A new version of the TikTok mobile app for people in the US is reportedly being developed by the vertical video social media network’s owner ByteDance. It will replace the current version of TikTok being used in the US ahead of a September deadline for the Chinese company to divest ownership, according to a report last month by The Information.
The new app, codenamed “M2,” could launch on Sept. 5. If you’re in the US, you would then be required to switch from the existing app to the new one, the report said, citing anonymous sources. US President Donald Trump recently extended a deadline for the owner to sell its US-based TikTok assets by Sept. 17.
In July, Trump said he found a buyer for the company, which he called a group of “very, very wealthy people.”
The administration has continued to extend deadlines for TikTok to remain operational since January when it was shut down for less than 24 hours. The company reportedly has 170 million users in the US.
A representative for TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
According to The Information, the reason for the new app version is also due to an Apple App Store restriction that does not allow multiple versions of an app for different regions to appear in the same listing.
What a US TikTok app would mean for you
If the report is accurate, it would mean that at the very least, anybody who uses the TikTok mobile app would eventually be required to migrate to a new US-centric version.
But there’s likely to be a lengthy grace period, according to The Information’s sources: the old app may not disappear completely until March 2026, giving you six months to make the transition.
Still, it could be disruptive for those whose business or brand relies on the platform. “Anytime there is a migration or a major feature revamp on any network, it certainly creates work and worry,” said Jennie Smythe, an author and founder and CEO of Girlilla Marketing, which has worked with clients including Willie Nelson, Terry Crews and Iliza Shlesinger.
“There are concerns that audiences will also make the move and if the migration will be worth the effort,” Smythe told CNET in an email. “The bigger concern besides the migration are the features and data that will be available to us in the creator economy as well as the audience restrictions (i.e. is our content/audience also restricted to US only?).”
It’s unclear if the new app would include any other major changes or improvements over the existing app or if it would restrict or filter viewing content from other regions in ways that differ from the current version.
A view from the peace jirga held in Miranshah, North Waziristan with the support of Pakistan Army on August 2, 2025. — Radio Pakistan
Tribal elders fully endorse army’s zero-tolerance policy for peace.
They pay rich tribute to forces for their unparalleled sacrifices.
Jirga lauds military’s resolve to eliminate Fitna-al-Khawarij.
Tribal elders in North Waziristan on Saturday announced their support for the Pakistan Army in the fight against Indian-sponsored Fitna al-Khawarij.
The resolve came during a jirga of tribal elders held in Miranshah, North Waziristan with the support of Pakistan Army, Geo News reported.
The tribal elders fully endorsed the Pakistan Army’s zero-tolerance policy for the establishment of peace and elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij.
Participants paid rich tribute to the security forces and martyrs for their unparalleled sacrifices. They assured to extend full cooperation to authorities in confronting Fitna-al-Khawarij and militant elements.
Addressing a separate jirga held at CM House, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said that the purpose of the jirga was to consult with the tribes on the restoration of peace.
The chief minsiter said that a 20-member jirga from the merged distaricts would prepare a comprehesive strategy for restoration of peace and present it before the government and the military leadership.
The country has been reeling under increased terrorist attacks targeting especially the law enforcers and security forces since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan.
The country witnessed a sharp increase in terror attacks in January 2025, surging by 42% compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a think tank.
The search returned 543 records from the Embase database and 344 from the MEDLINE database (Fig. 1); 611 records remained for title and abstract screening after removing duplicates. Following this, 92 articles were excluded for reasons detailed in Fig. 1, leaving 519 records for full text screening. The full text could not be retrieved for one article and so this study was excluded. The main reasons articles were excluded at the full text screening stage were because QoL was not collected longitudinally (n = 153), no formal statistical analysis was performed (n = 36), or the QoL was not treated as the outcome measure (n = 14). A total of 271 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Due to limited available resources, a pragmatic decision was made to initially select 15 articles to be second screened by three reviewers (including two reviewers screening the same five articles); discrepancies were found in two instances and were resolved, with the second reviewer agreeing with the original decision. Similarly, data were extracted from a further 15 articles by two reviewers (including both reviewers extracting the same five articles); discrepancies were found in < 6% of data points collected (one question = one data point). Discrepancies were the result of the clarity of reporting or misreading of articles and not due to a difference in interpretation of methods used. Again, after discussion, the second reviewer agreed with the original extraction. Based on the level of agreement observed and given the reviewers all agreed with the original screening/extraction, the team felt there was no need for further double screening or extraction.
