![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1780189513_897_0x0.jpg\")
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The Apple iPhone 17 Pro is displayed during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters on September 9, 2025 (Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Taking a look back at this week\u2019s news and headlines from across the Apple world, including iPhone 18 Pro release date, Apple warns of price rises, iPhone Ultra delayed, Mac’s Intel story, AirPods update, and Apple Music\u2019s Top Twenty.<\/p>\n
Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the many discussions around Apple in the last seven days. You can also read my weekly digest of Android news here on Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deducing The iPhone 18 Pro Release Date<\/p>\n One of the biggest dates in the smartphone calendar is the launch of the iPhone 18 family. While it is generally accepted as \u2018sometime in September every year\u2019, that\u2019s a wide window for consumers and the competition to come to terms with. But there are clues out there, and Forbes contributor David Phelan is on the hunt for an answer<\/a>:<\/p>\n “Last year, the keynote which revealed the iPhone 17 series was on Tuesday, Sept. 9. That week seems the most likely this year, but Monday, Sept. 7 is Labor Day, and Apple rarely holds a keynote on the day after a holiday. After all, it needs to fly press and special guests to Cupertino. This means that the most auspicious date this year would be the Wednesday, of that week, Sept. 9.”<\/p>\n Apple Prepares iPhone Price Rises<\/p>\n Speculation around the price of the iPhone is running high this week, as Apple\u2019s outgoing CEO Tim Cook speaks to the WSJ about the potential for consumer prices to rise, noting that “the situation has become unsustainable.\u201d https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ewanspence\/2026\/06\/17\/apple-iphone-mac-price-increase-silicon-costs\/<\/a><\/p>\n “Apple is not alone in making this decision. Manufactuers across the board are raising prices on existing hardware and making conservative financial decisions when launching new hardware. That could include removing the lower tier of storage, so the next step up in the portfolio with the higher retail price is seen as the base model.”<\/p>\n Delaying The iPhone Ultra<\/p>\n Alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Amx, Apple is expected to launch the foldable iPhone Ultra. While it may be on the stage in September, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it will reach the Apple Store shelves alongside the candybar phones. Apple Insider\u2019s William Gallagher suggests<\/a> there may be a long wait to buy the luxury handset.<\/p>\n “There are at last positive signs from Apple that it is preparing an iPhone Fold, but there have also been multiple reports that it is delayed. Now according to Economic Daily News, the CEO of Apple lens supplier Largan Precision has hinted at delays. “Some new opportunities will be announced in the third quarter,” Enping Lin said at a shareholders’ meeting (in translation), “and some will be moved to the beginning of next year.”<\/p>\n The Second iPhone Air Is Coming<\/p>\n While a follow up to last year\u2019s iPhone Air is expected during the 2026\/27 generation, it looks to be part of the \u2018vanilla\u2019 iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e program, rather than the 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max and 18 Ultra. That puts the fashionably thin phone on course for an April 2027 launch, reports Bloomberg<\/a>:<\/p>\n “Current prototypes of the new model, code-named V62, add a second rear camera for ultrawide-angle photography, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the product hasn\u2019t been announced\u2026 Though the device retains its current look, Apple also is working to improve the battery life, according to the people. It\u2019s unclear if that will come from a larger battery, which may be impractical in the Air\u2019s compact chassis, or efficiency gains.”<\/p>\n The Long And Storied Life Of Intel And The Mac<\/p>\n With the release of macOS 27 later this year, Apple is taking one of the final steps to move on from Intel and into a world where only Apple Silicon matters for the Mac, with the removal of Rosetta as the default library and continued reductions in support for existing Intel machines. macOS 26 is not the very end of the chapter, but the Ars Technica team have decided it is time to look back on Apple\u2019s Intel adventure<\/a>, from the days of PowerPC through to the ARM-powered future:<\/p>\n “By January of 2006, Apple started shipping the first Intel Macs, starting with a new iMac and a renamed MacBook Pro to replace the outgoing PowerBook series. These first systems were externally almost indistinguishable from the PowerPC models they replaced, another strategy Apple recycled for the first Apple Silicon Macs\u2014the implied message was \u201cmaybe these machines were different on the inside, but they\u2019re still the Macs you know and love.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a New Sound From The AirPods<\/p>\n While there\u2019s little information to go on as regards updates and new features, Apple has released firmware updates for its premium ticket AirPods. David Phelan takes a closer look at the notes<\/a> to see what\u2019s going on:<\/p>\n “Firmware updates for Apple\u2019s earbuds happen sporadically and are usually accompanied by the briefest of release notes. Apple merely says the new firmware is all about \u201cBug fixes and other improvements,\u201d on its support page. That\u2019s identical to the notes for the 11 updates that preceded it, by the way. In other words, there\u2019s not much to be deduced here, unlike the extensive notes which accompanied the release of AirPods Pro 3 last fall.”<\/p>\n And Finally…<\/p>\n In a rare look behind the scenes, Apple and Chartdata have published the Top Twenty streamed artists on Apple Music<\/a>. This is a regular occurrence from the likes of Spotify, but a first from Apple. <\/p>\n Your top three? Future is third, Taylor Swift is second, and Drake is Top Of The Streaming Pops.<\/p>\n Apple Loop brings you seven days worth of highlights every weekend here on Forbes. Don\u2019t forget to follow me so you don\u2019t miss any coverage in the future. Last week\u2019s Apple Loop can be read here<\/a>, or this week\u2019s edition of Loop\u2019s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Apple iPhone 17 Pro is displayed during an Apple special event at Apple headquarters on September 9,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[359844,1337,359843,359845,64,63,354956,155525,359842,359840,359841,203,16376,105],"class_list":["post-749033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-airpods-firmware-update","tag-apple","tag-apple-intel-mac-history","tag-apple-music-top-artists","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-iphone-18-pro-release-date","tag-iphone-air-2","tag-iphone-air-2027","tag-iphone-price-increase","tag-iphone-ultra-delay","tag-mobile","tag-newsletter","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}