Apple has officially announced its conference call to review third fiscal quarter 2026 earnings results and provide key business updates. The event is scheduled for Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Investors, analysts, and tech enthusiasts can join the live webcast directly via Apple’s Investor Relations page: https://www.apple.com/investor/earnings-call/. The stream is optimized for Apple devices using Safari, with support for recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, or Edge on other platforms. A replay will typically be available afterward for those who can’t attend live.

Why This Call Matters

Apple’s fiscal third quarter (ended June 2026) follows a strong fiscal second quarter, where the company reported revenue of $111.18 billion (up 17% year-over-year) and beat earnings expectations. Guidance for the current period pointed to continued double-digit revenue growth, driven by robust demand for iPhones, Macs, and Services, despite ongoing supply constraints related to memory and other components.

Key topics likely to feature on the July 30th call include:

• Performance across product categories: Updates on iPhone, Mac, iPad, Wearables, and the fast-growing Services segment.

• Forward guidance: Outlook for the September quarter, including any commentary on tariffs, supply chain dynamics, and macroeconomic factors.

• Leadership transition notes: With Tim Cook transitioning to Executive Chairman in September and John Ternus stepping into the CEO role, analysts will watch for insights on strategic continuity.

• Capital returns: Details on share buybacks, dividends, and overall capital allocation strategy.

Background and Recent Momentum

Apple has delivered consistent growth in recent quarters, with record revenues in several periods amid strong product reception (including the iPhone 17 family). The company continues to navigate global challenges like tariffs and component costs while investing heavily in AI features, custom silicon, and ecosystem expansion.

This earnings call comes at a pivotal time for the company and its shareholders, as Wall Street closely monitors Apple’s ability to sustain momentum in a competitive and rapidly evolving tech landscape.
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MacDailyNews Take: Mark your calendars — whether you’re tracking AAPL stock performance, interested in product strategy, or simply following one of the world’s most valuable companies, the July 30th call promises valuable insights. As usual, we’ll provide live notes during the conference call on July 30th.

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In Nasdaq trading today, shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose $2.83 to $316.22 to hit a new all-time closing high. Apple’s all-time intraday high was set on June 8, 2026 at $317.40.

Apple’s 52-week low stands at $201.50.

Today’s trading volume for AAPL shares was 35,125,804 versus Apple’s average trading volume of 54,441,152 shares.

Apple’s PE Ratio currently stands at 38.26.

Apple currently has a market value of $4.644 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable company.

The top five U.S. publicly-traded companies, based on market value:

NVIDIA (NVDA) – $4.912T
Apple (AAPL) – $4.644T
Alphabet (GOOGL) – $4.379T
Microsoft (MSFT) – $2.855T
Amazon (AMZN) – $2.657T

Selected companies’ current market values:

• Taiwan Semi (TSM): $2.268T
• Meta Platforms (META): $1.606T
• Tesla (TSLA): $1.527T
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A): $1.069T
• Walmart (WMT): $892.976B
• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): $891.482B
• Intel (INTC): $565.626B
• Cisco (CSCO): $ 466.311B
• Netflix (NFLX): $317.789B
• IBM (IBM): $277.435B
• Dell (DELL): $290.687B
• Disney (DIS): $167.000B
• Sony (SONY): $122.869B
• Adobe (ADBE): $88.503B
• Spotify (SPOT): $99.929B
• SoftBank (SFTBF): $208.581B
• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ): $22.067B
• Nokia (NOK): $72.043B
• SiriusXM (SIRI): $10.331B
• BlackBerry (BB): $6.699B
• Sonos (SONO): $1.677B
• Liquidmetal (LQMT): $177.036M
• RealNetworks (RNWK) was delisted from U.S. exchanges on December 21, 2022 and is no longer publicly traded.

Apple all-time high (AAPL) via NASDAQ here.

MacDailyNews Take: Onward and upward, Cupertino soldiers! Hope you guys got even richer these past couple of weeks!

The current $AAPL overreaction has us salivating! Can we have sub-$270, pretty please?#BackingUpTheTruck

— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) June 25, 2026

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Update July 9, 3:28 p.m. ET: As Aaron Perris noted on X, Apple has resumed signing the iOS versions listed in this article. As a result, owners of the affected legacy iPhone and iPad models can once again restore to those software versions, most of which are the latest releases compatible with their respective devices. The original story follows below.

iPhone and iPad users hanging on to older devices will no longer be able to restore or downgrade to several older iOS versions starting today. Here are the details.

Cook’s letter is cogent and clear, and well worth reading in full today. But when you do, you can see why Apple no longer hosts a copy:

A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that
when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re
the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience
shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.

Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great
products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or
web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize”
the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we
don’t read your email or your messages to get information to
market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our
devices better. Plain and simple.

One very small part of our business does serve advertisers, and
that’s iAd. We built an advertising network because some app
developers depend on that business model, and we want to support
them as well as a free iTunes Radio service. iAd sticks to the
same privacy policy that applies to every other Apple product. It
doesn’t get data from Health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage,
your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail,
and you can always just opt out altogether.

Some of this remains true, but has lost some truthiness — and truthiness matters. But some of it is no longer true, period. It’s no longer just “one small part” of Apple’s business that serves advertisers. Here in 2026, search results in the App Store not only show paid ads — frequently for casinos — but the search results are visually dominated by paid ads now that Apple has added a second ad to results. Apple News+ is a paid subscription that offers a genuinely great value for the number of paywalled publishers whose content it includes, but articles on the News app tend to include the weirdest AI-generated ads on the Internet. (How many young blond women am I supposed to believe need hearing aids?) And — at this writing, still “coming soon” — Apple is launching ads on Apple Maps. Apple Maps remains free of charge to use, so according to Tim Cook, we’re not the customer. We’re the product. Or, if you prefer, our frustration is the product.

I thought to revisit Cook’s 2014 “you’re not the customer, you’re the product” letter today in light of Meta’s new policy of defaulting Instagram users into having their personal content serve as grist for AI-generated content created by other users. The New York Times described Meta’s on-by-default policy as “surprising”; I say it’s not surprising at all. Meta has never shown any respect for its users’ privacy, and when they’ve claimed to, everyone knew it was a sham. They no longer show any respect for their own engineers’ privacy for chrissake.

But Apple? Apple meant it. And I think they still do. But I think they’re lost in the weeds on two fronts:

Squeezing out every extra cent of Services revenue they can.
Satisfied in their own deep knowledge of how their systems are designed to safeguard users’ privacy and personal data.

Issue #1 is self-explanatory. The ratio of ads to organic results in App Store search — especially when measured in screen area — is clearly not aligned with Cook’s 2014 statement that “Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.” Obviously not. The design of App Store search today is to generate more revenue for Apple. That’s not criminal, but it’s a change.

Issue #2 is more subtle. Apple really does have a religious fervor for privacy. Consider ads for Maps. It hasn’t shipped yet but Apple states, “Run ads in a privacy-first environment that respects your customers, who already trust Maps. No tracking — just helpful discovery.” I’m quite sure that’s all completely true. I just wrote last week about how Apple has never had to deal with “geofence warrants” for its location services because Apple has never kept personally-identifiable usage data for location. They not only don’t give advertisers — or law enforcement — your location data, but can’t, because they don’t collect it and never did.

So let’s just concede that the upcoming ads in Apple Maps are completely private. How many users are going to believe that? Or assume it? I think very few. People see ads and they think “I’m being tracked.” When Apple starts showing ads in Maps, many — perhaps most — users are going to think they’re being tracked by Apple and their location “is being sold” to advertisers.

It’s not true. Apple knows it’s not true, because they built and control all of the systems involved. Apple is very proud that this is true, and they should be. It’s a good thing and it really is an important institutional value at the company. It’s a religious fervor. On this particular issue Apple really is set apart from its peer-sized companies in technology.

But that’s not what the general population believes. The general population thinks of “Big Tech” as a single, almost unified, hegemony. A lot of “Apple users” only use one Apple platform, the iPhone, and if they own another Apple product or two they’re iPhone peripherals like AirPods and Apple Watch. If they believe Apple is ethically better with regard to privacy (or anything else) than other companies, it’s only a little better. Most people have no idea whatsoever how anything Apple sells actually works. It’s all magic. That’s why a majority of adults believe that apps on their devices surreptitiously listen to and record real-world conversations in order to show them eerily-accurate targeted ads. Apple has actually done a lot of hard engineering and design work to guarantee that software on your devices can’t surreptitiously listen to you. But most people don’t know that and wouldn’t understand it if it were explained to them. All they know is that they were talking about Frisbees the other day, after having not uttering the word “Frisbee” in years, and now they’re seeing ads for flying discs in Instagram — and the only explanation that makes any sense to them is that their phone “listens” and betrays their privacy.

What gave Tim Cook’s privacy letter heft in 2014 wasn’t just the clarity of its plain language, but the fact that you didn’t have to take his word for it that the ads Apple showed you respected your privacy, because Apple didn’t show you ads in 2014.1 Apple today can’t say that. Apple can prove to itself, and to technically sophisticated outsiders who are willing to listen, that it can serve ads — even in Maps — in privacy-protecting ways. But the only way they can prove to most people that they’re not betraying the privacy of their location data or app usage is not to sell such ads in first place. Seeing is believing, and when people see ads in their maps app, they believe they’re being tracked.

John Ternus should return Apple’s privacy policy to its 2014 clarity. The trust Apple would earn from such a move would far out-value whatever revenue these ads pad to their already hefty and ever-increasing quarterly Services numbers. “The companies that offer you services free-of-charge to show you ads are betraying your privacy and disrespecting your attention” is a powerful marketing message that only one major tech company used to be able to credibly make. That’s always been a resonant message, but never more so than today, in the age of AI. Ternus should make the slight course correction needed so that Apple can hammer that message once again.

The genius — cynical genius, perhaps, but genius — part of Apple’s privacy stance regarding advertising is that they’ve made veritable mountains of profit through the traffic acquisition cost partnership with Google for web search traffic originating from Safari. That deal made Apple one of the most profitable companies in the highly lucrative Internet advertising industry without themselves needing to sell or display a single ad. Apple’s hands are clean from that deal except for whatever germs they pick up counting the $20+ billion in cash that Google trucks over from Mountain View to Cupertino every year. The ads Apple shows in the App Store and (soon) in Maps will dirty their reputation while generating far, far less money than they continue to rake from the Google/Safari deal, which deal leaves Apple’s reputation unsullied. ↩︎

Apple TV is set to dominate San Diego Comic-Con International this year, marking its first-ever appearance in the prestigious Hall H with a star-studded two-hour panel on Saturday, July 25 at 2:00 PM.

According to an exclusive report from Deadline, the streaming service will showcase a powerhouse lineup including the Emmy-nominated hit series Widow’s Bay, the Mattel-inspired action film Matchbox starring John Cena, Ryan Reynolds’ spy thriller Mayday, and returning favorites Dark Matter and Silo. Podcast host Josh Horowitz of Happy, Sad, Confused will moderate the panels.

