Apple (Hacker News, MacRumors):
Our solution hinges on splitting the Apple Reference Image process into two phases: creating a secure digital negative, and developing that negative into a reference image. Each phase receives our strongest protections.
[…]
Apple Reference Image provides both a lower bound and an upper bound on capture time from Apple’s cryptographic timestamp service, and we guarantee the photo was taken between the two bounds. On a regular heartbeat, the device requests a cryptographic timestamp token, and retains the most recent one it has received. Globally this happens on average every 15 minutes, though the interval depends on local network conditions. This provides a proven lower bound timestamp for the photographic capture. After capture, the device requests a second timestamp to use as an upper bound, and both timestamps are embedded and signed with the sensor data.
[…]
When the user chooses to create a reference image, the device uploads the digital negative to PCC, which runs the processing steps needed to render the image — including demosaicing, tone mapping, and compression — in a highly secure, private, and verifiable environment. Experts can verify that PCC doesn’t alter a digital negative during development: they can examine the software that does the work.
[…]
Finally, as no security system is perfect, we created a revocation system that can revoke individual photos, as well as all photos from a specific sensor.
[…]
We built Apple Reference Image to avoid using an explicit, public credential for photographers, and to avoid even implicit public association between different photos taken by the same sensor. The final reference image is instead signed by Apple’s signing service, after validation by PCC.
Previously:
Apple Reference Image Artificial Intelligence Camera iOS iOS 27 iPhone 18 Pro iPhone 18 Pro Max Photography Privacy Private Cloud Compute Secure Enclave
Jonathan M. Gitlin:
GM made the decision to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone casting from its newer EVs, and it’s one we’ve been pretty critical of. Although the automaker told us it made that decision in order to offer a better, more unified experience to its customers, that may well have changed: here, customers still have the choice to just cast their phone to the center screen.
And it has done a better job of integrating CarPlay and Android Auto into the experience, putting the casting apps in a large window or tile that takes up most but not all of the infotainment screen. To the left is another card that allows you to access other native apps, like towing or music (although you can still have CarPlay as the source for that native music app, should you start feeling a little Inceptionish). Porsche took a similar approach to working with, rather than against, users who enjoy CarPlay, and this looks like a welcome step from GM.
GM’s spokesperson wouldn’t be drawn on whether this means we’re going to see a corporate retreat from the previous stance on EVs, but I will note that the press release it sent Ars does say that the system was built “as a single scalable foundation across electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, it transforms time spent behind the wheel into an effortless, personalized journey,”—emphasis mine.
Matthew Haughey (via John Gruber):
The car industry accidentally did something I’ve always wanted to see, which was to release basically the same car under two brands and models, with one major consumer-facing difference. It’s kind of remarkable how good of a experimental design this is, since the performance and driving characteristics of both cars are identical, but drivers in one model get a major phone integration the others do not.
[…]
For the years these cars were sold together, the Honda outsold the Blazer by 43%, 73%, and 166% in each time period. Today in 2026, people are buying a Honda Prologue over one and a half times more often than the Chevy Blazer EV the Prologue is based on.
Marco Arment:
My favorite CarPlay feature is when it’s reading a text message to me and I go to tap the “Done” button and it suddenly turns into a “Call” button underneath my finger and I have to wait for all of the animations to finish before I can actually end the call and then I wonder (a) did the person notice that I called them for a few seconds and (b) do I need to explain that now and (c) are they going to call me back now and (d) HOW DID THIS INTERFACE EVER SHIP oh my god
Previously:
CarPlay iOS iOS 27
David Smith:
Here’s the 17 family data as a percentage of overall usage for Widgetsmith.
Generally they followed the usual adoption pattern, and overall did very well ending at around 20% of total usage.
With the exception of the Air really struggling to find market share. For comparison the 16 Plus ended its first year at around 1.4% (vs the Air’s 0.3%).
Matt Birchler:
This works out to about 6% of my iPhone users using the iPhone Air, or about 20x more proportionally than David's more mainstream app. Honestly, the numbers are pretty striking here, with David showing a pretty even split between the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max, slightly decreasing in that order. Meanwhile, almost half of my users are on the Pro Max, another quarter are on the Pro, and the 17 is neck and neck with the Air. Clearly, my customers lean more enthusiast and are higher end buyers on average.
Nick Heer:
The apparent unpopularity of the iPhone Air is not what caught my eye. Instead, it is the percentage of iPhone 17e users: 0.5% of Widgetsmith users, and something like 1–2% of the total iPhone 17 generation in Birchler’s.
The iPhone 17e hasn’t been on sale for as long, though.
John Gruber:
In the entire year since the iPhone Air was announced, I’ve never seen Apple advertise it. No billboards, no commercials. It raises a chicken/egg question: did no one buy it because Apple didn’t market it, or did Apple not market it because no one wanted it?
[…]
But the shame of these low iPhone Air sales reminds me, very much, of the late great iPhone 12 and 13 Mini — also a truly great design, also terribly disappointing sales numbers.
Previously:
iOS iOS 26 iPhone iPhone 17 iPhone 17 Pro iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 17e iPhone Air Widgetsmith
