Photo credit: MVRDV
Visitors to the Netherlands approaching the south bank of Rotterdam’s river Maas will soon meet a structure that looks more like a geological formation than anything built by human hands. Seven massive, rounded forms pile one on top of another, their surfaces broken by deep pockets, ledges, and irregular openings. Greenery will spill from those openings. Water will collect in them. Birds and insects will find shelter there. The whole arrangement rises from the edge of a new tidal park in the Waterkant district, right where a future third city bridge is planned to touch down.

MVRDV won an international competition hosted by the social organization Shift to design this €240 million Rotterdam monument, formally known as Rotterdam Rocks. Shift’s first Shift Embassy, and rather than an abstract concept, it will be a physical location where people can hang out. No less than 80 teams applied for the initial stage, with just five making the final shortlist: Heatherwick Studio, Mecanoo, Ecosistema Urbano, and Office for Political Innovation. The judges decided MVRDV’s daring proposal was a winner since it is more than just something green; it allows people to experience sustainability firsthand.

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This structure is huge to say the least, ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 square meters and including a variety of areas joined by two massive vertical blocks. Then MVRDV’s architects used a chainsaw to cut them into seven large rock-like formations, creating holes and voids that allow lighting and air to penetrate the building’s depths. They’ve managed to fit a lot of floor space into the building while keeping it fairly compact.

Each of the rock forms contains its own core cavern. Stairs, ramps, lifts, galleries, and terraces thread through various rooms, forming a continuous trail that allows visitors to traverse between enclosed and open platforms. There are numerous paths for different purposes, such as one that concentrates solely on the exhibitions, another on the hotel, and a third that goes along the outside of the building via the plant-covered terraces. At the top, there is a public viewing platform and a larger view of the main exhibition.

The Elysium exhibition, which spans 5,000 square metres, is a departure from the norm for museums. Instead of rows of panels and artifacts, they’re utilizing immersive art, storytelling, and interactive installations to show what the world might look like in the future if we all do our part to save the planet, or what happens if we don’t. The whole point is to leave visitors with some practical ideas they can apply in their daily lives, and to keep the place buzzing long after the exhibitions have closed, the Shift crew has added hotel rooms with plant-filled views, restaurants and food courts that serve both locals and visitors, and conference rooms that bring businesses and community groups together.

When it comes to environmental sustainability, the building’s exterior does the majority of the work. The surface is covered in pockmarks, nooks and crannies, channels, and ledges that are perfectly sized for soil, water retention, plant roots, and animal safety. Different corners and locations expose the building to varying levels of sunlight, shade, wind, and warmth. The designers meticulously planned these small microclimates so that appropriate plants and nesting sites might thrive in each region. Flat surfaces are ideal for sustaining larger shrubs, while vertical sides benefit from pocket plantings, and overhangs are ideal for draping plants or providing a roost for birds and bats. By doing so, the building becomes a vertical extension of the tidal park below, introducing new habitats while controlling the local temperature and managing the water.

When the building is completed, it will be put to the test in terms of construction. They plan to try these ultra low-carbon construction approaches on a large scale. That means, on the one side, they’re employing a lot of recycled steel, low-carbon concrete, and various bio-based products. On the other hand, they’re conducting all kinds of research into robotic fabrication and large-scale 3D printing, really pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Not to mention, the components are designed in such a way that if they ever need to be disassembled, they can be reused in future projects because they’re all properly documented.

To keep things running smoothly, a central monitoring system will display real-time data on power and water consumption, the number of species present, temperatures, and the performance of the materials. That way, visitors can get a great joy out of seeing all of the systems in operation, and the building is continually evolving, putting all of these abstract eco-goals into actual figures and visible, living surfaces.
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Gavin Free and Dan Gruchy of The Slow Mo Guys have spent years filling giant balloons with water and then filming the results at ridiculous speeds. Their latest outing takes the familiar setup and adds a slope. Dan, who stands six feet tall, climbs into a matching six-foot water balloon perched on a roughly five-foot ramp. Once inside, the balloon starts rolling. High-speed cameras running at 2,200 frames per second turn the brief tumble into something you can study for minutes.

The duo sets up the stage outside on a small platform with a slight inclination. The balloon is one of the larger ones they’ve used, allowing Dan to fit inside while still having some room to spare when filled with water. By the time he gets to the bottom, the water is up to his neck. Getting in is half the fun, as he wriggles one leg in the opening first, then twists and spills water over the side. Jackets are removed, and the rest is a wrestling match. When Dan gets into a low squat, the balloon appears less like a toy and more like a moist small room.

