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Apple has lined up its first event of the year. Already! It's taking place in New York City on March 4 at 9AM ET, but the company hasn't confirmed if it will stream the media event.
It seems likely the event will be mainly iPads and MacBooks — so business as usual. However, it could include new entry-level MacBooks in a fresh array of colors. I think that's what everyone's reading into the lemon-and-lime tinged invitation.
I'm very much up for a return of the colorful Mac. The first Mac I ever used was one of those bubbly orange iMacs, interning at a video-game magazine. Yes, a magazine.
We're also expecting a 2026 MacBook Air and refreshed 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips also breaking cover. Is it too early for an iPhone 17e? Perhaps. We'll be reporting from the event.
And for those asking about yesterday's newsletter, thanks for your continued support and we'll have more to say soon.
— Mat Smith
The other big stories (and deals) this morning
Meta's metaverse is going mobile-first
Meta reportedly plans to release a smartwatch this year
Ring could be planning to expand Search Party feature beyond dogs
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Rumors about the next iPhone model already are spreading. Here are all the speculation and leaked information we've heard about so far.
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Google has announced that with the help of AI, it blocked 1.75 million apps that violated its policies in 2025, significantly down from 2.36 million in 2024. The lower numbers this year, it said, are because its "AI-powered, multi-layer protections" are deterring bad actors from even trying to publish bad apps.
Google said it now runs more than 10,000 safety checks on every app and continues to recheck them after they're published. Its use of the latest generative AI models helps human reviewers discover malicious patterns more quickly, it added. The company also blocked 160 million spam ratings, preventing an average 0.5-star rating drop for apps targeted by review bombing. Finally, Google stopped 255,000 apps from gaining excessive access to sensitive user data in 2025, down from 1.3 million the year before.
Meanwhile, Google Play Protect, the company's Android defense system, sniffed out over 27 million new malicious apps, either warning users or preventing them from running. The company added that Play Protect's enhanced fraud protection now covers 2.8 billion Android devices in 185 markets and blocked 266 million risky "side-loading" installation attempts.
"Initiatives like developer verification, mandatory pre-review checks, and testing requirements have raised the bar for the Google Play ecosystem, significantly reducing the paths for bad actors to enter," the company said its blog. "This year, we'll continue to invest in AI-driven defenses to stay ahead of emerging threats and equip Android developers with the tools they need to build apps safely."
Google has steadfastly justified its relatively high fees on app purchases and subscriptions by touting its investments in app safety. However, its Play store has been under pressure from regulators in Europe a
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 Apple tested color options for the 2022 MacBook Air redesign that are said to be similar to the finishes planned for its forthcoming low-cost MacBook, according to a Chinese leaker.
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House Democrats demand answers from Elon Musk over Grok's alleged role in nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, as EU regulators open probes.
The post Lawmakers Press Elon Musk Over Grok's Sexualized AI Deepfakes appeared first on eWEEK.
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Amazon surpasses Walmart in annual revenue, fueled by cloud computing growth and aggressive AI investments.
The post Amazon Tops Walmart in Revenue for First Time, Fueled by AI appeared first on eWEEK.
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OpenAI is reportedly hard at work developing a series of AI-powered devices, including smart glasses, a smart speaker and a smart lamp. According to reporting by The Information, the AI company has a team of over 200 employees dedicated to the project.
The first product scheduled to be released is reported to be a smart speaker that would include a camera, allowing it to better absorb information about its users and surroundings. According to a person familiar with the project, this would extend to identifying objects on a nearby table, as well as conversations being held in the vicinity of the speaker. The camera will also support a facial recognition feature similar to Apple's Face ID that would enable users to authenticate purchases.
The speaker is expected to retail for between $200 and $300 and ship in early 2027 at the earliest. Reporting indicates the company's AI-powered sm
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A recent Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage that lasted 13 hours was reportedly caused by one of its own AI tools, according to reporting by Financial Times. This happened in December after engineers deployed the Kiro AI coding tool to make certain changes, say four people familiar with the matter.
Kiro is an agentic tool, meaning it can take autonomous actions on behalf of users. In this case, the bot reportedly determined that it needed to "delete and recreate the environment." This is what allegedly led to the lengthy outage that primarily impacted China.
Amazon says it was merely a "coincidence that AI tools were involved" and that "the same issue could occur with any developer tool or manual action." The company blamed the outage on "user error, not AI error." It said that by default the Kiro tool "requests authorization before taking any action" but that the staffer involved in the December incident had "broader permissions than expected — a user access control issue, not an AI autonomy issue."
