Hello, 2026! A new year means many predictions on what Apple is going to do over the next twelve months. In an article for Six Colors and Macworld, Jason Snell predicts (1) Tim Cook will transition from becoming Apple’s CEO to simply Chairman of the Board, with other changes in high-level Apple executives, (2) improvements to Apple Intelligence, (3) an improved Siri, (4) new products for the home, (5) a folding iPhone (starting at $1999 or more), (6) Pro versions of the iPhone this fall but non-Pro versions held back until Spring 2027, and more. Juli Clover of MacRumors agrees with Snell on the new product for the home, folding iPhone, splitting the iPhone releases, and a new version of Siri, and also predicts AI smart glasses and more. Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide says that the rumored folding iPhone could start at $2400, and he predicts that Apple’s new device for the home will have a 7-inch touch screen and work like a beefed-up version of the iPhone’s StandBy Mode. M.G. Siegler of Spyglass predicts that, notwithstanding the high price, Apple’s folding iPhone will be a hit product even in its first generation. Liz Ticong of TechRepublic predicts that Apple will release a new home camera alongside its new product for the home, and also predicts version 2 of the AirTag. With a full year ahead of us, so much seems possible. And now, the news of note from the past two weeks:
- Considering that so many people focus on fitness in January each year, I’m sure that many people will consider getting a new Apple Watch. Apple itself is promoting Apple Watch sales in a cute series of video shorts on social media that all feature the tagline Quit Quitting. Juli Clover of MacRumors collects all three of them in this post.
- If you want a new Apple Watch, Amazon has the top-of-the-line Apple Watch Series 11 on sale for 25% off, starting at $299.
- Apple is also teasing something new for fitness coming this month. As noted by Juli Clover of MacRumors, Apple released a short video on its Instagram account to say that Apple has “big plans” for its Apple Fitness+ service. I wonder what is coming?
- One thing that I would love to see is for Apple to use AI to provide more actionable information about your health based on the data it gets from the Apple Watch. Demonstrating that this is possible, Marcus Mendes of 9to5Mac reports on a new study by researchers from MIT that found that it is possible to use Apple Watch data and AI to predict various medical conditions with impressive accuracy.
- If you received an Apple Gift Card over the holidays, what can you use it for? Hartley Charlton of MacRumors answers that question.
- In a related article, Chance Miller of 9to5Mac suggests using an Apple Gift Card to try out some of Apple’s excellent services.
- In an article for Six Colors, Glenn Fleishman describes Apple’s Private Wi-Fi feature.
- In another article, Fleishman describes Apple’s changes to the AirDrop protocol in iOS 26.2 (which was released in mid-December).
- Every year, Apple designates some of its older products as “vintage” (meaning that Apple will only perform limited repairs, and only if the parts still exist) and “obsolete” (meaning Apple will no longer repair them. David Snow of Cult of Mac identifies the products “killed” by Apple in 2025, including the first-generation iPhone SE and the Apple Watch Series 1.
- As old products die, new products are born. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac looks back at all of the new products released by Apple in 2025.
- Ruffin Prevost of the New York Times describes using Apple’s new Live Translation feature for AirPods Pro 3 to translate for him while he was in Tokyo.
- Storing airline boarding passes in the Wallet app on an iPhone is a great feature, and it was improved in iOS 26 to add Live Activities, airport maps, and Find My for luggage. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac notes that Southwest Airlines now supports the improved boarding passes, joining Delta and United.
- Rajat Saini of The Mac Observer discusses accessing a loved one’s iPhone to retrieve passwords and other information after they have passed away. These are good tips. My father passed away a few weeks ago, and as I pick up the pieces as the executor of his estate, having access to my father’s iPhone has been extremely helpful. I’m glad that I know his iPhone passcode.
- A new month also means new shows coming to Apple TV. Ryan Christoffel of 9to5Mac says that this includes Season 3 of Tehran, Season 2 of Hijack, Season 3 of Shrinking, and more.
- Michael Schneider of Variety reports that Season 4 of Ted Lasso is expected to be released in mid-2026.
- One of my favorite shows of 2025 was Pluribus on Apple TV. In an article for The Ringer, Alan Sepinwall explains how the ending of Season 1 changed based on helpful comments from Apple executives. Obviously, don’t read that article until you have watched all of Season 1!
- And finally, Apple released a cute video called Detectives 8x Zoom, which highlights one use of the 8x telephoto lens on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max: