9to5Mac

Alexa+ launches for all US users, here’s how to upgrade (or skip it for now)

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 2:32am on 9to5Mac

Alexa+ is Amazon’s new AI-infused version of its popular assistant. Following a slow initial rollout, Amazon has just made Alexa+ available to all users in the US. Here’s how to upgrade to Alexa+, or skip it for now.

iPhone 17 Pro Max has the best battery life of 35 smartphones tested

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 2:07am on 9to5Mac

Battery life tests carried out by CNET reveal that the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the best battery life of any of the smartphones tested, and that Apple heads the brand rankings across its models.

Apple’s flagship model took first place, ahead of several models with substantially higher battery capacity, with the base model iPhone 17 in equal second place …

Anthropic pokes fun at ads in ChatGPT with Superbowl ad [Video]

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 1:41am on 9to5Mac

OpenAI recently revealed that we will soon see ads in ChatGPT conversations, and Anthropic is having some fun with this. It will reportedly run an ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl (below) in which ChatGPT isn’t named but is very clearly the target …

Apple Sports for iPhone updated with PGA, LPGA, and more

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 1:01am on 9to5Mac

Apple is rolling out another update to its Apple Sports app for iPhone. This update adds support for Men’s and Women’s golf, as well as expanded support for soccer and tennis matches.

iOS 26.2.1 causing crashes, freezes, and severe battery drain for some

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 12:29am on 9to5Mac

iOS 26.2.1 was released last week, adding support for AirTag 2, alongside bug fixes. However, a small minority of users are reporting that it has introduced bugs rather than removed them.

Among the problems being reported are apps crashing, freezing, or lagging; connectivity failures; and severe battery drain …

PSA: Check your Apple Home is up to date in the next few days

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 12:07am on 9to5Mac

It’s well over three years since the launch of a new Apple Home architecture to make HomeKit more reliable and to support the Matter standard.

Still, not everyone has yet updated, and if you’re among them, you now have less than a week to do so before your smart home stops working …

Apple’s search deal with Google could face renewed scrutiny as DOJ appeals antitrust ruling

Published: Feb 4nd 2026 12:37am on 9to5Mac

Last year, a federal judge ruled that Google had illegally maintained a search monopoly, but allowed the company to keep paying to be the default search engine on Apple devices (with very few caveats). Now, the Department of Justice and a group of states are appealing the overall decision. Here are the details.

xAI accused of destroying evidence in antitrust case against Apple and OpenAI

Published: Feb 3nd 2026 9:00am on 9to5Mac

As OpenAI accused xAI of systematically destroying internal communications, the court also shut down xAI’s bid to add a high-ranking former OpenAI researcher to discovery. Here’s the latest on this increasingly messy lawsuit.

ChatGPT is down for many users in major outage

Published: Feb 3nd 2026 8:37am on 9to5Mac

It’s not just you: ChatGPT is down for many users right now. Here’s the latest.

9to5Mac Daily: February 3, 2026 – iPhone 18 rumors and pricing

Published: Feb 3nd 2026 8:25am on 9to5Mac

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