An Argentinian-American writer and immigration advocate recently sued the federal government, demanding that it delete data that he believes was copied off of his phone when he re-entered the United States earlier this month.

According to the seven-page complaint, Thomas Kennedy said that a Customs and Border Protection agent at Miami International Airport physically searched his bags, questioned him about his books and magazines, and then demanded that he hand over his phone.

“[The agent] threatened me, saying that if I didn’t give him my phone, my interrogation was going to take much longer and they could retain my phone indefinitely,” Kennedy wrote. “I felt like I had no choice, so I handed my phone to the CBP agent.”

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A new update to Lux Optics' anti-algorithm Halide camera app for the iPhone and iPad adds two new photography looks and support for the variable aperture on the new iPhone 18 Pro's main camera. Halide isn't the first alternative to the native iOS camera app to add support for the new feature, but it offers more finite control over aperture settings than other third-party apps.

The iOS camera app limits aperture adjustments to just four presets, but both the BlackMagic Camera and Moment Pro Camera II apps expand that to 10 presets in 1/3 stop increments, similar to what most digital cameras offer. Halide Mark III goes even further by lettin …

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As Apple's Tim Cook era draws to a close, we're seeing more experimentation with the iPhone's design than we've seen in a long time, but you wouldn't know it from the iPhone 18 Pro. This absurdly fast, full-featured handset might be eclipsed by the hype around the iPhone Duo this year, but it's still just as good as its immediate predecessor.

Of course, not too much has changed since the iPhone 17 Pro. There's the new variable aperture and other camera controls for those who want to get granular with their mobile photography, a welcome addition given the iPhone's reputation for inflexibly opinionated computational photography.

Beyond that, though, all the most important changes are under the hood: a new chip, better battery life, and much-improved thermals that both give the phone better sustained performance and make it cooler to the touch in many situations.

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Apple is paying $250 million to settle claims that it failed to deliver an AI-upgraded Siri - and now, eligible iPhone owners can submit a claim for a payout. If you live in the US and purchased an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 model between June 10th, 2024, and March 29th, 2025, you can file a claim on the settlement's website, as reported earlier by MacRumors.

You can receive an estimated $25 per eligible device, but the settlement's website notes that this can increase to $95 depending on how many people file claims. To file a claim, you'll need to enter your name, contact information, and iPhone serial number on the …

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Apple has developed an unexpected workaround to prevent the iPhone 18 Pro Max from being hit by shipping restrictions on big batteries. There's a "battery-firmware solution" in place on the new iPhones, according to Apple's support page, which keeps capacity below the 20Wh limit for single-cell batteries set by international shipping regulations - but this firmware lock automatically removes itself when the device is booted up for the first time.

Following user activation, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is restored to its original rated charging capacity, which is around 21.75Wh for US eSIM-only models and 21.06Wh for European models with a physical …

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iFixit's latest device teardown shows us the inner workings of the new variable aperture lens inside Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, alongside some repair concerns to be mindful of. The adjustable mechanical iris opens and closes magnetically, controlling how much light should pass through to the sensor, featuring six leaf-like overlapping blades that are each about as thin as a human hair.

You can see that scale comparison yourself below in a side-by-side image that iFixit took using a Evident DSX2000 microscope. Cramming that mechanism into the same main camera footprint as the iPhone 17 Pro series models is impressive, with iFixit …

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With phone and computer prices soaring, it helps to know the true cost of owning electronics so you can bring those numbers down.

© Sisi Yu