-related technologies. The company's website remains active, and it outlines some of the grant funding it has received over the years related to its work.

PlasmaSolve's primary product was MatSight, a suite of apps intended to help manufacturers simulate the results of various vapor deposition processes for metals. Apple has used the technology for many years on a number of products, including on various iPhone models to create a durable thin film on the casing to minimize scratching and other damage.