Multiple Amazon employees spoke to Financial Times and noted that this was "at least" the second occasion in recent months in which the company's AI tools were at the center of a service disruption. "The outages were small but entirely foreseeable," said one senior AWS employee.
Instead of jumping straight to code, the IDE pushed them to start with specs.
?? Clear requirements.
?? Acceptance criteria.
?? Traceable tasks.
Their takeaway:
Think first. Code later.
Get the full breakdown here ??… pic.twitter.com/eD7ZrEdEn5
— Kiro (@kirodotdev)
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This AI startup just hit $1.25 billion valuation solving a problem most people don't know exists.
The post Code Metal Hits $1.25B Valuation With AI Code Fix appeared first on eWEEK.
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Indie publisher and developer Finji has accused TikTok of using generative AI to alter the ads for its games on the platform without its knowledge or permission. Finji, which published indie darlings like Night in the Woods and Tunic, said it only became aware of the seemingly modified ads after being alerted to them by followers of its official TikTok account.
As reported by IGN, Finji alleges that one ad that went out on the platform was modified so it displayed a "racist, sexualized" representation of a character from one of its games. While it does advertise on TikTok, it told IGN that it has AI "turned all the way off," but after CEO and co-founder Rebekah Saltsman received screenshots of the ads in question from fans, she approached TikTok to investigate.
A number of Finji ads have appeared on TikTok, some that include montages of the company's games, and others that are game-specific like this one for Usual June. According to IGN, the offending AI-modified ads (which are still posted as if they're coming directly from Finji) appeared as slideshows. Some images don't appear to be that different from the source, but one possibly AI-generated example seen by IGN depicts Usual June's titular protagonist with "a bikini bottom, impossibly large hips and thighs, and boo
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 macOS 26.3 hints at Apple's rumored lower-cost MacBook, and two new Studio Display models, according to Macworld's Filipe Espósito.
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The US State Department is building a web portal, where Europeans and anyone else can see online content banned by their governments, according to Reuters. It was supposed to be launched at Munich Security Conference last month, but some state department officials reportedly voiced their concerns about the project. The portal will be hosted on freedom.gov, which currently just shows the image above. "Freedom is Coming," the homepage reads. "Information is power. Reclaim your human right to free expression. Get Ready."
Reuters says officials discussed making a virtual private network function available on the portal and making visitors' traffic appear as if they were from the US, so they could see anything unavailable to them. While it's a state department project, The Guardian has traced the domain to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is a component of the US Department of Homeland Security. Homeland also serves as the administrator for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The project could drive the wedge further between the US and its European allies. European authorities don't usually order broad censorships preventing their citizens from being able to access large parts of the internet. Typically, they only order the blocking of hate speech, terrorist propaganda, disinformation and anything illegal under the EU's Digital Services Act or the UK's Online Safety Act.
"If the Trump administration is alleging that they're gonna be bypassi
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Having a reliable and efficient smoke detector in your home can be a lifesaver. Here are our top five recommendations.
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West Virginia's attorney general alleges that iCloud's end-to-end encryption is being used to store and distribute child sexual abuse material.
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Money talks.In AI, it also buys megawatts. Humain says it has poured $3 billion into Elon Musk's xAI, a move that spotlights how the AI race is shifting from splashy launches to buildout math: capital, compute, power, and the places you can actually build. It's also a rare case where a state-backed AI push shows […]
The post Saudi Arabia Invests $3B in Elon Musk's xAI Empire appeared first on eWEEK.
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Meta may revive its Malibu 2 smartwatch in 2026, pairing health tracking with a built-in Meta AI assistant as it expands its wearables lineup.
The post Meta's ‘Malibu 2' Smartwatch to Focus on Health Tracking, AI appeared first on eWEEK.
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OpenAI's GPT-5.3-Codex can exploit vulnerable crypto smart contracts 72% of the time, raising urgent questions about AI-powered cyber offense and defense.
The post OpenAI Just Showed That AI Can Drain a Crypto Wallet… on Purpose appeared first on eWEEK.
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Apple's older MacBook Air with the M1 chip is now out of stock on Walmart's website in the U.S., amid rumors of a new lower-cost MacBook coming soon.
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Starting Thursday, Gemini 3.1 Pro can be accessed via the AI app, NotebookLM and more.
