A mid-week Mac update revealed more about Apple's next product line than any rumor mill. Code names across nearly all product lines, the home screen of an unannounced home hub, and a demo video for headphones with a camera. Plus, two regulatory decisions that will reshape the European app market.
Between August 17th and 23rd, the most revealing discovery of the week lay in a file never intended for publication. On Monday, Apple released the Release Candidate of macOS Tahoe 26.7, offering a glimpse of devices not expected to appear for months and years to come. The beta cycle continued in parallel: iOS 27 reached Beta 6 on the same day, entering the phase just before the Release Candidate.
On a second level, the week was dominated by events in Brussels and Bonn. The EU Commission and Apple ended their dispute over App Store terms and conditions, and the German Federal Cartel Office concluded its investigation into tracking data requests. Both decisions have a more profound impact on everyday life in Germany than any discovery of illegal code – only they came into effect in October and towards the end of the year.
🔥 Story of the Week: A Mac update reveals Apple's next product round
On Monday, Apple released the release candidate of macOS Tahoe 26.7. The system files contain device identifiers across almost every product line – for devices that have not yet been announced.
The most substantial offering is in the home accessories category. The J490 and J491 represent the long-awaited home hub, the former with a stand, the latter for wall mounting. Also included are a new HomePod mini, a sensor device called the J229 that can detect alarm sounds and take pictures, and the Pebble name for this family of devices' proprietary operating system.
Among the iPhones, the identifiers V62 to V68 appear, including the iPhone Ultra and an iPhone Air 2. On the Mac side, there's a MacBook Pro with an M6 chip, two iMac models, and four other identifiers that correspond to the expected OLED models. The list is rounded out by an iPad mini, a new remote for Apple TV, and the identifier of a headset whose project was thought to be canceled.
What happened two days later
The actual discovery came on Wednesday. Text snippets describing the home hub's start page, identified as J490, are available: widget gallery, Smart Stack, information display. How the device is operated was previously unknown – the result is more familiar than its novelty might suggest.
Details about the headphones also became more concrete. Two previously unknown identifiers point to two variants of the next AirPods generation, following the same pattern as with the AirPods 4, one with and one without active noise cancellation. The same build contains a demo video showing AirPods with a camera in use. Further strings reveal the resolution and behavior of the indicator light – with the unfortunate finding that a covered light does not prevent recording.
And for the living room: The component list in tvOS 27 now includes an entry for Siri for the first time, marked with an identifier that internally represents the revamped voice control. This entry is missing in tvOS 26 – an indication that Siri AI is arriving on the Apple TV 4K.
📰 What Else Mattered
Apple and the European Commission have settled their dispute over the App Store. The company has presented new terms and conditions for apps in the EU, which will come into effect on October 1st. The Core Technology Fee installation fee will be eliminated and replaced by a five percent commission on digital transactions in apps outside the App Store; the initial purchase fee and the Store Services Fee will be completely removed. This eliminates precisely the tiered surcharge that, just last week, served as the European counterpart to Apple's US proposal.
The German Federal Cartel Office has concluded its investigation into tracking queries. The warning icon and the term "tracking" will disappear from the query window, app providers are allowed to expand their explanatory text to up to 4,000 characters, and Apple's own advertising window will also be adjusted. The catch lies in the scope: The agreements apply to users whose App Store billing address and device location are in Germany. Austria and Switzerland are not covered.
iOS 26.6.1 has been released. Apple made the security update available in the developer channel after a week and shortly thereafter provided the notes: 29 vulnerabilities closed, 21 of them in WebKit. One of the reports came from Bochum.
Two legal proceedings have entered the next round. Apple dismantled the US Department of Justice's request for access to government records – two of the 14 agencies involved hadn't even submitted a justification. In the dispute with OpenAI, Apple rejected the opposing side's motion to dismiss.
Apple TV's fall lineup has been finalized. Slow Horses returns on September 16th with six episodes released weekly until October 21st. Stick kicks off its second season on November 4th, followed by Bad Monkey on December 2nd.
The lead-up to the September event is intensifying. A leak suggests the A20 Pro will offer around 18 percent more performance, the return of a ceramic case for the Apple Watch is rumored, and in addition to the discrepancy regarding the market launch, there are also doubts about the name of the foldable model.
An analyst firm has significantly raised its price target. Rothschild & Co Redburn has set a target of $400 and upgraded its rating to "Buy", an increase of $140 from the previous target.