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They talk about physics as the cameras roll. The idea is that friction at the top of the slope will cause the balloon to rotate around rather than just go down the incline. The water within should also whirl around. Dan intends to stay relatively compact so that the entire thing can glide rather than tumble. However, reality tells a different story. The first run begins with a shove, and the balloon starts to roll. Dan’s body moves through the opening as water sloshes around inside. For a tiny second, it appears that one of his feet is ready to slide out, but it is dragged back in before he can react. The balloon then strikes the stones at the bottom, blowing its top. Water streams out in a heavy sheet, and Dan emerges from the ruins, coiled up tight, appearing like a baby coming from its birth canal.

The two of them laugh, and Dan rises to his feet, confused and rattled but otherwise OK and ready to try again. Later on, they experiment with other versions on the same concept. When Dan attempts to enter, they occasionally try to turn the opening upward. Sometimes they attempt adjusting it to one side so that the balloon can hold him for a little longer. One attempt really keeps him inside for the entire spin. As it turns, the water creates these cool thin sheets and foam patterns against the balloon skin. Dan describes the experience of sliding along a moving layer of water with the outer skin grasping and releasing as very wild.

One of the runs is particularly impressive, as he keeps tucked in, rides the slope all the way down, and ends up deeper down the grass than he thought. He awards it a nine out of ten for sheer entertainment value. The camera work is where they truly excel. Crammed full of shots at 2,200 frames per second, every movement and shift in weight is clearly evident. You watch the exact instant when the balloon skin releases the ghost against the earth. You can see Dan adjusting his limbs inside the whirling water. The final release occurs when the balloon either bursts or empties enough for him to spill out. The Freefly Ember camera is a beast, capturing every detail and displaying the small, split-second events in a very readable sequence on screen.

A quick, reliable guide for diagnosing the most common CarPlay connection failures.

Start with simple CarPlay troubleshooting steps

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Allow CarPlay while your phone is locked

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Troubleshoot the cable or wireless connection

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Confirm CarPlay isn’t disabled

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Re-pair your car and phone

Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images

After a three-year wait, Ted Lasso is finally returning to Apple TV+, but season four isn’t simply picking up where the last season ended. Instead, Apple is relaunching one of its biggest original series with a fresh premise, a revamped cast, and notable behind-the-scenes changes that could determine whether the Emmy-winning comedy can rediscover the charm that made it a global phenomenon.

The new season premieres on August 4, with Jason Sudeikis returning as Ted Lasso. However, this time he won’t be leading AFC Richmond’s men’s team. Instead, Ted takes charge of the Lady Greyhounds, shifting the show’s focus to women’s football while introducing several new faces to the franchise. It’s easily the biggest narrative shake-up since the series debuted in 2020.

For Apple, the stakes are higher than they appear. Ted Lasso remains one of Apple TV+’s defining originals, and a successful fourth season would reinforce the company’s ability to extend its flagship franchises without losing what made them successful in the first place.

The Lady Greyhounds become the story

Season four retains familiar characters including Ted, Rebecca, Keeley, Roy Kent and Coach Beard, but several regulars from AFC Richmond’s men’s squad are no longer part of the main cast. According to 9to5Mac, Jamie Tartt, Dani Rojas, Sam Obisanya, Isaac McAdoo and Colin Hughes will not return as series regulars, although some may make cameo appearances. The future of Nick Mohammed’s Nate Shelley also remains uncertain, with reports suggesting he could appear in some capacity.

The new women’s team brings a fresh lineup of characters, including Tanya Reynolds as assistant coach Alice Chilton, alongside players Gemma, Boots, Lizzie, Niamh and Siobhan. Rather than simply continuing AFC Richmond’s story, Apple appears to be using the new team to reset the series while keeping its familiar emotional core intact.

It’s a sensible move. Extending a beloved series without changing anything often leads to diminishing returns, particularly after a divisive third season. By introducing a new squad instead of recycling old storylines, Ted Lasso has a chance to evolve while remaining recognizably itself.

Apple has also changed what happens behind the camera

The creative overhaul extends beyond the cast. During the first two seasons, Bill Lawrence played a central role in shaping Ted Lasso alongside Jason Sudeikis. His involvement was significantly reduced during season three, a change many critics and fans linked to the show’s uneven storytelling.

For season four, Apple has brought in veteran television producer Jack Burditt, whose credits include 30 Rock and Modern Family, to work alongside Sudeikis. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Burditt helped oversee production and the writers’ room while Sudeikis continued leading the show’s creative vision. Early reactions suggest the partnership may have restored some of the focus that viewers felt was missing in the previous season.