Panel Highlights

• Matchbox The Movie: (Panelists: John Cena, Jessica Biel, Arturo Castro, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris)
Directed by Sam Hargrave, this Skydance/Mattel co-production follows a group of childhood friends pulled into a high-stakes international chase when their former leader (Cena), now a CIA agent, returns to their small town. The film hits Apple TV on October 9.

• Widow’s Bay: The supernatural series, created by Katie Dippold and executive produced by Hiro Murai, stars Matthew Rhys as a mayor trying to revitalize a cursed island community. Season 1 is currently streaming, and it recently earned 19 Emmy nominations.

• Dark Matter: (Panelists include Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, Blake Crouch, and more). Season 2 of the multiverse thriller premieres August 28.

• Mayday: (Panelists: directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein). Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh star in this Cold War spy thriller, arriving on Apple TV September 4.

• Silo (Panelists: Rebecca Ferguson, Graham Yost, Common, Tim Robbins, and more). Season 3, which launched July 3, blends present-day dystopian drama with an origin story set centuries earlier.

Beyond the main panel, Apple TV is expanding its footprint at the con. Attendees can experience The Silo Experience, a multi-sensory installation open Friday through Sunday at The Lot @ 1st & J. On Friday night, there’s also a special sneak preview screening of the Dark Matter Season 2 premiere in Room 6DE.

MacDailyNews Take: Comic-Con runs July 23–26, 2026 (with preview night on July 22). This major push underscores Apple TV’s ongoing and growing commitment to genre storytelling and big-screen talent.

‎
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We’re just two months away from Apple announcing the iPhone 18 Pro. Rumors suggest Apple could have three design changes in store that could be unpopular among some iPhone 18 Pro buyers …

ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI’s standalone desktop browser, is being sunset in favor of the new ChatGPT desktop app.

Starting today, Strava users will have a new way to discover races, group runs, rides, and other local events directly in the app. Here are the details.

Matt Cherniss, Apple TV’s Head of Programming at Apple, is in a good mood today — and for good reason. His streaming service has once again shattered its own record for Emmy nominations, and it did so with a notably lean slate of shows compared to its bigger rivals.

On Wednesday, the Television Academy announced 87 Emmy nominations for Apple TV, topping last year’s previous record of 81. Remarkably, this haul came in a year without “The Studio” or “Ted Lasso.” The secret? Two breakout newcomers: “Widow’s Bay” with 19 nominations and Vince Gilligan’s “Pluribus” with 18. The best news of all? They won’t split votes in the same categories — “Pluribus” is competing as a drama series, while “Widow’s Bay” was submitted as a (very) dark comedy.

MacDailyNews Take: That’s how “The Pitt,” yet another hospital show that we’ve all seen a thousand times, racked up so many Emmy wins last year: The superior “Severance” and “Pluribus” series canceled each other out.

Tony Maglio for The Hollywood Reporter:
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And that’s exactly where my phone call with Cherniss began; read The Hollywood Reporter‘s Q&A with the Apple TV head of programming below.

[THR]: Make the case to me that Widow’s Bay is a comedy.

[Cherniss]: One of the best things about television right now is, I think, the variety of shows and the uniqueness of the creativity that’s out there, and that things don’t necessarily fit into a category maybe as simply as they did in the past. “Widow’s Bay” does a lot of things when you’re watching the show, right? It scares you, it makes you think, and it makes you laugh — and it makes me laugh a lot. And so you know where it sits as a category? I guess that the voters ultimately will decide, you know, what they feel is the best comedy, but I certainly think that it’s well-suited to be in that category.

It’s the only quote-unquote “Comedy” I won’t watch with the lights off.

Yeah, yeah. I think that’s right. I also think that there’s a heightened element to the show — and the genre — that leans it a little more into that category. The intention of the actors and the characters are a little bit larger than life at times that I think suits the comedy category for that show, in particular.

There are definitely humorous situations and performances, I will give you that.

I mean, look, if you’re doing a show that examines the human condition, anyway, and there’s no laughs in it, that’s going to be tough. And certainly, you know, we all are sort of acclimated to certain formats, right, driving these things? But, ultimately, I do think that “Widow’s Bay” is in the right place.

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MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” synopsis has always stated, “‘Widow’s Bay’ blends genuine horror with character-driven comedy.”

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]

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With iOS 27, the number of languages supported by Apple Translate shoots up to 30, its biggest language expansion ever. Here’s what’s new.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Mac shipments grew 10% last quarter even as the full PC industry sank for the first time in two years. Here’s why.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Deadline reports that Apple TV will take over Hall H for the first time at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International, with panels, screenings, and a Silo experience. Here are the details.

Apple has issued a clear warning to users still relying on older encrypted storage: starting with macOS 28 (expected in 2027), the company will drop support for encrypted volumes formatted with Mac OS Extended, also known as HFS+.

In a new support document published this week, Apple states that in macOS 28 and later, the Mac OS Extended file system format will be supported only for unencrypted volumes. Encrypted HFS+ drives — common on older external hard drives and backups created with FileVault-style encryption via CoreStorage — will no longer be readable without prior action.

Why This Change Matters

Apple has been gradually shifting away from the aging Mac OS Extended format since introducing the more modern and efficient APFS (Apple File System) in 2017. APFS offers native encryption, better performance, snapshot capabilities, and improved data integrity. While unencrypted HFS+ volumes will continue to work in macOS 28 and beyond, encrypted legacy volumes are now being retired to simplify the codebase and encourage migration to modern standards.

Users may begin seeing warnings as early as macOS 26, which can alert them to incompatible encrypted Mac OS Extended drives.

How to Check If Your Drives Are Affected

Open Disk Utility (in Applications > Utilities).
From the View menu, choose Show Only Volumes.
Select the volume in the sidebar.
Look at the details on the right. If it shows both “Mac OS Extended” and “Encrypted” (e.g., “CoreStorage Logical Volume • Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted)”), the drive will not be compatible with macOS 28.

Note: This change does not affect APFS-formatted drives (encrypted or not) or unencrypted HFS+ volumes.What You Should Do NowApple strongly recommends backing up your data first. Then choose one of these options before upgrading to macOS 28:

• Decrypt the volume (preserves data without erasure): Connect the drive, unlock it with the password, Control-click the drive icon, and select Decrypt. This process can take a long time for large drives. After decryption, you can optionally convert it to APFS.

• Reformat the volume (recommended for long-term use): Erase and reformat using APFS or APFS (Encrypted). This will delete all existing data, so ensure you have a complete backup.

For detailed step-by-step instructions, refer to Apple’s official support document: About support for encrypted Mac OS Extended disks in macOS 28 or later.
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MacDailyNews Take: This move aligns with Apple’s long-term strategy to retire legacy technologies. Users with older encrypted external drives or Time Machine backups should act soon to avoid data access issues next year. If you’re unsure about your storage setup, checking with Disk Utility now is a quick and safe first step.

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On July 9, 2001, Apple was named top computer manufacturer in the education market, with twice as many machines in schools as runner-up Dell.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

OpenAI is holding its second livestream this week today at 10 am PT. The video teases that the company is “introducing the next chapter for ChatGPT” today. OpenAI has openly discussed bringing Codex workflows into the main ChatGPT app for some time now.

TV Time users looking for a new movie and show-tracking app can now migrate their data to JustWatch ahead of next week’s shutdown. Here are the details.

Why pay list price for Microsoft software? This Windows 11 sale allows you to upgrade your PC to Windows 11 Pro for just $9.97.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The best MacBook Air deals of July 2026

Best U.S. deals

$58 off MacBook Air, 13-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon

$150 off MacBook Air, 15-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon

Best U.K. deals:

£109 off MacBook Air, 13-inch, M5, 512GB at Amazon

£149 off MacBook Air, 15-inch, M5, 512GB at Amazon

Apple increased MacBook Air prices in June 2026, so finding a worthwhile deal now takes more than simply looking for the biggest percentage discount. At Macworld, we compare prices across major retailers against Apple’s current pricing, previous list prices, and the lowest prices we’ve historically tracked to identify the offers that genuinely represent good value.

Apple itself rarely discounts the MacBook Air beyond education pricing and its Certified Refurbished Store. Fortunately, retailers in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere regularly cut prices, especially during major shopping events such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, although worthwhile deals can appear throughout the year.

Whether you’re shopping for the latest M5 MacBook Air or an older model, our regularly updated deals guide compares prices from leading retailers to highlight the best offers available. We also monitor stock availability and price movements, so you can spot genuine bargains before they sell out.

Alongside the latest deals, you’ll find buying advice to help you choose the right MacBook Air, compare current and previous generations, and decide whether today’s prices represent good value. Just be aware of the trade-offs that can come with buying an older model, such as less RAM or missing newer features, as we explain below. For more advice about whether now is a good time to buy read: Should you buy the MacBook Air now or wait?

Best MacBook Air Prices July 2026

U.S. Deals

MacBook AirDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowest13-inch, M5, 512GBOut of stock$1,299$1,099$899.9913-inch, M5, 512GB, 10-coreOut of stock$1,399$1,199$1,099.9913-inch, M5, 1TB, 10-core$1,540.94 Get the deal from Amazon$1,599$1,399$1,099.9915-inch, M5, 512GB$1,499 at Amazon$1,499$1,299$1,099.9915-inch, M5, 1TB$1,649 Get the deal from Amazon$1,799$1,349$1,349

U.K. deals

MacBook Air DealNew RRPOld RRPLowest13-inch, M5, 512GB, 8-core GPU£1,189.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,299£1,099£988.9713-inch, M5, 512GB, 10-core GPUOut of stock£1,399£1,199£1,154.9713-inch, M5, 1TB, 10-core£1,463.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,599£1,399£1,169.9715-inch, M5, 512GB£1,349.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,499£1,299£1,168.9715-inch, M5, 1TB£1,641.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,799£1,699£1,534.97

How we find the best MacBook Air deals

Eugen Wegmann

When selecting the best MacBook Air deals, our editors combine their knowledge of Apple products new and old with year-round market monitoring of the best prices, so we know the best prices resellers have sold MacBook Air for – and we know if they have a really good deal and not just an ok deal.

In addition, because we have reviewed the full range of Apple MacBooks, and use them on a daily basis we also know which models represent the best value for money and can advise accordingly.

Here’s why you can trust the deals Macworld identifies:

We check top resellers in the U.S. and the U.K. for the best prices throughout the year, ensuring we always have a finger on the pulse of the best savings.

We use price comparison tools to watch resellers and compare their current discounts so we know who has the best deal right now.

We hand-pick deals based on the product’s long-term price history and our own in-depth reviews.

We consider the product’s release cycle and whether a significant update is due soon.

We compare like with like: so if the newest model offers more storage, or more RAM, we make this clear.

We also advise on whether a shopping event is likely to happen soon in which you might get an even better deal, or if you might be able to qualify for specific deals.

We regularly check prices, but it’s worth checking various retailers in the price comparison tables below, as prices do fluctuate. If you want to buy a particular model you will find the best prices right now in the tables below.

If you would consider buying a MacBook Pro then take a look at our round up of the Best MacBook Pro deals. We also list all the best Apple deals right now on all Apple products, including iMac, Mac mini, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. 

