Technologies

Tariffs or No, Apple May Raise iPhone Prices This Year

The tech company could increase prices of its next flagship product line, as it introduces a thinner design and new features.

Even as a new deal between China and the US rolls back high tariffs for the next 90 days, the Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has plans to raise iPhone prices later this year, whether tariffs rise again or not.

The price hike would cover the iPhone 17 line, expected to be released in the fall, which could include a rumored ultraslim new «Air» model and new features, such as increased RAM across the phone line. These phones would include iOS 19, which could bring significant software changes and improvements to the company’s AI system, Apple Intelligence.

The Wall Street Journal says that Apple is trying to position any pricing increase as being prompted by improvements to the products, not tariffs, although a 20% tariff that covers smartphones would still be in place — at least under the current agreement — by the time the new iPhones launch.

The current prices for base iPhone models start at $599 for the iPhone 16E, $799 for the iPhone 16 and $999 for the iPhone 16 Pro.

Apple has already made moves to stockpile current inventory because of tariffs, and has reportedly made plans to shift more of its iPhone production to India and Vietnam.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

OpenAI Launches HealthBench, a Dataset That Benchmarks Health Care AI Models

This is a major leap by the ChatGPT creator into health care.

OpenAI, the creator of artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, has a new open-source large language model called HealthBench that lets the health care industry benchmark AI models, the company said in a blog post on Monday.

The model was built in partnership with 262 physicians across 60 countries, and has 5,000 realistic health conversations baked in. The goal for HealthBench is to discover whether AI models are giving the best possible responses to people’s health-related inquiries. Each response is measured against a physician-written rubric criterion, with each criterion weighted to match the physician’s judgement. The rubric is scored by GPT-4.1.

OpenAI’s o3 reasoning model performs the best, according to HealthBench, with a score of 60%, followed by Elon Musk’s Grok at 54% and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro at 52%.

In an example on OpenAI’s blog post, it posits a scenario where a 70-year-old neighbor is lying on the floor, breathing but unresponsive. The person asks AI what should be done. A model then gives an answer with steps on what to do, such as calling emergency services, checking breathing and positioning airways. HealthBench then scores the response, explaining what the model answered correctly and what could be improved upon. It then gives a final score, in this case, 77%.

The model can handle 49 languages, including Amharic and Nepali, and includes 26 medical specialties, such as neurological surgery and ophthalmology.

OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Trump Kills ‘Woke’ Broadband Program Because It Has the Word ‘Equity’

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 13, #232

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 232, for May 13.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition has a fun mix of categories. As a Minnesotan, I was pleased to see my home state on there, though it took me awhile to figure out where it went. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Nowhere near the top.

Green group hint: Mock, at a sporting event.

Blue group hint: Odd team names.

Purple group hint: Not silver, but…