Apple Commotion for the week ending on October 28, 2025
This week: I am still very annoyed about the destruction of the East Wing! I am pretty sure I will need to restart my Apple TV subscription! And what's wrong with an orange and pink iPhone 17? It's kind of cool! But still, don't clean your new flagship phone with peroxide-based cleaners!
Also: I rewrote the script that turns my pile of plain-text notes about this week's news into this very pretty Commotion. It's now a cleaner, one-step operation. And I fine-tuned the CSS to make things slightly prettier.
Right…none of this is Apple news. But I'm super-pleased with the results of my efforts. If I were a lifestyle influencer, I'd be showing off my new $93,000 furnace filter that's so exclusive that Simon Pegg came to my house to personally install it. But I'm not. "I rewrote an AppleScript" is the biggest flex I've got.
New Hardware
Apple Wants You to Follow a Crazy Procedure for Battery Replacement on the M5 MacBook Pro
https://www.ifixit.com/News/114046/m5-macbook-pro-teardown
The new MacBook gets its official iFixit teardown. We ought to be able to replace a battery without having to replace a quarter of the MacBook. A battery is a consumable that might need to be swapped out during the productive lifecycle of the device.
Has Your Orange iPhone 17 Turned Pink? Turns Out, You're to Blame
https://www.pcmag.com/news/has-your-orange-iphone-17-turned-pink-turns-out-youre-to-blame
All of these social media posts weren’t documenting a failure of Apple engineering. It’s just a (lesser) failure of communication. Somebody who had been using the “wrong” cleaner on their previous device without incident will have forgotten that it was always the wrong cleaner. “Normalization of deviance” strikes again.
[via Nikkei] Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/22/report-virtually-no-demand-for-iphone-air/
That’s a suspiciously lurid way of putting it, isn’t it? If Apple thought the iPhone Air was going to have widespread appeal, it’d have been named as part of the iPhone 17 family. The Air was always going to be a niche, style-forward device…and an excuse to engineer super-thin batteries and design, ahead of an upcoming foldable iPhone.
New report claims Apple hasn't cut iPhone Air production
https://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_air_production_forecast_unchanged-news-70057.php
An analyst dismisses these reports, and says that they see no reason to adjust their forecasts. We’ll know for sure in a couple of months, when other analysts have had time to complete their snooping.
The Future, Soon
[via Gurman newsletter] Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/26/apple-moving-ahead-with-ads-in-maps/
And this plays into various regulators’ arguments against Apple. If Apple is selling its users’ attention to advertisers, is it OK that they’re giving their own platforms advantages that they don’t offer to other apps? Is it OK that they exempt their own apps from features that allow iPhone users to limit app tracking?
Paywalled Apple’s Planned Foldable iPad With 18-inch Screen Hits Development Snags
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-21/apple-s-planned-foldable-ipad-with-18-inch-screen-hits-development-snags
GAH I love foldables as a concept (it frees the device from being locked into a single physical form factor). But this projected price is just death. If the rumor (rumor!) is true, a consumer could buy a comprehensive suite of Apple products for the retail price of this one thing. (Also: an 18-inch iPad? Seriously?)
20th Anniversary iPhone
Apple Will Stick With The ‘iPhone 20’ Name For Its 20th-Anniversary Release, Says Senior Researcher, Who Also Predicts A Total Of Six Models Arriving In 2027
https://wccftech.com/apple-sticking-with-iphone-20-name-in-2027-says-senior-researcher/
Well, sure…Apple did name the iPhone 8’s immediate successor the “iPhone X” for the 10th anniversary. The question is whether they’ll roll out a super-flashy redesign for the 20th. Or maybe just a co-brand with Dos Equis beer?
[via Weibo leaker] 20th Anniversary iPhone May Replace Mechanical Buttons With Haptics
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/28/20th-anniversary-iphone-solid-state-buttons/
I don’t hate this idea (I need to conserve my hate for that moment when Apple declares that “nobody uses the charge/data port any more”). Mechanical buttons are points of mechanical failure, as well as opportunities for dust/water ingress. But if Apple goes this way, they still need to put the haptics under physical bumps, so we can find the buttons by touch. I also wonder how haptic buttons would work through a protective case.
