Technologies

iPhone 17 vs. iPhone Air, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max: Apple’s Newest Phones, Compared

How do Apple’s high-performance phones differ, and which should you pick? Here’s how to decide which iPhone is perfect for you.

Maybe your current iPhone is showing its age — slowing down, unable to update to iOS 26 or lacking cool features and cameras. With the coming holiday season’s deals and discounts, now is the perfect time to upgrade. The current lineup of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and the slim iPhone Air give you plenty of options to choose from, but they do serve different needs. Which of those would suit you best? Here’s how they compare side by side.

Looking to order the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max or iPhone Air? Check out our iPhone 17 deals guide for ways to get it for free and other great deals.

There are a host of improvements over the iPhone 16 series, which added a handful of upgrades over its predecessors, most notably the Camera Control key. The upgrades coming to the iPhone 17 lineup are myriad, but more noticeable than the more incremental updates in previous generations. Along with the redesigned camera blocks, all of Apple’s phones get better specs, more storage and brighter displays. But the big change is the new super-thin iPhone Air, which takes the place (and price) of the larger standard Plus model.

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iPhone 17 lineup price comparison

iPhone 17: $799. The iPhone 17’s price remains the same as last year despite a bump to 256GB of starting storage.
iPhone Air: $999. The iPhone Air is slotted into the lineup where the iPhone 16 Plus was priced (as the more expensive standard model).
iPhone 17 Pro: $1,099. The smaller Pro model is the only one in the lineup to get a small price hike to start at $100 above last year’s iPhone 16 Pro, though it does start at a higher 256GB of storage.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: $1,199. The higher-spec iPhone 17 Pro Max didn’t get a price hike despite starting at a higher 256GB of storage.

Despite concerns about tariffs potentially passing more costs on to consumers, only one model in the iPhone 17 lineup got a price hike: the iPhone 17 Pro, which now starts at $1,099, though it does have double the starting storage at 256GB as its predecessor. The other models also got their storage bumped up without suffering higher prices.

At its September event, Apple also announced new Apple Watch models, including the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, as well as the AirPods Pro 3.

iPhone 17 lineup’s design and display changes, compared

iPhone 17: Camera bump redesign. The square-shaped camera bump from prior years has been replaced with a vertical pill-shaped ovoid with the usual two cameras (main and ultrawide).
iPhone Air: Thinner, single-camera. The new, thin model takes the place of the iPhone 16 Plus as the larger non-Pro model, but it offers only a single main rear camera.
iPhone 17 Pro: Larger horizontal camera bump. The smaller Pro model’s big changes include a new rear camera bump as well as an internal redesign with an aluminum frame.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Same larger horizontal camera bump. Likewise, the iPhone 17 Pro Max gets a redesigned camera bump that extends horizontally across the entire rear width of the phone, along with internal changes.

The biggest change in the iPhone 17’s design is in a single model added to the lineup: the iPhone Air. It is indeed a thinner model of the iPhone line, akin to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, which focuses on a slimmer, lighter body that seems to have reduced battery life as a consequence — but not by much. According to Apple’s specs (which don’t include exact capacity), the Air manages up to 27 hours of video playback, just slightly under the 30 hours for the iPhone 17, 33 for the iPhone 17 Pro and 39 for the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The iPhone Air is 5.6mm thick, compared with 7.9mm on the iPhone 17 and 8.75mm on the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. The thinner model is also lighter at 165 grams, compared with the iPhone 17’s 177 grams, the iPhone 17 Pro’s 206 grams and the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s 233 grams.

Despite that, the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch OLED display (slightly smaller than the 6.7-inch display on last year’s iPhone 16 Plus). Compare that to the 6.3-inch screen on the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro (both up from 6.1 inches on their respective predecessors) and 6.9 inches for the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

All models got upgrades to their screens. The standard iPhone 17 now has a ProMotion display with a refresh rate adjusting from 120Hz down to 1Hz (from a static 60Hz on last year’s iPhone 16) and a scratch-resistant Ceramic Shield 2 coating on the top — all features that also arrive in the iPhone Air. Every new iPhone’s display also has a maximum brightness of 3,000 nits, up from 2,000 in last year’s iPhone 16 lineup, making it easier to see their screens in bright sunlight.