MacBook Air pricing: How the M5 compares to the M4 models

In June 2026, Apple inflated prices for Macs and iPads due to the global shortage of RAM driven by explosive demand for AI infrastructure. MacBook Air prices have increased by $200 in each instance.

Apple said it has “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly”. This forced Apple to raise prices across its Mac and iPad lineups.

Comparing prices from before and after the price hikes is complicated by they way Apple’s online store showcases prices. At the beginning of February 2026, Apple changed the way the online Apple Store works. Previously, the store presented a clear selection of configurations and buying options, allowing shoppers to choose the model that best suited their needs and budget. Now, customers start with a base configuration and add options – such as more RAM or additional storage – until they reach the specification they want.

With this new approach, it is less obvious upfront how much an ideal configuration will cost, which we think is a disadvantage for buyers. Apple, however, is likely hoping the system will encourage customers to opt for higher-end configurations.

Another consequence of this change to how you buy a Mac is that it has become more difficult to compare pricing between generations. With the arrival of the M5 MacBook Air, prices and configurations shifted significantly. At first glance, it may appear that prices have increased, but in some cases you could actually get more for your money with this generation because the new models didn’t just include a new chip — they also doubled the storage. However, those savings are now lost thanks to the price hikes.

Compare pricing for the MacBook Air M5 with the equivalent MacBook M4.

PRICE NOWPRICE BEFORESPECSPREVIOUS SPECS$999/£999–M4 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/8-core GPU, 256GB, 16GB RAM$1,299/£1,299$1,099/£1,099M5 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/8-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAM$1,399/£1,399$1,199/£1,199M5 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAMM4 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAM$1,499/£1,499$1,299/£1,299M5 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 24GB RAMM4 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 24GB RAM$1,699/£1,699$1,499/£1,499M5 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 32GB RAM$1,199/£1,199–M4 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 256GB, 16GB RAM$1,499/£1,499$1,299/£1,299M5 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAMM4 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAM$1,699/£1,699$1,499/£1,499M5 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 24GB RAMM4 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 24GB RAM$1,899/£1,899$1,699/£1,699M5 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 32GB RAM

Is now a good time to buy a new MacBook Air?

Foundry

Prices are unlikely to come down significantly until Prime Day in October or Black Friday in November. If you can’t wait until then, now is a good time to buy a new MacBook Air if you’re looking for the latest model. The current MacBook Air lineup features the M5 chip and was just updated in March 2026, so an update isn’t expected until some time in 2027.

The March update wasn’t just a chip update, Apple also doubled the storage and added a new 32GB RAM option, so if you see a deal on an older model make sure that the price compares favourably to the new model.

The deals rarely come from Apple itself. While Apple will sometimes offer vouchers as an incentive to buy a new Mac (that’s Apple’s usual Black Friday giveaway), the company never discounts prices. Apple does sell refurbished Macs at a lower price though, so that might be something to consider, especially as Apple Certified Refurbished Store prices are based on the old, pre-hike prices. We expect that this stock will be sold quickly though, so act fast!

Students should check the Apple Education Store, where they will be able to pick up a discount (as long as they qualify for one). Read more: How to get a student discount from Apple. Also note that Apple holds a “Back To Uni” event which runs in the US usually from June to September, in the UK from July to October, and in Australia between January and March. The Australian 2026 deal included free AirPods or Apple Pencils with select purchases, so Apple is likely to run that same deal in U.S., U.K. and elsewhere in 2026.

Which MacBook Air to buy

Foundry

The MacBook Air offers a great combination of performance, portability, and now features at a starting price of $1,099, making it an excellent choice for general consumers and students. The choice is mainly between the 13-inch and 15-inch models, with the selection depending on whether you would value the larger screen over the better portability of the smaller model.

Other factors to consider are:

Power & performance: Current MacBook Air models are powered by the M5 chip, which has a 10-core CPU and either an 8-core or 10-core GPU. This is more than enough power for everyday tasks like browsing, streaming, and light creative work. A few generations ago, MacBook Air models only offered 8GB RAM, so, if you are looking at refurbs, we recommend that you only consider models with 16GB RAM as a minimum. The MacBook Pro is better for professionals who need more power.

Storage: Base models used to start with 256GB of storage, but Apple has now increased this to 512GB. That’s a better storage capacity if you plan to store and work with large files. The internal storage cannot be upgraded later so make sure you get enough.

Design and Portability: The MacBook Air is light and thin, with the 13-inch model weighing less than three pounds (1.24kg/2.7lb), making it easy to carry around.

Display: There is a choice of 13-inch or 15-inch display: the 15-inch M5 model is a great value option if you want a larger screen without the higher cost of a MacBook Pro. It now starts at $1,499, which is a relatively small price increase over the 13-inch model. The M5 MacBook Air can support two external displays, thanks to its Thunderbolt 4 ports. Previous models – M3 and older – were more limited when it came to supporting external displays.

Budget: The best choice depends on your budget and performance needs, as there can be compelling deals on older MacBook Air models. If you are looking at an older model, just be sure to check that you are comparing like with like, especially when it comes to storage.

For more help choosing read Which MacBook is best?

Best MacBook Air deals right now

In the tables below you will see the best price right now for the various MacBook Air models. Note Apple’s recommended retail price and you will be able to see just how good the deals on the MacBook Air are.

M5 13-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/8-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAM, WAS $1,099/£1,099, NOW $1,299/£1,299

Retailer

Price

$1191.04

View Deal

$1259

View Deal

$1299

View Deal

$1299

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

M5 15-inch MacBook Air, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 512GB, 16GB RAM, WAS $1,299/£1,299, NOW $1,499/£1,499

Retailer

Price

Check

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

Where to buy the MacBook Air

You can buy a MacBook Air directly from Apple in the US or at Apple UK. You may, however, find a MacBook Air in stock and discounted at one of these resellers. There are plenty of stores and Apple Premium Resellers around the world that offer discounts on new and old Macs, so it’s worth shopping around (read our Where to buy a Mac article for more advice).

One benefit of buying from Apple is you could trade in your old Mac and get money off. We have an article explaining How to get money off with Apple’s trade-in program.

We recommend the following resellers:

U.S. retailers

Want to buy a MacBook Air from Apple? View the MacBook Air in the Apple Store.

You may be able to save money on a refurbished MacBook Air. View the MacBook Air in the Apple Refurbished Store.

Get an education discount: View the MacBook Air in the Apple Education Store.

View the MacBook Air at Amazon.

View the MacBook Air at B&H Photo.

View the MacBook Air at Best Buy

View the MacBook Air at Walmart.

You can find the MacBook Air at Adorama.

Looking for other ways to save money. Find out if you can save money buying Apple products from another country.

U.K. retailers

If you want to buy a MacBook Air from Apple: View the MacBook Air in the Apple Store.

You may be able to get money off an older model from Apple’s refurb store: View the MacBook Air in the Apple Refurbished Store.

Save money if you are a teacher or student: View the MacBook Air in the Apple Education Store.

Get a Mac from Amazon where we often see discounts: View the MacBook Air at Amazon.

AO.com also offers discounts from time to time: View the MacBook Air at AO.com

You may find the MacBook Air at Argos, although we only tend to see deals in conjunction with events like Black Friday.

We often see great deals on MacBook Air at BT Shop.

View the MacBook Air at Currys.

View the MacBook Air at Ebuyer

View the MacBook Air at John Lewis.

We often see discounts on the MacBook Air at Laptops Direct. .

You may also find discounts on the MacBook Air at Very.

U.K. Apple Authorised Resellers

KRCS

Insight

iStore

Select

Western Computer

Jigsaw

Best refurbished MacBook Air deals

The deals you will see above are from Apple resellers rather than Apple itself – Apple very rarely drops the prices of the Macs it sells. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t save money buying from Apple: if you want to get a discount on a Mac from Apple you can buy a refurbished Mac. It’s not only Apple that sells refurbished Macs, but Apple does offer some great incentives to buy from Apple’s Refurbished Store, so we do recommend taking a look there for great MacBook Air deals.

The Macs in Apple’s refurbished store may be ex-display stock, or they may have been returned to Apple due to a fault, but they are fully reconditioned now and come with a full year’s warranty. It’s not like buying secondhand. Read about buying a refurbished Mac.

In the U.S. you’ll find M3 and M4 MacBook Air available in the refurbished store:

There’s up to $180 off an M4 MacBook Air with 512GB SSD.

Get a refurbished MacBook at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

In the U.K. you’ll find M2 and M4 MacBook Air available in the refurbished store:

There’s up to £210 off an M4 MacBook Air with 512GB SSD.

Get a refurbished MacBook at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

You can get refurbished Macs from other suppliers too, including the following refurbished resellers listed below:

In the U.S.:

Apple

Amazon

Back Market

Best Buy

Gainsaver

OWC

Mac Of All Trades

Refurb.me

In the U.K.:

Affordable Mac

Apple

Amazon

Back Market

Hoxton Macs

Laptops Direct

MacFinder

Mac 4 Sale

Music Magpie

Amazon also has a certified refurbished store for Apple products, but we would advise against buying any products that are older than five years – most of the products we see on the Amazon refurbished store are very old. Another place to look is BackMarket US and BackMarket UK, which sells refurbished Macs and other Apple products. We also recommend Hoxton Macs in the U.K.

Today, Apple TV unveiled the trailer for “Snoopy Presents: There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy,” premiering globally on Friday, July 31. In the new original special under the Snoopy Presents banner, Snoopy is devastated when his beloved doghouse is accidentally sold at a yard sale. In an effort to cheer up his pal, Charlie Brown leads Snoopy on an adventure to find his old doghouse, and along the way, they learn what makes a house truly a home.

The all-new special stars Riley Vargas, Terry McGurrin, Rob Tinkler, Kitai O’Garro, Josephine Nisbett, Grace Nicolaou-Wood, Jo-Hannah Atchison, Lexi Perri, Athan Giazitzidis and Diego Whalen, and is executive produced by Josh Scherba, Stephanie Betts, Logan McPherson, Paige Braddock, Chris Bracco and Mark Evestaff. The special features the original song, “Home, Where Your Heart Found Me” by acclaimed singer-songwriter Allen Stone.

Apple TV is the exclusive streaming home for all things Peanuts, including the classic Peanuts library, as well as more new original Peanuts series and specials, through an expanded partnership with WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide and Lee Mendelson Film Productions until 2030. Apple has been home to the Peanuts classic library since 2020, alongside multiple original programming collaborations starting in 2018, and is currently in production with WildBrain and Peanuts on a brand-new animated feature film starring Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. In the upcoming feature, “Snoopy Unleashed,” Snoopy runs away from home, and Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang go on an emotional journey to the vibrant Big City as they search for Snoopy and discover that real friendship means loving each other just as they are.