Ultimately, Ted Lasso doesn’t need to reinvent television. It simply needs to remind audiences why they fell in love with its optimism, humor, and emotional storytelling in the first place. Apple has changed both the players on the pitch and some of the people calling the shots behind the scenes. Whether those changes deliver another championship-worthy season will become clear when the series returns next week.

Before iCloud became the backbone of the Apple ecosystem, it spent more than a decade evolving through three distinct services: iTools, .Mac, and MobileMe.

If you’ve got an iPhone, you’ve got an iCloud account. Sure, you might only have the base account, but you’re still signed up for it.

And for most of us, we probably actively engage with iCloud to some degree. After all, iCloud is what Apple uses to store your Messages, Photos, Notes, Contacts, and software backups, and it powers Find My.

But how did Apple get here? While iCloud launched in late 2011, Apple actually began taking its first big steps into subscriptions as a service, or SaaS, eleven years prior.

So here’s the story of how iCloud became iCloud, and the shoulders of the three prior giants it stood upon.

The year was 2000, and Apple was looking for ways to convert Windows users to loyal Mac fanatics. And what is one of the best ways to lure people in?

That’s right: free stuff.

On January 5, Apple launched iTools. It was a collection of services available to those who were using Mac OS 9.

The first was iCards, which was electronic greeting card software. It lets you create greeting cards that you could send via email to friends and family.

It may not sound like it, but this was pretty big. In the early 2000s, sending greeting cards via email was a huge deal.

Image credit: BasicAppleGuy on Threads

It also included iReview, which gave dedicated reviews of internet content. Unfortunately for iReview, it would be the first of the iTools products to go under; it was cancelled in 2001 after failing to attract traffic.

KidSafe was essentially Apple’s take on Bess or Net Nanny, services that would only allow children to visit pre-approved “safe” websites. KidSafe was discontinued in mid-2001, one month after iReview was killed off.

HomePage was another offering, and allowed users to create a personal website without any sort of backend coding. Even more interesting, as Phil Schiller pointed out in 2000, it was available for free.

HomePage gave users templates, free images, and allowed for drag-and-drop customization. It also featured integration with Apple’s iDisk.

And if you’re curious about iDisk, it was yet another iTool. Effectively, iDisk walked so iCloud could run.

Users were granted 20MB of free personal internet storage, but they were able to purchase up to 400MB as part of an annual subscription. If you wanted that whole 400MB of storage, you’d need to fork over $400.

Those with a HomePage could use a file sharing template to publish the contents of an iDisk folder to the web, enabling sharing with anyone who came across your HomePage.

And last but not least, we had mac.com. While it certainly sounds like it was a place to buy a Macintosh computer, it actually was an email hosting account.

Users who utilized mac.com addresses got an @mac.com email address. Not only was it a great way to show your allegiance in the PC-Mac battle, but it worked as free advertising for Apple, too.

And then there was .Mac

iTools existed, more or less, in its initial state, for a little over two years. However, when July 2002 rolled around, Apple rebranded it to .Mac.

This brought a lot of changes, but perhaps the most significant was that it was no longer free. As you could imagine, that didn’t go over particularly well.

The service offered a few new features to make up for its sudden price tag. Notably, Backup launched with the service, allowing users to archive their data to iDisk, CD, or DVD.

Users also got McAfee Vriex, an antivirus program, for free. Well, it was free until 2005, at least.

In 2007, .Mac got a few notable upgrades.

The first was that anyone who had a .Mac account got 10GB of “free” storage that could be split between their email account and iDisk. Users had the option to purchase additional storage up to 30GB.

Finally, and fatally, MobileMe

MobileMe wouldn’t launch until 2008, when Apple acquired me.com. MobileMe would lay the groundwork for the deep ecosystem integration that we know and love about Apple products today.

“Think of MobileMe as ‘Exchange for the rest of us,’” then-CEO Steve Jobs said.

“Now users who are not part of an enterprise that runs Exchange can get the same push email, push calendars and push contacts that the big guys get.”

And then there was MobileMe

At launch, MobileMe allowed users to sync emails, folders, and messages across platforms, the way that iCloud does now. And, it even allowed you to check many of these apps from the web.

Users could still choose to create a @mac.com email address, or if they wanted, one emblazoned with @me.com.

At this point, Apple was still charging for the service. The base MobileMe platform cost $99 per year and came with 20GB of storage. Users could also upgrade to a “Family Pack” for $149 per year, which included one master account with 20GB of storage and four Family Member accounts with 5GB of storage each.

