This Week's Tech News - Phones, AI and Laptops (August 2026)
Hey everyone! Let's talk about what happened in tech this week. There's a lot going on, so let's get straight into it.
Apple's Event Is Coming - September 9
The biggest news first. Apple has confirmed its iPhone event will happen on September 9. This event is extra special because Apple is launching its first-ever foldable iPhone — people are calling it the "iPhone Ultra" based on leaks, but that name isn't official yet.
There's also a confirmed piece of news before the event: Apple is getting a new CEO. Tim Cook finishes his time as CEO on August 31, and starting September 1, John Ternus (who was previously in charge of Hardware Engineering) becomes the new CEO. Apple announced this themselves back in April, so this one is fact, not a rumor.
Now let's talk about the phone itself. Everything below is still just leaks — Apple hasn't officially confirmed any of it, so we'll only know for sure on September 9:
The screen will be a bit bigger (6.9 inches), and the Dynamic Island will get smaller
A new chip is coming, the A20 Pro, which should be faster and better on battery
A big camera upgrade — both zoom and photo quality are expected to improve
Battery size should go up a little too
A new color is coming too, called "Dark Cherry"
One interesting thing is that the regular iPhone 18 won't launch this time (this is also just a rumor for now) — it'll come next year instead. So this event will be all about the Pro models and the foldable phone.
If you need a phone right now and don't want to wait, picking up the older iPhone 17 Pro Max at a discount isn't a bad idea either.
Samsung Launched a New Phone Too
Samsung has launched its Galaxy S26 FE. This is their "value for money" flagship — a good screen, a big battery (4900mAh), and fast charging. Basically for people who want a flagship-like experience without paying full flagship price.
OpenAI Built Its Own Chip - And Took On Nvidia
Now for the AI news, and this one's big. OpenAI has built its own chip, called Jalapeño. They're claiming it performs better than Nvidia's strongest chips — doing more work using less power, and responding faster.
In simple words: right now, almost every AI company depends on Nvidia's chips, and those chips are expensive. OpenAI is basically saying, "we'll build our own chip, cheaper and faster." This chip was built together with Broadcom, and OpenAI plans to start using it in their own systems by the end of this year.
One important thing to know here — OpenAI compared this to Nvidia's current GB300 chip, not Nvidia's next chip, which hasn't even launched yet. So some experts say this is a real problem for Nvidia, and others say the comparison was a bit unfair. But one thing is clear — big AI companies want to depend less on Nvidia going forward.
This same week, Meta also released a new AI model called Glimmer, for free, that anyone can download and run on their own computer. Zuckerberg said AI shouldn't be limited to a few big companies — it should be available to everyone.
One more important thing — the EU AI Act in Europe isn't just a plan on paper anymore, it's actually being enforced now. This means big AI models will now have to follow the rules, or they could face action.
AI Is Showing Up in Laptops Too
Laptop companies aren't sitting quiet either. Acer launched a new AI-focused laptop, and Asus updated its gaming laptops with better performance and cooling.
Basically, "AI" has become a selling point in almost every new laptop now — whether it's for photo editing, video editing, or helping with code. Companies want all of this to happen right there on the device, without needing the internet or the cloud.
Quick Summary
The biggest theme this week is that AI has moved beyond just apps — it's now reaching hardware too, with chip-making companies building their own AI-specific chips. And Apple's event on September 9 is shaping up to be the biggest tech moment of the year.
If you want a deeper look at any one of these topics, drop a comment — we'll make the next post about it!
— Digital Dost