Apple TV’s award-winning original Peanuts series also include the Emmy and Annie Award-nominated “Snoopy in Space” and “The Snoopy Show” as well as new original specials under the Snoopy Presents banner including Emmy Award-nominated programs “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown,” “Lucy’s School,” “To Mom (and Dad), With Love,” “One-of-a-Kind Marcie,” “Welcome Home, Franklin,” the Annie Award-nominated “For Auld Lang Syne” and “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical.” Apple TV also features two Emmy Award-winning original Peanuts documentaries, “Who Are You Charlie Brown?” and “Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10,” and classic anthology titles including “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown” and “Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown,” among many others.

The exciting slate of recent offerings for kids and families on Apple TV also features “My Brother the Minotaur,” from Academy Award-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon and award-winning children’s media company Dog Ears; “Wonder Pets: In the City,” from Emmy Award winner Jennifer Oxley and produced by Nickelodeon Animation; animated adventure trilogy “WondLa,” based on the New York Times bestselling book series “The Search for WondLa” by Tony DiTerlizzi; highly anticipated kids and family series “Yo Gabba GabbaLand!,” inspired by the hit, Emmy Award-nominated cultural phenomenon “Yo Gabba Gabba!”; season two of Emmy Award-winning “Shape Island,” based on the internationally bestselling picture books from Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen; animated fantasy adventure series “The Sisters Grimm,” based on Michael Buckley’s New York Times bestselling book series; the music-driven animated comedy series “BE@RBRICK” from DreamWorks Animation; “Goldie,” inspired by Emily Brundige’s award-winning 2019 short film of the same name, and many more.

Award-winning all-ages offerings now streaming globally on Apple TV also include the BAFTA Award and Emmy Award-winning live-action animated hybrid special “The Velveteen Rabbit,” BAFTA Award and Humanitas Prize-winning “El Deafo,” BAFTA Award-winning “Lovely Little Farm,” “Duck & Goose,” “Get Rolling With Otis,” Spin Master Entertainment’s “Sago Mini Friends,” “Frog and Toad,” based on the Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winning books, Annie Award-nominated “Not a Box,” GLAAD Media Award-nominated “Pinecone & Pony,” The Jim Henson Company’s Emmy Award-winning “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Slumberkins,” Sesame Workshop’s “Helpsters,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment’s “Wolfboy and the Everything Factory,” Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero’s Emmy Award-nominated “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show,” and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series “Stillwater” from Gaumont and Scholastic Entertainment. Live-action offerings include “Me,” an elevated cinematic coming-of-age story from Barry L. Levy, Bonnie Hunt’s DGA Award and WGA Award-nominated “Amber Brown,” DGA Award-winning “Best Foot Forward,” “Surfside Girls,” WGA Award-winning “Life By Ella,” Sesame Workshop and Sinking Ship’s Emmy Award-winning “Ghostwriter,” Emmy Award and Environmental Media Association Award-winning “Jane” and Scholastic’s “Puppy Place.” “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth,” the Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times bestselling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers, is also featured.

Apple TV offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all of a user’s favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut.To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 850 wins and 3,737 award nominations and counting, including multi-Emmy Award-winning and history-making comedies “The Studio” and “Ted Lasso,” global cultural phenomenon “Severance,” Apple’s most-viewed drama “Pluribus,” Academy Award Best Picture winner “CODA” and Academy Award winner “F1,” the highest-grossing sports feature of all time.

MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.

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The post Apple TV debuts trailer for ‘Snoopy Presents: There’s No Place Like Home, Snoopy’ appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Counterpoint Research has published a new estimate of the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s bill of materials, suggesting that Apple’s next flagship could cost significantly more to build than the current model. Here are the details.

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Sponsored by Backblaze: Backup you can rely on. Save 20% with code 9to5daily.

Apple has set a firm deadline for encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drives. Here’s how to check if you’re affected.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Apple TV has published the first trailer of Snoopy’s next adventure, where he finds his doghouse after it is accidentally sold at a yard sale. Watch it below.

Alongside an ongoing deal on AirPods 4 and the rare discount on the black Apple Magic Mouse, today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by this Apple Watch Ultra 3 model dropping to one of its best prices to date at nearly $140 off (stock is running low). We also have iPhone 17 Pro/Max units at up to $449 off, a chance to score Apple TV 4K 128GB with Wi‑Fi + Ethernet as low as $139 (now sells for $249 at Apple), and a series of notable accessory discounts: Apple Magic Keyboard full-size with Touch ID, Anker’s 3-port 160W Smart Display charger, Satechi’s Apple Magic Keyboard alternatives from just $40, and more. Head below for a closer look.

Apple Watch Ultra 3

View Deal

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Apple’s gorgeous Watch Ultra 3 is on sale for $660 right now, a savings of $139 off its $799 MSRP. Deals like this on Apple’s flagship adventure watch don’t come around quite often, especially one that’s only a few dollars off the lowest price we’ve seen.

The rugged build is the best thing about this Apple Watch. The Ultra 3 pairs a tough titanium case with a 49mm scratch-resistant sapphire crystal display, the largest Apple has ever made. Plus, it’s water-resistant up to 100m, so it can come with you on your dives, swims, and any other water sports.

As the most powerful wearable in Apple’s lineup, this smartwatch doesn’t just have a big screen—it also delivers more fitness tracking features. You get precision dual-frequency GPS, custom workouts, and running power, so it’s a genuine training partner for runners, cyclists, and swimmers alike. You also won’t be complaining about battery life with this smartwatch because it will give you an impressive 42 hours of normal use and 72 hours in Low Power Mode.

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also comes with quite a few safety and health features. Built-in satellite communications let you text emergency services even if you don’t have cell service or Wi-Fi. It can also flag possible hypertension, irregular heart rhythm, sleep apnea, and even low blood oxygen.

There’s not much more that you need in a watch. At $660, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is an absolute must-buy for anyone who wants to go on adventures and not have to worry about charging their smartwatch.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro Max is shaping up to be a significant departure from recent trends in the Pro Max lineup, with rumors pointing to a substantially larger battery and a noticeably heavier chassis — the heaviest Apple flagship in several years.

According to recent leaks, the iPhone 18 Pro Max could feature a battery capacity around 5,500 mAh, a sizable jump from the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s roughly 5,088 mAh (eSIM model). This larger power cell is expected to come paired with a thicker body—potentially around 9mm—resulting in an overall weight of approximately 240 grams.

For context, that would match the weight of the iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max, both of which tipped the scales at 240g. More recent models have been lighter: the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 221g, iPhone 16 Pro Max at 227g, and iPhone 17 Pro Max at 233g. The shift back toward greater heft is largely attributed to the expanded battery and design choices, including a return to or continued use of an aluminum frame rather than titanium.

9to5Mac‘s Marcus Mendes covered the story in detail, highlighting how these changes could make the iPhone 18 Pro Max Apple’s heaviest iPhone in years while delivering improved battery life for power users.

The thicker profile would also align with earlier reports suggesting the device could be roughly 2mm thicker than the current iPhone 17 Pro Max. While the added weight and bulk may raise eyebrows among users who prefer slimmer devices, the trade-off appears aimed at delivering longer endurance and potentially better thermal performance or camera capabilities.

As with all pre-launch rumors, these details remain unconfirmed by Apple and could still evolve before the expected fall 2026 unveiling. Nevertheless, the consistent reports from multiple sources suggest a deliberate move toward prioritizing battery capacity in Apple’s flagship model.

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote way back in December 2015:

What’d be wrong with slightly thicker iPhone with more battery life and a flush camera assembly?

Yes, we know Apple thinks thinness sets iPhone apart from all other so-called smartphones (actually, it’s the operating system, the software and the ecosystem)…

The law of diminishing returns can also be applied to industrial design. Apple’s eternal quest for thinness eventually runs into issues such as bulging camera assemblies, battery capacity, strength (breakability), etc. – is Apple’s quest for thinness now bordering on the quixotic?

So, is it “you can never be too thin” or is it “thin enough is thin enough?”

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The post Apple’s flagship iPhone 18 Pro Max expected to sport bigger battery, heavier body appeared first on MacDailyNews.

The best MacBook Pro deals of July 2026

Best U.S. deal: $50 off MacBook Pro, 16-inch, M5 Max, 2TB at Amazon

Best U.K. deal: £294 off MacBook Pro, 16-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB at Amazon

Apple raised MacBook Pro prices in June 2026, making genuine discounts harder to find than ever. That’s where we come in. At Macworld, we track MacBook Pro prices, comparing retailer prices with Apple’s current prices, previous Apple pricing, and the lowest prices we’ve seen, so we can identify the deals that are genuinely worth buying right now.

Apple rarely discounts the MacBook Pro itself, aside from education pricing and its Certified Refurbished Store. However, retailers in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere regularly offer savings, particularly during major shopping events such as Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday. Good deals can also be found throughout the rest of the year.

Whether you’re looking for an M5, M5 Pro, or M5 Max MacBook Pro, our frequently updated deals tracker compares prices from leading retailers to highlight the best offers available right now. We also keep an eye on stock levels and price changes, helping you spot genuine bargains before they disappear.

Alongside the latest deals, you’ll find buying advice to help you choose the right MacBook Pro, understand the differences between current and older models, and decide whether today’s discounts represent good value or if you’re better off waiting.

Best MacBook Pro deals June 2026

U.S. deals

MacBook ProDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowest14-inch, M5, 1TB$1,989 Get the deal at Amazon$1,999$1,699$1,499 14-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB$2,481 Get the deal at Amazon$2,499$2,199$1,983.9414-inch, M5 Max, 2TBOut of stock $4,099$3,599$3,299.9916-inch, M5 Pro, 1TBOut of stock$2,999$2,699$2,44916-inch, M5 Max, 2TB$4,349 Get the deal at Amazon$4,399$3,899$3,649

U.K. deals

MacBook ProDealNew RRPOld RRPLowest14-inch, M5, 1TB£1,799 Get the deal at Amazon£1,999£1,699£1,528.9714-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB£2,281.97 Get the deal at Amazon£2,499£2,199£1,978.9714-inch, M5 Max, 2TB£3,598.97 Get the deal at Amazon£4,099£3,599£3,238.9716-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB£2,704.97 Get the deal at Amazon£2,999£2,699£2,428.9716-inch, M5 Max, 2TB£4,509.97 Get the deal at Amazon £4,399£3,899£3,508.97

How we find the best MacBook Pro deals

When choosing the best MacBook Pro deals, our editors draw on years of experience with both new and older Apple hardware, alongside continual tracking of market pricing. Because we monitor MacBook Pro prices year-round, we know exactly what resellers have charged in the past, so we can quickly spot a genuinely great discount versus an average one.

Our international team aims to review every MacBook Apple sells and use these machines daily, so we understand which models offer the strongest value for money and can guide you toward the smartest purchase.

You can trust our deals recommendations because:

We check leading U.S. and U.K. retailers throughout the year to stay on top of the best available prices.

We also check the Apple Refurbished store to see if prices are better.

We use price-tracking tools to monitor discounts in real time and identify which store truly has the lowest price.

Our editors hand-select deals based on long-term pricing trends and insights from our own in-depth product reviews.

We take Apple’s release cycles into account, helping you avoid buying right before a major update.

We highlight upcoming shopping events or special promotions that might see prices lowered further.

We compare like with like: so if the newest model offers more storage, or more RAM, we make this clear.

