Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Techpresso.
In today's Techpresso:
📱 iOS 26 leak reveals multiple unreleased Apple products
🏦 PayPal applies to become a bank
🚗 Ford pivots from EVs to hybrids and energy storage
📉 The AI chip shortage could raise smartphone prices
🛑 US halts £31 billion tech deal with UK
🤖 US government launches ‘Tech Force’ to hire AI talent
🎁 + 15 other news you might like
🧰 + 3 trending tools
📚 + 3 trending papers
📱 iOS 26 leak reveals multiple unreleased Apple products LINK
A filesystem dump from an unreleased iOS 26 build lists internal identifiers for the V159 iPhone 17e, the V62 iPhone Air 2, and the long-rumored V68 iPhone Fold.
The code also explicitly references a B589 AirTag 2, two new J427 and J527 Studio Displays, and separate J490 and J491 versions of the upcoming Apple Home Hub.
Wearable findings include an N109 Vision Pro successor, an N100 lightweight headset, and N401 smart glasses alongside codes for the Apple Watch Ultra 4 and Series 11.
🏦 PayPal applies to become a bank LINK
PayPal officially filed an application with the FDIC and Utah regulators to launch PayPal Bank, a move enabling the payments company to directly offer loans to small businesses across the U.S.
The owner of popular app Venmo also hopes to provide interest-bearing savings accounts as it tries to expand its roster of services to compete against a growing number of fintech companies.
While shares rose 1.5% after the announcement, the stock has slumped about 29% in 2025 even though quarterly revenue recently increased to $8.42 billion, which was more than analysts had expected.
🚗 Ford pivots from EVs to hybrids and energy storage LINK
Ford is ending production of the fully-electric F-150 Lightning and canceling the T3 truck as it shifts focus to extended range electric vehicles and an entirely new energy storage business.
The replacement model adds a gas generator that can recharge the battery pack to power the motors, enabling the system to run for over 700 miles without needing to stop.
A skunkworks program led by former Tesla executives will still release a mid-sized all-electric pickup in 2027, even as the automaker confirms it is abandoning plans for a next-generation commercial van.
📉 The AI chip shortage could raise smartphone prices LINK
A shortage of DRAM and NAND flash memory driven by renewed AI server demand is raising component costs, causing Counterpoint Research to predict that global smartphone shipments will drop in 2026.
Manufacturers of budget phones under $200 are seeing bill of materials costs jump by nearly 30%, meaning Android vendors might cut camera specs or consolidate their model lineups to survive.
Apple is positioned to weather the pricing shock better than rivals because it secures long-term supply deals for components and can offset its lower projected volume with higher average selling prices.
🛑 US halts £31 billion tech deal with UK LINK
The Trump administration has frozen a £31 billion tech prosperity deal with the UK government because negotiators failed to resolve disagreements over a digital services tax and restrictive food safety rules.
This paused agreement included £22 billion from Microsoft and £5 billion from Google to support infrastructure and create a new AI growth zone in the north-east of England for 5,000 jobs.
Tensions center on a 2% levy applied to the revenues of large technology companies like Amazon which raises around £800 million a year and Washington argues unfairly targets American firms.
🤖 US government launches ‘Tech Force’ to hire AI talent LINK
The Trump administration is launching a new US Tech Force program to recruit 1,000 early career software engineers and AI experts for two-year roles to modernize systems across the federal government.
This two-year initiative partners with tech companies like Microsoft and xAI to provide mentorship while offering salaries between $130,000 and $195,000 to attract skilled workers directly from the private sector.
Hires will tackle projects determined by agency leadership, such as incorporating AI into drones at the Department of Defense and building out the Trump Accounts platform at the Internal Revenue Service.
Other news you might like
- Google’s ‘dark web report’ feature will no longer be available starting in FebruaryLINK
- 'Slop' is Merriam-Webster's word of the yearLINK
- NVIDIA Acquires Open-Source Workload Management Provider SchedMDLINK
- Databricks raises $4B at $134B valuation as its AI business heats upLINK
- Lidar-maker Luminar files for bankruptcyLINK
- SoundCloud discloses data breach incident impacting 20% of usersLINK
- Disney’s OpenAI deal is exclusive for just one year — then it’s open seasonLINK
- Tesla robotaxis spotted on public roads without safety monitorsLINK
- Mozilla’s new CEO is doubling down on an AI future for FirefoxLINK
- Adobe Firefly now supports prompt-based video editing, adds more third-party modelsLINK
- CoreWeave’s Staggering Fall From Market Grace Highlights AI Bubble FearsLINK
- Oh look, yet another Starship clone has popped up in ChinaLINK
- Salesforce willing to lose money on AI agent licenses when customers are locked inLINK
🧰 Trending tools
xPrivo: open-source AI assistant that keeps conversations private by storing chats locally on your device instead of sending data to external servers.LINK
Splats renderer in Metal: renders 100 million Gaussian splats using Metal and Swift to visualize large-scale 3D scenes on Apple Silicon hardware.LINK
PasteClean: desktop app that automatically removes tracking parameters and unwraps shortened URLs from links copied to your clipboard in real-time.LINK
📚 Trending papers & reports
# Brain drain patterns tracked across decades:
researchers found that 25% of US-trained scientists emigrate permanently, with rates varying dramatically by field and home country origin.LINK
Eyelid angle measurement improves drowsy driver detection: researchers created a metric that tracks eyelid position more reliably than existing methods, improving drowsiness detection accuracy.LINK
Messaging apps leak location data through phone numbers: researchers showed WhatsApp and Signal reveal when users change countries by monitoring how phone numbers get reassigned to new people.LINK
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