This week on AI: Lightning crashes, Apple gears iPhones against searches, iOS 12's speed put to the test & more

By Roger Fingas

Popular stories this week included hints of Lightning being replaced with USB-C, iOS 12 features designed to block searches, and the real-world speed of the OS on older Apple devices.

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This week's top stories:

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Other hot stories this week:

Cheaper 6.1-inch LCD 2018 iPhone expected to be Apple's most popular modelApple Maps recovers from multi-hour partial service outage affecting search & directionsApple, Oprah Winfrey sign multi-year deal for TV programmingApple looking beyond just TV with push for animated feature filmReview: HomeKit compatible First Alert Onelink Safe & Sound smoke detector more than it appearsApple versus Samsung smartphone patent trial not over, $533M jury ruling contestedHere's 12 of the best Apple-related gifts for Father's DayApple's watchOS 5 beta returns following buggy initial releaseVideo: Hands on with the new ARKit Measure app in iOS 12HomeKit support for third-party remote controls coming in iOS 12 and tvOS 12Apple disallows developers from collecting and sharing Contacts dataHands on: Netgear Cable Orbi modem & mesh Wi-Fi routerValve not giving up, rolls out new Steam Link beta for iOS, Apple TVHere are all the receivers and speakers that are getting AirPlay 2Grayshift claims it defeated Apple's forthcoming 'USB Restricted Mode' security featureApple's TV app enables live sports, news coverage in CanadaAT&T completes $85B acquisition of Time WarnerVideo: Here are over 150 new features and changes in iOS 12 for iPhone and iPad