We update the prices in this article regularly, but it’s still worth checking multiple retailers in the comparison tables below because MacBook Pro prices shift frequently. If you’re targeting a specific model, look in the price comparison boxes below to secure the best possible deal.

If you would also consider a MacBook Air then take a look at our round up of the best MacBook Air deals. We also have a guide to the best Apple deals right now on all Apple products, including iMac, Mac mini, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

MacBook Pro pricing

Configuring your ideal Mac is different now.

Foundry

In June 2026, Apple inflated prices for Macs and iPads due to the global shortage of RAM driven by explosive demand for AI infrastructure. Some of the biggest price increases are for the MacBook Pro, up to $500 more in some cases.

Apple said it has “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly”. This forced Apple to raise prices across its Mac and iPad lineups.

Comparing prices from before and after the price hikes is complicated by they way Apple’s online store showcases prices. At the beginning of February 2026, Apple completely changed the way the online Apple Store works. Previously, the Apple Store presented a clear selection of configurations and buying options, allowing shoppers to choose the model that best suited their needs and budget. Now, shoppers begin with a base configuration and add options – such as more RAM or additional storage – until they reach the specification they want.

With this new approach, it is less obvious up front how much an ideal configuration will cost, which we think is a disadvantage for buyers. Apple, however, is likely hoping that this method will encourage customers to choose higher-end configurations.

Another consequence of this change to how you buy a Mac is that it has become more difficult to compare pricing between generations. With the arrival of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro, prices and configurations have changed significantly. At first glance it may appear that prices have increased, but in some cases you now get more for your money because the new models don’t just include a new chip – they also double the storage. In other cases, prices are higher because the lower-capacity models have been removed from the lineup.

MacBook Pro, M5: This model has been on sale since October and previously started at $1,599. Then, in March 2026 Apple removed the 512GB model from the lineup, and changed the price of the entry-level configuration to $1,699. That base model now includes 1TB of storage instead of 512GB. Previously, the 1TB model cost $1,799, so the effective price had actually dropped by $100. The good news didn’t last though: in June Apple increased the $1,699 price by $300 to $1,999.

14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Pro: The base 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook was $2,199 prior to the June price hikes. Now that model costs $2,499.

14-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Max: Is now priced at a whopping $4,099. Previously it was $3,599. The previous generation laptop that model replaced was the M4 Max MacBook Pro, which started at $3,199, but had half the amount of storage. It does mean that the cost of the M5 Max is now almost $1000 more than it was in the previous generation.

16-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Pro: Now starts at $2,999, up $300 from the previous price of $2,699 with an M5 Pro processor and 2TB of storage. When this model was introduced Apple dropped the 1TB option, so the entry price to own a 16-inch model was already higher than it was.

16-inch MacBook Pro, M5 Max: Alternatively you can spend $4,399 (up from $3,899 before the price hikes) to get an M5 Max chip and 2TB of storage. Again, this was even more expensive than the previous generation, because you’re forced into higher storage tiers.

New vs old MacBook Pricing: At a glance

We recommend that you compare any deals on older MacBook Pro models with the equivalent model available now, to make sure you are getting a better deal.

SPECM4-series 14-inch MacBook ProOld – M5-series 14-inch MacBook ProNew – M5-series 14-inch MacBook ProM4-series 16-inch MacBook ProOld – M5-series 16-inch MacBook ProNew – M5-series 16-inch MacBook ProM5, 512GB/16GB RAMWas $1,599/£1,599M5, 1TB/16GB RAMWas $1,799/£1,799Was $1,699/£1,699Now $1,999/£1,999M5, 1TB/24GB RAMWas $1,999/£1,999Was $1,899/£1,899Now $2,199/£2,199M4 Pro, 512GB/24GB RAMWas $1,999/£1,999Was $2,499/£2,499M4 Pro, 1TB/24GB RAMWas $2,399/£2,399Was $2,499/£2,499M4 Pro, 512TB/48GB RAMWas $2,899/£2,899M5 Pro, 1TB/24GB RAMWas $2,199/£2,199Now $2,499/£2,499Was $2,699/£2,699Now $2,999/£2,999M4 Max, 1TB/36GB RAMWas $3,199/£3,199Was $3,499/£3,499M5 Max, 2TB/36GB RAMWas $3,599/£3,599Now $4,099/£4,099Was $3,899/£3,899Now $4,399/£4,399M4 Max, 1TB/48GB RAMWas $3,999/£3,999

Is now a good time to buy a new MacBook Pro?

The M5 Pro and M5 Pro Max versions of the MacBook Pro launched in March 2026 so now is a great time to buy one.

Foundry

Prices are unlikely to come down significantly until Prime Day in October or Black Friday in November. If you can’t wait until then, now is a good time to buy a new MacBook Pro if you’re looking for the latest model. The MacBook Pro comes with the newest M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips, and Apple has also increased storage compared to the previous generation.

Resellers may offer discounts on older models. Note that the older machines don’t just lack the new chip – they also come with half the storage. Any discounts should take this into account; if they don’t, those deals are best avoided.

In some cases though, it may still be worth grabbing a deal on a lower-storage M4 Pro or M4 Max model. This is because, while the new generation offers more storage, it also comes at a significantly higher price. If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, the previous generation may be your best option.

We also recommend shopping at Apple Certified Refurbished Store where you can find discounts based on the old, pre-hike prices. We expect that this stock will be sold quickly though, so act fast!

Which MacBook Pro to buy

The choice of which MacBook depends a lot on how much you have to spend.

Foundry

When deciding on a MacBook Pro, it’s important to understand the performance hierarchy. The M5 Pro and M5 Max models are for a completely different user than the standard M5 MacBook Pro. The M5 Pro offers more CPU and GPU cores than the M5, supports more memory, and includes more advanced ports like Thunderbolt 5. The M5 Max has the same number of CPU cores but more GPU cores and greater support for RAM.

14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 chip: This is the entry-level model, launched in October 2025 with a slight change to the line up in March 2026. It delivers significant performance gains compared, particularly in graphics and SSD speeds, over the previous M4 generation. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip is designed for users who need more sustained performance than a MacBook Air can offer but don’t require the top-tier power of the M5 Pro or M5Max models. It strikes a balance of price, performance, and premium features, making it the best MacBook for those who need a little more power than the M5 MacBook Air offers.

14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips: For the most demanding professional work, the M5 Pro and M5Max models, released in March 2026, provide superior power, offer more ports (including Thunderbolt 5), and are aimed at professionals with demanding workflows. These MacBooks are ideal for creative professionals (such as high-end video creators, digital artists, illustrators, photographers, 3D animators); technical professionals (programmers, designers, and software developers) and power users who needs more “oomph” for movie editing or gaming.

There is another element to the decision. Both the M5 Pro and M5 Max are available in both 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, which offer similar specifications but differ in screen size and battery life. To determine which would suite you best consider the following:

The 14-inch M4 Pro/Max is best for those who value portability, work frequently on the road, or primarily use an external monitor at their desk. It offers up to 22 hours of battery life.

The 16-inch M4 Pro/Max is the choice for users who need a large, powerful screen on the go and the best possible battery life, which is rated at up to 24 hours. These Macs now come with 2TB storage as standard, with a price to match, which may mean they are now our of reach of some budgets.

For more help with your decision read our comparison of every Apple Mac and MacBook, and our direct comparison of the MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro.

Best MacBook Pro refurbished deals

While Apple rarely discounts new Macs, from time to time there are some excellent deals to be had in Apple’s Refurbished Store. The Macs in Apple’s refurbished store may be ex-display stock, or they may have been returned to Apple due to a fault, but they are fully reconditioned now and come with a full year’s warranty. Read about buying a refurbished Mac.

It’s not only Apple that sells refurbished Macs, but Apple does offer some great incentives to buy from Apple’s Refurbished Store, so we do recommend taking a look there for great MacBook Pro deals.

Apple’s U.S. refurbished store has the following MacBook Pro models in stock:

M4 MacBook Pro, up to $260 off

M4 Pro MacBook Pro, up to $360 off

M3 Pro MacBook Pro, up to $350 off

M2 Pro MacBook Pro, up to $470 off

We recommend: Apple Refurbished, 14-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro (1TB/24GB RAM): $1,949 ($360 off, RRP was $2,399) – Apple has dropped the price by $100 since the arrival of the M5 Pro models.

Get a refurbished MacBook at Apple’s refurbished store (U.S.)

Apple’s U.K. refurbished store usually has the following MacBook Pro models in stock, but they are currently listed as unavailable:

M4 Pro MacBook Pro, up to £380 off

M4 Max MacBook Pro, up to £600 off

M3 Pro MacBook Pro, up to £360 off

M2 Pro MacBook Pro, up to £590 off

M2 Max MacBook Pro, up to £710 off

Apple did offer a refurbished, 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro (512GB/24GB RAM): £2,119 (£380 off, RRP £2,499) before the arrival of the M5 Pro.

Get a refurbished MacBook at Apple’s refurbished store (U.K.)

Best MacBook Pro deals right now

While you could buy a MacBook Pro from Apple, below you will find price comparison tables that show the best prices right now for each model of MacBook Pro from various stockists. You will also find deals on MacBook Pro models that Apple has now discontinued, as long as stockists still have them available.

Not sure which MacBook to buy? For help choosing we have a comparison of the MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro and you may also like to read our Mac buying guide that covers every Mac Apple makes.

M5 MacBook Pro deals

14-inch, M5, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 1TB/16GB RAM, WAS $1,799/£1,799, THEN: $1,699/£1,699, NOW $1,999/£1,999

Retailer

Price

$1763.54

View Deal

$1899

View Deal

$1942.5

View Deal

$1999

View Deal

$1999

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

View more prices

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

14-inch, M5, 10-core CPU/10-core GPU, 1TB/24GB RAM, WAS $1,999/£1,999, THEN: $1,899/£1,899, NOW: $2,199/£2,199

Retailer

Price

$1999

View Deal

$2049

View Deal

$2058.09

View Deal

$2134.5

View Deal

$2199

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

View more prices

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

M5 Pro & M5 Max MacBook Pro deals

14-inch, M5 Pro, 15-core CPU/16-core GPU, 1TB/24GB RAM, WAS $2,199/£2,199, NOW: $2,499/£2,499

Retailer

Price

$2199

View Deal

$2369

View Deal

$2422.5

View Deal

$2499

View Deal

$2499

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

View more prices

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

14-inch, M5 Max, 18-core CPU/32-core GPU, 2TB/36GB RAM, WAS $3,599/£3,599, NOW: $4,099/£4,099

Retailer

Price

$3899

View Deal

$3967.46

View Deal

$4099

View Deal

$4099

View Deal

$4099

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

View more prices

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

16-inch, M5 Pro, 18-core CPU/20-core GPU, 1TB/24GB RAM, WAS $2,699/£2,699, NOW: $2,999/£2,999

Retailer

Price

$2699

View Deal

$2849

View Deal

$2905.5

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

16-inch, M5 Max, 18-core CPU/32-core GPU, 2TB/36GB RAM, WAS $3,899/£3,899, NOW: $4,399/£4,399

Retailer

Price

$4256.36

View Deal

$4399

View Deal

$4399

View Deal

$4399

View Deal

Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide

Product

Price

Price comparison from Backmarket

Where to buy a MacBook Pro

You can find the MacBook Pro on sale at various locations. You could buy a MacBook Pro directly from Apple, or at stores and Apple Premium Resellers around the world – many of whom offer discounts on new and old Macs, so it’s worth shopping around. Find out more in our Where to buy a Mac article for more advice.

