While the iPhone 17 Pro models are still around four months away, there are already rumors about next year's iPhone 18 Pro models. The latest word comes from Counterpoint Research vice president Ross Young, who has a good track record with display-related information for future Apple products. In a social media post today, he relayed more information that suggests the iPhone 18 Pro models will be equipped with an under-screen Face ID system. "At the SID Business Conference today, OTI Lumionics CEO Michael Helander confirmed that they expect phones with under panel Face ID using their materials to be available for sale in 2026," wrote Young. "This suggests that iPhone 18 Pro models will have under panel Face ID with other brands and models to follow." Earlier this month, The Information's Wayne Ma also reported that iPhone 18 Pro models will feature under-screen Face ID. He said the devices will have only a small hole in the top-left corner of the screen, to accommodate the front camera. The devices will no longer have a pill-shaped cutout at the top of the screen, according to the report, but is unclear if that means the Dynamic Island feature will be discontinued. Apple should release the iPhone 18 Pro models in September 2026.Tags: Face ID, iPhone 18, Ross YoungThis article, "iPhone 18 Pro Models Again Rumored to Feature Under-Screen Face ID" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Google today previewed the next-generation version of Android, which has an updated design language that's more expressive, and a range of new features. One of the main new additions is Live Updates, a feature that mirrors Live Activity on the iPhone. Live Updates lets Android users track progress notifications from apps in real-time, much like Live Activity. Google says that Live Updates will work with top delivery, ride share, and navigation apps. With Live Activity, incoming food deliveries, sports games, and more can be tracked from the ‌iPhone‌'s Lock Screen or with the Dynamic Island, and Google's feature works in a similar way. Android users will see Live Updates on the lock screen and home screen, and can tap into a menu bar option to get more information. Google is revamping Android with an interface focused on color, movement, and haptics, and it'll be interesting to see how it compares to the rumored iOS 19 redesign that Apple has in the works. Google took some cues from Apple on security, adding a Find Hub that's similar to the Find My app for tracking people, items, and devices, with Google even teaming up with airlines for luggage recovery. There's also an Advanced Protection option that looks similar to Lockdown Mode, offering additional safeguards against malware and suspicious contact for journalists and politicians. More new features that are coming to Android 16 will be introduced at Google I/O next week.Tags: Android, GoogleThis article, […]

Over a billion RCS messages are sent on a daily basis in the United States, Google said today. ‌RCS‌, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol that replaced the prior SMS and MMS messaging standards. It was developed by the GSM Association, but Google has been championing it for years. Apple held out on adopting ‌RCS‌ for quite some time, but finally added support with the launch of iOS 18. On devices running ‌iOS 18‌, ‌RCS‌ is the default messaging protocol for texts between an iPhone user and an Android user. Apple's adoption of ‌RCS‌ has undoubtedly increased the number of ‌RCS‌ messages sent per day, but Google's 1 billion figure includes Android to Android text messages along with Android to ‌iPhone‌ text messages (and vice versa). ‌RCS‌ is a notable improvement over SMS and MMS, and it makes for a better texting experience between ‌iPhone‌ users and Android users, as Android users can't take advantage of iMessage. Some of the ‌RCS‌ features: Support for higher resolution photos and videos. Support for larger file sizes and file sharing. Audio messages. Cross-platform emoji reactions. Real-time typing indicators and read receipts. Better group chats with support for removing people. The option to send messages over cellular or Wi-Fi. For ‌iPhone‌ to ‌iPhone‌ conversations, iMessage is still the default, but ‌RCS‌ has made "green bubble" texting with Android users less of a hassle. ‌RCS‌ is […]