While Tim Cook is no longer the CEO of Apple, he isn't going anywhere soon. Just don't expect him to take part in the September iPhone event video. Apple CEO John Ternus [left] and previous CEO Tim Cook [right] The CEO transition from Tim Cook to John Ternus is continuing to roll on. However, while Cook isn't leaving Apple, his change in role to the chairman of the board of directors means that he isn't going to be the usual public-facing executive this time around. Writing in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter , Mark Gurman insists that Tim Cook will not be in the Apple Event video at all. He will, however, still be at Apple Park , attending the screening. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
Last year, Apple completely reinvented multitasking on the iPad, with the introduction of windowing in iPadOS 26. At first, this meant the removal of the simpler version of multitasking, Split View and Slide Over. Those features did eventually return , but at a cost – they required you to use the clunky new windowing system. I was hoping iPadOS 27 would improve this, but it didn’t. more…
Apple announced the M6 chip last week, just ahead of its September iPhone event, providing the clearest indication yet of what the A20 will bring to the iPhone 18 lineup. Apple silicon generations share much of their architecture across the A-series and the M-series, so a new A-series chip normally functions as a partial preview of the M-series chip that follows it. This year the order reversed; the M6 was revealed on August 25, ahead of the A20 Pro expected in the iPhone 18 Pro this month. Recent reports place the A20 Pro at up to 18% faster and up to 30% more power efficient than the A19 Pro, which is broadly similar to the M6 over the M5. Apple's First 2nm iPhone Chip The M6 is Apple's first chip built on TSMC's 2nm (N2) process, with the second almost certain to be the A20. Being a smaller manufacturing process, N2 has higher transistor density, allowing Apple to pack more performance into a smaller area. Apple has historically debuted new nodes on the A-series, since iPhone volume validates yields, so introducing N2 in an $899 Mac mini represents a change. As such, reports that the A20 and A20 Pro will move to N2 are now supported by a shipping product rather than analyst predictions. The consequence for the iPhone event is that the "Apple's first 2nm chip" claim is no longer available. Dual Neural Engine? The iPhone's Neural Engine has remained at 16 cores and approximately 35 trillion operations per second since the A17 Pro, spanning three generations. The M6 introduces a Dual 16-core Neural Engine, which Apple says system frameworks can address simultaneously for up to 2x the peak compute of previous generations. The change corresponds with the reported move to WMCM packaging , which integrates memory onto the same wafer as the CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine to shorten the path between them. It is possible that die area and thermal constraints may limit a dual engine to the A20 Pro. GPU AI Gains Are Now Incremental Apple said the M5 delivered over 4x the peak GPU compute for AI compared to the M4, reflecting the introduction of Neural Accelerators within each GPU core. The M6 is rated at nearly 30% over the M5. The A19 Pro recorded a comparable 4x improvement on the iPhone 17 Pro last September for the same architectural reason. Second-generation Neural Accelerators consequently appear to represent a refinement rather than another step change, suggesting the A20 Pro will not repeat the A19 Pro's headline figure. Graphics Improvements Should Carry Across The M6 adds 50% increased geometry rates, an updated shader core architecture, revised Dynamic Caching, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. These are architectural changes and comparable graphics work has historically appeared across both the A-series and M-series within the same generation. Memory Bandwidth Suggests a Modest A20 Gain Memory bandwidth determines how quickly data moves between the memory and the processor, and it is the main constraint on running large language models on device. The M6 provides up to 170GB/s, which Apple describes as a 10% increase over the M5's 153.6GB/s. That increase is small enough to indicate Apple is using a faster grade of the same LPDDR5X memory rather than moving to the newer LPDDR6 standard, which would have delivered a far larger jump. Reports indicate Apple is sourcing high-speed LPDDR5X from Samsung for the ‌iPhone 18‌ lineup, and the M6 is consistent with that. The implication for the A20 is that memory bandwidth is unlikely to improve dramatically. The A19 Pro is rated at 76.8GB/s, and a similar 10% uplift would take the A20 Pro to roughly 85GB/s. Any meaningful gain in how quickly the ‌iPhone 18 Pro‌ loads and runs on-device models is therefore more likely to come from WMCM packaging shortening the distance data travels than from the memory itself. AV1 Encode Remains Absent The M6 Media Engine supports hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW, with AV1 decode but no AV1 encode, matching the M5. The omission on a new process node in a desktop chip makes its inclusion in the A20 Pro highly unlikely. Related Roundups: iPhone 18 , iPhone 18 Pro Tag: Apple Silicon Related Forum: iPhone This article, " iPhone 18 Pro: Everything M6 Tells Us About the A20 Chip " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
