Apple Commotion for the week ending October 21, 2025
Meet the new hardware! Same as the old hardware! Except for the new CPUs, which look rather nice! But seriously, no WiFi 7 on the new MacBook Pros? Even the new iPhones have WiFi 7! I'm really not all that worked-up over it! But I'm kind of enjoying all of these declarative sentences! It's like I'm writing dialogue for a Marvel superhero comic from the Sixties!
New Hardware
Apple unleashes M5, the next big leap in AI performance for Apple silicon
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-unleashes-m5-the-next-big-leap-in-ai-performance-for-apple-silicon/Tech companies (not just Apple) feel a desperate urge to promote every new whatsit as an AI powerhouse, right at the top, no delays. It's appropriate for Apple to promote the M5 like this. But it always feels like the running gag on “Keeping Up Appearances” where middle-class Hyacinth Bucket can’t mention her upper-class sister without without blurting out that her property has “room for a pony.” Even when it’s appropriate it strikes me as funny. (But notice that Apple’s still keeping Apple Intelligence out of the spotlight. They’re promoting how nicely this M5 gear works with third-party niche apps that run AI models locally on GPUs. But it also has room for a working suite of Apple Intelligence features!)
Apple’s M5 Has Up To A 9% Performance Difference Between New iPad Pro And MacBook Pro Due To Clock Speed Variations, Hinting At Deeper Chip-Binning
https://wccftech.com/m5-in-new-ipad-pro-and-macbook-pro-up-to-9-difference-due-to-clock-speed-variation/Wccftech is suggesting that the factory produces just one design-type of M5 CPU for these two new Apple devices, and the ones that fail the performance test for MacBook Pro CPUs become iPad Pro CPUs. Interesting.
MacBook Pro review: Apple’s most awkward laptop is the first to show off Apple M5
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/m5-macbook-pro-review-fifth-generation-apple-silicon-in-a-familiar-wrapper/This feels like the wrong year to upgrade a MacBook if you can avoid it. The MacBook Pro got its last major refresh in 2021; a whole new design (as opposed to “open lid, glue in some better chips, close lid”) seems imminent. An M5 model would be one holy hell of an upgrade over my 2020 M1 MacBook Pro, o’course. But I don’t feel like I’m suffering due to not having enough Ms, and the payoff for sticking it out another year could be huge.
M5 iPad Pro review: Promise fulfilled
https://sixcolors.com/post/2025/10/m5-ipad-pro-review-promise-fulfilled/…But my next iPad might not even be an iPad Pro. The iPad Pro has always seemed “suspiciously overpowered,” as though Apple is always just eleven weeks away from releasing MacOS for iPad. Can I spend half as much money and get an iPad that can still handle 95% of the tasks I throw at it? My M1 iPad Pro cost me as much as a mid-configuration MacBook Air…and as I write this, it’s sitting to the left of my MacBook, just playing a YouTube video in fullscreen.
New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/15/new-macbook-pro-lacks-charger-in-europe/Apple’s attitude about EU regulations is frequently so juvenile and dismissive that it’s hard to know what’s going on, here. Someone from Apple waved vaguely towards blaming the EU for the decision, which got a lot of attention. The new regulation in question only requires that Apple give EU consumers the option of buying it without a charger; the idea is that BYO charger will reduce e-waste and cut consumer costs. It looks as if Apple decided that maintaining “with” and “without” inventory wasn’t worth the bother. But it looks like they’re just pocketing the savings. Also, anybody at Apple who’s in favor of eliminating chargers from all MacBook packaging worldwide is going to get a huge pile of new consumer data to back up that argument.
Apple Vision Pro upgraded with the powerful M5 chip and comfortable Dual Knit Band
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-vision-pro-upgraded-with-the-m5-chip-and-dual-knit-band/
Those who upgrade to the M5 model will be quite chuffed to learn that their new Vision Pro is 40% faster while sitting in a drawer than the first-generation Vision Pro sitting right next to it inside that same drawer. They probably won’t even care that Apple made the new one so much heavier. That’s not a “me, the user” problem…that’s a “you, the drawer” problem.
The Future, Soon
[via The Elec] Launch of Apple's First Foldable iPhone Could Be Delayed
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/17/foldable-iphone-could-be-delayed/So, maybe 2027 instead of 2026? If true, I wonder if Apple will release it during the Spring instead of the Fall. It’s going to be their most expensive iPhone ever…maybe Apple is going to want that spike in revenue to happen during a different quarter. Supply chain analysts also say that Apple might not be able to get its hands on as many of those folding display panels as they’d like. The folding iPhone could therefore be both expensive and Ooo-La-Laaa Exclusive. I don’t see that as an issue…do you?
Paywalled Apple Readies Its First Ever Touch-Screen MacBook
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-16/apple-readies-high-end-macbook-pro-with-touch-hole-punch-screen
I’m gonna write about this topic as a formal post. Overall, my reactions boil down to “Huh?” “Seriously?” “I don’t get it,” and “But in 2026? How?” I love touchscreen notebooks — especially thin notebooks with 360-degree hinges — but I don’t think it makes sense for Apple. (Imagine a shrugging emoji after the previous sentence. I was born in the 1900s, and as such, the effort of pasting such a thing in fills me with indifference.)
*OS+([0-9])
iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/20/ios-26-1-liquid-glass-toggle/The Liquid Glass Fine-Tune-a-Thon continues. Apple would be in a much easier position if the new Liquid Glass design language were simply Bad. It isn’t! So they’re stuck with the problem of identifying the ways where Liquid Glass went too far in OS 26.0 and making some adjustments, without losing sight of why they concluded that it was important to inflict a whole new design language on Apple hardware.
iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Adds Toggle to Turn Off Lock Screen Camera Swipe
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/20/ios-26-1-lock-screen-camera-swipe-toggle/
Ditto. Apple shouldn’t make a move like this impulsively. If Apple gives a user the option of just turning off a feature that they don’t immediately like, then that’s what they’ll immediately do. “Design arrogance” is not an unknown concept within Apple’s walled garden, of course. But Apple needs to pick those moments where they stand firm and tell its users “We put a lot of thought into this change. We argued hard about it. And we think it’s important. Please give it a chance.” Besides, if it turns out that something works just fine without this Brave New Feature turned on…did it belong there to begin with?
Company
Apple closes at record after strong iPhone 17 sales report for U.S., China
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/20/apple-stock-iphone-17-us-china-sales.htmlApple’s now knocking on the back door of $4T market cap. Recently, there’s been a lot of speculation about what happens when Tim Cook steps down as CEO of Apple. I’m wondering if it’s a good idea for Apple to even keep the same basic corporate structure it had when Steve Jobs led it, way back when its valuation was in the “mere” hundreds of billions. Is it time for Apple to restructure itself, similarly to how Google became “Alphabet” in 2015? I’m not a business analyst, of course. But this question has been on my mind for a bit. A brand-new, independent Artificial Intelligence company founded in 2022 wouldn’t have the same corporate culture, management style, and team esprit as a computer company that launched in 1976. Is that part of Apple’s problem with AI?
Apple Says 'Great Ideas Start on Mac' in Ad Voiced by Dr. Jane Goodall
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/20/apple-great-ideas-start-on-mac-ad/Speaking as a career professional creator, the ad’s long, relentless shot on a remorseless HAL9000-style blinking cursor was VERY triggering. Otherwise: great spot. The Mac’s DNA is “helping people be creative and express their ideas.” It’s nice to see Apple return to that kind of messaging. And I wish to thank everybody on Apple’s marketing team who shouted down the person who kept saying “Can’t we mention AI, even just a little teensy bit?” during every meeting about this video.
New EU and China energy initiatives don't scratch the surface of what Apple is consuming
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/10/14/new-eu-solar-initiative-doesnt-scratch-the-surface-of-what-apple-is-consumingAnother article claiming that Apple is being a little loose with its green-status numbers, washing its hands of AI datacenter consumption.
