Apple is readying the subdomain genai.apple.com, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris, but it does not yet lead to a live web page. The genai.apple.com subdomain has been added to Apple's domain name servers a few weeks ahead of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC, where the company has promised to announce "AI advancements" across its software platforms. Apple's website already has an Apple Intelligence page , so it is unclear what the company's plans are for genai.apple.com at this time. The subdomain certainly is a reference to "generative ai" which has been popularized by ChatGPT and Claude in recent years. Apple's next major software releases like iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 are expected to include many new Apple Intelligence features, including a more personalized version of Siri with on-screen awareness. Similar to other chatbots like ChatGPT, a dedicated Siri app will reportedly allow users to have back-and-forth conversations . Apple Intelligence will power a wide range of new accessibility features , such as automatic captions for videos recorded with an iPhone . In addition, Voice Control is gaining support for natural language , allowing users to say things like "tap the guide about best restaurants" in Apple Maps or "tap the purple folder" in the Files app. Apple Intelligence will make it easier for users to create shortcuts in the Shortcuts app , and it will power a new "Create a Pass" option in the Wallet app . Safari will be able to automatically name tab groups, and Visual Intelligence will be able to scan food nutrition labels and add information from a business card or paperwork to the Contacts app . Apple's WWDC 2026 keynote begins on Monday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Related Roundup: WWDC 2026 Tag: Apple Intelligence Related Forum: Apple, Inc and Tech Industry This article, " Apple Preparing New 'Gen AI' Website Ahead of WWDC " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
The week's biggest Apple stories revolved around a new Apple Card promo essentially offering free AirPods Pro 3 to new cardholders, as well as Apple's official announcement of the major WWDC 2026 events plus media invitations to the keynote. Other popular topics this week included rumors about the upcoming foldable iPhone, tips and tricks for Apple Watch and iPhone, and more, so read on below for all the details! Top Stories New Apple Card Holders Can Get Free AirPods Pro 3, But There's a Catch Late last week, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman revealed that Apple would be launching a new promo to encourage users in the U.S. to sign up for Apple Card : a cash back promotion that would essentially offer free AirPods Pro 3 to new Apple Card customers. The promo officially launched this week , and while it does offer the free AirPods Pro 3, there is a bit of a wrinkle. The cash back comes in the form of $25 per month over 10 months with a requirement that the Apple Card be used at least 10 times in a given month to qualify for that month's rebate. Apple Announces WWDC 2026 Schedule, Sends Media Invites Apple this week provided a schedule for its 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference , which starts on June 8 and runs through June 12. Apple also sent out invites to members of the media who have been invited to attend an in-person keynote viewing at Apple Park. Both the invites and schedule confirm that the WWDC 2026 keynote will begin at the usual time, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time or 1:00 p.m Eastern Time. MacRumors will be on hand for keynote day and will have full coverage of WWDC announcements throughout the week. Foldable iPhone Production Stalls Amid Hinge Issues Trial production of Apple's long-anticipated foldable iPhone, likely called the "iPhone Ultra," has run into a significant engineering hurdle centered on hinge reliability , according to a known leaker. The leaker known as "Instant Digital" posted on Weibo that the foldable device's hinge is consistently failing to meet Apple's quality control standards under conditions of prolonged, high-frequency opening and closing. The leaker described the mechanical wear issue as one that "must be resolved with absolute perfection; otherwise, progress will simply have to be stalled for the time being." The issues are reportedly unlikely to delay the phone's launch, as Apple still has time to get the kinks worked out and ship the device later this year. Rumors have already suggested that availability could come a bit later than that of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max that are expected to be introduced at the same time in September. Apple Watch: 15 Tips Every Owner Needs to Know Apple Watch is now eleven generations in, and packed with useful features that are easy to miss at first glance. To help you get more out of your device, we've rounded up 15 practical tips you might not have discovered yet , including a few that long-time users often overlook. We also took a look at 10 useful tips and tricks for iPhone that may make your life easier but which can be a bit hidden. iPhone 17 Pro Named Fastest-Charging Smartphone Apple's iPhone 17 Pro has been named the fastest-charging phone overall in a recent CNET lab test covering 33 smartphones, with Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra taking the top spot for wired charging speed. To determine the rankings, CNET 's lab team ran each phone through a 30-minute wired charging test starting at 10% battery or less, using the phone's included cable and a wall charger rated at or above the device's maximum supported speed. Phones that support wireless charging went through a matching 30-minute wireless test using a Qi (7.5W), Qi2 (15W), or Qi2.2 (25W) charger matched to the phone's peak supported speed. CNET then averaged the wired and wireless results into an overall charging score. Apple Re-Releases a Sold-Out iPhone MagSafe Grip in Three New Colors Apple this week re-released the Hikawa Grip & Stand for iPhone in three new colors , after the original version quickly sold out last year. The accessory is exclusively available on Apple's online store worldwide, with U.S. pricing set at $54.95. The latest color options include Orange Swirl, Glow Blue, and Speckled Stone. Designed by Bailey Hikawa and produced by PopSockets, Apple says the accessory was created with accessibility in mind, in close collaboration with individuals with a wide range of disabilities affecting grip, strength, and mobility. The ergonomic grip magnetically attaches to any iPhone with MagSafe, and it doubles as an iPhone stand. The release comes alongside Apple's annual unveiling of upcoming accessibility features that will be debuting in iOS 27 and related updates, with many of the new features powered by Apple Intelligence. MacRumors Newsletter Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view. So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter ! Tag: Top Stories This article, " Top Stories: Apple Card AirPods Pro Promo, WWDC 2026 Schedule, and More " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
