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Foldable iPhone Could Cost $2,400

2025-11-25 08:06:00

Apple's foldable iPhone could be priced at $2,399, according to an estimate shared by analyst Arthur Liao at Fubon Research. There have been a range of price estimates, from as low as $1,800 to as high as $2,500, and the latest estimate falls on the higher side.


Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said he expects the ‌iPhone‌ Fold to cost between $2,000 and $2,500, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects it to be somewhere around $2,000.

The foldable ‌iPhone‌ will be expensive because of the premium components that Apple plans to use. The display panel and hinge will push pricing toward the upper end of market expectations, Fubon Research suggests.

Demand for the device will depend on the price that Apple sets, but Fubon believes that Apple could sell around 5.4 million units in 2026. Global smartphone demand could fall during the year, and foldables will be the "only spotlight" in the 2026 smartphone market.

The report says that Apple is also working on camera upgrades for 2026, with the first variable aperture lens planned for the iPhone 18 Pro models. It doesn't sound like the ‌iPhone‌ Fold will get the variable aperture lens that Apple is developing, but rumors indicate it will have a dual-lens rear camera setup with Wide and Ultra Wide lenses along with two front cameras.

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Anthropic Launches Claude Opus 4.5 With Improved Coding and Agent Capabilities

2025-11-25 06:59:02

Anthropic today announced the launch of Claude Opus 4.5, which it says is the "best model in the world for coding, agents, and computer use." It's improved over prior models for everyday tasks like deep research, and it is a "step forward in what AI systems can do."


According to feedback Anthropic received from early testers, Claude Opus 4.5 can complete tasks that were impossible for Sonnet 4.5, and that it is able to handle ambiguity and reason about tradeoffs without hand-holding. The Opus 4.5 model offers better vision, reasoning, mathematics skills, and coding than prior versions of Claude.

Along with the Opus update, Anthropic is updating its apps, the Claude Developer Platform, and Claude Code. There are tools for longer-running agents, and options to use Claude in Excel, Chrome, and on the desktop.

In the Claude apps, users will no longer run into limits during a long conversation. Claude is able to automatically summarize earlier context, which means the conversation can keep going endlessly. Claude for Chrome is available to all Max users, and Claude for Excel beta access is now available to all Max, Team, and Enterprise users.

Claude Code is now available in the desktop app, and with Opus 4.5, it is able to build more precise plans and execute them more thoroughly. Claude is able to ask clarifying questions upfront and then build a user-editable plan before executing.

Claude Opus 4.5 is available today across Anthropic's apps and its API. Opus-specific caps have been removed for Claude and Claude Code users with access to Opus 4.5, and for Max and Team Premium members, overall usage limits have increased.
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ChatGPT Adds AI Shopping Research Feature for Holiday Gift Finding

2025-11-25 05:50:15

OpenAI today added a new shopping research feature to ChatGPT, which is meant to help you find the right products for everything from simple household products to gifts.


You can tell ChatGPT what you're looking for, and shopping research will build a guide to help you make decisions on what to purchase. OpenAI says that it will ask smart clarifying questions, research deeply across the internet, review quality sources, and use context from prior conversations to build a personalized buyer's guide that's up-to-date.

It is built to perform particularly well in detail-heavy categories like electronics, beauty, home and garden, kitchen and appliances, and sports and outdoor. The research feature includes comparisons, constraints, tradeoffs, and more for product selections.

ChatGPT will suggest shopping research automatically when you ask it a shopping-related question, but you can also select "shopping research" from the "+" menu. When a research session has begun, ChatGPT will open a visual interface where you can share feedback to guide the research, providing feedback on what you're interested in.

You'll need to click through to a retailer's site to make a purchase, but eventually, ChatGPT will be able to make automatic purchases through ChatGPT when shopping from merchants that are part of Instant Checkout.

Shopping research is rolling out for logged-in ChatGPT users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, and to simplify holiday shopping, OpenAI is making "nearly unlimited usage" available.

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Jony Ive and Sam Altman Discuss AI Device That's Playful, Bite Worthy, and as Peaceful as a Cabin By a Lake

2025-11-25 04:29:38

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and io Products creator Jony Ive forged a friendship that led to OpenAI's acquisition of io, and subsequently, an AI-based hardware product that both Altman and Ive believe is a reimagination of what it means to use a computer.

The duo recently did an interview with Emerson Collective founder Laurene Powell Jobs, providing insight into what they're working on. There's now an established hardware prototype, and while Altman and Ive didn't explain what it is in plain language, the interview has hints of its design and functionality.

