Another big day for Apple

Apple is going all-in on smart home with its latest batch of announcements. From a hub that controls it all to individual devices made in partnership with LG, there's a lot of be excited about for Apple fans.

Here's a look at the latest from Apple:

• Apple 'Welcome home' event LIVE — HomeView, Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini 2 unveiled — all the news, prices and release dates
• I saw Apple's HomeView early — 7 things you need to know about the new smart home display
• Apple's new TV 4K finally lets you find your lost remote — but that's not the biggest upgrade
• Apple's new Home Collection includes a smart lock that opens when you walk up — no tapping required

Apple takes a bigger slice of a shrinking smartphone market

According to new research from Counterpoint, the smartphone market has declined 20% YoY in the third quarter of 2026. It also reached its lowest Q3 level in 14 years due in large part, to the memory shortages that many OEMs are experiencing right now.

While Samsung continues to lead the market share with 23%, Apple is snapping at its heels. Apple's market share crossed 20% for the first time in any Q3, despite a YoY decline in its own shipments. That decline, however, could be influenced by the decision not to release the entry-level iPhone 18 in September in favor of the Pro and Duo models.

Poll time: What feature do you actually look for in earbuds or headphones?

Call us cynical, but our reviews team here at Tom's Guide have been pondering how much the specs touted by new earbud and headphone models actually match up with what customers want.

So we'd love to know, when you're buying, what's most important to you? Let us know in the poll below.

When you vote in the poll above you should see the current results, if you're as curious about what others think as we are. Hint: at the time of writing, the deciding factor wasn't more AI features.

We've posed the same question to our Reddit community, and will be drawing on the results of our polling in an article coming soon. Stay tuned...