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of study selection. * including one instance where the full-text article could not be obtained and so the record was excluded
Fifty-six records appeared in the initial search but were not identified in the final search due to the database record being updated in the interim period: thirty-five of these records did not have either of the QLQ-C30 or QLQ-LC13 questionnaires indexed or mentioned in the title or abstract; nine did not have the required wording/indexing to identify them as an RCT or observational study; seven were classified as conference abstracts; four had the date of publication updated to 2023; and one record was removed from both MEDLINE and Embase databases.
Study characteristics
The characteristics of the eligible studies included in the review are presented in Table 1. The majority of included studies were parallel group RCTs (161/271, 59%), followed by cohort studies (84/271, 31%). The remaining studies were other RCT designs, single arm trials, or used individual patient data from multiple RCTs, multiple cohort studies, or combined data from cohorts and RCTs. The median number of patients included in each study was 201 (IQR 90 to 508). Quality of life was assessed at baseline in 96% (261/271) of included studies, and the median number of post-baseline/randomisation assessments was 4 (IQR 3 to 6). Most studies used just the QLQ-C30 questionnaire, none used just the QLQ-LC13 questionnaire, and 16 studies used both. In all cases the analysis method for the two questionnaires was the same. Therefore, without loss of generality, the results that follow refer to the QLQ-C30 questionnaire only. Very few studies specified a primary outcome that was a QoL score derived from the QLQ-C30 questionnaire (34/271, 13%). Of the 271 studies included in the review, 131 (48%) defined an MCID; the majority of these stated an MCID that related to within-patient change in QoL score (84/131, 64%), 28% (37/131) defined an MCID representing a between-group difference, and 8% (10/131) specified MCIDs for both within-patient changes and between-group differences.
Table 1 Characteristics of studies included in review
Synthesis of results
Just over half of studies (138/271, 51%) analysed all scores derived from the QLQ-C30 questionnaire, 28% (76/271) selected a subset of scores and 4% (11/271) only analysed summary scores (Table 2). Around three-quarters of studies (207/271, 76%) did not use any methods to account for missing questionnaires or state the assumed missing data mechanism. Only 23 studies (8%) explicitly used a method to account for missing data due to death, such as joint modelling of the QoL score and survival or defining death as an event in a time to event (TTE) analysis. The remaining studies treated data truncated by death in the same way as other missing data.
Table 2 Analysis methods by type of study
Overall, the most utilized statistical model was a linear mixed effects model, with 45% (121/271) of included studies applying this approach in at least one analysis (Fig. 2). Following this, the models/methods used most often were TTE analyses (54/271, 20%), t-tests (44/271, 16%) and Mann–Whitney U/Wilcoxon rank-sum tests (38/271, 14%). Thirteen studies used unweighted GEEs (5%), nine used constrained longitudinal data analysis (3%), three used growth mixture models (1%), three used PMM (1%) and three used joint longitudinal survival models (1%). Just over two-thirds (189/271, 70%) of studies applied at least one longitudinal analysis method. Thirty-eight studies performed both longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses. Multiple cross-sectional analyses were undertaken in 98 studies (36%), and of these, adjustment for multiplicity was made in 10% (10/98). The most common method of multiplicity adjustment was the Bonferroni correction. Of the 175 studies that applied at least one longitudinal analysis model (excluding TTE analyses), 40 (23%) estimated treatment effects at multiple time points regardless of the statistical significance of the time x treatment interaction; 3/175 estimated treatment effects at multiple time points only if the time x treatment interaction was statistically significant (Table 2).