💡 Rumor of the week: The variable aperture is said to be reserved for the largest model
The most sophisticated camera innovation of the upcoming iPhone generation may only be available on a single device. According to leaker Ice Universe, the variable aperture will remain exclusive to the iPhone 18 Pro Max, while the smaller Pro model would have to do without it.
The available sources are scarce. Ice Universe stands alone with this claim less than a month before the launch, lacking any second confirmation. However, precedent argues against it being a mere fabrication: in 2023, the iPhone 15 Pro Max received the tetraprism lens exclusively, while the smaller Pro model only got it a year later. Furthermore, supplier documents from June indicated a new Sony sensor, explicitly assigned to the Pro Max.
If this is true, the dividing line within the Pro series will shift significantly for the first time in years – and with it, the question of whether the smaller Pro still justifies its price premium over the standard model. Further information about the series can be found in the iPhone 18 Pro rumor section.
📊 Number of the week: One trillion dollars
This is the cumulative revenue projected for the global market for wearable technology between 2026 and 2032. The forecast, from Counterpoint Research, shows a significant distribution: approximately $360 billion for headphones, $304 billion for smartwatches, and $168 billion for smart glasses.
More revealing than the total figure is the underlying relationship. Revenue is projected to grow by twelve percent annually, while unit sales are expected to increase by only six percent. People aren't buying more devices, but rather more expensive ones – driven by health features that go beyond simple fitness tracking. Seven-year forecasts should be interpreted with caution, but this shift is already evident in Apple's quarterly results.
👎 Flop of the week: Vision Pro is cutting back
Apple has cut over 200 jobs this week, around 100 of them in the Vision Pro ecosystem and around 100 in Siri and software development. The gaming team has been largely shut down, and the production of immersive videos has been scaled back. A successor to the headset is therefore not expected until late 2028 at the earliest.
This followed a report stating that at least 60 positions in the VR team would be eliminated. This report was based on a single source and remained internally contradictory; the figure was only added later in an addendum. The subsequent report is higher and is supported by a statement from Cupertino.
For a device that Apple introduced two and a half years ago as the start of a new computer category, this is an unfortunate interim assessment. The Vision Pro isn't disappearing, but it's visibly being scaled back.
🔭 What's Coming Next Week
The beta cycle continues: Following Beta 6 last Monday, iOS 27 Beta 7 is now available; previously, there was a week between releases. With major iOS generations, an eighth beta typically follows before the release candidate is published.
The more important date is another one. The official invitations to the September event are expected around August 25th, after the confirmations from the lottery for store visits have already been sent out. This should confirm next week when the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Ultra, and the new watches will be unveiled. Furthermore, John Ternus will take over as CEO on September 1st – more on that when the time comes.
💬 My Take
Two news items this week belong together, even though they were published on different days. Apple is cutting jobs related to a device worn on the head. And in the category that, according to market forecasts, will come in third place – smart glasses with a market value of $168 billion – the company currently has no presence at all.
At the same time, the focus is shifting to what you wear in your ear. This week's code reveals two new AirPods variants, a demo video for headphones with a camera, and technical details about the indicator light, while the market launch of the camera models is still expected in 2027.
My expectation: Apple's wearable focus will shift from the head to the ear in the next two years. Headphones are the market's highest-selling category, Apple leads the way, and a camera in the earbud provides precisely the environmental data that would otherwise require a headset – at a fraction of the price and without anyone having to cover their face. What the headset couldn't achieve could be accomplished by a product that almost everyone already wears. The price of this shortcut is revealed in the rumors surrounding the AirPods Ultra: A camera on the head remains a camera on the head, even if it's small.
📚 From Our Archive
Because this week's code pointed to headphones with cameras and sensors three times, it's worth looking at the underlying premise: why AirPods could become Apple's first real AI product.
And because the tracking query will remain unchanged until the redesign towards the end of the year, here are the adjustments that are already effective today: seven steps for more data protection on the iPhone.
At the end of this week, a corporation has leaked its own plans for a maintenance update, while two regulatory bodies are rewriting the rules of the game for it in Europe. Does such a code discovery dampen your excitement for the September event – or does it make it truly concrete? Let us know in the comments which of the leaked devices you'd like to get your hands on first.
Until next Sunday, Apfelpatient wishes you a relaxing read and a good start to the week.
