This digest compiles the latest from Apple Insider.
Today’s Apple Insider Roundup
iPhones are going to the Moon on Artemis II
NASA’s Artemis II crew launched with iPhones on its mission around the Moon, but the devices are present as personal tools rather than officially part of the spacecraft’s systems.
Artemis II, the first deep-space flight to reflect this change, sent four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby aboard Orion to validate systems for future missions. Just prior to this launch, NASA approved personal smartphones for astronauts in February 2026, ending a decades-long restriction on consumer electronics in crewed missions.
And now, iPhones are in crewmembers’ hands.
Russians lose services and apps subscriptions after Apple fined for breaking sanctions
Following Apple Ireland getting fined for paying out to Russian app developers, the company has also ceased all payment processing for the country, meaning users are cut off from buying new apps, or continuing to subscribe to Apple Music.
Arguably, if a user in Russia subscribes to a Russian developer’s app, that’s between them. But since Apple hosts such apps and takes a cut before passing earnings on to the developer, this means Apple is dealing with Russian businesses.
There’s a sufficiently grey area here that Apple Ireland — which is responsible for all non-US Apple business — told regulators about it. And those regulators decided “on the balance of probability” that Apple had broken sanctions.
Apple's brand-new M5 MacBook Air drops to record low price on Amazon
Amazon is kicking off April with steeper discounts on Apple’s brand-new M5 MacBook Air.
Save $85 on the 13-inch Air with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, bringing the price down to $1,415.50 in Silver.
Buy M5/24GB/1TB MacBook Air for $1,415
Inside 50 years of Apple with the only original employee still there
Apple has only had one person remain with the firm for its entire history. Still employee number 8, Chris Espinosa talks about staying there for half a century, and counting.
Chris Espinosa has had very many roles at Apple, ranging from System 7 marketing manager to his position today on the tvOS team. But he was hired by Steve Jobs to write programs for the Apple II computer in 1976 — when he was just 14.
“It was really, really fun, because that was the time when people were starting the entire industry from scratch,” Espinosa has now told The New York Times. “Whether computer stores or commercial software, he added, “all of these things had to be invented.”
There may be no black iPhone 18 Pro, continuing a new trend for Apple
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro will not be available in black, marking the second year in a row that buyers will have to choose a different color instead.
Apple ditched black for the iPhone 17 Pro in 2025, choosing to offer a new Cosmic Orange color alongside Silver and Deep Blue. Now, Weibo leaker Instant Digital has poured cold water on any hopes that the stealth option would return in 2026.
“It seems that the black of the iPhone 18 Pro has been cut again,” the leaker said before saying that the move was “uncomfortable.” It’s unclear whether that last word was a quirk of machine translation, but it likely matches the mood of iPhone buyers who prefer their devices to blend into the background. Something nobody could accuse the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro of doing.
Rumor Score: 🤯 Likely
Apple Fitness+ chief to retire after no wrongdoing found in bullying accusation
Jay Blahnik is to retire from Apple in July 2026, following accusations of him turning Apple Fitness+ into a toxic mental health work environment.
Blahnik and Apple were both sued over the Apple Fitness+ work environment in 2024, although the suit was not reported until August 2025. It came to light then as part of a series of accusations against Blahnik which claimed that around 10% of his 100-strong team had taken extended medical or mental health leave since 2022.
Now according to the New York Times, Blahnik is to retire from Apple in July 2026. Reportedly, Apple told employees that Blahnik is leaving “to spend more time with his family and make an exciting move to New York City.”
End of today’s Apple Insider roundup.
