Apple

People are rushing to buy Apple’s iPhone 17, but it’s probably not because of the iPhone 17

More people went to Apple’s website when preorders for the new iPhone began than have since 2022.

9/19/25 8:19AM

Apple’s iPhone 17 went on sale today and it looks like it might be a relative hit. That might not have much to do with the iPhone 17 itself.

More people turned up for Apple’s online iPhone 17 event earlier this month than have since 2022, according to data shared with Sherwood News by digital market intelligence company Similarweb. The same goes for traffic a few days later, when the phone became available for preorder, suggesting more people might be buying a new iPhone during the preorder period than have in three years.

At the event, Apple unveiled a new slimmer iPhone Air as well as a basic iPhone and an iPhone Pro with faster chips, along with better cameras and larger displays. Apple didn’t mention much about AI, but Apple’s rollout of AI has been spotty at best.

However, people don’t really buy new iPhones because of new features or incremental hardware improvements. Instead, the main driver of iPhone upgrades is because someone’s old phone is obsolete or broken or its battery just doesn’t last as long as it used to.

And 2025 happens to be a big year for older iPhones. That’s because during the early years of the pandemic, Apple experienced a “supercycle” of iPhone upgrades as people trapped at home with extra cash shelled out for new tech.

2020 and 2021 also coincided with natural upgrade cycles, as many had been holding on to their previous iPhones like the iPhone 6 for years at that point. Some had been waiting for a 5G phone as well, which Apple rolled out in 2020, so it was as good a time as any for a new phone.

Here we are, four or five years later, and the people who upgraded in 2020 and 2021 are likely dealing with shorter battery life, smashed screens, and all the other annoyances of old phones.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives recently estimated that “315 million iPhone users of 1.5 billion users worldwide have not upgraded their phones in over 4 years speaking to an upgrade opportunity on the horizon for Cupertino with China front and center.”

That’s good for Apple, but it doesn’t mean it’s because of anything Apple in particular has done.

Jon Keegan2h

OpenAI shares how it will charge for ChatGPT ads

Last week, OpenAI announced that ads were going to be rolling out in ChatGPT in the coming weeks.

Now we have more details about what OpenAI is telling advertisers. According to a report from The Information, the company has reached out to “dozens” of advertisers, and will charge based on ad views.

Advertisers are still waiting for further details, but OpenAI is asking for less than $1 million each in ad spending while it tests out the new system, per the report.

Ads are supposed to begin in February, and will only appear for free ChatGPT and ChatGPT Go users.

OpenAI Lines Up Advertisers, Reveals Key Details Ahead of Ads Launch

Advertisers are still waiting for further details, but OpenAI is asking for less than $1 million each in ad spending while it tests out the new system, per the report.

Ads are supposed to begin in February, and will only appear for free ChatGPT and ChatGPT Go users.

Rani Molla2h

Apple is reportedly working on a wearable AI pin

Move over OpenAI, Apple is reportedly also developing a mysterious AI-powered wearable device: a pin that looks like a “thin, flat, circular disc with an aluminum-and-glass shell.”

The Information reports that the device is the size of an Apple AirTag and has two cameras, a speaker, three microphones, and wireless charging. It could be available by early 2027.

Apple, which has lagged its peers in AI and recently teamed up with Google to support its upcoming Siri revamp, is hoping to keep up with ChatGPT and Google, which, like Apple, has an AI smartphone. Meta and Google are both also pushing into smart AI glasses.

It’s not to be mistaken with OpenAI’s secretive wearable AI device, which is being made in conjunction with former Apple designer Jony Ive and expected to debut in late 2026. The latest rumors suggest the unnamed device, meant to eventually compete with smartphones, might be earbuds.

Apple Developing AI Wearable Pin

Jon Keegan

As public pushback against data centers grows, AI companies promise they’ll be good neighbors

Communities concerned with energy prices, pollution, and water usage are starting to push back on Big Tech’s AI data center building spree. The companies are trying to assure the public that they will pay their way.

Rani Molla7h

Morgan Stanley expects Tesla to have 1,000 Robotaxis by the end of 2026. Musk had predicted 1,500 by the end of 2025

Ahead of Tesla’s earnings report next week, Morgan Stanley has released a note estimating that the company will scale its Robotaxi fleet much more slowly than CEO Elon Musk has said. The firm thinks the automaker will have 1,000 vehicles in its Robotaxi service by the end of 2026 — 500 fewer than Musk estimated a few months ago Tesla would have by the end of 2025.

More key to Tesla’s success, however, will be removing the safety monitors from those rides, which Morgan Stanley says will be a “precursor to personal unsupervised FSD [Full Self-Driving] rollout.” Musk, of course, had also promised to remove safety drivers in Austin by the end of 2025, but driverless rides are still in the testing stage.

Rani Molla9h

Meta says it’s delivered new AI models internally this month and they’re “very good”

Meta’s last AI model release, Llama 4, was marred by delays and accusations of rigged benchmarks, but the company says the latest models built by its Superintelligence Labs team look promising. CTO Andrew Bosworth told reporters at the World Economic Forum that the team delivered new models internally in January and they’re “very good.”

Bosworth didn’t specify what the models are, though The Wall Street Journal has reported that Meta is working on a large language model and an AI image and video model code-named Avocado and Mango, respectively.