Here are several ways that Altman and Ive described their AI hardware device:

• It breaks the constraints of the "same kind of computer that we've been using for a long time."


• Research started with a question about what it means that the device "is going to be able to know everything you've ever thought about, read, said?"


• It will be a "sort of active participant" that's proactive in "a not annoying way."


• Current devices and apps are like "walking through Times Square in New York" with flashing lights, crowds of people, noises, etc. It "doesn't make our lives peaceful and calm" or let us "focus on other stuff," which is what Ive and Altman wanted to address.


• If you have an AI that you trust to do things for you and filter things out with "incredible contextual awareness of your whole life," then you can go for a vibe that's not walking through Times Square.


• Ive and Altman's device aims to bring some of the spirit of "sitting in the most beautiful cabin by a lake and in the mountains and just sort of enjoying the peace and calm."


• Ive said he prefers solutions that "teeter on appearing almost naive in their simplicity and their feel."


• He also likes "incredibly intelligent, sophisticated products that you want to touch" and use "almost carelessly."


• Ive told Altman that the design is right when you "want to lick it or take a bite out of it," and with the current prototype, Altman got that feeling.


• "The degree to which Jony chipped away at every little thing that this doesn't need to do or that doesn't need to be there is remarkable."


• "There's something about when a design gets like so simple and beautiful. And playful, for lack of a better word." There aren't a lot of products with "humor" in "this area" and there is a desire "not to take ourselves quite so seriously even though these are serious times."


• Altman said that early on, Jony said "we are going to make people smile. We're going to make people feel joy. Whatever the product does, it has to do that." Altman said it's "lovely" to "have some whimsy back."


• The prototypes are "jaw-droppingly good" and "exciting."

Rumors have described the device that io is working on as an AI phone without a screen, a "third core device" after a MacBook and an iPhone that's unobtrusive and able to sit in a pocket or on a desk, an iPod Shuffle-sized device that's neck worn, and a pocket-sized gadget that's screen-free but contextually aware of your life with microphones and cameras. It is not any kind of wearable like glasses, a watch, or earbuds.

Ive and Altman expect to have a device ready to hit the market in less than two years from now. The full interview with Altman and Ive is worth watching to see the commentary in context.
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Rare Layoffs at Apple Impact Dozens in Sales Roles

2025-11-25 04:00:36

Apple is making cuts and has laid off dozens of people in sales roles, reports Bloomberg. Apple is aiming to simplify the way that it sells products to businesses, schools, and governments.


Affected employees received notice over the past couple of weeks, and positions eliminated include account managers for large businesses, schools, and government agencies, plus staff at Apple's briefing centers for major customers. Employees were reportedly surprised by the layoffs, but they are able to apply for other positions within Apple.

Apple told Bloomberg that it is making changes in its sales team to better connect with customers.

To connect with even more customers, we are making some changes in our sales team that affect a small number of roles. We are continuing to hire and those employees can apply for new roles.

While Apple says it is restructuring some of the sales team, affected employees apparently believe that Apple wants to move more sales to third-party retailers. Pushing sales through retailers allows Apple to save money by cutting salary costs.

Apple is giving employees over a month to find a new role. Those who haven't gotten another position in the company by January 20 will receive a severance package.
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Crease-Free iPhone Fold on Track for 2026 Launch as Development Advances

2025-11-25 02:25:04

Apple is making progress on the development of the book-style foldable iPhone expected in 2026, according to a report from Chinese site UDN. The device has reportedly entered the engineering validation stage, and Apple is gearing up for mass production.


Citing supply chain sources, UDN says that Apple has solved "the crease problem" that has plagued most foldable smartphones, and the foldable ‌iPhone‌ will be the first crease-free foldable smartphone on the market. We've heard multiple prior rumors about Apple's intensive work on the hinge and display to minimize creasing, so this isn't the first time the foldable ‌iPhone‌ has been rumored to have a seamless screen.

Apple is using an inner screen designed by Samsung, but the panel structure, lamination method, and material process was designed by Apple. Apple worked with its suppliers to come up with a hinge design that prevents a permanent crease, and the hinge will adopt Liquid Metal components. By using Liquid Metal, Apple was able to design an ‌iPhone‌ that has a durable hinge that still has a slim design.

Apple will allegedly call the device the "‌iPhone‌ Fold," which is the name sites have already adopted when sharing rumors about the product.

There have been rumors suggesting that Apple could delay the foldable iPhone beyond 2026, but if Apple is ready for the engineering validation stage of ‌iPhone‌ development, a September 2026 launch timeline as planned is entirely plausible.

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