Technologies

Apple Released iOS 18.5 RC, and It Includes a Few Small iPhone Changes

Apple could release the update to the public as early as next week.

Apple debuted the iOS 18.5 release candidate on May 6, more than a month after the company released iOS 18.4 to the general public. While that update brought more emoji to all iPhones, the RC brings a few small changes and a new Pride wallpaper. Because the latest release is the RC, Apple could release the update to the general public as early as next week.

Read more: An Expert’s Guide to iOS 18

Since the RC isn’t necessarily the final version of iOS 18.5, I recommend downloading it on something other than your primary device. The update might be buggy, and battery life may be affected, so it’s best to keep those troubles on a secondary phone.

Also, since the RC is not the final version, adjustments could land on your iPhone when the update is released. There’s no word on when Apple will release the iOS 18.5update to the general public, but it’s usually a week after the RC comes out.

Here’s what could appear on your iPhone with iOS 18.5. (Just a reminder: Only developers and beta testers with an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access Apple Intelligence for now. If you have any other iPhone, you won’t have access to those features.)

New Pride wallpaper

Every year, Apple comes out with a new Pride wallpaper ahead of Pride Month, and this year is no different. The iOS 18.5 RC includes the latest iteration of the wallpaper, called «Pride Harmony,» which features bold stripes that shift and change position as you move.

iOS 18.5 tweaks Mail options

Apple introduced a few Mail app updates in the iOS 18.5 RC. One of those updates makes it easier to adjust the app’s settings by showing or hiding contact photos in Mail. Contact photos are the images to the left of emails that help identify senders.

Mail will show Contact Posters by default, but you can turn them off from within the app with the iOS 18.5 RC. To do so, open Mail, tap the three dots (…) in the top-right corner of your screen and tap Show Contact Photos. Now, all your emails will just show the subject line and a preview of the message, similar to how Mail looked before iOS 18.

This option is in iOS 18.4, but it’s buried in Settings and not easy to locate.

Another update concerns Categories. If the mode is enabled, you can see a small tab on the right side of your screen near the other categories. Swipe the categories bar near the top of Mail to the left, and this small tab will expand to reveal the category All Mail.

This category isn’t new; you can find it in iOS 18.4. But, there was no small tab on the right side of your screen to signal it was present off-screen. Therefore, All Mail flew under the radar — I didn’t even know the option was there until this beta.

This category appears to be a way to simultaneously enable Categories and List View — the pre-Categories view of Mail. By tapping All Mail, you’re viewing your messages without any categorization, like in List View.

Back Tap banner

The iOS 18.5 RC also introduces the option to display a banner using the Back Tap function. Back Tap turns the Apple logo on the back of your iPhone into a usable button that can open your camera, take a screenshot and more when you double or triple tap it. And with the iOS 18.5 RC, you can make your iPhone display a banner whenever you use Back Tap.

To enable the banner, go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back Tap and tap the toggle next to Show Banner. If you enable the banner and use Back Tap, the banner will appear across the top of your screen and read, «Back Tap Double/Triple Tap detected.»

iOS 18.5 RC release notes

Here are the full release notes for the iOS 18.5 RC.

This update also includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

A new Pride Harmony wallpaper.
Parents now receive a notification when the Screen Time passcode is used on a child’s device.
Buy with iPhone is available when purchasing content within the Apple TV app on a third-party device.
Fixes an issue where the Apple Vision Pro app may display a black screen.
Support for carrier-provided satellite features is available on iPhone 13 (all models). For more information visit: https://support.apple.com/122339.

Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices. For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit:

https://support.apple.com/100100

Anything else in the beta?

Not that I can tell, and I’m not surprised. Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference is set to happen in June, so iOS 18.5 will likely remain sparse on features so Apple can focus on iOS 19.

There might be another RC before iOS 18.5 is released to the public, but I wouldn’t expect to see any other new features in the upcoming update. Apple has not announced when it will release iOS 18.5 to the general public, but it could be as early as next week.

For more on iOS 18, here’s what you need to know about iOS 18.4.1 and all the latest features in iOS 18.4. You can also check out our iOS 18 cheat sheet.

Technologies

Amazon Unveils AI-Using Warehouse Robot With Human-Like Sense of Touch

Amazon’s new Vulcan robot uses physical AI to carefully stow and pick everything from socks to fragile electronics at fulfillment centers.