MobileMe also saw the launch of Find My iPhone in 2009. This precursor to Find My allowed users to use the web to locate a missing iPhone on a map, play a sound, change the password, or remotely erase content.

MobileMe survived for four years after launch, eventually being discontinued on June 30, 2012. Apple had announced iCloud in 2011, so it didn’t exactly come as a surprise, but many users were sad to see it go.

iCloud

As stated above, iCloud was announced in October 2011. Jobs made the announcement at WWDC 11, saying that it would replace MobileMe, which had been considered a failure.

Unlike MobileMe, iCloud would launch as a free service as part of iOS 5 and OS X Lion. No longer would users be expected to fork over at least $100 a year.

“iCloud is the easiest way to manage your content, because iCloud does it all for you and goes far beyond anything available today,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.

Apple’s Eddy Cue was instrumental in helping to launch iCloud

“You don’t have to think about syncing your devices, because it happens automatically, and it is free.”

This alone ensured that people would use the service. But it also refined features that its predecessors never seemed to get right.

Photo Stream, which would eventually get rolled into Photos, allowed users to take a picture on iPhone and see it on other devices, including Apple TV. Documents in the Cloud gave users an easy way to manage, edit, and save iWork documents across all devices.

iTunes in the Cloud allowed users to download new music purchases to all devices, meaning users could purchase music on their Mac and find it on their iPhone later.

Other features introduced included Find my Friends and improved cross-device management of Contacts, calendar, and Mail.

It may have taken eleven years to get to iCloud, but it’s interesting to see how Apple got there in the end. And, it’s just as impressive that Apple’s managed to expand upon iCloud in the nearly 15 years after its launch.

When they’re not discharging sewage into rivers and the sea, or failing to fix leaks, the water companies seem poised to launch a hosepipe ban. To be fair, it’s been an extremely hot and dry summer for most of the country.

If you’re one of the millions of affected households, then you don’t have to sit back and watch your garden die, as there are some legal ways to keep your plants fresh and watered.

For this article, I’m focusing on established gardens; most water companies allow hosepipe watering of food crops and new plants and lawns under certain conditions. For example, Thames Water has this rule for new lawns and plants: “You can only use a hose or sprinkler if the laying, sowing or planting was completed by a business as a service. In this case, hose use is allowed for the first 28 days from the day of planting, sowing or turf laying. The hosepipe must only be used on the new planting, and not elsewhere.”

Of course, before you do anything, it’s worth checking with your specific water company if an activity is allowed or not.

Drip watering system

You can’t spray wildly, but drip irrigation systems, such as those sold by Hozelock, are typically allowed during most hosepipe bans. Rather than spraying water, these systems drip water exactly where it’s needed. Even outside of a hosepipe ban, these systems are more efficient and will save you money.

You’ll need to check compatibility with your water company, but to stay compliant with a hosepipe ban, most systems need to have a pressure-reducing valve and a timer. Be careful of the adaptors that you use: you can’t use ones that use a jet or mist, and the system must drip water directly onto or beneath the surface.

You’ll also need a timer, which can be a smart one, such as the Eve Aqua.

Use a cordless pressure washer with a water butt

In most hosepipe ban areas, you can still use buckets and watering cans for the garden, but this can be a faff. However, if you have a water butt, then a cordless pressure washer could help make the job easier.

Provided your cordless pressure washer, such as the Stihl RCA 20, can work with alternative water sources, such as water butts, you can use this to draw the water directly out, and spray it where you want.

With the RCA 20, the end of the hose can be dropped into a water butt, with a filter used to prevent any bits of debris being sucked up.

As you haven’t connected the pressure washer to the mains water, you’re not breaking any rules. Just remember, you can’t use mains water to top up your water source, and have to rely on either rain water or grey water harvesting.

Turn down the pressure, so that you’re lightly sprinkling water, rather than jetting it out, and target the roots of your plants to make the most of this method.

Securities firm Rosenblatt is still bearish on Apple’s future, seeing short term supply problems as well as difficulties matching the iPhone 17 range’s success. Just the same, it has raised its price target to a still-underwater $300.

Following Apple’s latest earnings call, the company’s shares took their usual inexplicable dip, but investment and securities firms are looking further ahead. Rosenblatt, which remains amongst the most bearish on Apple, has told investors that it is raising its price target by $24 to $300.

In an note to investors seen by AppleInsider, the company says that it has decided to do this by focusing on how it believes Apple will be faring in a year’s time. Even then, it says the reason for only raising the target by what it calls a modest amount, is down to the volatile financial environment.

That includes economic factors that affect all firms, such as tariffs and inflation. But with Apple, it notes what Tim Cook has said about supply constraints across the company’s product ranges.