Smart home device maker Aqara launched the Camera Hub G350 in March, and it is the first Matter-certified smart camera on the market. Cameras are included in Matter 1.5, and while Apple doesn't support Matter cameras yet, Aqara's camera still works with Apple Home. For Apple users, Matter integration doesn't provide any benefit, but it adds cross-platform support for Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, and more. The Camera Hub G350 is my favorite indoor home security camera that I've tested to date, and not just because it's wearing a cute bunny-ear costume. It records in 4K and has zoom capabilities, plus it has movement tracking and can rotate 360 degrees. There are two cameras in the G350, and the design makes the lenses look like eyes. If you don't like the cutesy style, you can take off the silicone bunny hood, which makes the G350 look more like a traditional security camera. You can view the G350's feed through Apple Home, and it connects as a HomeKit Secure Video camera. Footage is stored in iCloud , and as with other ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ (HSV) options, you need an ‌iCloud‌+ plan. The $0.99/month 50GB plan supports a single HSV camera, the $2.99/month 200GB plan supports five HSV cameras, and the higher-tier plans that start at $9.99/month for 2TB storage support an unlimited number of cameras. Using the G350 with HomeKit limits you to the ‌HomeKit‌ set of features. You can view the feed in the Home app, add the camera to automations, and customize when the camera is recording and when it's not using geofencing. It supports notifications for movement, can recognize people and animals for customized notifications, and it has facial recognition. Unfortunately, though this is a high-resolution camera, HSV is limited to 1080p. Because the Camera Hub G350 offers so many features that are not available in ‌HomeKit‌, it's not worth getting if you're only going to use it with Apple Home. You need the Aqara app to get the full functionality, but I do think the feature set is worth venturing out of the Home app for. The wide-angle 4K camera with a 133-degree field of view is the main camera, but there's also a 2.5K HD camera for zooming in up to 9x to get a closer look. The camera feed is clearer than what I get from ‌HomeKit‌ because of the resolution restrictions. This is the only camera I have that has a second lens for zooming in, and the zoom is sharper than what I get from single-lens cameras. Aqara says the camera has an f/1.6 aperture and 940nm infrared LEDs for night vision, and it does do well in low lighting conditions and at night. Recordings are not as clear as when there's optimal lighting, but the night vision works as expected, offering a grayscale view of what's going on. The G350 can rotate 360 degrees, and there is an included AI auto-tracking feature. It can recognize people and pets, turning the camera to keep them in view, and zooming in slowly where appropriate. It tilts too, which is helpful for keeping people and pets in view. You can have the camera track motion with AI, but you can also use pan and tilt controls in the app to control it while watching the feed live. I don't need to reinvent the wheel, so Aqara's video showing the panning, tilt, and zoom is embedded below. The camera and the app do work as demonstrated in the video. The tracking works well, and it can be somewhat creepy to have a camera following you, so it might be a good theft deterrent. It's clear when it's moving to keep you in view, but there is no audible sound when it's panning. It is meant to pan slowly, so there can be a little bit of blur in recordings when the camera is moving or when you use the zoom feature. The Aqara app has an option for selecting preset angles that the camera will quickly pan to so you can see different areas of a room. The camera has on-device AI processing that can recognize faces, pets, gestures, and select sounds. It can detect coughing, snoring, loud sounds, alarms, a dog barking, and a baby crying, sending alerts when it hears the sound. I often think that Aqara includes too many features in its products, but it gives people options. The camera supports gestures, so you can trigger scenes that you've set up in the Aqara app with a wave or an OK sign. This is a beta feature, and it's not super reliable, especially when the lighting is bad. I don't know why, but the G350 also has smile detection and will send you a notification when it detects someone smiling. It does successfully detect motion, follow me around, and detect smiles, though the latter feature hasn't worked 100 percent of the time. For those who don't want footage uploaded to the cloud, there is an option to record to a 512GB microSD card. Footage can be saved to a NAS, you can use Apple Home's ‌iCloud‌ storage, or you can use Aqara's cloud storage. You don't need a subscription for Aqara's cloud storage, but some features are locked behind one. Aqara has a HomeGuardian subscription service that's $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for a single camera, or double that for unlimited cameras. It adds 90 days of video event history, package and vehicle detection, face detection, AI video summaries, AI video search, fire detection, alarm notifications, unlimited storage space, and video downloads from the app. So you can use local storage or the free cloud storage, but you lose some features. There is a mode that physically disables the cameras with a cover that makes the "eyes" look like they're closed, which is both cute and useful. This mode also reveals the microSD card slot, and you stick the card in the "mouth." The camera-off mode can be enabled by tapping the little eye icon in the Aqara app. There is a speaker and microphone for two-way conversation. I cannot think of a camera feature that I want that's not already in the G350, except maybe rich notifications. The motion detection alerts that come from the Aqara app don't provide me with a preview of the motion like my Ring cameras do. If you have other Aqara devices, the G350 works as a hub for them. I have Aqara thermostats, so this serves as a functional hub and improves connectivity between Aqara products. It's also a Thread Border Router for Thread devices and a Matter Controller. It can use either a 2.4GHz or 5GHz connection. The Camera Hub G350 is meant to be plugged in all the time, but for some reason Aqara didn't include a power adapter. There's a USB-C cable, but no charger, so you'll need to supply your own. It takes a 10W USB-C power adapter or higher. Bottom Line With the pan and tilt features and automatic tracking, the G350 is an excellent indoor camera. It's perfect in a baby's room or for tracking pets, but it also works well for general home security use. It supports local storage for those who don't want data uploaded to the cloud, and while some features are locked behind a subscription, all of the most useful options are readily available without paying extra. How to Buy The Aqara Camera Hub G350 is available from Amazon for $140 . Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a G350 Camera Hub for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. This article, " Aqara Camera Hub G350 Review: 4K Recording, Dual Lenses, Pan-and-Tilt Tracking, and AI Subject Detection " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