Apple's Custom Image Sensor Could Debut in 20th Anniversary iPhone
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/27/apple-custom-image-sensor-20th-anniversary-iphone/
At this point, a phone’s photo quality is limited mostly by lenses, computational power, and physics. Would the main benefit of this move be just the table-stakes stuff that Apple Silicon delivers? IE, optimize the camera’s entire data pipeline, manage the device’s heat and power better?
Company
Donors for Trump’s $300m White House ballroom include Google, Apple and Palantir
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/23/trump-white-house-ballroom-donors
Shameful. Apple recently released an embarrassing promo in which they crushed and destroyed every tool and instrument of creativity under a giant hydraulic press. But far from being chastened by the legit blowback from such a tacky visual, Apple apparently decided “Let’s do a sequel! Except this time, it’s the East Wing of the People’s House, and we help make that happen for real instead of just simulating it!” Why on earth would Apple co-sign this? “Here’s to the crazy ones,” indeed.
Apple crosses $4 trillion market cap for the first time
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/28/apple-microsoft-4-trillion-market-cap.html
Possibly just a blip? MSFT also surged over $4T…also it’s the last chance to buy before Apple’s earnings call this week. In any event, this probably means that the White House’s “Arc de Trump” project will probably be fully-funded by dinnertime. It’s not like Tim can claim poverty when the fundraising person phones…
US judge decertifies Apple app store class action
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-judge-decertifies-apple-app-store-class-action-2025-10-27/
The judge decided that the methodology the plaintiffs used to define members of the class was faulty, after Apple commissioned a report. They didn’t laugh the suit out of court.
Apple begins shipping American-made AI servers from Texas
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/23/apple-american-made-ai-servers-texas.html
I’m all for moving jobs into the US from overseas. This step here is kind of basic. Let’s see how Apple tries to make this work when they’re assembling actual consumer products that have to be sold at a semi-competitive price. Let’s also see if this commitment to US manufacturing and job-creation persists if the intense threats of tariff-hammering were to go away.
Apple loses landmark UK lawsuit over app store commissions
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/apple-loses-uk-lawsuit-over-app-store-commissions-2025-10-23/
They do keep losing these things, don’t they?
[Full judgment, via UK Competition Appeal Tribunal.]
https://www.catribunal.org.uk/judgments/14037721-dr-rachael-kent-v-apple-inc-and-apple-distribution-international-ltd-judgment-0
The three-person tribunal found that Apple has crazy-stupid power over the iOS app marketplace, and that Apple abused that power by charging 30% fees when the rate in competitive markets is 17.5% for app stores and 10% strictly for in-app payment processing services. Court found that 50% of those overage costs were passed on to consumers. Thus, they ordered Apple to pay it back to consumers, plus 8% interest.
Apple decries ‘intense lobbying,’ says it may be forced to turn off App Tracking Transparency in Europe
https://9to5mac.com/2025/10/23/apple-decries-intense-lobbying-threatens-to-turn-off-app-tracking-transparency-in-europe/
The EU’s complaint here (“Why do you refuse to allow users to protect themselves from tracking by Apple’s own apps?”) is valid, and Apple’s defense (“Because we hold our apps to a much stricter standard of privacy than any third-party app”) makes sense. I would wish for diplomacy to prevail. Perhaps Apple can leverage the goodwill it’s built up regarding its previous willing compliance with…uh…whoops. Hey, is a prominent EU lawmaker raising funds to tear down half of the Palace of Versailles and turn it into a laser-tag arena? Maybe Tim could get out the ol’ checkbook and buy Apple a little influence…
Vision Pro
Apple Talks to Me About Vision Pro Personas: Where Is Our Virtual Presence Headed?
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/apple-talks-to-me-about-vision-pro-personas-where-is-our-virtual-presence-headed/
Impressive stuff, and the advances they’ve made since last year indicates how serious Apple is about the broader platform. In 2030, this tech will be five years better than it is now, and it’s going to be available on hardware that costs five times less than the Vision Pro. Will Apple figure out a way to "green bubble" friends and family members who use Android XR devices?
