2026-01-31 23:12:14
Amazon is offering discounts across the M5 iPad Pro lineup this weekend, including both 11-inch and 13-inch models. The highlight this time around is a return of a low price on the 256GB Wi-Fi 11-inch M5 iPad Pro, which is on sale for $899.00, down from $999.00.
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Many of the deals in this sale match — or beat — the record low prices we tracked during the holiday season. Amazon provides an estimated delivery date around February 5 for free delivery, but Prime members should see earlier delivery dates in many cases.
2026-01-31 22:12:47
RR Auction has announced that an Apple check signed by the company's co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak fetched a whopping $2.4 million at auction this week. The check was for $500, meaning that it sold for 4,800× its original value.
According to RR Auction, the $500 check was issued to printed circuit board designer Howard Cantin, shortly after Jobs and Wozniak opened Apple's first bank account. Cantin was responsible for translating Wozniak's Apple-1 schematic into a manufacturable printed circuit board, leading to Apple's first commercial product.
Dated March 16, 1976, the Wells Fargo check is marked "No. 1." It was issued a few weeks before Apple Computer was officially founded on April 1, 1976.
“This is the most important financial document in Apple history," said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction. "It captures Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's first true business transaction, and the final result shows that collectors recognized its significance above any other Apple material ever brought to market."
2026-01-31 22:00:00
It was a busy week with Apple's first real launches of 2026, led by the release of the Creator Studio app bundle and the second-generation AirTag.
We also got some rumors about Apple's plans for Mac updates in 2026, timing on the more personalized Siri finally arriving, and a significant acquisition by Apple, so read on below for all the details!
2026-01-31 03:16:45
In a new report about Apple losing at least four more AI researchers in recent weeks, in addition to a high-ranking Siri executive, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that the company is preparing to release two new versions of Siri.
First, Apple announced that it plans to release a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google Gemini this year. It is expected to be part of iOS 26.4, which should enter beta testing in February and be released to the general public in March or April.
Back in June 2024, Apple said the revamped Siri will have understanding of personal context, on-screen awareness, deeper in-app controls, and more.
Second, Siri will reportedly get even better on iOS 27, as Apple is said to be planning to turn the assistant into a full-out chatbot, allowing users to have sustained, back-and-forth conversations with the assistant. This will essentially turn Siri into ChatGPT or Gemini, except it will be built right into the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no app required.
Gurman said the Siri chatbot will be "competitive with Gemini 3," and "significantly more capable" than the more personalized Siri coming with iOS 26.4.
The high-ranking Siri executive who left Apple was Stuart Bowers, according to the report, which described him as "one of the company's most senior executives working on Siri." He joined Google's artificial intelligence research laboratory DeepMind.
2026-01-31 02:50:23
In a recent interview with the tech podcast TBPN, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman revealed that Apple was initially "going to rebuild Siri around Claude," the large language model and chatbot developed by the company Anthropic. In the end, though, Apple announced that it had decided to use Google's Gemini platform instead.
According to Gurman, Apple went with Google due at least in part to money.
"Anthropic was holding them over a barrel," said Gurman, in a podcast clip shared by TBPN. "They wanted a ton of money from them, several billion dollars a year, and at a price that doubled on an annual basis for the next three years."
Nevertheless, Gurman said Apple currently "runs on Anthropic" internally.
"Anthropic is powering a lot of the stuff Apple's doing internally in terms of product development and a lot of their internal tools," he explained. "They have custom versions of Claude running on their own servers internally, too."
Apple was "not going to use Google" for the revamped Siri until "a few months ago," he said.
Apple announced that it plans to release a more personalized version of Siri powered by Google Gemini this year. It is expected to be part of iOS 26.4, which should enter beta testing in February and be released to the general public in March or April. The new-and-improved Siri likely requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.
Back in June 2024, Apple said the revamped Siri will have understanding of personal context, on-screen awareness, deeper in-app controls, and more. At the time, Apple showed an iPhone user asking Siri about their mother's flight and lunch reservation plans based on info retrieved from the Mail and Messages apps.
Bloomberg's @markgurman says that even though Apple partnered with Google Gemini for Siri, they actually run their business on Anthropic.
— TBPN (@tbpn) January 29, 2026
"Apple runs on Anthropic at this point. Anthropic is powering a lot of the stuff Apple's doing internally in terms of product development and… pic.twitter.com/NpW0Pyj03J
2026-01-31 02:04:31
Following a January that saw Apple release a new AirTag and the Creator Studio bundle of creative apps, it is now time to shift our attention to February.
Below, we have outlined some key items to expect from Apple in February. Of course, these are only the things that are known, so stay tuned for even more.
