New HomePod! New public betas! New iPhone 16 Pro leaks! (CultCast #656)

This week, there’s a BRAND NEW HOMEPOD — is it too good to be true? Yes. Also, more iPhone 16 Pro leaks, public betas are out, and an all-new Under Review!

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This week’s stories:

HomePod mini goes to the dark side

• Apple replaced the Space Gray color of the HomePod mini smart speaker with a new Midnight color.

How to download the iOS 18 Public Beta

• Public betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia and watchOS 11 are now out.

iOS 18’s Photos app will help recover corrupted pictures and videos

• iOS 18’s redesigned Photos app will gain a Recovered album to help you restore damaged photos or videos. It will show up when the app detects corrupted media not in your photo library.

Rumor: iPhone 16 Pro to use iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x telephoto camera

• The upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will seemingly use the same 5x tetraprism camera as the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple takes back title as world’s most valuable company

• With a market capitalization above $3.6 trillion, Apple regained the title of world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

Under Review: OWC Thunderbay 4

• The ThunderBay 4 by Otherworld Computing is the best option if you want modular, high-speed external storage.