Apple

Apple

Apple on Wednesday released an updated developer license agreement that gives the company permission to recoup unpaid funds, such as commissions or any other fees, by deducting them from in-app purchases it processes on developers' behalf, among other methods. The change will impact developers in regions where local law allows them to link to external payment systems. In these cases, developers must report those payments back to Apple to pay the required commissions or fees.

Indeed, given the company's market capitalization of more than $4 trillion, the directional moves Apple makes over any time frame will likely impact most investors, whether they hold this stock directly or not. That's because most investors now have some sort of exposure to index funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs), many of which are market cap weighted. Thus, Apple's performance is a key indicator of the performance of the broader market.

Apple announced it will allow alternative app stores in Japan and will permit developers to process payments for digital goods and services outside of its own in-app purchase system in iOS. The iPhone maker is not making these changes because it wants to be more open; it's being forced - in this case, to comply with the country's Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA), which is now going into effect.

Apple has announced the changes it's making to the iOS App Store in Japan in order to comply with recent legislation in the country. It will allow third-party app stores and payment processing options, though is introducing new commission fees for those transactions. Developers in Japan will now be able to distribute apps on alternative app stores, much like in the EU, with AltStore PAL already expecting to launch in the country before the year's end. As in Europe, Apple will collect a 5 percent commission for in-app purchases made in third-party stores.

Apple just announced it will be integrating more ads into the App Store because our poor eyeballs must be assaulted at all times. The company plans on littering search results with advertisements beginning next year. Currently, the App Store only has one ad spot. That's at the very top of search results. If you search for something like Instagram it's likely that top spot will be filled with an ad for a rival social media platform. The new ads will appear further down the actual search results.

If you're still hunting for AirPods deals for Christmas and are willing to roll the dice on shipping, there are some nice last-minute sales available. This includes the lowest price ever on AirPods Pro 3, as well as limited stock on deep discounts for the standard and noise-canceling AirPods 4. Your best bet for getting AirPods delivered in time for Christmas is with an Amazon Prime subscription. Members get faster delivery speeds, as well as exclusive access to Lightning Deals. If you're not already a member, sign up for a 30-day free trial for full access to the sale and faster shipping.

An intriguing new rumor today confirms that there will be an iPhone Air 2 (even though it may only arrive in spring 2027), and it will add a second camera. This was first rumored last month, and it's nice to get a 'confirmation' of sorts (as much as any rumor can count as that). While today's report doesn't mention what the second camera will be, the rumor from November did - an ultrawide.

About 10 Apple employees spent some of their valuable hours over recent months on a project that might seem unusual for the tech giant: customizing an open source AI tool for ImageTek, a small manufacturer in Springfield, Vermont whose lines of business include printing millions of labels for food packaging. The Apple engineers developed a computer vision system to automatically identify color errors, and on one run it picked up bacon labels with a far-too-pinkish beige before they got shipped, according to Marji Smith, ImageTek's president.

It is specifically made for water activitiessailing, snorkeling, and the likeso it's obviously the best option for anyone on the water. But I also think it's the front-runner for the Watch Ultra 2's best generalist band for those who like to stay active. Since it's made of rubber like a typical sport band, you don't have to worry about keeping it clean or keeping it safe.

Apple released the Mac mini M4 in late 2024 and we were impressed with how something so small could be so powerful. We gave it a 90 in our review, thanks to features like its speed and standard 16GB of RAM. The currently $479 base model also comes with 256GB of SSD. We were also happy to see it had front-facing USB-C and headphone ports.

Now it will be easier for Android users to watch Apple TV content on their TV with the addition of Google Cast support. However, even after this update, Google Cast is only an option on the Android version of Apple TV, not the iOS version. Likewise, the Android version still doesn't support AirPlay. The addition of Google Cast adds a core feature that's been missing from the Android version of Apple's streaming app since it launched earlier this year.

Apple has found itself in the crosshairs of the European Commission many times over the past few years, and now it's also being investigated by the Swiss Competition Commission (SCC). This has to do with access to NFC on iPhones. Apple started to allow third-party access to the NFC chip last year, following an initial opening up in the EU.

To help those looking to grab one get the most value possible, we're keeping an eye on sale prices and rounding up the best iPad deals we can find each week. This week's highlights include both versions of the latest iPad Air for $150 off at Amazon, matching the all-time lows we last saw around Black Friday. The iPad mini and iPad Pro are each $100 off as well.

If we didn't get paid, how are we going to pay back $15,000?

For the U.S. market, OpenAI's ChatGPT topped the ranks of free iPhone apps (not including games) with the most installs in 2025. The AI app was followed by Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail and then Google's Gemini. ChatGPT made it to No. 4 last year, but the top spot was taken by Chinese shopping app Temu.

Shares of Apple Inc. were battered earlier this year as the iPhone maker faced repeated complaints about its lack of an artificial intelligence strategy. But as the AI trade faces increasing scrutiny, that hesitance has gone from a weakness to a strength and it's showing up in the stock market. Through the first six months of 2025, Apple was the second-worst performer among the Magnificent Seven tech giants, as its shares tumbled 18% through the end of June. That has reversed since then, with the stock soaring 35%, while AI darlings like Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. slid into the red and even Nvidia Corp. underperformed.