Technology

I’d have placed a decent bet on Apple making a big deal about Apple Intelligence at WWDC this year, and from that I’d have predicted that the iPhone 17 would be Cupertino’s first proper AI phone.

The company somewhat fluffed the launch of Apple Intelligence, with AI-powered features for the iPhone 16 family taking a long time to roll out after its launch, and a smarter ChatGPT-centric Siri still absent. With that in mind, I’d have thought Apple would have gone harder on AI at its yearly developer's conference.

I was wrong.

Apple Intelligence was mentioned, but more as a smart virtual icing to a cake consisting mostly of the Liquid Glass design material and feature updates across Apple’s software ecosystem.

So with that in mind it’s arguably hard to draw any big insights into what’ll be in store at the next Apple event, which is likely to be a September one centred around new iPhones. But I think I can have a good stab at what the next iPhone will be like.

It’ll be boring.

Send me now new iOS

(Image credit: Apple)

My theory here is that the iPhone 17, if Apple does go with that nomenclature, will be a vehicle for iOS 26 with hardware upgrades taking a back seat.

While a lot of the core iOS experience will broadly be the same as iOS 18, the design changes could take a little getting used to; plus there are a host of new features in the native apps that could offer users new ways to do things.

So I suspect Apple won’t do much on the hardware side to get in the way of that experience; there’s not likely to be any big changes to the core iPhone design, camera array or materials.

Depressingly, I even expect the standard iPhone 17 will still have a 60Hz display, as it seems like Apple is one of the few companies who can get away with this and still charge a premium price.

There are some rumors that tout changes such as the use of aluminum for the frame of the iPhone 17 Pro, but I don’t buy them; the rumored iPhone 17 Air could use the lighter material, though I don’t see that phone shaking up the core design of iPhones.

Rather than champion many hardware upgrades, which in recent years have become iterative to the point of being dull, I think Apple will position the iPhone 17 range as a new chapter in getting the most out of a fresh iOS.

And I think a lot of people will buy into it.

The iPhone’s new clothes

(Image credit: Apple)

Much like changing up an outfit with the addition of a new shirt or coat, or swapping the strap of a watch, redesigned software can make tried and tested hardware seem fresh and new, even if most of those changes are merely aesthetic.

But I think new features like an overhauled Phone app, smart tools for Maps, Wallet and Music, plus new dedicated Games app-meets-hub will make next-generation iPhones feel a lot newer than those that have simply had camera sensor or button upgrades over their predecessors.

I’m particularly intrigued to see how the Games app plays out, as Apple has quietly been strengthening the gaming experience on iPhone, with support for titles such as Death Stranding and a suite of original games in the growing Apple Arcade service, both of which I don’t feel Android has a strong answer for.

Add in a new chip, which is all but guaranteed for the next-gen iPhones, and you could be looking at some impressive stealthy gaming phones.

With that in mind, I can see the iPhone 17 offering a family of phones for people who’ve resisted upgrading to a new iPhone for a couple of years. That’s often the case, of course, but I feel iOS 26 will be more of an upgrade catalyst even though models dating back to the iPhone 11 can run this upcoming iteration of Apple’s mobile operating system.

I'd place a very solid bet that Apple will market the iPhone 17 range as the ideal vehicle for iOS 26, and I'm forecasting that'll suck in a lot of people; let me know in the comments if you don't agree.

All that being said, I’m totally open to Apple surprising me with an iPhone that’s being given a serious reworking or just has a good clutch of hardware upgrades. I don’t personally think this is the year for that – but I don’t think that matters either.

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• New QLED panels wouldn't need expensive barrier film layers
• Samsung doesn't yet know when the tech will be commercialized
• It's only for QLED; QD-OLEDs are made differently

One of the most expensive parts of a QLED display panel is about to get a whole lot cheaper, and that should mean even more affordable QLED televisions.

The component in question is the quantum dot sheet, which sits on top of the LCD panel to improve color reproduction – it's the actual quantum dot part of QLED TVs.

A QLED display currently has barrier film on either side of it to protect the quantum dot layer from oxygen and water. According to trade site The Elec, those films account for 40% of the cost of quantum dot sheets – and Samsung and its supplier Hansol Chemical have found a way to get rid of them.

What Samsung's tech means for QLED – and why it won't help QD-OLED TV

At the moment, a quantum dot sheet has five layers. With the new design there are three.

Samsung and Hansol's new quantum dot sheet design does away with the barrier films altogether without exposing the quantum dots to potential problems.

That should mean a huge drop in the price of QLED panels, but not immediately: Samsung doesn't yet know when the technology will be commercialized.

And even then, it doesn't necessarily mean that QLED TVs will definitely become cheaper – the savings might just be used to absorb rising costs and keep the TVs the same price, or the money from the saving might be invested in other areas of the TV, such as improving the backlight or speaker system.

As The Elec points out, while the new design is good news for QLED TVs, it's not going to make any difference to QD-OLED displays.

That's because QD-OLED panels use a different design. Whereas QLED panels put a quantum dot layer atop an LCD light source, QD-OLED TVs use a blue OLED light source with two red and green conversion layers added via inkjet printing rather than in their own separately manufactured layer.

That's a bit of a shame, because QLED TVs are already getting pretty low-priced, but QD-OLED TVs such as the Samsung S95F or Sony Bravia 8 II very much are not.

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The co-op game set in the world of Control and Alan Wake is a fun, if uneven, first foray into multiplayer games.

Add Bluetooth connectivity to just about anything, anywhere, including on airplanes, in older cars and more.

While your ragtag team of Firebreakers fights through the Oldest House, you'll find a couple of interesting references to the beginning of the Hiss invasion.

• The Google Pixel 10 series could allow you to use the telephoto camera for macro photos
• This would allow you to shoot from further away, and help avoid you blocking the light
• However, macro shots will also apparently be possible with the ultra-wide camera

Macro photography on phones often seems to be a bit of an afterthought, but with the Pixel 10 series, Google might be taking it more seriously.

This is according to Android Headlines, which claims that the Pixel 10 and its siblings – which are expected to include the Pixel 10 Pro, the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold – will have a tele-macro mode.

In other words, if this rumor is right, then these phones will be able to use their telephoto cameras for macro shots. That’s in contrast to the Google Pixel 9 series and most other high-end handsets, which tend to use their ultra-wide cameras for macro photography.

The advantage of tele-macro is that you can take macro photos from further away. That can be more convenient, especially when photographing something that might not appreciate you looming over it, like an insect. And because you can be further away from the subject, you also won’t be blocking the light as much.

But you may still want to get closer sometimes, and the Pixel 10 series should have you covered there too, because according to this leak, it will also offer macro capabilities with its ultra-wide camera.

So, in other words the Google Pixel 10 series might be doubling down on macro modes, offering two options where most phones have just one at most.

A macro focus

The Google Pixel 9 Pro (Image credit: Blue Pixl Media)

That – and especially the tele-macro mode – is great news, as it should make it much easier to take high-quality macro photos, and as a photography fan that could tempt me to upgrade.

Phone companies understandably tend to focus on their main and ultra-wide snappers, with telephotos often coming in third place and macro being even less of a consideration.

But if you like taking photos of a wide variety of things from a range of perspectives, then it’s important to have a wide range of focal lengths that you can shoot at.

It sounds like the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL in particular could offer this, with wide, ultra-wide, telephoto (likely at 5x optical zoom), and two different macro modes potentially set to be offered – not to mention optical-quality 2x zoom, which is achieved on the Pixel 9 series through cropping the main sensor.

That could make for one of the most comprehensive cameras setups you’ll find on a smartphone, and might even tempt me back from the Apple side.

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The Pitt is my very favorite show of 2025, and HBO has confirmed that production has now started on season 2 of the hit medical drama.

The HBO Max Original has been a huge success, gaining a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics and sitting comfortably in Max's top three most-watched streaming shows worldwide.

The press release hasn't shared any more information, but a few days ago it was revealed that the second season would stream in January 2026 and would bring a host of new faces into the ER – including Skinny Pete from Breaking Bad, aka the actor Charles Baker. Baker will be joined by Irene Choie, Laëtitia Hollard, and Lucas Iverson.

What to expect from The Pitt season 2

As Hello magazine reports, Baker will be playing an unhoused man called Troy; Iren Choie will be Joy, a medical student "with strong boundaries"; Laëtitia Hollard plays a recent nursing school graduate; and Lucas Iverson will play James, a fourth year medical student.

Noah Wyle, the man with the saddest eyes on any streamer, will of course return as Dr Robbie, and he previously told Deadline that the second season will take place over the Fourth of July weekend. Dr King, Dr Abbot, Dr Langdon and charge nurse Dana Evans are confirmed to be returning too.

I genuinely loved every episode of season 1 of one of the best Max shows, and cried quite a lot in every single one of them: it's a show with a huge heart and the cast are exceptional. In a time when there are many horrible things happening it reminds me of Fred Rogers' famous line: "look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

The Pitt season 1 is streaming now on Max. Season 2 is scheduled for January 2026.

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• Salesforce research finds single-turn tasks see only 58% success, while multi-turn effectiveness drops to 35%
• Reasoning models like gemini-2.5-pro tend to outperform lighter models
• CRMArena-Pro has proven to be a challenging benchmark

Researchers from Salesforce AI Research have introduced a new benchmark – CRMArena-Pro – which uses synthetic enterprise data to access LLM agent performance in difference CRM scenarios.

It found LLM agents achieved around 58% success on tasks which can be completed in a single step, with tasks that require multiple interactions dropping in effectiveness to just 35% – barely more than one in three.

Although models like gemini-2.5-pro achieved over 83% success in workflow execution, the Salesforce researchers still highlighted some concerns with AI agents, suggesting they might not quite be up to scratch after all.

Are AI agents actually that good?

The paper, entitled 'Holistic Assessment of LLM Agents Across Diverse Business Scenarios and Interactions', explained that LLM agents displayed near-zero inherent confidentiality awareness, noting that their performance in handling sensitive information is only improved with explicit prompting (which often came at the expense of task success).

They also criticized previous and existing benchmarks for failing to capture multi-turn interactions, addressing B2B scenarios or confidentiality, and reflecting realistic data environments. CRMArena-Pro is build on synthetic data validated by CRM experts, covering B2B and B2C settings.

In terms of analysis results, reasoning models like gemini-2.5-pro and o1 outperformed lighter models most of the time – Salesforce's researchers concluded that models that seek more clarifications generally perform better, especially in multi-turn tasks.

For example, while the average performance across the nine models tested (three each from OpenAI, Google and Meta) resulted in a score of 35.1%, gemini-2.5-pro scored 54.5%.

"These findings suggest a significant gap between current LLM capabilities and the multifaceted demands of real-world enterprise scenarios, positioning CRMArena-Pro as a challenging testbed for guiding future advancements in developing more sophisticated, reliable, and confidentiality-aware LLM agents for professional use," the researchers concluded.

Looking ahead, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff views AI agents as a high-margin opportunities, with major corporate clients including governments betting on AI agents for boosted efficiency and further cost savings.

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• New Magnetic Switch to turn the earbuds on and off without the case
• Up to 65 hours of battery life with ANC off
• £125 / €149 / $149

If you're looking for earbuds to wear on a mission to space, Audio-Technica have just the things: their new ATH-CKS50TW earbuds have an extraordinary 65-hour battery life in total, which is just about long enough to fly to the moon. That makes my AirPods Pro 2 look pretty feeble.

The buds' own batteries deliver 25 hours of continuous playback, and the charging case adds another 40. Those figures are with active noise cancelling (ANC) off, but with ANC enabled the numbers are still astounding: 15 hours from the buds and a further 25 from the case.

Again, for comparison, the AirPods Pro 2 give you six hours from the buds alone. The Sony WF-1000XM5 give you eight hours. Audio-Technica's new earbuds absolutely crush any of the best earbuds in this measure.

(Image credit: Audio-Technica)Audio-Technica ATH-CKS50TW2: key features and pricing

The icing on the long-lasting cake is that the new earbuds will cost only $149 / £125 (about AU$260).

One of the more unusual new features here is a magnetic switch, which powers the buds on or off by separating or joining their built-in magnets. The idea is to be able to turn off the buds without having to pop them in the case, although I'm not sure there are many people who've been cursing the tyranny of charging cases. It's nice to have the option, though.

The case is also compatible with Qi wireless chargers, which is somewhat rare among affordable earbuds – you don't get it from the Sony WF-C710N or the Nothing Ear (a) for example.

The earbuds feature hybrid ANC with hear-through and talk-through modes, Bluetooth LE Audio with the more advanced LC3 codec, custom-designed 9mm drivers with extended low-end response, and hybrid hard and soft silicone ear tips. They're waterproof and dustproof, rated IP55.

The specs and the battery specs in particular are impressive, but it's worth noting that Audio-Technica has had a few issues with earbud batteries in the past: its SQ1TW2 wireless earphones had a faulty batch that overheated and even produced smoke, and there has also been a recall of the charging case for the ATH-CK3TW earbuds – again due to overheating.

So while I'm glad to see game-changing battery life, if A-T is pushing the limits of battery tech here you might want to keep an eye out for any recalls, just in case. (No pun intended.)

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