Apple (xip, downloads, Xcode Releases):
Xcode 27.2 includes Swift 6.4 and SDKs for iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2, watchOS 27.2, macOS 27.2, and visionOS 27.2. Xcode 27.2 supports on-device debugging in iOS 17 and later, tvOS 17 and later, watchOS 10 and later, and visionOS. Xcode 27.2 requires a Mac running macOS Tahoe 26.6 or later.
[…]
When used via Sidecar or a MacBook with Touch, Device Hub now sends touches on the iPad screen to the remote device as touches. This allows you to use multi-finger gestures such as pinch and rotate to test your applications.
[…]
Projects that use APIs specific to iOS 27.1 show compile errors when building for Mac Catalyst (“undeclared identifier”, “not found”, “has no member”, “cannot find”, and similar errors).
[…]
macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS SDKs in Xcode 27.2 incorrectly report 27.1 as a valid deployment target. Builds and other functionality might have unexpected behavior if this deployment target is used.
Ron Elemans:
Every time I open a complex Storyboard in Xcode 26 or newer, the Inspector panel decides at a certain moment to resize to full window width. The only way to continue working is to hide the whole Inspector, resizing back doesn’t work.
Feedback Assistant shows “Recent Similar Reports: Less than 10” for at least a year. This is probably Apple language for “Deal with it, otherwise stop using dinosaur tech and switch to SwiftUI” (FB23611443).
Previously:
Catalyst (Marzipan) Device Hub Interface Builder Mac macOS 27 Golden Gate Programming Xcode
Marcus Mendes:
South Korea’s Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) announced today a series of fines and corrective orders against Apple and Google over violations of the country’s Telecommunications Business Act.
Specifically for Apple, the KMCC imposed a fine of 20.81 billion won (approximately $15.5 million) and ordered the company to revise its App Store policies regarding payment methods and app review procedures, as well as prevent what it referred to as “discriminatory commission” practices from recurring.
[…]
In essence, the decision centers around three violations: forcing specific payment methods, unfairly delaying app reviews, and imposing discriminatory commissions.
Previously:
Antitrust App Store Apple Business iOS iOS 27 Legal South Korea
Apple:
Apple is making changes to the Taiwan storefront of the App Store, following discussions with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission.
As of October 31, 2026, the commission rate for standard Apple In-App Purchase and paid app transactions will be 26% on the Taiwan storefront of the App Store on iOS and iPadOS.
Juli Clover (Marcus Mendes):
Apple normally charges a lower rate for Small Business Program members, but the announcement about the Taiwan commission changes doesn't include that information.
Previously:
Antitrust App Store Apple Business iOS iOS 27 Legal Mac Mac App Store macOS 27 Golden Gate Taiwan
Hartley Charlton (Hacker News):
Australia’s Federal Court today ordered Apple to allow competing app stores, direct app downloads, and alternative payment services for Australian users from March 1, 2027.
[…]
Apple must let users find, download, install, and update apps through competing marketplaces and websites without charging for access or obstructing their use. Developers must receive the necessary tools on substantially the same terms as for App Store distribution, and Apple cannot penalize them for using competing stores or payment services.
Developers will also be able to offer alternative payments and link to other ways to pay, including within App Store apps. Apple cannot require them to offer its own purchasing system alongside alternatives, report those transactions, or allow Apple to audit them.
Apps will be notarized, but Apple cannot collect fees on purchases not made through the App Store. This seems like the best antitrust result yet. This will take effect on March 1, 2027 unless blocked by Apple’s appeal or request for extension.
Marcus Mendes:
Today’s order follows a ruling last year that Apple violated Australian competition law by restricting alternative app distribution and payment methods, in a lawsuit brought by Epic Games similar to its long-running legal battle with Apple in the US.
[…]
Justice Beach described the latter two actions as “a paradigm example of Apple’s enforcement of its restrictive terms, in contravention of” section 46 of Australia’s Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which prohibits corporations with substantial market power from engaging in conduct that has “the purpose, or has or is likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition” in that market.