Fig. 2
Analysis methods used in included studies. Method presented if used in > 1% of studies reviewed. LMM = linear mixed model, CLDA = constrained longitudinal data analysis, PMM = pattern mixture model, GEE = generalised estimating equations, JLSM = joint longitudinal survival model, GMM = growth mixture modelling
Table 2 summarises analysis methods by study type (RCT vs other). One-hundred and seventy-two studies were classified as RCTs and 99 were classified as other. Linear mixed effect models were used slightly more frequently in RCTs (81/172, 47%) compared to other studies (40/99, 40%). Similarly, TTE analyses, such as time to deterioration in QoL score by the MCID, were also more likely to be performed in RCTs compared to other studies, with 28% (49/172) of RCTs included in the review using this method, compared to 5% (5/99) of other studies. The use of the other commonly applied statistical methods (e.g., t-tests and Mann–Whitney U/Wilcoxon rank-sum tests) was comparable between RCTs and other studies.
Covariates or confounding variables, such as the baseline QoL score, were accounted for in at least one QoL analysis in 47% (75/161) of RCTs and 53% (50/94) of other studies (Table 2). Effect sizes and 95% CIs or standard errors (SEs) from at least one statistical model were presented in 56% of studies included in the review (99/172, 58% of RCTs vs 53/99, 54% of other studies). Overall, 40% of RCTs and other studies presented effect sizes and a measure of precision from all statistical models; 44% of studies did not present this information for any statistical analysis presented, either because the output from the chosen analysis did not include this information, or the authors chose not to present it.
Further details about the analyses performed are presented in Table 3. The majority of studies (248/270, 92%) analysed or used data from all time points collected, either in one or separate analyses. Most studies used the QoL score as the outcome measure (216/271, 80%), followed by change from baseline (56/271, 21%). Of those applying a longitudinal method of analysis (excluding TTE analyses), the majority fitted time as a categorical variable as recommended by the SISAQOL consortium (150/168, 89%). Of the 54 using TTE analyses, 16 (30%) used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the difference between groups, compared to 32 (59%) using the log-rank test.
Table 3 Additional details
In relation to the specific challenges faced when analysing QLQ-C30, 165/267 (62%) of studies analysed a single item symptom score (a score that takes only four possible values, Table 3). Of these, 21% (33/158) used a method of analysis that accounted for the ordinal nature of the single item score. The remaining treated the score in the same way as other functioning or symptom scales analysed. Methods used included: non-parametric methods (26/33, 79%), logistic regression (5/33, 15%), ordinal logistic regression (2/33, 6%) and two-part models (1/33, 3%). Similar approaches were used to account for a possible peak at one end of the score distribution; methods used included non-parametric methods, ordinal logistic and logistic regression, two-part models, and GEE Tweedie models (Table 3). Few studies mentioned checking of the assumptions of their chosen analysis method and/or examining model fit (36/233, 15%).
Ten of the included studies cited the SISAQOL guidelines; 255/271 analysed at least one outcome that the SISAQOL consortium had published a recommended analysis method for. Just under one third of studies (73/255, 29%) followed the recommended approach for all outcomes, 17% (44/255) followed recommendations for some outcomes but not all, and 54% (138/255) did not follow the recommended analysis methods.
Of the 34 studies (17 RCTs, 17 other designs) that used QoL as a primary outcome, only 14/34 (41%) studies (7 RCTS, 7 other designs) clearly defined the QoL outcome of interest e.g. QLQ-C30 fatigue or global health status, and the relevant time frame (Table 4). The statistical analysis was appropriate for the specified estimand in 27/34 (79%) studies (13 RCTS, 14 other designs) and 15 of these 27 studies reported an effect estimate and measure of precision (5 RCTS, 10 other designs). Twenty-three studies reported deaths; nine included patients who died in their analyses, nine performed cross-sectional analyses and so excluded deaths if they occurred prior to the time point(s) analysed, and five excluded deaths from all primary outcome analyses.