After years of rumors, the highly anticipated foldable iPhone is almost here, but that's not all we're expecting to see at next week's big event, and we've got full coverage of expectations for the "Surprise and Shine" event. Beyond the event, this week also saw John Ternus take over from Tim Cook as Apple CEO, while we learned a bit more about what's coming in iOS 27 and how Apple has been trying to respond to massive demand for its desktop Macs amid the surge in AI computing, so read on below for all of the details! Top Stories iPhone Ultra, iPhone 18 Pro, and More: Apple's September 9 Event Preview Apple's September event will take place on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. At the event, Apple will announce its 2026 iPhone lineup, and this year is a big one. Along with the slab-style iPhones we've been using for years, Apple is going to debut its first foldable device. We'll also get new Apple Watches, a new set of AirPods, and possibly some other surprises. Everything we expect to see at the "Surprise and Shine" event is recapped in our event guide and overview video, so make sure to check it out. Read John Ternus' First Memo to Apple Employees as CEO This week marked the end of an era, with Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO after 15 years and hardware engineering chief John Ternus taking over the reins . Cook will remain active with Apple as Executive Chair. In his first memo to employees as CEO , Ternus thanked employees for a warm welcome, expressed thanks to Cook for his contributions to Apple and assisting with the transition, and shared excitement about the future including "a huge launch" next week . iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders May Start at an Unusual Time Following next Wednesday's event, pre-orders for the new iPhone hardware may start at an unusual time . Pre-orders for the new iPhone models typically start at 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time on the Friday immediately following the event, but this year that falls on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As it did back in 2015 when pre-orders would also have fallen on the 11th, Apple will reportedly push things back this year and begin accepting pre-orders at midnight Pacific Time on Saturday, September 12. iOS 27 Introduces New 'iPhone Handoff' Feature Back at WWDC in June, Apple made the briefest of mentions about iOS 27 offering the ability to share a phone number between devices, and now we know how that feature will work. MacRumors forum member pdfu this week shared a video showing how users will set up the feature, dubbed iPhone Handoff, from the Cellular section of the Settings app. iPhone Handoff will require carrier support, with the user's main eSIM remaining on their primary phone and a companion eSIM being sent to another iPhone. Once activated, a single phone number will be used across both devices, with the phone number automatically switching back and forth to whichever device is unlocked at the moment. Foldable iPhone Ultra Likely Has MagSafe Charging In addition to the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, next week's event will also see the long-awaited introduction of Apple's first foldable iPhone. The device will sacrifice a few features in order to enable its ultra-thin profile, and until recently it was thought that MagSafe charging might be one of those things. In a recent interview with Tom's Guide , however, Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman says "all indications" point toward MagSafe support being included on the phone . Apple Caught Off Guard by AI Demand for Mac Mini and Mac Studio Apple's unusually timed announcement of new Mac mini and Mac Studio models last week was driven by unexpectedly strong enterprise appetite for AI hardware , according to The Information . Apple normally releases new Mac models in the fall, closer to October or November, but Apple pulled Mac announcements ahead of the anticipated arrival of new iPhone models as it has sought to meet strong demand for its desktop Macs. Apple highlighted the Mac mini and Mac Studio's shift toward business buyers back in June, with a "Business at the Park" event involving executives from major companies Ford, Disney, and Anthropic. The Mac mini was said to be the "darling" of the event. A surge in demand for Mac hardware to run AI models has coincided with the global memory shortage, leaving many Mac mini and Mac Studio configurations out of stock for months and making the new models a priority to allow Apple to offer improved performance and higher production volumes. 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: 'Surprise and Shine' Apple Event Preview, John Ternus Takes Over, and More " first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums
