Users can now prove the authenticity of a photo taken on iPhone 18 Pro models with Apple Reference Image, powered by the new sensor in the Main camera that can sign every pixel it sees. When a photo is taken in the new Reference mode, the camera captures signed sensor data that Private Cloud Compute develops into an unalterable reference image.5 Reference images can be viewed in the Photos app alongside the main image, like a digital negative, to visually compare the two assets and determine if any edits were made. APIs are available in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS 27 for third-party apps to enable viewing of these reference images.

Or feature Thunderbolt rather than normie USB-C so you can record 4/8K ProRes to an SSD, and power a multi monitor setup with your iPhone Pro. macOS would be sick. Or (waterproof) exposed PCIE lanes so 3rd parties can integrate an ecosystem of backpacks like how Pi Hats work.

Never thought they would do it all within one update. In terms of hardware that is pretty much everything I wanted other than Silicon Battery.

The only thing that need radical change is iOS.

Apple basically need to release a new model every year to fit the phone upgrade cycle so I suppose it’s not that surprising to see one with so few compelling features. Maybe next year.

- can I get a 5 inch phone please?

Unless you’re using photos or videos like an expert, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to go for a heavy Pro anymore.

Since last year’s promotional display came equipped with the standard model, I just can’t find it appealing.

Ah, of course, since it has AI features, we’ll have to see how much the RAM difference matters, but

Could it be that Apple is going to put so little RAM in the standard model that they can’t really use AI well?

I hope you won’t go that far.

eSIM-only models deliver up to 36 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro and up to 45 hours of video playback on iPhone 18 Pro Max.

That might convince me to upgrade. Not because I care about watching video for two days straight, but hopefully it means the battery is large enough that it'll last 5+ years before battery degradation becomes annoying.

Waiting 15 seconds for a simple app is just infuriating in this day and age. This is mostly on crappy app developers, but a lot of that falls on Apple for not having a rating system that encourages basic good app behavior.

Every bad app that I encounter, which sends advertising notifications, takes a long time to launch, etc. is dominated by 5 star reviews, somehow. The whole ecosystem feels broken.

(And I'm also really offended by how ugly, unpolished, and broken the Tahoe visual style is on iPhone. The whole thing feels like a buggy beta, something completely unworthy of Apple of the past. That it's still not fixed is an indication of the Apple of the future, unfortunately...)

Forgive my skepticism that Apple will get it right. Even the lauded latest version of Siri is far worse than the labs' offerings or Android at voice dictation (I now have to fix 1 word per sentence instead of 4, previously)

Wait, that is gated to the $1999 duo device, with untested reliability.

From Apple: "Apple Reference Image provides users with an unalterable reference photo, visually confirming what the sensor saw at the moment of capture."

The pixels that arrive in the final image have already been significantly altered from what the sensor saw: demosaicing, noise reduction, Deep Fusion, artificial bokeh, etc. Is the signature anchored to raw sensor readout (making the reference a de-mosaiced digital negative, with all CIP processing deliberately left outside the trust boundary), or to the CIP's emitted image (in which case what does 'unalterable' actually protect against)? If it is the latter, then Apple are essentially saying some forms of computational (and ML) manipulation are acceptable in a signed capture, so long as it is their manipulation.

Eh, that's maybe about it.

0. https://www.biopharmawatch.com/news/DGX/apple-health-app-que...

1. https://www.questhealth.com/shop-tests

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/security.png

(Pixel 11 512GB / 16GB RAM is also £1200 - not an endorsement)

edit: and Apple Care got a huge price increase (31%) on the new Pro: the 2 year £179 option is gone - now it's £129 for 1 yr.

"On iPhone 18 Pro Max, five minutes of wired charging provides around seven hours of video playback"

Materially impactful feature holy moses! I can plug it in, brush my teeth and I'm set for the work day.

I bought an iPhone 11 in 2019 I think? It last until 2 years ago when I limped along until the iPhone 16 Plus. I like the big screen area. The premium for Pro isn't worth it to me. I hope to get another 3 years out of it.

What I would like is an iPhone with Touch ID as an option and no, I don't mean the small one (SE?). I want a big screen. Put the Touch ID on the back of the phone like the samsung Galaxy did.

I literally hate Face ID with a passion and it's a massive accessibility issue for people with visual impairments.

No amount of slightly better CPU and camera is going to get me to upgrade every year anymore.

- Apple has this event because it generates buzz, which increases sales.

- You do not need to watch the event.

- You do not need to pay attention to anything about the event.

- You do not need to buy the new device.

Still. This must be the first iPhone not to break page one.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Edit: Page one I guess?

Instead of proving some image on some platform is not AI or severely edited, we can simply prove it was original by verifying unforgeable signature made by a camera / microphone baked into each image produced by it.

And of course in future it could be done for video and audio! This would be absolutely HUGE!