The three returning iPhone 17, Pro and Pro Max models have had redesigns of their rear camera bumps. In place of the diagonal arrangement in last year’s model, the standard iPhone 17’s two cameras have been vertically aligned in a raised oval bump. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max keep their triangular triple-camera alignment, but the camera bump has been extended from a square to a rectangle that takes up the width of the phones. The iPhone Air just has a single camera.

There are bigger changes to the inside of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, all in the name of heat management. Apple swapped their titanium frames for aluminum ones that the company says is 20 times better at conducting heat, the better to disperse it across the phone’s body. The frame is stamped in a single sheet, and layered on top is a new vapor chamber filled with deionized water running along its length to carry heat away from the phone’s chips. Apple says this redesign leads to 40% better sustained performance than the iPhone 16 Pro. Instead of just glass, the Pro models have a more durable glass-ceramic shield on the back.

In contrast, the iPhone Air has a titanium frame, the only model in the lineup to still have one — possibly to ensure maximum durability in its thinner body.

The iPhone 17 comes in five colors: lavender, light blue, dark gray, silver-white and green. The iPhone Air comes in four hues: an ethereally light blue, light gold, black and white. The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max come in a trio of colors: white, dark blue and bright orange.

Comparing iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max cameras

iPhone 17: Better ultrawide and selfie cameras. The iPhone 17 got an upgraded 48-megapixel ultrawide camera and 18-megapixel selfie shooter.
iPhone Air: Single camera. As was rumored, the iPhone Air has a single 48-megapixel main camera.
iPhone 17 Pro: Sharper zoom and selfie cameras. The rear 4x telephoto camera has been upgraded to 48 megapixels, while the front-facing camera is now 18 megapixels.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Sharper zoom and selfie cameras. Likewise, the rear 4x telephoto camera has been upgraded to 48 megapixels, while the front-facing camera is now 18 megapixels.

The standard iPhone 17 has two cameras (48-megapixel main and 48-megapixel ultrawide), an improvement from its predecessor’s 12-megapixel ultrawide. Apple calls the 48-megapixel main camera «Dual Fusion» as it can take sharp photos at full resolution or take 2x crop-zoomed images at 24 megapixels — in fact, every camera in the iPhone 17 lineup has this fusion functionality.

The iPhone Air has only one camera, a 48-megapixel main, that seems similar to the one on the iPhone 16E. That sets the new thin phone apart from last year’s iPhone 16 Plus, which had the same two cameras as the standard iPhone 16.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models also bump the ultrawide to 48 megapixels (up from 12 megapixels in their predecessors) and also improve the third telephoto camera to 48 megapixels as well (up from the 12-megapixel with 5x optical zoom of last year’s iPhones). The latter has gotten a big upgrade, and thanks to the crop focus on the fusion, the 4x optical zoom can double up to 8x at 12 megapixel resolution with an equivalent focal length of 200mm. The new maximum digital zoom goes up to 40x, up from 25x on earlier Pro models.

All four iPhones’ front-facing shooters have been upgraded to 18-megapixel cameras, up from 12 megapixels on last year’s Apple phones. They also get the Center Stage feature, which first debuted on the iPad Pro M-series models. This feature automatically keeps the focus centered on whoever’s holding the phone, even as they move around.

This is aided by a new square-shaped sensor in the front-facing camera that’s twice the size as those in the iPhone 16 lineup from last year. Essentially, this size format has a lot more vertical room than the 4:3 ratio sensors typically found in selfie cameras, allowing not only more area for Center Stage to focus on, but also for iPhone 17 series owners to take horizontal selfies without rotating their phones. Neat!

All iPhone 17 model specs compared

iPhone 17: Better specs. The iPhone 17 packs the new A19 chip as its predecessor and more base storage.
iPhone Air: Pro chip, Apple’s modem. The thinner iPhone Air got the A19 Pro chip that’s also in the Pro models out this year, as well as a presumably improved version of the Apple-made C1, a 5G modem that debuted on the iPhone 16E.
iPhone 17 Pro: Better specs. The iPhone 17 Pro has a new A19 Pro chip as well as more base storage.
iPhone 17 Pro Max: Better specs, bigger battery. The iPhone 17 Pro Max packs the new A19 Pro chip, more base storage and a larger battery.

As is typical with the feature gap between standard and pro models, the iPhone 17 has improved specs but not to the level of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max — or the iPhone Air.

