Apple Music just got more expensive
Being South African is cool, on occasion. We tend to dodge most of the big price hikes, be it hardware-based or something more in the realm of a subscription service. That luck eventually runs out, as evidenced by the news that Apple Music is passing a bigger bill on to customers locally starting in the back end of August.
Apple alerted active subscribers of the music streaming service via email, confirming a R10/m increase for individual subscribers, bringing the price up to R80/m. Family plans haven’t gone unnoticed either, receiving a larger R20/m bump, dragging the monthly fee up to R130/m. Apple alerted subscribers in a recent email.
“Thank you for subscribing to Apple Music. We wanted to let you know about an upcoming change to this subscription,” it said. “Apple is raising the price of this subscription from R109.99 per month to R129.99 per month. Your subscription will continue for R129.99 per month starting 27 August until cancelled.”
Apple didn’t feel the need to justify the hike in its email. However, a statement provided to Forbes’ David Phelan casts Apple as the good guy by committing to paying artists fairly amid rising licensing costs — something it couldn’t possibly do without siphoning an additional R10/m from your account every month. Oh, wait.
The Galaxy S27 Ultra may see a camera… downgrade?
If you thought smartphones were supposed to improve as their makers honed their craft, you’re right. That’s generally the rule — smartphone companies find new ways to innovate, and charge us for the trouble. Samsung seemingly missed that memo, with reports claiming the Galaxy S27 Ultra would see a camera downgrade.
But hey, at least the South Korean’s next big flagship will be cheaper than the last, right? Don’t get your hopes up, with the way the world is currently going. The news comes from two separate sources, Ice Universe on X and ET News, and all but confirms the Galaxy S27 Ultra will ditch the 3x shooter before a Samsung press release makes the announcement.
Since 2021, the Galaxy Ultra range, Samsung’s cream of the crop, has had four cameras stuffed in the rear module. It’ll be a triple-camera affair starting in 2027, when the next round of Galaxy flagships are expected to debut. ET News reckons it’ll sport a 200MP main, 50MP 5x telephoto, and a 50MP ultrawide. It’s a similar story for the Galaxy S27 Pro, though it trades the 50MP 5x telephoto for a 3x one instead.
Tecno’s creative juices are flowing
Stuff knows Tecno for its line of budget and mid-range focused smartphones, but to the rest of the world, the company presents a creative side we rarely get to see. The company’s latest project may only be a concept, but it’s still impressive to see a smartphone with virtually no bezels. It’ll be shown off at IFA 2026 in Berlin.
We expect that’s when we’ll hear a little more about the 0mm bezel tech, and whether we can expect to see it reach the manufacturing line. All Tecno felt comfortable sharing at the moment was this video, and that it created these via “advanced internal stacking, new screen packaging techniques, and structural re-engineering”.
It’s certainly an interesting proposition, even if we never see it come to fruition. The next step will be to stick the camera under the display to rid the phone of blemishes. Another issue that needs tackling is touch sensitivity, which could prove to be a nightmare if this ever reaches consumers.
We may get our first peek at Apple’s smarter AirPods soon
It’s no secret that Apple is working on a smarter pair of AirPods — buds that’ll allegedly use onboard cameras and AI assistance to see the world around you. More important was when we’d see the buds come to life, a question that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman may have just answered in his latest Power On newsletter.
It was initially believed that the buds were on track for a 2026 release. Gurman himself reported that these had been delayed internally until sometime in 2027. That’s still the case for the AirPods reportedly called ‘B798’, though now Gurman claims Apple is secretly working on another pair of smart buds, named ‘B790’.
“This B790 device also appears to be further along: References to the product have already shown up inside iOS 27 code, and it’s been on Apple’s internal road map for a debut as early as this year.”
It’s unclear what these could be, other than a pair of AirPods infused with artificial intelligence and the gift of sight. How they differ from the initially reported pair is what interests us most, and Gurman doesn’t offer more information. Apple may have created a more affordable but also less capable device to have something out this year. That way, it can introduce customers to the idea now, before a more refined model hits shelves in 2027.
