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Apple says the upcoming iOS 26, expected in a polished release version in September, will support devices back to the iPhone 11 from September 2019 and second-generation iPhone SE from April 2020both with A13 Bionic processors. For those who don’t want to wait, the iOS26 public beta release is now available. It previews many updates, including call and text spam filtering, and revamped designs for apps such as Camera, Wallet, and especially CarPlay. Apple has revived the translucent look of the Liquid Glass interface after toning it down in the third beta released for app developers on July 7. Some of the biggest changes in iOS 26 are for the newest modelsstarting with the iPhone 15 Prowith upgrades to the Apple Intelligence AI suite, such as live translation and visual search across apps. iOS 26 on older iPhones: mostly positive signs But how well will iOS 26 support older devices? To get a sense, I ran formal tests with an SE2 running developer beta 3, and also lived with it as my personal phone for over a week. I then upgraded to developer beta 4 and finally the public beta this week. It’s common for such early versions to be buggy. Much to my surprise, even the experience with developer beta 3 was very smooth, with no major issues in performance and none in battery life. The public beta brought some incremental improvements, especially in graphics performance. These are good signs for September’s release version. Of course, that’s not a guarantee. Online discussions of the developer beta 3 were mixed, with some testers reporting battery issues and sluggish performance. Some issues diminished in beta 4, but other random bugs with apps, such as CarPlay compatibility, emerged. The iOS 26 public beta appears to be very close to or even the same as the latest developer beta, but all its fixes and foibles won’t be clear until a lot of people try it for a while. And the Apple Beta Software Agreement exempts the company from any responsibility if things go south. The ideal way is to use an old phone you don’t need; the next best is to first back up your phone and learn how to restore it if things go wrong. However, my positive experiences with the iOS 26 betas jibe with early impressions from several pros whose job includes testing new software on old devices. Tom Quinlan, a longtime technician at Apple-authorized service provider Charlotte Street Computers in Asheville, North Carolina, tried Developer Beta 3 on an iPhone 11 and came away impressed. I must say it did NOT feel sluggish, he writes in an email. I am very surprised. Used-device sellers are another early indicator. A few of our team members are running the [Developer Beta 3] for iOS 26 on their devices and are fans of the new release, says Michael Lipson, director of technology at Swappa, an online marketplace. They ran the software on an iPhone 12 and a third-gen iPhone SE. Performance comparison: iOS18.5 versus iOS 26 beta In my tests with the SE2, shows played just as smoothly in the Amazon Prime Video app on iOS 18.5 and iOS 26 developer and public betas. Response times when tapping, scrolling, or opening apps (Photos, Camera, Mail, Reminders, Clock) were comparable at first. Over the week, though, I did notice occasional sluggishness in the interface of developer beta 3. I will keep an eye on the public beta in the coming days. My tests with the 3DMark Wild Life graphics benchmark showed insignificant differences, with average scores of 6,082 on iOS 18.5 vs. 5,766 on iOS 26 public beta. For real-world perspective: Average frame rates dropped from 36.4 fps to 34.5 fps. Battery life was unchanged. I tested the SE2 (which had 88% of its original battery capacity) by playing shows in the Apple Podcasts app, with a half-light/half-dark screen. I set brightness at 50% and disabled low power mode. Running the battery from 80% to zero took close to five hours with all OS versions. Is it safe to install iOS 26 public beta now? Beta versions carry risks, but so do release builds. Last years iPadOS 18 bricked some iPads with M4 processors, prompting Apple to rush out version 18.0.1 with fixes. If you’re not prepared for possible glitches, the public beta may not be for you. And it won’t hurt to wait a few days after the release version drops to see how it shakes out. Predictions for September are favorable for all iPhones. Based on past versions [of iOS], it should run perfectly, and theres no reason not to update to iOS 26, writes Kewin Charron, senior lead refurbishment operations manager at Back Market, a Swappa competitor. But hes not committing to a time frame for their sellers, saying it will depend on how stable they find the nearly final beta version, called release candidate, to be. Sellers really want to avoid support headaches, and you may, too.