Table 4 Studies with QoL as the primary outcome and estimand details
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup never fails to surprise: Mathys Jaubert celebrated his first pole position in the international Porsche one-make cup at the Hungaroring. Behind Flynt Schuring and Ariel Levi, Dutchman Wouter Boerekamps secured his best qualifying result in the Supercup, taking fourth place. Meanwhile, the two interim championship leaders, Alessandro Ghiretti and Robert de Haan, were left less than satisfied. Once again, the level of competition among the 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars was intense: the top four positions were separated by less than a tenth of a second, with 21 cars qualifying within a mere second of one another.
Qualifying for the sixth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Hungaroring near Budapest proved to be the perfect warm-up for Sunday’s race. The final minutes of the session were unrivalled in terms of excitement, with lap times tumbling by the second. Flynt Schuring (NLD/Schumacher CLRT) was already celebrating what seemed to be his second pole position. The session was already waved over when Mathys Jaubert produced a stunning final lap on the Hungarian asphalt, snatching pole position from the rookie by just three thousandths of a second!
The 20-year-old Frenchman from Team Martinet by Alméras was thrilled with the first pole position of his Supercup career and the success of a bold strategy: ‟We went out on track later than our competitors, which always carries a certain amount of risk. But we knew that this strategy had worked for several drivers last year, so we decided to give it a try. I managed a good lap with the first set of tyres. Then we made a small adjustment to the car’s setup in the pits, and with the second set of tyres, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup was simply perfect. I’m pleased about taking pole, especially here at the Hungaroring, where overtaking is so difficult. It’s almost like Monaco. A good start will be important tomorrow, then we’ll see how the race unfolds.”
Schuring did not seem overly disappointed about narrowly missing out on pole position: ‟I’m very satisfied. After a rather mediocre free practice session on Friday, we really turned things around today. For a moment, I was already looking forward to starting from the best position. But going off from the front row is also a very positive result.”
Ariel Levi from Israel will start tomorrow’s race from third on the grid. ‟Unlike yesterday, track conditions today were back to what we had expected. It was still tricky with the first set of tyres, but then we made the right call in the pits. P3 is a good starting position. Tomorrow in the race, we’ll be going flat out,” promised the GP Elite driver.
Wouter Boerekamps made a strong impression by achieving the best qualifying result of his Supercup career, securing fourth place in the 911 from GP Elite. ‟Qualifying was a rollercoaster ride for me,” laughed the Dutchman. ‟I violated a few track limits on the first set of tyres. I told my team: ‘Don’t change anything on the car, it’s me who has to change!’ And with the second set, I immediately found the perfect rhythm. I could position the car exactly where I wanted it and put together a flawless lap. This doesn’t change my approach to the race. I’ve proven that I belong up front, and now I want to fight for a podium result tomorrow.”
Both Porsche Juniors were left somewhat dissatisfied with their performances. ‟I didn’t do a good job today,” said the disgruntled Supercup championship leader Alessandro Ghiretti from Team Schumacher CLRT, who will start the race from sixth on the grid. ‟I’m happy for my teammate Flynt, who put in a strong shift but I didn’t get the best out of myself or the car today.” Theo Oeverhaus from Proton Huber Competition, who will line up eighth, was even more candid: ‟The car was pole-capable today, but I made so many mistakes on my lap. The team did a good job, I didn’t.”
Two-time race winner this season, Robert de Haan (BWT Lechner Racing), was also dissatisfied with seventh place on the grid: ‟It was incredibly close. But that’s how it is in the Supercup. We have to take it as it is and make the best of it tomorrow.”
The sixth race of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season will start on Sunday at 11:45 a.m. The programme includes 16 laps covering a distance of 70.096 kilometres or a maximum race duration of 30 minutes plus one lap.
TV and online coverage of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup
TV channels Eurosport und Sky Sport as well as streaming service f1tv.formula1.com broadcast live. On the Porsche Motorsport Hub, also a live timing is available.
