Apple News News: 23 September 2025

November 17, 2025, 7:54 PM EST. Apple reportedly keeps the Mac Pro on the back burner as the Apple Silicon era reshapes the desktop lineup. The era's allure-expandability-fades: the current Apple Silicon Mac Pro lacks RAM upgrades and third-party GPUs, even with six PCIe slots, while Thunderbolt 5's 120 Gbps bandwidth supports external storage instead. For many users, a $7,000 Mac Pro is less compelling than a $4,000 Mac Studio, which already ships with an M3 Ultra-class core set and more RAM for the price. Apple's 2026 roadmap reportedly centers on M5 upgrades for laptops and a potential M5 Ultra to refresh the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio lines. Rumors also point to a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone-class chip, perhaps replacing the older M1 MacBook Air in stores.

November 17, 2025, 7:52 PM EST. DDN unveils CORE, a unified data engine designed to power the AI Factory Era by uniting HPC and AI data workflows under one intelligent fabric. At SC25, the company positions CORE as a new class of software built from EXAScaler and Infinia technologies to eliminate I/O latency and keep GPUs at full throttle. The result: higher GPU utilization, streamlined orchestration, and reduced infrastructure waste. Highlights include: Training Acceleration-up to 15× faster checkpointing and 4× faster model loading, achieving >99% GPU utilization; Inference & RAG Optimization with integrated caching and token reuse delivering faster responses at lower cost; a single end-to-end data fabric powering the AI lifecycle from simulation to retrieval-augmented generation.

November 17, 2025, 7:50 PM EST. Tesla stock (TSLA) climbed after China approved its generative AI service, xBot for use in Shanghai, signaling a stronger AI foothold beyond EVs. The voice assistant handles queries, media controls and navigation, with regulatory hurdles like data localization testing and cybersecurity inspections completed. The move also pairs Tesla with local players such as DeepSeek and ByteDance, boosting its Chinese language and voice recognition capabilities. Separately, Las Vegas police unveiled the largest fleet of Tesla Cybertrucks customized for public safety. On Wall Street, a Hold consensus remains with mixed signals from Buys and Sells, and a blended price target around $382.54 suggesting some downside risk despite recent rally.

November 17, 2025, 7:48 PM EST. Samsung Galaxy users can now memorialize their day with Nano Banana integrated into Now Brief, turning daily moments into image-based memories. By pulling a photo from the Gallery, the AI photo editing prompts reshape the image and drop it into the brief's Memories recap. In SamMobile's example, a dog selfie becomes a Polaroid-style image and even a custom mini-figure look. To enable, update the Personal Data Intelligence app and toggle Nano Banana in Now Brief's settings; rollout has begun, though prompts may not appear immediately. This AI image generation expansion on Android complements Nano Banana's presence in Google's Gemini app and Google Photos, underscoring broader AI-assisted editing for Galaxy users.

November 17, 2025, 7:46 PM EST. Bot activity is distorting social perception and challenging traditional social listening. This year, backlash to Cracker Barrel's rebrand appeared real but was largely amplified by bots, a trend PeakMetrics calls out as shaping brand narratives. As generative AI lowers the barrier to creating bot networks, inauthentic engagement is climbing while genuine sentiment gets muddled. Brands increasingly rely on narrative intelligence platforms and agencies to filter bot posts, run polls, and validate consumer signals. Even with tools, many experts urge caution: discernment between authentic comments and automated amplification remains essential. Practical tips include watching for new or oddly active accounts, usernames with numbers, and bursts of posts. Still, for many marketers, social listening alone isn't enough to understand how people truly feel.