The standard iPhone 17 packs the new A19 chip, which is 20% faster than the iPhone 16 with its A18 chip. The A19’s six-core CPU is made on a 3-nanometer process, has an improved Neural Engine with increased bandwidth to help make AI services faster, and has an updated Display Engine that helps power ProMotion and Always-On features of the display. The iPhone 17 comes in either 256GB or 512GB, an increase on the baseline 128GB storage of the iPhone 16.

The iPhone Air has slightly better specs with an A19 Pro chip, with better performance and efficiency. The chip’s graphics processing unit cores now have neural accelerators that deliver three times the peak output of the GPU on the A18 Pro found in last year’s iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone Air is also the only one of the lineup to get another tech advancement — an upgraded version of Apple’s C1 chip, the internally developed 5G modem that debuted in the iPhone 16E released earlier this year. The iPhone Air comes in 256GB, 512GB or 1TB storage configurations.

The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max both feature the A19 Pro chip, and combined with its redesigned thermal dissipation, reaches the aforementioned 40% better sustained performance over the iPhone 16 Pro. The iPhone 17 Pro comes in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage configurations, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max has those options as well as a 2TB selection, though that raises the price to $2,000.

While Apple never explicitly says how much RAM its iPhones pack, most phones require 8GB of RAM to use AI features — Given that Apple Intelligence debuted on the iPhone 16 lineup, it’s heavily suspected that those devices were given 8GB of RAM. Presumably, the iPhone 17 series has the same amount.

Apple is similarly coy about listing battery capacity, preferring instead to suggest how long they can last playing video content. As mentioned above, the iPhone Air has the lowest at 27 hours of video playback, but not by much. The iPhone 17 has up to 30 hours, the iPhone 17 Pro reaches 33 hours, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max tops out at 39 hours of video playback — made possible thanks to internal redesigns.

All three phones pack Apple’s new N1 wireless networking chip, which connects to Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 and Thread networking for smart home appliances.

All iPhone 17 models launch with iOS 26, the next version of Apple’s iPhone software, renamed to align with the year following its release. Among the new features are the Liquid Glass interface redesign, iMessage updates, a more transparent lock screen and a streamlined Camera app. These are just a few of the overhauls also coming to Safari, Photos and Music apps, among others.

The iPhone 17 series also packs Apple Intelligence, the company’s signature blend of generative AI features. But with no new tools or applications introduced during the event, it seems the phones will simply inherit the AI tools that debuted with last year’s iPhone 16 or those that were added in the year since.

Apple iPhone 17 vs. iPhone Air vs. iPhone 17 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max

	Apple iPhone 17	Apple iPhone Air	Apple iPhone 17 Pro	Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate	6.3-inch OLED; 2,622 x 1,206 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.5-inch OLED; 2,736 x 1,260 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.3-inch OLED; 2,622 x 1,206 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.9-inch OLED; 2,868 x 1,320 pixel resolution; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate
Pixel density	460ppi	460ppi	460ppi	460ppi
Dimensions (inches)	5.89 x 2.81 x 0.31 in	6.15 x 2.94 x 0.22 in	5.91 x 2.83 x 0.34 in	6.43 x 3.07 x 0.34 in
Dimensions (millimeters)	149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm	156.2 x 74.7 x 5.64 mm	150.0 x 71.9 x 8.75 mm	163.4 x 78.0 x 8.75 mm
Weight (grams, ounces)	177 g (6.24 oz)	165 g (5.82 oz)	206 g (7.27 oz)	233 g (8.22 oz)
Mobile software	iOS 26	iOS 26	iOS 26	iOS 26
Camera	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide)	48-megapixel (wide)	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide) 48-megapixel (4x, 8x telephoto)	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide) 48-megapixel (4x, 8x telephoto)
Front-facing camera	18-megapixel	18-megapixel	18-megapixel	18-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Apple A19	Apple A19 Pro	Apple A19 Pro	Apple A19 Pro
RAM + storage	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	None
Battery	Up to 30 hours video playback; up to 27 hours video playback (streamed).Fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger.	Up to 27 hours video playback; up to 22 hours video playback (streamed).Up to 40 hours video playback, up to 35 hours video playback (streamed) with iPhone Air MagSafe Battery Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 20W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger.	Up to 33 hours video playback; up to 30 hours video playback (streamed).Fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger.	Up to 39 hours video playback; up to 35 hours video playback (streamed).Fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable. Fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger.
Fingerprint sensor	None (Face ID)	None (Face ID)	None (Face ID)	None (Face ID)
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None	None
Special features	Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. 1 to 3000 nits brightness display range.IP68 resistance. Colors: black, white, mist blue, sage, lavender.	Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Apple C1X cellular modem. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. 1 to 3000 nits brightness display range.IP68 resistance. Colors: space black, cloud white, light gold, sky blue.	Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. ProRes Raw video recording. Genlock video support. 1 to 3000 nits brightness display range.IP68 resistance. Colors: silver, cosmic orange, deep blue.	Apple N1 wireless networking chip (Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO), Bluetooth 6, Thread. Action button. Camera Control button. Dynamic Island. Apple Intelligence. Visual Intelligence. Dual eSIM. ProRes Raw video recording. Genlock video support. 1 to 3000 nits brightness display range.IP68 resistance. Colors: silver, cosmic orange, deep blue.
US price starts at	$799 (256GB)	$999 (256GB)	$1,099 (256GB)	$1,199 (256GB)
UK price starts at	£799 (256GB)	£999 (256GB)	£1,099 (256GB)	£1,199 (256GB)
Australia price starts at	AU$1,399 (256GB)	AU$1,799 (256GB)	AU$1,999 (256GB)	AU$2,199 (256GB)