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E-Commerce
TikTok has become obsessed with an alleged shoplifter who spent seven straight hours in a Target before being detained by security on her way out. Now, people are making pilgrimages to the Target store in Illinois. The woman, a tourist visiting the U.S., allegedly stole approximately $1,300 worth of merchandise from Target on May 1. After body camera footage of her detainment was uploaded to the Body Cam Edition YouTube channel last week, it quickly went viral, thanks in part to her now-infamous defense: But if Im paying for it, what is the harm? The 20-minute video has since been clipped and shared widely across social media, with segments racking up millions of views. How is it even logistically possible for someone to spend seven consecutive hours in one store? one YouTube commenter asked. Do you just walk around in circles? Some have dubbed her an icon, with videos ranking the best moments from the footage. Others within driving distance of the Target have taken it upon themselves to visit the location, the Daily Dot reported. Target lady Target tour, one TikTok user posted, adding they have nothing better to do. A true historical landmark, another wrote, showing footage of the actual door behind which the woman was detained. Following the viral story, the U.S. embassy in India issued a statement about the Target shoplifter, the Independent reported. Committing assault, theft, or burglary in the United States wont just cause you legal issuesit could lead to your visa being revoked and make you ineligible for future U.S. visas, it stated. The United States values law and order and expects foreign visitors to follow all U.S. laws.
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E-Commerce
The $8.4 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media won approval from U.S. regulators on Thursday, clearing the way for a sale that evolved into a clash over press freedom in the era of President Donald Trump. The deal will put well-known entertainment properties including the CBS broadcast television network, Paramount Pictures, and the Nickelodeon cable channel under the ownership of tech scion David Ellison. Paramount this month paid $16 million in a controversial move to settle a lawsuit Trump filed against the company and CBS News, sparking accusations it effectively had paid for approval of the merger. The Federal Communications Commission approved the deal in a partisan 2-1 vote that allows the transfer of CBS television stations. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, an appointee of Republican Trump, said the agency had received assurances from the incoming owners that they were committed to unbiased journalism. Democrat Anna Gomez, the FCC’s dissenter, accused Paramount of “cowardly capitulation” to the Trump administration. She also said the FCC was imposing “never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions.” CBS News was one of several news organizations Trump attacked for what he viewed as unfavorable coverage. Paramount paid Trump to end a lawsuit he filed over CBS’ editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris. Trump, who often accuses media outlets of liberal bias and “fake news,” argued that the editing was designed to make Harris look good. First Amendment lawyers said the suit was without merit. Carr has said the agency’s review of the proposed merger was not connected to the lawsuit. Senators Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said the merger “reeks of the worst form of corruption,” coming on the heels of Paramount’s settlement. The commission received pledges from Skydance that it would appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of editorial bias or other concerns about CBS. Skydance also told the FCC it would not establish any diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which Trump believes are discriminatory. “These commitments, if implemented, would enable CBS to operate in the public interest,” Carr said, who also hailed “another step forward in the FCC’s efforts to eliminate invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert had called Paramount’s settlement “a big fat bribe.” His show was canceled days later in what Paramount called a financial decision unrelated to politics. It marks the end of an era for the family of the late Sumner Redstone, who transformed the family’s chain of drive-in movie theaters into a media empire that once spanned broadcast and cable television, film, radio and publishing. His daughter Shari Redstone became chair of Paramount in 2019. At the time, she hoped to better position the company to compete with the world’s entertainment giants. Paramount has since shed billions of dollars in market valuation as it struggled to navigate an entertainment business upended by the streaming video revolution. The FCC approved the transaction after a review of more than 250 days, longer than the commission’s target of completing such reviews within 180 days. Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is poised to become chair and chief executive of the new Paramount. Jeff Shell, former chief executive of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, will be its new president. Chris McCarthy, one of Paramount’s current trio of CEOs has decided to depart the company once the merger is completed, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Paramount’s stock rose about 1.4% in after-hours trading to $13.45. Dawn Chmielewski, David Shepardson and Lisa Richwine, Retuers
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E-Commerce
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