One benefit of buying from Apple is you could trade in your old Mac and get money off. We have an article explaining  How to get money off with Apple’s trade-in program.

We recommend the following resellers in the U.S. and U.K.:

U.S. retailers

Apple Store

Apple Education Store

Amazon

B&H Photo

Best Buy

Walmart

Adorama

Looking for other ways to save money. Find out if you can save money buying Apple products from another country.

U.K. retailers

Apple Store

Apple Education Store

Amazon

AO.com

BT Shop

Currys

Ebuyer

John Lewis

Laptops Direct

Very

Additionally, Apple has a number of Apple Premium Resellers in the U.K. who stock Macs and offer other services:

KRCS

Insight

iStore

Select

Western Computer

Jigsaw

Where to get a refurbished MacBook Pro

You can get refurbished Macs from other suppliers too, including the following refurbished resellers listed below:

In the U.S.:

Apple

Amazon

Back Market

Best Buy

Gainsaver

OWC

Mac Of All Trades

Refurb.me

In the U.K.:

Affordable Mac

Apple

Amazon

Back Market

Hoxton Macs

Laptops Direct

MacFinder

Mac 4 Sale

Music Magpie

Amazon also has a certified refurbished store for Apple products but we would advise against buying any products that are older than five years – most of the products we see on the Amazon refurbished store are unfortunately very old. Another place to look is BackMarket US and BackMarket UK, which sells refurbished Macs and other Apple products. We also recommend Hoxton Macs in the U.K.

Find the latest Apple refurbished deals here. If you are considering buying a second-hand Mac read: Should I buy a used Mac?

As we get closer to Apple’s September event, rumors about the next-generation iPhone are intensifying. This week, several Chinese leakers claimed that the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be significantly thicker than the current models—possibly as much as 20 percent.

Although rumors quickly fueled speculation about a much larger battery and a redesigned camera system, most of the previous evidence, including CADs and leaked dummy units, points to a much less dramatic change in the thickness of the iPhone 18 Pro models.

The evidence doesn’t point to a much thicker iPhone 18 Pro

When Macworld first reported on the iPhone 18 Pro design months ago, the CAD files consistently showed the same overall chassis thickness as the current generation, at 8.75 mm. That detail has remained consistent across subsequent leaks, including physical dummy units that have surfaced over the past few months.

While those models do show a larger camera bump and slightly taller lenses, the main body itself appears unchanged. That’s also what we’ve heard from sources connected to Apple’s supply chain. In other words, we can expect the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to have a thicker camera plateau, but not necessarily thicker phone bodies. 

That’s an important distinction because many leaks tend to blur the line between overall device thickness and the size of the camera module. Looking at renders or dummy units from certain angles can easily give the impression that the entire phone has grown when, in reality, it’s only the camera housing protruding further from the back.

The camera bump might be larger, but we don’t expect the iPhone 18 Pro to be much thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro.

Foundry

For example, well-known leaker Ice Universe recently reported that the iPhone 18 Pro will be 9 mm thick. However, the same leaker reported in March that the new phones would be 8.8 mm thick instead. Of course, Apple’s plans do change, but it’s always important to take these rumors with a grain of salt and a little research. Often these rumors get reposted and spread with little regard for the original source in an effort to jump on the latest trending topic. A separate Weibo leak by Fixed Focus Digital suggested the phone could be as much as 2mm thicker than the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple’s hardware designs can continue evolving until relatively late in development, and it’s always possible that newer prototypes differ from the ones reflected in earlier CAD files. Supply chain leaks also don’t always tell the complete story, especially when they originate from different stages of production.

Even so, multiple other sources, including our own, still suggest that the new phones will be about the same thickness as the current models. We’ll know for sure in just a couple of months, but until then, I’d treat the latest “much thicker iPhone” rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism.

iPad 12 rumors predict internal upgrades to bring Apple Intelligence support. But you might not like the starting price.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

A few days after rumors about the iPhone 18 Pro Max’s thickness began circulating once again, a new report suggests that Apple’s next flagship could also be its heaviest iPhone in years. Here are the details.

Apple supplier Luxshare Precision Industry Co. delivered Hong Kong’s biggest listing of 2026, raising approximately HK$24.3 billion ($3.1 billion) before making its trading debut on July 9. The move marks a major step for the Shenzhen-based manufacturer, which is already listed in mainland China.

Strong Backing Meets Initial Volatility

Luxshare, a key Apple supplier, priced 383.5 million H-shares at the top of the range — HK$63.28 each. The deal attracted top-tier cornerstone investors including Temasek, GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Tencent, and others, signaling strong confidence in the company.

However, shares closed 1.6% lower at HK$62.30 after dropping as much as 9.6% intraday. In contrast, its Shenzhen-listed shares rose 3.2%, widening the A-H premium to roughly 19%.

A Powerhouse Apple Supplier Expanding Its Horizons

Luxshare Precision has evolved from a components specialist into one of the world’s leading precision intelligent manufacturing providers. It assembles iconic Apple products such as iPhones and AirPods, and has taken on more complex manufacturing for devices like the Apple Vision Pro.

Key 2025 financials highlight its strength:

• Revenue reached RMB 332.3 billion (~$48.9 billion), up 23.6% YoY.
• Net profit grew 24.6% to RMB 18.17 billion.
• Consumer electronics still dominate (~80% of revenue), but automotive electronics and other segments are growing rapidly.

As a major Apple supplier, Luxshare continues to diversify. It is pushing deeper into automotive electronics, AI hardware, robotics, data centers, and emerging sectors like low-altitude economy applications. The Hong Kong listing proceeds will fuel capacity expansion, R&D, and strategic investments.

Why This Listing Matters for Hong Kong and Beyond

The successful raise underscores Hong Kong’s rebound as a global IPO destination, particularly for Chinese tech and advanced manufacturing firms. For Apple supplier Luxshare, the dual A+H listing enhances international visibility and access to global capital while supporting long-term growth beyond its core Apple relationship.

MacDailyNews Take: Luxshare’s debut highlights both the opportunities and short-term pressures facing leading Apple suppliers in today’s market.

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The post Apple supplier Luxshare makes waves with Hong Kong’s largest 2026 IPO, but debut shares dip appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Overuse of smartphones is now a widely recognised problem, but we’re also starting to see people perhaps get overly dependent on chatbots like Claude AI and ChatGPT.

Claude creator Anthropic is currently testing a beta feature intended to allow users to reflect on how they are using the AI and be prompted to perhaps use it less …

You should never be first in line to buy a completely new Apple product. Not in the literal sense–although those guys are totally putting themselves out for no good reason–but in the generational one. It’s nearly always smarter to wait a year or two.

Owning an original iPhone was fun from a bragging point of view, and I fondly remember the unaccustomed attention I received while carrying it about on holiday. As a medium-term value proposition, however, it was objectively a bad idea: a bold and pioneering starting point that would nevertheless be vastly improved within a few years of launch by the addition of 3G and GPS (iPhone 3G), a better camera and general performance (iPhone 3GS), FaceTime and a far sharper screen (iPhone 4), and numerous other hardware and software upgrades along the way. All without a significant increase in price. The same goes for the iPod, iPad, MacBook Air—you get the idea.

Veterans of the 2007 iPhone launch may have noted some similarities when the iPhone Air came out last year. There was much the same sense of awe, the idea that nothing would be the same again: normal-sized phones, reviewers speculated, might be ruined forever for anyone who’s held an Air and marvelled at its miraculous slenderness. There were, admittedly, rather more complaints about its hardware limitations (namely the battery and camera performance), but canny observers will have recognised that, like its celebrated forebear, the iPhone Air was likely to find numerous ways to improve in subsequent generations.

The general consensus is that Apple won’t release a new Air this fall. September will see the launch of two premium iPhones (the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max) and one super-premium model in the form of the foldable iPhone Ultra. Bearing in mind Apple’s recent price rises in the iPad and Mac ranges, these are likely to be seriously expensive devices.

Expect the iPhone Ultra to be dazzling, but flawed.

Foundry

So while the Air 2 will be the premium model of its own mini generation in spring 2027, doubtlessly costing more than the iPhone 18 and considerably more than the 18e, it’s likely to seem affordable by comparison with the late-2026 phones: it currently starts at $200 less than the cheapest Pro, and that gap may widen when the price rises kick in. At the same time, it will seem far more appealing than those normal-sized phones it will launch with, thanks to its futuristic design and what increasingly looks to be a classic set of 2nd-gen fixes.

If you found the Air’s camera performance suboptimal, you’re in luck: almost all pundits agree that the Air 2 will get a second camera lens on the rear, a 48MP ultrawide. If you complained about its battery life, you’ll be pleased to hear that its capacity is now expected to increase by 11 percent. Apple has recognised the two biggest problems with the original product and addressed them both, setting up the Air 2 as the company’s best follow-up since the Apple Watch Series 2 solved its predecessor’s GPS, water resistance, speed, and battery life shortcomings in a single generational leap.

Where does this leave the iPhone Ultra? In precisely the same 1st-gen limbo the Air experienced in 2025. On the one hand, Apple has no experience of making and launching a foldable phone; on the other, it knows that celebs, tech braggarts and early adopters will buy its first attempt at the category regardless. Chuck in the necessity of selling an upgraded version the following year, and you’ve got the perfect formula for a flawed proof of concept. It’s far too early to say whether the Ultra will be a good phone or not–it might very well be a commercially adored smash hit–but we can say with some certainty that the worst Ultra to buy will be the first.

The big seller of the generation, of course, is likely to be either the iPhone 18 or the 18e, for obvious cost-of-living reasons. But I think the humble Air 2, undercut by the cheaper models, overshadowed by the Ultra, dogged by the mixed reception accorded to its predecessor, could be the underrated star of the iPhone 18 generation. Read those Air 1 reviews again. This, most agree, is the form factor of the future; it just wasn’t ready in 2025. At that point in its development, the Air was too flawed for the mainstream. By the look of things, that isn’t going to be the case in 2027.

The Information reports that Apple may be interested in PrismML’s technology. The firm is focused on shrinking AI models that generally require servers to function, offering on-device functionality with comparable intelligence.

As reported by Reuters, India continued its push to become a larger electronics manufacturing hub today by removing import duties on select parts used in smartphones and other devices. Here are the details.

The Best Apple deals July 2026

Pick up a great deal on the Apple kit you want. These are the best deals we’ve seen this month.