Porsche provides comprehensive information about the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on the social networks @porschesupercup (Instagram), @porschesupercup (Facebook) and @PorscheSupercup (X, formerly Twitter) as well as the new WhatsApp channel Porsche Motorsport.
Qualifying result, round 6 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Budapest (Hungary)
1. Mathys Jaubert (FRA/Martinet by Alméras), 1:46.010 minutes.
Full qualifying result on the Porsche Motorsport Hub: https://racing.porsche.com/mobil-1-supercup/results-season-2025
Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com
The ‟X‟ channel @PorscheRaces, the WhatsApp Channel Porsche Motorsport and Instagram @porsche.motorsport as well as @porschepenskemotorsport provide live updates from Porsche Motorsport with the latest information from racetracks around the world.target=”_blank”>@porsche.motorsport provide live updates from Porsche Motorsport with the latest information from racetracks around the world.
Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that boiled my blood, warmed my heart, and got permanently inked into my memory.
First, a new look at some very old tattoos. Then: a posthumous discovery from a beloved defunct telescope, an update on lava planets, the adventures of translocated mole rats, and some provocative style tips from chimpanzees.
Ink of ages
Caspari, Gino et al. “High-resolution near-infrared data reveal Pazyryk tattooing methods.” Antiquity.
Some 2,300 years ago, a woman from the nomadic Pazyryk culture of Siberia was inked with elaborate tattoos, including dynamic animal fights. Her body and its mesmerizing displays have survived to this day, along with many other “Pazyryk ice mummies” that were immaculately preserved in permafrost tombs.
Now, scientists have imaged the woman’s epic epidermis with high-resolution techniques that expose hidden details of her tattoos, yielding new insights about the artists and tools that made them.
“While the images on the hands are mostly simple designs, the most elaborate of which is a rooster on the left thumb, the forearms display some of the most complex Pazyryk tattoos currently identified,” said researchers led by Gino Caspari of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.
Photogrammetrically created 3D model of the mummy, showing: A) texture derived from visible-spectrum photographs; and B) texture derived from near-infrared photography. Credit: M. Vavulin
The results revealed that the middle-aged woman was tattooed with at least two different instruments: a multipoint tool that provided a uniform line thickness, as well as a finer tool with a single point. The pigment was probably crafted from soot or burnt plants, but the nature of the “needles” remains unclear (they may have been plant thorns, for instance). The new images exposed the superior quality in the scene on her right forearm compared to the left, which suggests that at least two artists worked on the decorations over multiple sessions.
“The right-forearm tattoo likely required at least two sessions to complete, beginning with the ungulate [stag] positioned at the wrist,” the researchers said. “This clever placement utilizes the contours of the wrist to enhance the ungulate’s form, allowing the tattoo to flow across the arm.”
“The right-forearm tattoo also features techniques that are challenging from the tattooist’s perspective” yet “the linework is clear and consistent, with nearly double the amount of outlining present on the left forearm,” they added. “Taken as a whole, this evidence suggests that the left forearm tattoo was created by an artist with less experience or skill.”
A figure depicting the tattoos and placement on the body. Image: Svetlana Pankova
Tattoos represent a diversity of meanings and practices across regions and time, and it’s important not to color bodies of the past with our present biases. While we may never know exactly what these dramatic scenes meant to the Pazyryk culture, it is amazing that we can behold them in such fantastic detail thousands of years after this woman, and her tattooists, lived and died in the Altai Mountains.
“Modifications to soft tissue, including tattooing, present a temporal paradox as they are simultaneously permanent over the lifetime of the marked individual, yet transitory from an archaeological perspective,” said Caspari and his colleagues. “The interpretation of tattoos in prehistoric contexts necessarily remains speculative and may never reach the intricate richness of meaning with which the images and practices were originally associated.”
If this story piques your interest in the ancient artistry of Altai Mountain cultures (understandable!), check another recent study about the stylistic shifts in the region’s rock art depictions of elk over thousands of years.