Technologies

The Witcher 3, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Bring the Heat to Xbox Game Pass

Two amazing games will be available soon for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

The second half of February and early March could be considered one of the best stretches in recent memory for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, widely regarded as one of the best games of the past decade, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 headline a lineup that leans heavily into sprawling, choice-driven adventures but does throw in some football to mix things up a bit.

Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games you can play on your Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, smart TV, PC or mobile device, with prices starting at $10 a month. While all Game Pass tiers offer you a library of games, Game Pass Ultimate ($30 a month) gives you access to the most games, as well as Day 1 games, meaning they hit Game Pass the day they go on sale.

Here are all the latest games subscribers can play on Game Pass. You can also check out other games the company added to the service in early February, including Madden NFL 26.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate and Premium Game Pass subscribers.

The Witcher 3 came out 10 years ago, and it’s still being praised as one of the best games ever made. To celebrate, developer CD Projekt Red is bringing over The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition to Xbox Game Pass. Subscribers will be able to play The Witcher 3 and its expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Players once more take on the role of monster-slayer Geralt, who goes on an epic search for his daughter, Ciri. As he pieces together what happened to her, he comes across vicious monsters, devious spirits, and the most evil of humans who seek to end his quest.

Death Howl

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Death Howl is a dark fantasy tactical roguelike that blends turn-based grid combat with deck-building mechanics. Players move across compact battlefield maps, weighing positioning and card synergies to survive increasingly difficult encounters. Progression comes through incremental upgrades that reshape each run. Battles reward careful planning, as overextending or mismanaging your hand can quickly end a run.

EA Sports College Football 26

Available on Feb. 19 for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

EA Sports College Football 26 delivers a new take on college football gameplay with enhanced offensive and defensive mechanics, smarter AI and dynamic play-calling that reflects real strategic football systems. Featuring over 2,800 plays and more than 300 real-world coaches with distinct schemes, it offers expanded Dynasty and Road to Glory modes where team building and personnel decisions matter. On the field, dynamic substitutions, improved blocking and coverage logic make matches feel more fluid and tactical.

Dice A Million

Available on Feb. 25 for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Dice A Million centers on rolling and managing dice to build toward increasingly higher scores. Each round asks players to weigh risk against reward, deciding when to bank points and when to push for bigger combinations. Progression introduces modifiers and new rules that subtly shift probabilities, making runs feel distinct while keeping the core loop focused on calculated gambling.

Towerborne

Available on Feb. 26 for Game Pass Ultimate, PC, and Premium Game Pass subscribers.

After months in preview, Towerborne will get its full release on Xbox Game Pass. The fast-paced action game blends procedural dungeons and light RPG progression, with players fighting through waves of enemies. You’ll unlock permanent upgrades between runs and equip weapons, spells and talents that change how combat feels each time. The core loop pushes risk versus reward as you dive deeper into tougher floors, adapting builds on the fly, and mastering movement and timing to survive increasingly chaotic battles.

