2025-12-04 08:37:35
Apple today updated its executive leadership page to remove John Giannandrea, who is set to retire from Apple next spring. Earlier this week, Apple said that Giannandrea would step down from his role as AI chief, serving as an advisor until he leaves the company.
Giannandrea's upcoming retirement was announced on Monday, and Apple wasted no time updating its leadership website. Former Microsoft Corporate VP of AI Amar Subramanya is set to take over as Apple's vice president of AI, but he is not yet listed on the site. Subramanya will report to software engineering chief Craig Federighi.
Some of the teams that Giannandrea led are being shifted to Sabih Khan and Eddy Cue, including AI Infrastructure and Search and Knowledge.
Giannandrea joined Apple in 2018 as the company's senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy. He was overseeing Siri, Core ML, and other AI efforts at Apple. Before Apple, Giannandrea worked at Google as a senior vice president of engineering.
After the iOS 18 Siri failure, Giannandrea's retirement comes as no surprise. Apple announced new Apple Intelligence Siri features at WWDC when it unveiled iOS 18, and then used those unreleased features to market the iPhone 16 models. In spring 2025, when we were expecting the launch of the promised functionality, Apple said the smarter version of Siri wasn't ready and announced a year-long delay.
More than half a dozen former employees who worked on Apple's AI team told The Information the issues with Siri stemmed from poor leadership, stringent privacy practices, conflicting personalities, and indecision. Apple hasn't publicly commented on the situation, but stripped Siri from Giannandrea in March and overhauled the Siri team. Apple also removed Giannandrea from its robotics division in April.
2025-12-04 07:52:46
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today announced plans to launch a creative studio that will be led by former Apple UI designer Alan Dye. As we learned earlier today, Dye is leaving his position as Vice President of Human Interface Design at Apple to become Meta's new chief design officer.
In a post on social media site Threads, Zuckerberg said that Meta's creative studio will merge design, fashion, and technology, while also treating intelligence as a "new design material."
The new studio will bring together design, fashion, and technology to define the next generation of our products and experiences. Our idea is to treat intelligence as a new design material and imagine what becomes possible when it is abundant, capable, and human-centered. We plan to elevate design within Meta, and pull together a talented group with a combination of craft, creative vision, systems thinking, and deep experience building iconic products that bridge hardware and software.
We're entering a new era where AI glasses and other devices will change how we connect with technology and each other. The potential is enormous, but what matters most is making these experiences feel natural and truly centered around people. With this new studio, we're focused on making every interaction thoughtful, intuitive, and built to serve people.
2025-12-04 05:18:07
Just before Apple updated the iPad Pro with a next-generation M5 chip, Samsung refreshed its tablet lineup and debuted the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. We thought we'd pit Apple's latest iPad Pro against Samsung's newest tablet to see how they compare to one another.
2025-12-04 03:54:47
Apple UI design head Alan Dye is leaving the company and transitioning to Meta, reports Bloomberg. Dye took over Apple's user interface design team in 2015 when former Apple designer Jony Ive transitioned to Chief Design Officer, and he's held that position since then.
Dye has been at Apple since 2006, joining the marketing and communication team as a creative director. He transitioned to Jony Ive's user interface team in 2012 to work on iOS 7, and he worked on subsequent iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS design updates. Most recently, he helped develop the Vision Pro interface, and he oversaw the rollout of the iOS 26 and macOS 26 Liquid Glass design revamp.
Apple plans to replace Dye with Stephen Lemay, a longtime Apple designer who joined the company over 25 years ago. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Lemay.
Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999. He has always set an extraordinarily high bar for excellence and embodies Apple's culture of collaboration and creativity.
Design is fundamental to who we are at Apple, and today, we have an extraordinary design team working on the most innovative product lineup in our history.
2025-12-04 03:31:29
Apple is expanding AirPods and Apple Watch health features to additional countries starting today.
Hypertension notifications from the Apple Watch are now available in United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. Hearing Test and Hearing Aid functionality has expanded to Bahrain, Costa Rica, and Paraguay, while Sleep Apnea notifications are available in Colombia.
Apple also expanded Hearing Aid functionality with automatic Conversation Boost to a long list of European countries, including the UK, Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Ireland, and Denmark.
Apple introduced Hypertension notifications in watchOS 26, and the feature uses heart data collected by the Apple Watch to alert users if signs of chronic high blood pressure are detected. Hypertension notifications work after collecting 30 days of heart rate data, and the feature can be set up in the Apple Health app on the iPhone.
Hypertension alerts are available on the Apple Watch Series 9 and later and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later.
Sleep apnea detection is a feature that Apple first started rolling out with watchOS 11. It uses the accelerometer to monitor subtle wrist movements that are associated with interruptions in normal breathing patterns, alerting users if breathing disturbances are detected. Sleep apnea detection also requires 30 days of data, with information available in the Breathing Disturbances section of the Health app.
Hearing Test and Hearing Aid functionality first rolled out last year, allowing the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 to be used in lieu of hearing aids for individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss. The hearing test uses tones at different frequencies to detect hearing loss, and if issues are detected, users can turn on hearing assistance. The feature also includes Loud Sound Reduction to protect hearing health.
Conversation Boost has long been an AirPods Pro feature, but the auto-on option paired with Hearing Aid functionality automatically enhances sound volume when someone speaks. Hearing Aid functionality with Conversation Boost works on the AirPods Pro 2 and later, with a list of supported countries available on Apple's website.
This article, "Apple Expands Hypertension, Sleep Apnea, and Hearing Health Features to More Countries" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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2025-12-04 02:42:21
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2, and visionOS 26.2 updates for testing purposes. The software comes two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The RCs are the final versions of the watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS 26.2 updates that will be provided to the public next week as long as no other bugs are found.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device.
watchOS 26.2 features updated Sleep Score ranges that better match how people might be feeling after a night's rest.
In tvOS 26.2, Apple added support for creating a profile without an Apple Account, plus there is a dedicated Apple TV app kids mode for profiles created for kids.
This article, "Apple Seeds watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2 and visionOS 26.2 Release Candidates" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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