In other news…
Tidal wave over Arecibo
Gong, Yun et al. “First Observation of a Strong Thermospheric 4.8-Hour Tide and Its Impact on the Ionosphere Over Arecibo.” Geophysical Research Letters.
Tidal waves are normally thought of as massive walls of ocean water, but the sky is also rippled by tides of solar energy generated by the Sun’s activity. This week, a team discovered a “strong and unusual” tidal wave that reverberated about 160 to 300 miles above Puerto Rico’s Arecibo telescope on the night of March 17, 2015.
“We found that this tide is surprisingly powerful, with wind speeds around 25 m/s—larger than those seen in more common tidal patterns,” said researchers led by Yun Gong of Wuhan University. “This is the first time such a strong 4.8-hour tide has been reported at these heights.”
The team noted that the wave was probably amplified by a geomagnetic storm, though the finer details of such complex interactions are still up in the air. The study is a testament to the ongoing afterlife of Arecibo, which sadly collapsed in 2020, but remains a legendary icon in part because of its extensive archives that date back to 1963.
The floor is lava
Boukaré, Charles-Édouard et al. “The role of interior dynamics and differentiation on the surface and in the atmosphere of lava planets.” Nature Astronomy.
Just in case you haven’t expressed gratitude to Earth lately, here’s a study about “lava planets,” which are rocky worlds that orbit so close to their stars that their day-sides reach 5,000°F.
Artist concept of a lava planet. Image: ESO/L. Calcada
“Unlike rocky planets in the solar system, lava planets maintain a long-lived, shallow magma ocean on their day-side, even after billions of years of interior cooling,” said researchers led by Charles-Édouard Boukaré of York University. “Such asymmetric magma oceans have no analogues in the solar system and their internal dynamics and evolution are still poorly understood.”
Fortunately, lava planets are a current priority for observation by the James Webb Space Telescope, so we may learn more about them soon. Even as we ride out more intense heat waves on Earth, pour a cold one out for these tortured worlds.
Moving day for mole rats
Moldován, Orsolya et al. “Challenges and opportunities in the translocation of grassland-dwelling subterranean mammals: The case of blind mole rats.” Global Ecology and Conservation.
Burrowing animals are disproportionately threatened by the steady march of human land developments (citation: Watership Down). European blind mole rats, for instance, “have long been persecuted, and many species are threatened by extinction as they only exist in a few small and isolated populations,” according to a new study.
A model of a blind mole rat in Ukraine. Image: Максим Яковлєв
Though maligned in the past, these unique rodents are increasingly recognized as beneficial ecosystem engineers—plus, they are textbook “ugly-cute,” an aesthetic I cherish. To that end, the study followed up on translocation efforts that moved vulnerable colonies to new and safer sites.
“In the seven projects, a total of 141 blind mole rat individuals were translocated, of which 56 were males and 85 were females,” said researchers led by Orsolya Moldován of the University of Debrecen in Hungary. These “recent conservation efforts… were mostly successful and reversed the 200-year trend of decline. The method is thus promising for saving blind mole rats from extinction and for ensuring their long-term survival.”
It’s uplifting to know that there’s still a light at the end of the tunnel for these burrowing beauties.
The hottest summer look: Butt-grass
Van Leeuwen, Edwin J.C. et al. “Chimpanzees socially learn non-instrumental behaviour from conspecifics.” Behavior.
We’ll close with a recent study that I first saw reported by Sabrina Imbler of Defector about chimps that put grass in their buttholes as a style choice. I suggest you read their article through to the final reveal, which is surprisingly heart-warming for a tale of bum-grass. But for our purposes, here’s the upshot:
After witnessing chimps at Zambia’s Chimfunshi sanctuary adorning their ears with grass, a team “observed the birth of a related variant in which chimpanzees started to wear the grass from their rectums,” a trend that spread “to most of the group within six weeks,” according to researchers led by Edwin J.C. van Leeuwen of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
An analysis of the grass-wearing behaviors. Image: Van Leeuwen, Edwin J.C. et al.
“Though we primarily observed grass-in-rectum behavior by the same individual (the plausible innovator), the behavior was adopted by at least five other individuals from the same group, of whom two are still performing it to this day, almost a year after initial observations,” the team said.
It’s another reminder to be the plausible innovator you want to see in the world. You never know what hare-brained scheme (or grass-butted one) might catch on.
Government will establish separate immigration counters for foreign passengers at all international airports, a government statement said on Saturday, in a move aimed at boosting tourism and investment.
The initiative, introduced on the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is designed to promote tourism, ensure the smooth flow of trade, and facilitate foreign investment.
Officials said the dedicated counters will help reduce immigration processing times, making travel more convenient for international visitors. The arrangement is also expected to shorten procedures for returning Pakistani citizens, as passenger flows will be separated.
“This measure is part of the government’s broader strategy to make Pakistan more attractive and welcoming for international tourists, investors and business delegations,” an official statement said.
The government has recently stepped up efforts to enhance infrastructure and streamline travel procedures to position Pakistan as a more competitive destination in the region.
With the calendar flipping over to August, we’re just about a month away from the introduction of the iPhone 17 lineup and we’re continuing to hear more about what to expect for this year’s flagship phones.
Testing on iOS 26 and related updates is also in full swing, even as this week saw the release of iOS 18.6, macOS Sequoia 15.6, and more to provide bug fixes and security updates for users. Rumors about Apple’s foldable iPhone also continue to surface, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!
Apple Releases iOS 18.6 With Photos Bug Fix
While iOS 26 and related major updates are now in public beta testing ahead of their official releases later this year, Apple is continuing to tweak the current versions with bug fixes and security updates. This week saw the release of iOS 18.6 with a fix for a bug in the Photos app that could prevent memory movies from being shared. The update also includes over 20 security fixes, so it’s important to update your devices as soon as possible.
In addition to iOS 18.6, Apple also released macOS Sequoia 15.6, watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6, and more, to ensure that all of the company’s platforms receive the important fixes.
iPhone 17 Pro Could Come in Surprising Orange Color, Dummy Models Suggest
We’ve been hearing more and more about the expected color options for the iPhone 17 lineup coming later this year, and a fresh crop of dummy units reportedly intended to showcase the actual shades Apple is planning on launching reveal a surprisingly bright orange color for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
In other iPhone rumors, a tipster claims that the Pro models will include up to 8× optical zoom for the Telephoto lens, an additional Camera Control button, and a new pro camera app. The larger camera bumps on the Pro models will also necessitate a change to the MagSafe design, though backward compatibility will be included.
iPhone 17 Pro Spotted in the Wild?
While the iPhone 17 Pro is not expected to launch until September, a prototype of the device was potentially spotted in the wild this week.
It could certainly be a hoax, but the details shown in the photos are consistent with the rumored design of the phone and with how Apple is known to conceal unreleased hardware that has to be tested in the real world.
JPMorgan: Foldable iPhone to Launch in September 2026
Rumors are continuing to line up behind the idea of Apple releasing its first foldable phone in September 2026, alongside several iPhone 18 models.
The latest research note from JPMorgan suggests that the foldable is likely to start at around $1,999, creating a roughly $65 billion market opportunity for Apple. The firm forecasts foldable iPhone sales to be in the low-teens of million in 2027, reaching 45 million units by 2028.
These 10 Apple Stores Are Opening or Closing Later This Year
There has been a flurry of Apple retail news over the past few weeks, with the company announcing the opening of several new or renovated locations while closing a few others. Beyond our initial list of stores from earlier this week, Tim Cook also announced on Thursday’s earnings conference call that several more openings are coming to India and the United Arab Emirates later this year.
The closings, which include a rare closure of a Chinese store in Dalian, typically occur in shopping malls that have been in decline and losing other major tenants. In some cases Apple has been replacing the stores in other nearby locations where they are expected to perform better, while in other cases customers are directed to alternative existing Apple retail stores in their areas.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we’ve covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
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