Final Fantasy 3

Available on March 3 for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Another Final Fantasy game is coming to Xbox Game Pass. This time, it’s Final Fantasy 3, originally released on the Famicom (the Japanese version of the NES) back in 1990. Since then, Final Fantasy 3 has been ported to a slew of devices and operating systems, including the Nintendo Wii, iOS and Android. Now, you’ll be able to play on your Xbox or PC with a Game Pass subscription. A new group of heroes is once again tasked with saving the world before it’s covered in darkness. Four orphans from the village of Ur find a Crystal of Light in a secret cave, which tasks them as the new Warriors of Light. They’ll have to stop Xande, an evil wizard looking to use the power of darkness to become immortal.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Available on March 3 for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass subscribers.

Last year was stacked with amazing games, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was one of the best. Developer Warhorse Studios’ RPG series takes place in the real medieval kingdom of Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic, and tasks players with a somewhat realistic gaming experience where you have to use the weapons, armor and items from those times. The sequel picks up right after the first game (also on Xbox Game Pass) as Henry of Skalitz is attacked by bandits, which starts a series of events that disrupts the entire country.

Games leaving Game Pass in February

For February, Microsoft is removing four games. If you’re still playing them, now’s a good time to finish up what you can before they’re gone for good on Feb. 28.

For more on Xbox, discover other games available on Game Pass now, and check out our hands-on review of the gaming service. You can also learn about recent changes to Game Pass.

Technologies

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Trade Blows in Latest AI Slop Video, and Hollywood Won’t Stand for It

While some Hollywood icons are feeling doom and gloom over the AI-generated clip, labor unions are fighting back with legal threats.

Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are trading blows in a viral AI-generated clip on social media, sparking backlash from the film industry. Chinese company ByteDance’s new video generation model, Seedance 2.0, allowed people to create fictional videos of real likenesses with short prompts. Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson used two lines to generate the clip of Pitt and Cruise fighting.

If ByteDance sounds familiar to you, it’s because the company also owns TikTok internationally, though it recently sold its US ownership of the social media and video-sharing platform to US companies. Oracle, MGX and Silver Lake each hold a 15% stake.

The actors in this latest viral AI slop video still don’t look like perfect re-creations — close-up shots of the fake Brad Pitt’s face, especially, have an «uncanny valley,» dreamlike AI look where the cuts blend into his flesh a little too smoothly. However, a CNET survey from earlier Tuesday showed that while 94% of US adults believe they encounter AI slop on social media, just 44% say they’re confident they can tell real videos from AI-generated ones.

One of the most inflammatory parts of the Pitt-Cruise video is the dialogue, as the computerized facsimiles of the actors fight over a supposed assassination plot regarding Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who maintained ties to rich and powerful people worldwide. The two actors’ likenesses became a vehicle to push conspiracy theories that have been picking up steam as the millions of pages of redacted emails, receipts and other documents that make up the Epstein files continue to trickle out of the US Department of Justice.

Hollywood is fighting back as AI-generated content consumes and spits out actor likenesses and copyrighted content alike. Major studios and their labor forces alike have united to push back against the precedent set by the viral AI video.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Motion Picture Association demanded that ByteDance «immediately cease its infringing activity» through Seedance. SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents Hollywood performers, released a statement on Friday saying it «stands with the studios» in condemning the Seedance video generation model.

The Screen Actors Guild specifically pointed to Seedance’s unauthorized use of members’ faces, likenesses and voices as a threat that could put actors out of work.

«Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent,» the actors’ guild said in its statement.

Representatives for the MPA and SAG-AFTRA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Similar videos generated by Seedance have depicted Star Wars characters dueling with lightsabers as well as Marvel superheroes Spider-Man and Captain America brawling. Disney issued a cease-and-desist order to ByteDance on Friday in response to these videos, which it alleges constitute copyright infringement, according to the BBC.

A representative for ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment, but issued a statement to the BBC saying it is «taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.»

Following the viral incident, ByteDance updated its tool to prevent people from uploading images of real people for AI-generated content, but it remains to be seen how effective that policy will be. Certainly, it won’t curb the output of videos depicting fictional masked or anthropomorphic characters like Spider-Man or Mickey Mouse.

As AI models continue to create mediocre copies of cultural icons, this won’t be the first — or last — legal battleground for AI video generation.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 18, #983

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 18 #983.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle was great fun for me, as I’m the co-author of two pop-culture encyclopedias, one about the 1970s, and 1980s and the other about the 1990s. Two of the categories are retro-themed! Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: Farrah hair.

Green group hint: Totally tubular!

Blue group hint: Bock-bock!

Purple group hint: Can refer to a dairy product or a cosmetic.