Amazon’s new Vulcan fulfillment center robot doesn’t look humanoid, but it has some very human characteristics, like the ability to «feel» the items it’s handling.

Amazon introduced Vulcan at its Delivering the Future event in Germany on May 7.

«Built on key advances in robotics, engineering, and physical AI, Vulcan is our first robot with a sense of touch,» the company said in a statement. The event is a showcase for Amazon’s technology innovations.

Vulcan can stow or pick items from the fabric-covered pods Amazon uses for inventory storage. It has a human–like finesse when handling objects. Force feedback sensors help the robot avoid damaging the merchandise.

A suction cup and camera system comes into play when Vulcan is pulling items out of bins.

«While the suction cup grabs it, the camera watches to make sure it took the right thing and only the right thing, avoiding what our engineers call the risk of ‘co-extracting non-target items,'» Amazon said.

Vulcan is in place at fulfillment centers in Spokane, Wash. and Hamburg, Germany. It’s primarily tasked with reaching items stored low that require a human to bend down, or items stored up high that require an employee to use a stepladder.

The rise of robots in traditionally human-powered workplaces can be a sensitive subject. Amazon makes it clear it sees Vulcan as an assistant to its employees rather than a replacement for them.

Vulcan can handle 75% of the types of items stocked at the fulfillment centers. It’s designed to know which ones it can move and which ones it needs to ask for human help for — like a robot-human tag team.

The robot uses a physical AI system that includes «algorithms for identifying which items Vulcan can or can’t handle, finding space within bins, identifying tubes of toothpaste and boxes of paper clips and much more.» The AI was trained on everything from socks to electronics and continues to learn as the robot works.

Humans and robots can effectively coexist in distribution centers, said logistics and operations researchers Rene de Koster of Erasmus University in the Netherlands and Debjit Roy of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

«Right now, at least, distribution center automation with people in the mix is often a more efficient, flexible and cost-effective bet than a completely automated center,» the team said last year in a summary of their research for the Harvard Business Review.

Robots have long been part of Amazon’s operations with over 750,000 robots deployed in its fulfillment centers, the company said.

Vulcan will roll out to more centers in Europe and the US over the next couple of years, increasing the chances of your future Amazon shipments having Vulcan’s unseen «fingerprints» on them.

Technologies

Why the Fed’s Interest Rate Pause Could Bring Mortgage Rate Volatility

Technologies

Xbox Handheld Console Seemingly Glimpsed in New Asus Leak

Rumors of a handheld gaming device made by Asus in collaboration with Xbox got a shot in the arm after an alleged prototype surfaced in leaked photos.

Remember those rumors about an Xbox-branded handheld gaming machine? While nothing’s official yet, things are looking a bit more concrete after a big new leak from the FCC.

On Wednesday, images surfaced online from the FCC certification of unannounced new handhelds supposedly on the way from Asus, specifically the successors to its ROG Ally handheld PC, as reported earlier by Engadget. Microsoft’s plans for an Xbox handheld were previously speculated to involve partnering with another company, and now it appears that the ROG Ally 2 could boast an Xbox-branded model, with some different hardware under the hood.

Originally launched in 2023, the Ally is a handheld gaming machine running Windows that allows PC games to be played on the go. It’s emerged as one of the main competitors to Valve’s Steam Deck, which kickstarted a new wave of interest in handheld PCs.

Based on the images circulating online, the Ally 2 appears to be a bit thicker than its predecessor, with grips on the side of the unit redesigned to more closely resemble traditional controller handles. Not much appears different with the Xbox model, aside from a branded Xbox button on the top left.

According to the leaked FCC filings, the Xbox version would run on an AMD 8-Core 36W Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor and 64GB or LPDDR5X memory, while the standard edition will boast an AMD 4-core 20W AMD Aeirth Plus chip with an unspecified amount of memory. Both models at this time feature 7-inch 120hz screens.

Aside from those hardware differences, the Xbox edition of the Ally 2 is expected to be differentiated by a greater integration with features like the Xbox Game Bar and services like Game Pass. As a Windows PC, the ROG Ally is already compatible with Game Pass for PC, so it remains to be seen what a deeper integration with the service will look like.

Xbox and Asus did not respond to requests for comment before publishing.