Top U.S. Apple deals

$50 off MacBook Pro, 16-inch, M5 Max, 2TB at Amazon

$58 off MacBook Air, 13-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon

$150 off MacBook Air, 15-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon

$118 off iPad Pro, 11-inch, M5, 2TB at Amazon

$150 off iPad Pro, 13-inch, M5, 2TB at Amazon

$70 off Apple Watch Series 11, 42mm, GPS at Amazon

$100 off Apple Watch Ultra 3 at Amazon

$30 off AirPods Pro 3 at Amazon

$30 off AirPods 4 at Amazon

$53 off AirPods Max Gen 2 at Amazon

Top U.K. Apple deals

£200 off MacBook Pro, 14-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon

£294 off MacBook Pro, 16-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB at Amazon

£109 off MacBook Air, 13-inch, M5, 512GB at Amazon

£149 off MacBook Air, 15-inch, M5, 512GB at Amazon

£81 off MacBook Neo, 512GB at Amazon

£100 off iPad mini., 256GB at Amazon

£20 off Apple Watch Series 11, 42mm, GPS at Amazon

£80 off AirPods Max Gen 1, USB-C at Amazon

£200 off iPhone Air, 256GB at Amazon

£30 off iPhone 17e at Amazon

Updated July 9: These are our recommended deals based on the best prices in every category and every spec of Apple product in the U.S. and U.K.

In this frequently updated hub, we track the best Apple deals by comparing prices on Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, AirPods and other Apple products using our specialised price-tracking tools. Whether you’re buying a gift or treating yourself, you’ll find the lowest prices currently available from Amazon, Best Buy and other leading retailers in the U.S. and U.K.

You can trust our recommendations. At Macworld, we’ve been covering Apple for more than 40 years. We’ve reviewed every major generation of Apple products, use Apple devices every day, and buy them with our own money. That gives us firsthand insight into which Apple products are worth buying and what constitutes a genuinely good deal. We also assess whether a discount on an older model still represents good value compared with paying more for the latest version.

For each product, we show the best deals available right now alongside Apple’s current price and, where relevant, the lowest price we’ve previously seen. We’ve also linked to our dedicated deals round-ups for each product category, and you can use the table of contents above to jump straight to the Apple device you’re interested in.

Apple increased the prices of Macs and iPads in June 2026, making many discounts appear larger than before. To help you judge the real saving, we’ve also included the previous Apple retail price where relevant, so you can see whether you’re genuinely getting a good deal.

Why are Apple prices so high?

In June 2026, Apple inflated prices for Macs and iPads due to the global shortage of RAM driven by explosive demand for AI infrastructure. Apple said it has “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly”. This has forced Apple to raise prices across its Mac and iPad lineups, with some models seeing increases of over 30%.

Apple’s pricing is also tied to its brand identity as a premium company. High prices are part of the “aspirational” image the company cultivates. This means that even after the RAM shortage ends, prices are unlikely to return to previous levels.

Does Apple have sales?

Apple rarely discounts its own products. Even during its annual Black Friday shopping event, which runs from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, Apple typically offers gift cards with eligible purchases instead of cutting prices.

That doesn’t mean you have to pay full price. Third-party retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and other Apple resellers regularly discount Apple products throughout the year.

Some of the best savings on an Apple products come during Amazon’s Prime Day events. We saw substantial discounts during Prime Day in June 2026, and another Amazon Prime Day sale sale is expected in October, when we anticipate more deals on Macs, iPads, AirPods and other Apple devices.

Apple also offers year-round education discounts to students, teachers and education staff. During its annual Back To School promotion – usually running for around three months from June or July in many countries (and from January in Australia, New Zealand and other Southern Hemisphere markets) – eligible higher education students can receive a free pair of AirPods or an Apple Pencil with selected Mac and iPad purchases.

Finally, don’t overlook the Apple Certified Refurbished Store, where you can buy refurbished Macs, iPads, iPhones and other Apple products at a discount. These devices are thoroughly tested, include a new battery and outer casing where applicable, and come with the same one-year warranty as new Apple products. Right now, the Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store is the best place to avoid the Apple price hikes as Apple sells products at the old, pre-hike prices – meaning you can effectively sidestep the recent price increases entirely.

Best Mac & MacBook Deals Right Now

Don’t pay full price for a Mac.

Foundry

Check below to find the best price we are seeing right now for each configuration compared to the best price we have ever seen and the full price now and before the price hike.

We’ll start with U.S. prices. U.K. readers can find the best prices in the section below. We indicate in bold where the current price matches the lowest.

U.S. deals

MacBook ProDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowest14-inch, M5, 1TB$1,989 Get the deal at Amazon$1,999$1,699$1,499 14-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB$2,481 Get the deal at Amazon$2,499$2,199$1,983.9414-inch, M5 Max, 2TBOut of stock $4,099$3,599$3,299.9916-inch, M5 Pro, 1TBOut of stock$2,999$2,699$2,44916-inch, M5 Max, 2TB$4,349 Get the deal at Amazon$4,399$3,899$3,649

MacBook AirDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowest13-inch, M5, 512GBOut of stock$1,299$1,099$899.9913-inch, M5, 512GB, 10-coreOut of stock$1,399$1,199$1,099.9913-inch, M5, 1TB, 10-core$1,540.94 Get the deal from Amazon$1,599$1,399$1,099.9915-inch, M5, 512GB$1,499 at Amazon$1,499$1,299$1,099.9915-inch, M5, 1TB$1,649 Get the deal from Amazon$1,799$1,349$1,349

MacBook Neo DealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestA18-Pro, 256GBOut of stock$699$599$589.99A18-Pro, 512GBOut of stock$799$699$689.99

Mac miniDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestM4, 256GB, 16GBOut of stock$799$599$499M4, 512GB, 16GBOut of stock$999$799$669M4, 512GB, 24GB $1,499 From Amazon$1,199$999M4 Pro, 512GBOut of stock $1,599$1,399$1,173.49

iMacDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestM4, 256GB, 8-coreOut of stock$1,499$1,299$1,149M4, 256GB, 10-core$1,449 Get the deal from Amazon$1,499$1,499$1,347.50

U.K. deals

MacBook ProDealNew RRPOld RRPLowest14-inch, M5, 1TB£1,799 Get the deal at Amazon£1,999£1,699£1,528.9714-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB£2,281.97 Get the deal at Amazon£2,499£2,199£1,978.9714-inch, M5 Max, 2TB£3,598.97 Get the deal at Amazon£4,099£3,599£3,238.9716-inch, M5 Pro, 1TB£2,704.97 Get the deal at Amazon£2,999£2,699£2,428.9716-inch, M5 Max, 2TB£4,509.97 Get the deal at Amazon £4,399£3,899£3,508.97

MacBook Air DealNew RRPOld RRPLowest13-inch, M5, 512GB, 8-core GPU£1,189.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,299£1,099£988.9713-inch, M5, 512GB, 10-core GPUOut of stock£1,399£1,199£1,154.9713-inch, M5, 1TB, 10-core£1,463.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,599£1,399£1,169.9715-inch, M5, 512GB£1,349.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,499£1,299£1,168.9715-inch, M5, 1TB£1,641.97 Get the deal at Amazon£1,799£1,699£1,534.97

MacBook NeoDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestA18-Pro, 256GB£618 Get the deal at Amazon£699£599£549A18-Pro, 512GB£718 Get the deal at Amazon £799£699£617.97

Mac miniDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestM4, 256GBOut of stock£799£599£499M4, 512GBOut of stock£999£799£689.99M4 Pro, 512GBOut of stock£1,599£1,399£1,249.99

iMacDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestM4, 256GB, 8-core£1,299 Get the deal at Amazon £1,499£1,299£1,099.00M4, 256GB, 10-core£1,599 Get the deal at Amazon£1,699£1,499£1,249.00

Best iPad Deals Right Now

Get money off an iPad.

Foundry

Check below to find the best price we are seeing right now for each configuration compared to the best price we have ever seen and the full price now and before the price hike.

We’ll start with U.S. prices. U.K. readers can find the best prices in the section below. We indicate in bold where the current price matches the lowest.

U.S. deals

iPadDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestA16, 128GBOut of stock$449$349$271.29A16, 256GBOut of stock$549$449$349.72A16, 512GBOut of stock$749$649$499

iPad miniDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestA17 Pro, 128GBOut of stock$599$499$349A17 Pro, 256GBOut of stock$699$599$479A17 Pro, 512GBOut of stock$899$799$679

iPad AirDealNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestM4, 11-inch, 128GBOut of stock$749$599$519.99M4, 11-inch, 256GBOut of stock$849$699$609.99M4, 11-inch, 512GBOut of stock$1,049$899$789M4, 11-inch, 1TBOut of stock$1,349$1,099$1,016.50M4, 13-inch, 128GBOut of stock$949$799$699.99M4, 13-inch, 256GBOut of stock$1,049$899$699.99M4, 13-inch, 512GBOut of stock$1,249$1,099$999M4, 13-inch, 1TBOut of stock$1,549$1,299$1,199

iPad ProiPad ProNew MSRPOld MSRPLowestM5, 11-inch, 256GBOut of stock$1,199$999$799.91M5, 11-inch, 512GBOut of stock$1,399$1,199$999.99M5, 11-inch, 1TBOut of stock$1,799$1,599$1,399.99M5, 11-inch, 2TB$2,181 Get the deal at Amazon$2,299$1,999$1,799M5, 13-inch, 256GBOut of stock$1,499$1,299$1,149M5, 13-inch, 512GBOut of stock$1,699$1,499$1,341M5, 13-inch, 1TBOut of stock$2,099$1,899$1,723M5, 13-inch, 2TB$2,449 Get the deal at Amazon$2,599$2,299$2,083.12

U.K. deals

iPadDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestA16, 128GB£409 Get the deal at Amazon£429£329£299A16, 256GB£525.17 Get the deal at Amazon£529£449£399A16, 512GB£723.71 Get the deal at Amazon£729£649£579

iPad miniDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestA17 Pro, 128GB£594.66 Get the deal at Amazon£599£499£399A17 Pro, 256GB£599 Get the deal at Amazon £699£599£519A17 Pro, 512GBOut of stock£899£799£739.97

iPad AirDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestM4, 11-inch, 128GB£743.57 Get the deal at Amazon£749£599£578.99M4, 11-inch, 256GB£842.83 Get the deal at Amazon£849£699£678.96M4, 11-inch, 512GB£1,049 at Amazon£1,049£899££869.95M4, 11-inch, 1TB£1,349 at Amazon£1,349£1,099M4, 13-inch, 128GB£939 Get the deal at Amazon£949£799£768.99M4, 13-inch, 256GB£1,041.41 Get the deal at Amazon £1,049£899£867.17M4, 13-inch, 512GB£1,239.94 Get the deal at Amazon£1,249£1,099£1,060.09M4, 13-inch, 1TB£1,549 at Amazon£1,549£1,299£1,253

iPad ProDealNew RRPOld RRPLowestM5, 11-inch, 256GB£1,163.63 Get the deal at Amazon£1,199£999£929M5, 11-inch, 512GBOut of stock£1,399£1,199£1,099M5, 11-inch, 1TB£1,799 at Amazon £1,799£1,599M5, 11-inch, 2TBOut of stock£2,299£1,999M5, 13-inch, 256GB£1,496.62 Get the deal at Amazon£1,499£1,299£1,169.10M5, 13-inch, 512GB£1,699 at Amazon£1,699£1,499£1,349M5, 13-inch, 1TB£2,089 at Amazon£2,099£1,899£1,769M5, 13-inch, 2TB£2,699 Get the deal (with nano glass) at Amazon£2,599£2,299£2,599

Best Apple Watch Deals Right Now

Save money on an Apple Watch.