[…]
When it comes to Apple’s wins in the decision, the list is much slimmer. Judge Beach rejected Epic’s request to extend the court’s injunctions worldwide and allowed Apple to maintain security scanning and notarization requirements for apps distributed outside the App Store. And while Apple must permit competing app marketplaces on iOS, it is not required to distribute them through its own App Store.
[…]
Finally, the court ordered Apple to pay 85% of Epic’s legal costs incurred through the original trial[…]
Nick Heer:
It seems unsustainable to keep dripping out rule changes one country at a time, especially as many of them slightly differ in the details even when regulators’ overarching aims are similar. The reasons for the company’s stubbornness — namely: security and privacy — become much less believable as a growing number of regions require alternative distribution channels, essentially without issue.
Apple should just rip off the bandage and do Gatekeeper for iOS.
Hartley Charlton:
Fortnite will return to Australia’s App Store today, Epic Games told Reuters, after a federal court ordered Apple to allow eligible Epic apps back onto the store.
Previously:
Antitrust App Marketplaces App Store Apple Australia Business Epic Games External iOS Payments Fortnite iOS iOS 27 iOS App Lawsuit Legal Notarization Web Distribution of iOS Apps
Hartley Charlton (Hacker News):
Apple faces Russian data retention and disclosure requirements after being added to the country's state surveillance registry, Bloomberg reports.
[…]
Those obligations cover correspondence and messages containing audio or video. Companies must also keep information identifying users and recording the transmission of their communications within Russia for three years.
I guess this could include iMessage, iCloud mail, iCloud Photos, and perhaps iCloud backups. I have not seen whether they want an iCloud Advanced Data Protection backdoor.
William Gallagher:
That data must be stored on servers within Russia, and it must be turned over to the country’s security services as required.
Neither Apple nor Microsoft has yet commented publicly on the new requirements.
Previously:
Apple E-mail iCloud iCloud Advanced Data Protection iCloud Photo Library iMessage iOS iOS 27 Legal Microsoft Privacy Russia
Juli Clover (forum):
Some iPhone Duos are already experiencing hinge issues that cause display cracks, based on photos shared on Reddit and the MacRumors forums. Almost all of the display faults are right along the hinge, and most result in a line of bright pixels across one side of the screen.
Juli Clover (iFixit, Hacker News):
iFixit commented on some of the display failures people have been seeing, suggesting they could be caused by pressure, a trapped particle, repeated bending, or a manufacturing defect. It may not be that the display has physically snapped, because a wiring problem can cause the same effect.
Where most of the faulty units are experiencing issues, the hinge has a different shape. The failure spot is also near where the accordion cable passes by and where several edges meet, which could be leading to a concentration of stress in that spot.
Terrence O’Brien:
Social media and the iPhone Duo subreddit are filled with reports of Apple’s foldable failing quickly and in spectacular fashion. Some users report having the phone for only a few hours before the hinge seems to catch on something, then audibly crack and break the screen. Tellingly, the cracks all seem to happen in the same place.
YouTuber CuriousHagi was able to reproduce the cracked screen during some durability testing of the iPhone Duo. Then he pulled it apart to try and find the culprit. What he found is that the Duo’s hinge is quite complex, consisting of a gear-like central hinge and two different types of linking hinges.
The piece that broke is one of the links in the middle of the phone that happens to be thinner than the links below or above it, and it snapped at a small notch where it would be weakest. He also found marks where the hinge met the support plate, indicating where it may have gotten caught.
Mark Gurman:
In these cases, customers reported hearing a crunching sound when unfolding the phone, followed by a large crack forming along the center crease. Some users also experienced a white patch or other display malfunction on the right side of the screen.
[…]
Apple acknowledged the issue in a statement, saying it was “aware of an issue impacting the inner display on a small number of iPhone Duo units.”
Juli Clover:
It is our understanding that some of the images of alleged cracking are AI-generated, which makes it harder to determine the actual scope of the problem.
Many of the iPhone Duos experiencing issues cracked in the same place on the lower half of the inner display. The crack is along the hinge, and users say there is a stuck feeling and sometimes a popping noise just before the damage appears.
Previously:
Display Hardware iPhone iPhone Duo