Beyond that, Rosenblatt also believes that Apple is going to have difficulty with the iPhone 18 range simply because the iPhone 17 range was such a huge success. Calling it a big test, the company speculates that Apple will have a tough comparison as it tries to continue growing.

As a result of that, the securities firm thinks that iPhone sales will slow substantially. It also says that European Union-drive legislation and regulation could decrease Apple’s value.

All of this means that Rosenblatt has raised its target price but kept a neutral rating for the company. Even as it does so, though, it notes that there is a possibility that the new Apple Intelligence will drive more sales than it expects.

JP Morgan, has been bullish overall, and has the same short term questions. But that investment firm trimmed its Apple price target to $340 after earnings.

They’re above water, at least. Apple stock got hammered after earnings, falling to $307.80 on Thursday, despite record-breaking results again.

AAPL has been on a tear as of late. It’s been above $300 since July 2. It touched the $5 trillion valuation mark on on July 28.

Separately, in April 2026, Rosenblatt was one of the analyst firms praising the appointment of John Ternus as the new Apple CEO. It described that as Apple continuing what already works, but also “leaning into its hardware successes.”

Following price hikes across the rest of Apple’s product lineup, one analyst believes that the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro could be hit with a massive $300 increase, a bump that might not be out of the question considering other recent price changes.

Apple increased the price of its Macs, iPads, and other products in June 2025 as a result of increasing RAM and storage costs. Some Mac models saw four-digit price hikes, although the iPhone lineup was left unscathed.

That has long been rumored to change when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro models launch this fall. A report from July 2026 hinted that a price increase of up to 10% was in the cards.

But analyst Jeff Pu has blown that prediction out of the water. According to a post on the X social network, Pu believes iPhone 18 Pro buyers could pay $250 to $300 more than the iPhone 17 Pro price at debut in 2026.

If Pu turns out to be right, the iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,399. Buyers of the iPhone 18 Pro Max could expect to fork out at least $1,499 for their new handset.

Simply passing on the costs

While some will no doubt accuse Apple of increasing prices to boost its balance sheet, Pu doesn’t expect that to be the case. He cites the increased costs of components like RAM and NAND storage as key reasons behind the price increase.

The use of TSMC’s 2nm manufacturing process for the iPhone 18 Pro’s A20-series chip is also thought to be a factor in the price bump.

Pu believes that while recent Apple earnings show the iPhone to still be a key driver of growth, iPhone 18 Pro demand could be hampered by the price increases.

However, it’s also important to remember that Pu’s track record is far from impeccable, with plenty of misses in recent years. While a price increase seems likely, $300 is more than has been previously rumored.

Dire expectations

Price hikes on the iPhone 18 Pro versus the iPhone 17 Pro are inevitable. It’s just a question of how much.

Pu isn’t the only one to have dire pricing concerns. Analysts at Counterpoint Research suggested the iPhone 18 Pro Max could cost on average $200 more than its predecessor.

While not quite the same, we can use Apple’s previous price increases as a guide. The 11-inch iPad Pro increased from $999 to $1,099, a $100 bump. But the 13-inch iPad Pro saw a $200 price increase to $1,499.

With that in mind, maybe a $250-$300 iPhone price increase isn’t out of the question after all.

Those hoping for a silver lining should note that the 13-inch iPad Pro saw a 15% price increase. A $300 price hike on the iPhone 18 Pro Max would represent a 25% increase depending on the storage configuration.

There’s even more promising news to be found in a July 2026 report that Apple has sought to lessen the impact of increasing costs. It was reported that Apple had pushed display manufacturers for lower prices in an attempt to offset the higher costs of RAM and storage.

The Apple Upgrade program has been revealed, so it’s time to discuss what leasing your Apple products actually means. Plus, your hosts discuss Apple’s plan to combat the chip shortage on the AppleInsider Podcast.

Apple Upgrade is no longer a rumor and the details match up with what was expected. While Apple won’t be remotely locking iPhones when people miss payments, the lease terms are straightforward about where fees might appear.

AI-driven RAM shortages have pushed Apple to look to Chinese suppliers for China-made products. However, the US government isn’t excited by the prospect and expect it’ll create a slippery slope to more problems in the future.

Your hosts also discuss how Apple might handle smart glasses and privacy. Plus, they share more thoughts on Home Hub, Apple TV, and a new game called Character Limit.

BONUS: Subscribe via Patreon or Apple Podcasts to hear AppleInsider+, the extended edition. This time, it’s the near future and your hosts have been chosen to decide how Apple needs to be broken up to comply with government regulation.

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