[via Gurman newsletter] Head of Apple's AI Search Project Leaves to Join Meta
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/16/apple-ai-search-head-leaves-for-meta/Apple’s only AI goal is to make sure that iPhones and Macs remain relevant, consumers have yet to collectively declare that AI features on a laptop or a flagship phone are a non-negotiable entitlement, and Apple has plenty of time to solve this problem on its own terms. That said: jeeeeeeeezzzzzzz…again?! The ongoing brain drain makes me worry that maybe Apple just isn't an environment where a moonshot-type project like AI can thrive. I really don't want Apple to spend another year wandering around the house, looking for their car keys, when they should be out there doing 110 miles an hour with hundreds of Illinois and Chicago police cars in close, reckless pursuit.
China consumers file antitrust complaint against Apple over app store practices
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/china-consumers-file-antitrust-complaint-against-apple-over-app-store-practices-2025-10-20/Antitrust actions against the App Store — much like Love itself — is one of the few true international languages.
Paywalled Apple Attacks EU Crackdown in Digital Law’s Biggest Court Test
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-21/apple-attacks-eu-crackdown-in-digital-law-s-biggest-court-test
Apple makes its case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Apple simply isn’t having it! (stamps foot). How dare you? (shakes fist). Whether or not Apple is making valid points against the EU, I always imagine their lawyers as Muppets with those flailing arms and wide, hinged mouths with the pink felt tongue. You are free to await my apology for this unfair, dismissive and reductive disparagement. I caution you, however, that none is forthcoming.
Showbiz
Apple is the exclusive new broadcast partner for Formula 1 in the U.S.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-is-the-exclusive-new-broadcast-partner-for-formula-1-in-the-us/Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of services and open-wheel single-seater formula circuit racing (he had to get new business cards and everything) (yes, I made that up just now) talked about this on the “The Town” podcast. He said that Apple would “like to own a sport end to end,” I think F1 is a terrific fit for Apple. F1 is a perfect sport and a perfect audience for the Vision Pro, for instance.
WSL Football brings Apple products to the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Super League 2
https://www.wslfootball.com/news/wslfootball-brings-apple-products-to-the-gameWSL is the highest level of women’s football in the UK. This kind of support makes me happy. Also: is this a setup for the next season of “Ted Lasso”? Supposedly Ted returns to the UK to coach AFC Richmond’s women’s team.
Apple and NBCUniversal introduce the Apple TV and Peacock Bundle
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/10/apple-and-nbcuniversal-introduce-the-apple-tv-and-peacock-bundle/
Doesn’t feel a teensy bit odd for Apple to be bundling one of its products with a partner? This is how streaming is sold today. It’s the right move. But as someone who’s survived two major Apple Is Doomed cycles, it harkens back to the days when Apple needed to hitch its wagons to other products. Products made by companies that the marketplace considered “less silly.”
Misc
Dear Tim Cook: Please bring back the iPod.
https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-ipod-bring-back-tim-cook-parents-music-player-2025-10It won’t happen. Apple would argue that the Apple Watch fills the iPod’s role in the 2025 lineup. But wouldn’t you love to see Apple take a big swing at it anyway? I’d love to see Apple design a device that’s a music player and ONLY a music player, and consequently 100% focused and optimized to that experience. With a headphone jack that can drive premium headphones! Tactile buttons! Can charge your AirPods wirelessly! Also serves as a high-fidelity DAC! Use it as a Thunderbolt SSD! And it’s bootable!
Apple’s Steve Jobs to Appear on $1 U.S. Coin: ‘Make Something Wonderful’
https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-releases-2026-american-innovation-one-dollar-coin-program-designsYou and I know that the Steve Jobs depicted on this coin has OBVIOUSLY just dropped a tab of acid. It’s too bad that we don’t use physical currency much these days, and that we use dollar coins least of all. I used to enjoy the momentary disruption of finding a US State Quarter in my hand that I didn’t immediately recognize, and then taking a closer look at what was likely a neat piece of art. Vermont and Connecticut were the prettiest. The Texas design had a strong “did their homework on the bus on the way to school” aesthetic.