Samsung takes on Apple’s Vision Pro with new Galaxy XR headset
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/22/samsung-takes-on-apples-vision-pro-with-new-galaxy-xr-headset/
I’ll write a proper post about this. Overall, it feels very much like what the Vision Pro would have been like if Apple were willing to compromise features to get the price down to that of a high-midrange laptop. My complaints about the Vision Pro’s price tag are valid. But I know that Apple appreciated at the outset that this thing was never going to sell in real numbers…so they might as well just build the best-performing device in the whole category.
Showbiz
Is Jessica Chastain’s ‘The Savant’ Ever Going to Premiere?
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jessica-chastain-the-savant-delay-will-it-be-released-apple-1236406858/
Good question! It’s been months since the Charlie Kirk assassination, so…why the delay?
Apple TV announces “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” an all-new holiday special premiering globally Friday, December 5
https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2025/10/apple-tv-announces-the-first-snow-of-fraggle-rock-an-all-new-holiday-special-premiering-globally-friday-december-5/
Fraggle Rock is the “Spider-Man” of the Jim Henson Expanded Universe. I keep forgetting that Disney doesn’t own the rights to that.
Apple Going All In On Streaming, Entertainment? Tech Giant Named As Potential Warner Bros. Suitor
https://www.benzinga.com/news/entertainment/25/10/48394935/apple-going-all-in-on-streaming-entertainment-tech-giant-named-as-potential-warner-bros-suitor
Elmer Fudd already rumored to be named Apple’s new head of…oh, you go ahead and finish the joke. Note that this is just the guy who’s trying to sell a car on Facebook Marketplace telling you that what he’s got is very hot stuff and he’s got lots of interested sellers. Clearly, Apple has chosen to compete on the quality of Apple TV’s offerings, not the size of the catalogue.
Paywalled ‘Pluribus’ Is a Singular Vision of a Tedious Utopia
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/arts/television/pluribus-vince-gilligan.html
Dang I’m getting excited about this show! (Which is exactly the response that the producers hoped they’d generate when they okayed this kind of access to Vince Gilligan and the production…I know, I know. I’m a dope. An excited dope who’s probably going to renew his Apple TV subscription once this debuts.
Misc
Apple confirms it pulled controversial dating apps Tea and TeaOnHer from the App Store
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/22/apple-confirms-it-pulled-controversial-dating-apps-tea-and-teaonher-from-the-app-store/
Privacy issues and user complaints are real doozies…read paragraph #2. How did this one slip past the App Store review process’ net?
I was an Apple employee named Sam Sung. After I went viral, I took a new name, but I wish I'd enjoyed the moment more.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-sung-goes-viral-why-changed-name-after-apple-fame-2025-10
Some minor Apple history, here. It’s kind of a sad story…he went viral very much against his will. “I was so scared, and I just wanted to keep my head down and stay employed.”
Apple Might Release iPad Apps for Pixelmator Pro, MainStage, and More
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/10/27/apple-may-release-pixelmator-pro-for-ipad/
These are stellar, showcase apps that help people justify buying an iPad Pro instead of an iPad (Not Pro). If that 18” folding iPad were to ever happen, professional creators would buy it for Pixelmator.
The Suppliers Behind the Apple Pencil Pro
https://quartr.com/insights/company-research/the-suppliers-behind-the-apple-pencil-pro
I’ve never seen a breakdown like this about the Apple Pencil. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen or heard much about the Apple Pencil in a while.
Apple readies new framework to let iPhone users migrate app data to and from Android
https://9to5mac.com/2025/10/22/appmigrationkit-framework-migration-betwen-android-and-ios/
Looks like an excellent system to facilitate individual apps that want to support (or have to support) migration between platforms. I don’t even care why Apple’s doing it…I’m glad that they seem to be doing this well.
Paywalled Francis Ford Coppola, Who Says He’s ‘Broke,’ Is Selling a $1 Million Watch
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/fashion/francis-ford-coppola-watch-auction.html
I’m including this one because: (1) I have lots of love for a creator who decides to risk everything because there’s this thing that he really, really wants to make before he dies; and (2) He referred to his Apple Watch as “plebeian.” I mean, fair point: it’s reasonably affordable and mega-popular. But it’s gotta sting when you hear it from the creator behind “Apocalypse Now” and “The Godfather.”