2026-03-12 01:53:37
The Apple Studio Display and Studio Display XDR are equipped with A19 and A19 Pro chips, respectively, and each display has 128GB of internal NAND storage.
With A-series chips, the Studio Displays run an iOS-based operating system, which is what the internal storage space is used for. The A19 and A19 Pro handle camera processing for the Center Stage camera, color calibration, USB and Thunderbolt device management, spatial audio, and more.
Storage space is necessary for the existing software, downloading new firmware updates over time, and perhaps for diagnostics, but the storage is not used for user-facing features.
The prior-generation Studio Display had 64GB of storage, so the new displays have double the capacity. Apple likely found it more affordable to use existing NAND storage from its iPhone supply chain rather than to invest in smaller modules with less storage. Most of the 128GB is probably unnecessary.
Along with 128GB of storage, the Studio Display has 8GB RAM and the Studio Display XDR has 12GB RAM. The new displays launched today, and are now available for purchase from the online Apple Store and Apple retail locations.
(Thanks, Mr. Macintosh!)
2026-03-12 01:32:52
X-Plane, which is advertised as being the "world's most advanced flight simulator," is coming to Apple's Vision Pro in the next month or so.
The upcoming visionOS 26.4 update adds support for NVIDIA's CloudXR 6.0 platform, and this will enable Vision Pro users to wirelessly stream immersive PC games from NVIDIA RTX-powered servers via Wi-Fi, including the flight simulator X-Plane 12. According to Justin Ryan, the simulator will stream at up to 4K at 120 FPS.
Vision Pro users will be able to connect their own flight simulation hardware for an immersive flying experience. If you have a physical yoke or throttle, Apple's augmented reality framework ARKit uses image detection to recognize them and place them inside your virtual cockpit, as shown in Ryan's demo below (via 9to5Mac).
Here’s a first look at X-Plane 12 on Apple Vision Pro!
— Justin Ryan ᯅ (@justinryanio) March 11, 2026
With visionOS 26.4 and NVIDIA CloudXR 6.0, the simulator streams wirelessly at up to 4K/120fps to your headset.
And if you have a physical yoke or throttle, ARKit uses image detection to recognize them and place them inside… pic.twitter.com/FTYzJH9ALP
2026-03-12 00:43:46
Apple and Samsung produced nearly the same number of smartphones in 2025, tying for the top position in global smartphone production, according to a new report from TrendForce.
Global smartphone production reached approximately 1.254 billion units in 2025, rising 2.5% year over year. The research firm says Apple and Samsung each produced nearly 240 million smartphones during the year, tying for the top position in global production.
TrendForce says the smartphone market in the first half of 2025 benefited from China's government subsidy programs, which stimulated demand, while the second half of the year was supported by the traditional seasonal peak driven by new flagship smartphone launches.
Apple's production increased significantly toward the end of the year following the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup. TrendForce said Apple's smartphone production rose more than 50% quarter over quarter in the fourth quarter of 2025, supported by strong shipments of the company's latest iPhone models.
The report adds that the iPhone 17 series benefited from well-positioned retail pricing, which helped drive strong market performance. TrendForce suggests that if Apple adopts a more aggressive pricing strategy in 2026, it could help sustain both production and sales momentum.
Looking ahead, the broader smartphone industry is expected to face mounting cost pressures. TrendForce says surging memory prices are likely to significantly increase smartphone production costs in 2026. As a result, global smartphone output is projected to decline by at least 10% year over year to around 1.135 billion units.
According to the firm, smartphone manufacturers will face a difficult choice between raising retail prices to preserve margins or lowering device specifications to maintain shipment volumes, with the entry-level segment expected to be most affected by rising component costs.
Beyond Apple and Samsung, several other manufacturers ranked among the largest producers in 2025. Xiaomi (including Redmi and POCO) ranked third with production close to 170 million units, followed by OPPO (including OnePlus and Realme) with 143 million units.
Vivo placed fifth, while Transsion (the company behind TECNO, Infinix, and itel) ranked sixth after sharply cutting production late in the year due to inventory adjustments and demand concerns in emerging markets. Honor ranked seventh after accelerating production toward the end of 2025, while Lenovo (including Motorola) ranked eighth with roughly 61 million smartphones produced during the year.
2026-03-11 23:53:31
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said the MacBook Pro will receive a "major upgrade" with an OLED display by early next year.
In a blog post, Kuo said the new MacBook Pro will be released between late 2026 and early 2027.
With an OLED display, the MacBook Pro would have better image quality compared to the current models with LCD displays and mini-LED backlighting. Advantages of OLED displays include more vivid colors, higher contrast ratio, and wider viewing angles, and they can be more power efficient depending on the content being displayed.
The next-generation MacBook Pro is expected to feature many other upgrades, including a thinner design, a touch screen, a Dynamic Island, and M6 Pro and M6 Max chips manufactured with TSMC's 2nm process. It has been rumored that Apple might even expand its C1X or C2 modem to the MacBook Pro for built-in cellular connectivity.
With all of these new features, higher prices are likely. For this reason, it was recently reported that the model with an OLED display might be a so-called "MacBook Ultra" that is positioned above the MacBook Pro in the lineup.
Kuo expects the MacBook Air to receive an OLED display as well, but not until 2028 or 2029.
Apple just released MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, but if you are interested in bigger upgrades, it might be best to wait. The last MacBook Pro redesign occurred in 2021, so these moments do not come along too often.
2026-03-11 22:54:25
Apple today announced three new games coming to Apple Arcade in April, along with several updates to existing titles on the service.
The three new games heading to Apple Arcade next month are as follows:
2026-03-11 22:45:40
With the latest version of the Apple Invites app on the iPhone, released today, the app's Home Screen widget has received a small but useful enhancement.
In August, the app gained a Home Screen widget that counts down the days until an upcoming event, but you had to choose a specific event. Starting today, though, a new "Next Upcoming" option can automatically refresh the widget with your next closest event as they pass by. You can still set a specific event manually if you prefer.
The update also contains bug fixes and performance improvements.
Released in February 2025, the Apple Invites app makes it easy to invite people to events, such as birthday parties and baby showers. First, you create an event invitation, which can include a description, a custom background, and even a shared photo album. Then, you can generate a link to the event that you can share with invited guests.
The ability to create an event in the app is limited to iCloud+ subscribers, but anyone who receives an event link can RSVP for free. In the U.S., the cheapest iCloud+ plan with 50GB of storage currently costs 99 cents per month.
Apple Invites is available on the iPhone, and on the web at iCloud.com/invites. Guests can RSVP in the iPhone app, or on the web from any device.