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Sony is closing Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls remakes, Bloomberg reports. Bluepoint's last major project was God of War: Ragnarok from 2022, which it co-developed with Sony Santa Monica.
According to Bloomberg, Sony decided to shut down the studio following "a recent business review." Around 70 employees will lose their jobs as part of the studio closure, which will officially happen in March. "Bluepoint Games is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community," Sony said in a statement to Bloomberg. "We thank them for their passion, creativity and craftmanship."
Following their work on Ragnarok, Bluepoint was reportedly tasked with developing a live-service game set in the God of War universe. That title was cancelled in 2025, alongside another game from Bend Studio. In the context of Sony's other live-service failures, the decision wasn
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I saw the future of large appliances at KBIS 2026. Here are the new features that impressed me the most.
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 The 31st Major League Soccer season is set to begin on Saturday, February 21, with games set to be available through the Apple TV subscription service. ?Apple TV? subscribers in more than 100 countries can access MLS matches with no blackouts and no additional fees.
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Unitree plans to ship up to 20,000 humanoid robots in 2026 as China tightens its grip on the global robotics market, outpacing Western rivals.
The post China's Unitree Aims to Ship 20,000 Humanoid Robots in 2026 appeared first on eWEEK.
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As we approach the launch of the iPhone 17e, MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera decided to take a look back at the iPhone 16e. He goes over what it's been like using Apple's budget ?iPhone? over the past 12 months, and whether it's worth choosing over one of Apple's more expensive models.
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Fans of The Mandalorian and his tiny green apprentice Grogu are getting their best look yet at the duo's upcoming theatrical adventure, set for release this spring. It's hard to believe that it's been just over six years since the last Star Wars movie was released in theaters, followed by wall-to-wall coverage of so-called Star Wars Fatigue.
The newest trailer, released today, clocks in at just over two minutes long and offers some new footage and details to sink our teeth into. Picking up after the events of the Disney series The Mandalorian, the Empire has collapsed and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu are tasked with taking out a bevy of baddies from gangsters to war criminals for the New Republic. Colonel Ward, new to the Star Wars universe and played by Sigourney Weaver, tells Djarin, "This isn't about revenge, it's about preventing another war."
Jeremy Allen White will also star in the film, as Rotta the Hutt, Jabba's son, who we briefly see battling Din Djarin in a colosseum of sorts. Notably, at one point we see Djarin on his knees before Jabba sans helmet, so we'll definitely be getting some moments of Pedro Pascal unfiltered by Beskar. Like any Star Wars adventure, we see flashes of some new creatures that our heroes will face. Most importantly, we see Grogu being downright adorable, playing with buttons on the ship, commandeering a flying bassinet, and snacking on a cookie.
The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on May 22 a
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 A major UK consumer lawsuit alleging that Qualcomm inflated iPhone prices through its patent licensing practices will be withdrawn with no payment (via Reuters).
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China's humanoid robots stunned millions at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, showcasing rapid AI advances, industrial ambition, and rising global competition.
The post China's Humanoid Robots Dazzle Millions at Lunar New Year Gala appeared first on eWEEK.
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 Apple today provided developers with the first beta of an upcoming iOS 26.4 update, which adds quite a few new features to the iPhone. There's a video podcasts feature, updates to Stolen Device Protection, end-to-end encryption for RCS messages, an Apple Music tool for generating playlists, and much more.
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The hardest choice to make for building your next MacBook might be selecting a color. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has tested colors including light yellow, light green, blue and pink for its next entry-level MacBook that's aimed at students and enterprise users.
Beyond the more vibrant colors, Gurman said that Apple has also trialed its classic silver and dark gray colorways for its cheaper laptop. Gurman added that not all of these six colors will make it to the final product, but Apple has recently shown it's not afraid to dip into flashier options. Apple refreshed the iMac in 2024 with a total of seven colors and swapped out the space gray option for sky blue for the latest MacBook Air.
Color choices aside, the latest rumors point to the upcoming MacBook having a price tag that's anywhere between $699 and $799. To achieve that lower price point, Apple is expected to port over its chips designed for iPhones, like the A18 Pro that we first saw with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. We're also anticipating Apple will compromise on specs, ports, or
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Humanoid robots practice kung fu alongside Shaolin monks in a viral showcase highlighting China's rapid advances in embodied AI and robotics.
The post Chinese Humanoid Robots Perform Kung Fu, Stir Awe and Anxiety Online appeared first on eWEEK.
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