About time!

I have a couple of elderly relatives who call me fairly frequently about suspicious texts or emails.

The good news is that they are rightly suspicious about urgent tax payments or dodgy bills they weren’t expecting.

The bad news is that with AI, social engineering scams are getting far more sophisticated.

AI scams are using generative AI to clone voices, generate deepfake videos, and craft hyper-personalized phishing messages.

Google has already rolled out several anti-scam protections in Android, and now it’s Apple’s turn.

Coming in iOS 27 — currently in beta testing — is a new anti-scam system called Trust Insights.

The new system monitors user behavior, looking for suspicious patterns that indicate they might be getting scammed.

This is a form of surveillance, of course, which is mildly alarming. But it looks like Trust Insights carefully balances monitoring with privacy. It sounds clever, and it’s coming soon.

Also in this edition of The Weekender:

Happy Independence Day everyone 🇺🇸 🦅 🎆 -- and what better way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday than by taking some blurry, overexposed, smoky snaps with your iPhone. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
iOS 27 has some great new features. Here are breakdowns of the best ones coming to the already fantastic Notes app, and to the Camera app — which has a new mode that will change how millions of people use their iPhone.
I hope this rumor about AirPods with AI cameras isn’t true, and this rumor about an Apple Watch redesign making old bands obsolete is true (bigger battery, for starts; and maybe smart bands too).
With the price of memory soaring with no end in sight, this lifetime deal on cloud storage looks particularly attractive. And this is a very good price on a snappy 2TB portable drive.
This past week we reviewed some great new power banks: A high-power MagSafe one, and a very slim one that’s already become part of our reviewer’s everyday carry.
These are the most beautiful Mac setups we’ve seen, and I really enjoyed perusing them while ruefully staring at my own sad and messy desk. And the Mac mini Pro XDR display in this roundup of the Best Pro Display XDR setups is pure genius.

Happy 4th of July! Yee-haw!!!

— Leander Kahney, EIC

Feature story

Your iPhone will soon call your scammer’s bluff: Here’s how

iOS 27’s new Trust Insights feature flags suspicious behavior during calls, texts and payments to help stop scams before they happen.

How-tos

How to take fabulous fireworks photos with your iPhone

These tips and hardware recommendations will make your snaps sparkle. Learn how to photograph fireworks with iPhone and achieve great results.

4 features that supercharge Notes in iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate

iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate add a handful of Notes features that will supercharge your note-taking with added formatting and power features.

5 ways the Camera in iOS 27 is more refined than ever

The Camera app in iOS 27 is chock-full of small but meaningful improvements. Last year’s design is refined upon to make it the best yet.

How you might be able to skip the waitlist and get the new Siri AI early

You can get the new Siri AI right now on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. All you have to do is update to iOS 27.

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News

Apple may have hit pause on its most ambitious AirPods Pro upgrade

One of the biggest rumored AirPods Pro upgrades may be on hold, as Apple reportedly suspends development of the camera-equipped earbuds.

Apple's foldable iPhone orders reportedly jump to 10 million units

Apple has reportedly raised its foldable iPhone production target to 10 million units, signaling growing confidence ahead of its debut.

Apple eyes deals with pair of Chinese chipmakers

Apple is considering two Chinese memory suppliers to reduce its reliance on existing partners, though the deal is far from guaranteed.

Leaker warns coming Apple Watch redesign will make your bands obsolete

A leaker says Apple Watch 13 will bring a major redesign, which is great -- except a case redesign may make your band collection useless.

Deals

Score 20TB of cloud storage for life

Pay less than $500 for 20TB of encrypted cloud storage from Internxt. It's designed to keep your files safe and fully under your control.

Sick of cloud storage subscriptions? Grab a 2TB portable SSD at a steep discount.

The SanDisk Extreme is a pocket-size 2TB portable SSD that hits read speeds up to 1050 MB/s and write speeds up to 1000 MB/s.

If you think faster than you type, try this $50 Mac dictation app

You can talk instead of typing -- faster, offline and privately -- in any app on your Mac with the Voibe dictation app.

Reviews

Ugreen’s latest charger and power banks prove smaller is better [Review]

After weeks of testing, Ugreen’s Nexode Air charger and MagFlow Air power banks have become staples in my everyday carry.

Stylish 25W iPhone power bank comes with a display and clip-on cable [Review]

The Iniu SnapGo Air 10000mAh power bank stands out in an increasingly crowded market with an array of premium features.

TP-Link Roam 7: Don't leave home without this reliable travel router [Review]

The TP-Link Roam 7 router is outstanding for travelers. Our testing found fast wireless connections thanks to Wi-Fi 7 support.

Setups

Most beautiful Mac setups: Symmetry, style and serious desk envy

Among the thousands of Mac setups posted to social media each year, a small subset earns a reaction that's different from the usual approving nod or

Best Pro Display XDR setups: Apple's most magnificent monitor in the wild

"The world's best pro display," as Apple calls it, inspires envy. Behold the best Pro Display XDR setups in Cult of Mac's archive.