Macworld

Two months ago, I still believed two things: England could win the World Cup, and Apple had the slickest PR machine on the planet. In both cases, what a fool I was.

While players at that tournament showcased their passing, shooting, and blood-curdling tackles, Apple reminded us once again of its trademark marketing skills. An unreleased set of Beats headphones were spotted in relatively subtle Instagram posts by the Spain midfielder Lamine Yamal, U.S. left-back Antonee Robinson, and South Korea’s Kang-in Lee, building buzz nicely. Prospective customers had their appetites whetted without being told the full story, setting them up for an official launch in the months to come.

But this plan, like England’s attempts to shut down Lionel Messi, was sadly doomed. Last week, multiple retailers were found to be carrying listings for the headphones (which we now know will be called the Beats 360), including dozens of photos and comprehensive product details. Noise cancellation, battery claims, IP rating, Android compatibility, color options, U.S. and U.K. pricing… we appear to know it all. Which will totally ruin the surprise when Apple makes its official announcement.

This isn’t the first and won’t be the last time that a retailer accidentally sets a product listing live too early. But for this to happen simultaneously on so many sites suggests a more fundamental error. It feels like blasphemy even to suggest it, but it’s possible that Apple itself was at fault, and it will be interesting to see how the company tries to recover the situation. If the product is ready to ship, as the listings appear to imply, then it might make sense to bring the launch forward and make the most of the publicity. You might even see the Beats 360 on Apple’s website by the time this article appears.

Bizarrely, the Beats 360 debacle was the second major Apple leak of last week. On Monday, it was noticed that the macOS 26.7 release candidate code contained an instructional video for an unreleased set of camera-equipped AirPods. This was as unintentionally helpful as a leak could be: a professional-quality video of an Apple representative showing us the product and how it works. A clumsier gaffe is hard to imagine.

In this case, Apple doesn’t have the option to seize the initiative and rush the product out the door. It’s been reported that production delays mean the AirPods won’t be ready until late 2027. (The video was made well in advance because at one stage Apple hoped to announce the launch this year, before those delays became apparent.) This means Apple faces more than 12 months with a video floating around the Internet that spoils one of its biggest reveals. It’s a nightmare.

Apple is known as a secretive company, but secrecy isn’t something that scales very easily. As the company’s manufacturing supply chain grew larger, so did the opportunity for leakers to gain access to photos of components and dummy units. More secrets were spilled when employees had to take materials home during Covid. And there is sufficient internal discontent for the leaking of memos to have become a problem, which Tim Cook complained about in another memo (which was itself leaked, inevitably).

The Cook era is drawing to a close, and it remains to be seen whether incoming CEO John Ternus will emulate his predecessor or forge a new relationship with the media. Perhaps he will lock down those secrets like never before; perhaps he will be more transparent. Either approach could work. But the main thing is for the company to stop scoring own goals.

Foundry

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

Trending: Top stories

A new iPhone is coming soon. It’s a good year to skip it.

I love Severance, but two-plus years between each season is too much. Apple TV just isn’t worth the wait.

Eagle-eyed Felipe Esposito leaked the iPhone 18 Pro colors earlier this year. Here’s the one he thinks you should buy.

Why does Wall Street hate Apple now?

Mahmoud Itani lists 12 ways to use your iPhone’s USB-C port to do much more than charge.

macOS cheat sheet: How many Mac keyboard shortcuts do you know?

Podcast of the week

With new products coming soon, it’s getting more difficult for Apple to keep them under wraps. In the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, we take a look at a few leaks from Apple OS updates that provide insight into what to expect in the coming months.

You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site.

Reviews corner
  • Brydge ProDock Trio: A premium Thunderbolt 5 MacBook dock.
  • Satechi ChargeView 240W: 6-port USB-C charging for Macs.
The rumor mill

Upcoming Apple products are revealed in the macOS 26.7 release candidate.

Wild leak straight from Apple shows camera-equipped AirPods in action.

Apple’s Fitness+ service may be getting a live upgrade.

Apple’s upcoming Beats 360 headphones appear to be built for MacBook Neo users.

Video of the week
@macworld.com

Do you use Apple Card? What do you like about it? Apple Card is one of the better credit cards out there. It’s easy to see your balance and manage your payments. You never even need to have the physical card, though the titanium card is very cool.

♬ original sound – Macworld – Macworld

The Apple Card was released seven years ago, and we think we know why it’s been such a success. For more videos, follow us on TikTok and Instagram.

Software updates, bugs, and problems

macOS Tahoe 26.6.1 fixed a pretty major screen-sharing flaw.

iOS 26.6.1 and macOS 26.6.2 fix a bunch of security flaws.

Got an overheating Intel MacBook Pro? This nifty utility might help.

And with that, we’re done for this week’s Apple Breakfast. If you’d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters, including our new email from The Macalope–an irreverent, humorous take on the latest news and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, or X for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.