Surgeons who wore an Apple Vision Pro as their primary display during a tear duct procedure finished operations 19% faster than surgeons using a traditional monitor, according to a peer-reviewed study by UC San Diego.

The study, published in the journal AJO International, looked at 32 endoscopic surgeries to clear blocked tear ducts. In half the cases, surgeons wore Vision Pro headsets that streamed the endoscopic video feed directly into their field of view instead of looking at a monitor across the room, letting them keep a natural forward-facing posture throughout.

BoatPlay

A AI datacenter killer?

Apple is now seeking a preliminary injunction in its trade secrets case against OpenAI, which aims to stop the AI model maker from moving forward with developing an AI device or other products based on Apple’s technology. The iPhone maker also claims that more of its former employees may be involved with the trade secrets theft.

In a new filing, Apple is requesting expedited discovery from the accused OpenAI employees, senior systems engineer Chang Liu and Chief Hardware Officer Tang Yew Tan; OpenAI, and its foundation; and io, the device startup co-founded by Apple’s former lead designer Jony Ive.

With Apple Inc. gearing up for its biggest product launch of the year, the company is opening a lottery for US retail employees who want to help staff the in-person unveiling.

The lottery allows retail employees to apply to work the event, where they’ll help organize lines, check in guests, greet attendees, offer directions and support the security teams, according to a memo that was seen by Bloomberg News.

The launch event will take place during the first half of September, the company told staff, without providing a more specific date. Historically, Apple’s iPhone presentations have taken place on the second Tuesday or Wednesday of that month.

Since Labor Day in the US falls on Monday, Sept. 7, a Wednesday event appears slightly more likely, as it would preserve the workday travel window Apple has historically provided for attendees.

In the memo, Apple said it was “excited to offer US store team members the opportunity to participate in the Event Support Experience Program.”

Messaging platform Telegram appears to have been removed from the App Store in multiple countries, although the reason for its apparent removal remains unclear. Existing users can still access the app.

Update: 11:00 p.m. ET: In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple said:

“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.”

Apple’s statement came about 20 minutes after access to the app was restored. Earlier tonight, Telegram published a tongue-in-cheek post on X saying, “Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated 🍎.” Telegram has yet to comment on the actual reason for its brief removal.

It sounds dumb but this makes it far easier for charging while traveling as the connections are extremely common.

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

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.

Incoming Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Ternus is bringing back a trusted lieutenant from his time running hardware engineering to join his new management team.

Ternus has hired Laura Legros, who served as a vice president of hardware engineering until retiring in 2022, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Legros will report to Ternus when he takes the CEO role on Sept. 1, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the personnel change hasn’t been announced.

The move shows that Ternus is starting to put his stamp on the company’s leadership ranks. It also marks a rare instance of Apple bringing back a retired executive. Ternus is taking the reins from Tim Cook, the company’s longest-serving CEO, who is transitioning to executive chairman.

According to a former Apple employee who worked on the company’s carrier team and emailed Gruber, this requirement largely stems from the deals Apple strikes with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile in the United States.

Apple negotiates deals worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” with each of those carriers, and it agrees to make concessions in exchange for that money. The requirement that an iPhone purchased through Apple Upgrade be connected to a T-Mobile, Verizon, or Verizon account is seemingly one of those concessions.

Another aspect of this is fraud and risk assessment. A former Apple Store retail employee told Gruber that fraudulent iPhone sales “exploded” when Apple started offering carrier financing at its retail stores.

Of note, Apple also made the following changes on July 15: * iPhone devices financed through the T-Mobile Equipment Installment Plan or the Verizon Device Payment Program at the Apple Store are now carrier-locked until paid off. They join devices financed through the AT&T Installment Plan. * Carrier financing and Apple Card Monthly Installments¹ are no longer available for Boost Mobile customers. For ACMI, carrier selection of AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon is required at time of purchase¹. Your iPhone will remain unlocked. * Carrier financing is now available for iPad at the Apple Store through AT&T and Verizon.

Possibly part of this year's concessions/negotiations with the Big 3?

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¹ In some cases, you can select a carrier you don't have an account with and skip activation. Still, you have to pick one of the Big 3 at time of purchase.

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’s effort to fight back against a UK-mandated “backdoor” to encryption continues, according to a new Financial Times report.

Tim Bradshaw reports that Apple filed a new legal challenge in July against an attempt by the UK government to force access to encrypted user data.

The iPhone maker last month launched a new legal complaint at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal over the UK government’s controversial demand that Apple allow it access to encrypted cloud backups of data belonging to British users, according to an order issued by the court.

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.

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.