Foundry

Check below to find the best price we are seeing right now for each configuration compared to the best price we have ever seen and the full price.

We’ll start with U.S. prices. U.K. readers can find the best prices in the section below. We indicate in bold where the current price matches the lowest.

U.S. deals

Apple WatchDealMSRPLowestApple Watch Series 11, 42mm, GPS$329 Get the deal at Amazon$399$279Apple Watch Series 11, 46mm, GPS$359 Get the deal at Amazon$429$309Apple Watch Ultra 3 $699 Get the deal at Amazon $799$649Apple Watch SE 3, 40mm, GPS$239 Get the deal at Amazon $249$199Apple Watch SE 3, 44mm, GPS$269 Get the deal at Amazon$279$229

U.K. deals

Apple WatchDealRRPLowestApple Watch Series 11, 42mm, GPS£349 Get the deal at Amazon£369£287Apple Watch Series 11, 46mm, GPS£379 Get the deal at Amazon  £399£317Apple Watch Ultra 3 £729 Get the deal at Amazon£749£649Apple Watch SE 3, 40mm, GPS£219 at Amazon£219£197Apple Watch SE 3, 44mm, GPS£249 at Amazon£249£189.05

Best AirPods Deals Right Now

Apple/Amazon

Check below to find the best price we are seeing right now for each configuration compared to the best price we have ever seen and the full price.

We’ll start with U.S. prices. U.K. readers can find the best prices in the section below. We indicate in bold where the current price matches the lowest.

U.S. deals

AirPodsDealMSRPLowestAirPods Pro 3$219 Get the deal at Amazon$249$169AirPods 4$99 Get the deal at Amazon$129$69AirPods 4 with ANC$148.99 Get the deal at Amazon$179$99AirPods Max 2$497 Get the deal at Amazon$549$399

U.K. deals

AirPodsDealRRPLowestAirPods Pro 3£219  at Amazon£219£175AIrPods 4£119  at Amazon£119£79.80AirPods 4 with ANC£169 at Amazon£169£125.40AirPods Max 2£499 at Amazon£499NAAirPods Max 1 (USB-C)£419 at AmazonWas £499 (Discontinued)£369

Best iPhone Deals Right Now

Check below to find the best price we are seeing right now for each configuration compared to the best price we have ever seen and the full price.

We don’t tend to see iPhone discounts in the U.S. U.K. readers can find the best prices in the section below. We indicate in bold where the current price matches the lowest.

iPhoneDealRRPLowestiPhone Air, 256GB£799 Get the deal at Amazon£999£699iPhone Air, 512GB£999 Get the deal at Amazon £1,199£774iPhone Air, 1TB£1,199 Get the deal at Amazon£1,399£984iPhone 17e, 256GB £599 at Amazon £599£534iPhone 17e, 512GB £769 Get the deal at Amazon£799£769iPhone  17, 256GB£799 at Amazon£799£737iPhone  17, 512GB£999 at Amazon£999£949iPhone 17 Pro, 256GB £1,049 Get the deal at Amazon£1,099£1,037iPhone 17 Pro, 512GB £1,199 Get the deal at Amazon£1,299£1,199iPhone 17 Pro, 1TB £1,499 at Amazon£1,499£1,399iPhone 17 Pro Max, 256GB £1,199 at Amazon£1,199£1,137iPhone 17 Pro Max, 512GB £1,399 at Amazon£1,399£1,349iPhone 17 Pro Max, 1TB £1,599 at Amazon£1,599£1,549

Best Accessory deals

U.S.

Apple Pencil Pro: (MSRP $129)

Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Air(M2/M3/M4): (MSRP $269)

Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Air(M2/M3/M4): (MSRP $319)

Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Pro (M4/M5): (MSRP $299)

Magic Kayboard for 13-inch iPad Pro (M4/M5): (MSRP $349)

Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad: (MSRP $249)

iPhone 17e Silicone Case with MagSafe: (MSRP $49)

Apple Crossbody Strap: (MSRP $59

Apple USB-C Charge Cable (2m): (MSRP $29)

Apple MagSafe Charger (2m): (MSRP $49)

AirTags: (MSRP £99)

U.K.

Apple Pencil Pro: (RRP £129)

Apple Pencil USB-C: (RRP £79)

Magic Keyboard: (RRP £99)

Magic Keyboard with Touch ID & Numeric Pad: (RRP £179)

Magic Mouse (white): (RRP £79)

AirTags: (RRP £99)

Apple Crossbody Strap: (£59)

FAQ
1.
When are the best Apple deals?

Apple deals are generally best during major retail events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, or specifically for students during Apple’s annual “Back to School” promotion . While Apple itself rarely offers direct price cuts on new hardware, third-party resellers frequently discount products throughout the year.

The optimal time to buy depends heavily on the product’s release cycle and the specific retailer, though:

iPhones: The best time to buy is often in the spring or summer, several months after the September launch, when third-party resellers begin offering deeper discounts . Conversely, the worst time is August, just before new models arrive and trigger price drops on older generations.

Macs and iPads: These see significant discounts during Black Friday (late November) and Amazon Prime Day (typically July and October). For students, the Back to School event (running June–September in the U.S. and July–October in the U.K.) is ideal, as Apple often bundles free accessories like AirPods or Apple Pencils with purchases.

Apple Watch: Major savings are typically found during Black Friday and Prime Day events.

2.
Are Apple refurbished deals worth it?

Apple refurbished deals are widely considered worth it, particularly when purchasing directly from the official Apple Refurbished Store, where products are restored to a “like-new” condition. While third-party resellers often provide steeper discounts, Apple’s own process is uniquely rigorous, offering a balance of significant savings and the same protections as a brand-new purchase.

Buying directly from Apple is often described as “almost indistinguishable” from buying new. According to our guide How much can you save at Apple’s Refurbished Store?, the company puts every device through a “stringent refurbishment process” that includes full functional testing, thorough cleaning, and inspection.

Key benefits of the official Apple Refurbished Store include:

Hardware Replacements: Refurbished iPads and iPhones receive a brand-new battery and outer shell .

Warranty and Support: All products come with a standard one-year limited warranty, 90 days of technical support, and are eligible for AppleCare .

Full Accessories: Devices are repackaged in a plain white box with all original manuals and cables .

Savings: You can typically save around 15% off the retail price for recent models, with much higher discounts on older generations.

Avoid the Apple price hikes: Apple’s Certified Refurbished Store sells products at the old, pre-hike prices – meaning you can effectively sidestep the recent price increases entirely.

3.
Is it better to buy Apple products from Amazon or Apple?

Deciding whether to buy Apple products from Amazon or directly from Apple depends on whether you prioritize immediate cost savings or the specific perks and guarantees offered by the manufacturer. While Amazon often provides deeper discounts, Apple offers unique benefits like trade-in credits, education pricing, and the assurance of receiving the latest models.

4.
Does Apple ever discount products directly?

Apple rarely provides direct price reductions on its new products, preferring to maintain steady Old MSRP pricing throughout a product’s lifecycle. Instead of traditional discounts, the company typically utilizes alternative methods to provide value directly to consumers, such as gift card incentives during major shopping events, education pricing, and a dedicated refurbished store.

While you will not often see a lower price tag on a new iPhone or Mac at the Apple Store, the company does offer several ways to save:

Apple Shopping Events: During events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Apple typically offers gift cards rather than price cuts. For example, in the 2025 holiday season, Apple provided gift cards ranging from $25 to $250 for eligible purchases.

Education Store: Students, teachers, and higher education staff can access year-round discounts on Macs and iPads . During the annual “Back to School” event, Apple often includes a “freebie” like AirPods or an Apple Pencil with qualifying purchases.

Apple Refurbished Store: This is the primary way to get a direct price reduction from Apple. Products are fully reconditioned, come with a one-year warranty, and can be discounted by hundreds of dollars or pounds.

Trade-In Program: Apple allows customers to trade in old devices to receive credit toward a new purchase, effectively lowering the out-of-pocket cost.

In a significant boost to its manufacturing ambitions in India, Apple stands to benefit substantially from the Indian government’s decision to eliminate import tariffs on several critical components used in mobile phones and electronic devices.

The move, announced on Wednesday, removes the existing 7.5% and 5% levies on parts essential for producing wireless charging modules for smartphones, displays for medical devices and automobiles, and lithium-ion cells. The exemptions will remain in effect until March 31, 2029.

India has explicitly positioned the policy change as a way to support major players like Apple, which has aggressively expanded its production footprint in the country over the past several years. The tech giant assembles millions of iPhones annually through partners such as Foxconn and Pegatron, with a growing share of its global supply chain shifting toward India.

“This should boost cost competitiveness, domestic value addition and localization of high-value smartphone and electronics manufacturing,” Manoj Mishra, a partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, told Reuters. He added that the lithium-ion cell exemption could particularly spur investment in domestic battery production for both electronics and electric vehicles.

Apple’s India Momentum

Apple has made India a cornerstone of its diversification strategy away from heavy reliance on China. The company opened its first retail store in the country in 2025 and has seen strong growth in both local sales and exports. iPhone production in India has scaled rapidly, with premium models increasingly manufactured locally.

By reducing input costs on key components, the duty removal lowers the financial burden on Apple’s suppliers, potentially accelerating further localisation efforts. Lower costs could improve margins on India-made iPhones or enable more competitive pricing in both the domestic market and for exports.

India’s broader electronics push aligns perfectly with Apple’s goals. The country aims to expand its electronics manufacturing sector to $500 billion by fiscal year 2030. Smartphone production has already surged 28-fold over the last decade, reaching 5.45 trillion rupees ($57 billion) in 2024/25.

Strategic Context

The revised tariff policy comes amid global supply chain uncertainties and ongoing efforts by multinationals to build more resilient manufacturing networks. For Apple, enhanced incentives in India support its long-term plan to increase the share of iPhones made outside China while tapping into one of the world’s fastest-growing premium smartphone markets.

Analysts expect the duty cuts to encourage deeper ecosystem development, including greater local sourcing of components. This could help Apple and its suppliers achieve higher levels of domestic value addition, a key requirement under India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes that have already channeled billions into iPhone manufacturing.

MacDailyNews Take: This tariff exemption on wireless charging modules is especially timely and relevant for Apple, as MagSafe and its related magnetic ecosystem technologies sit at the very heart of the company’s accessory lineup and future product roadmap. Anything that lowers the cost and encourages deeper localization of these components in India is a clear win for Cupertino.

As India smartly continues to fine-tune its policies to court high-tech manufacturing investment, moves like this import tariff removal only strengthen the country’s growing appeal as a premier production hub. For Apple, the timing couldn’t be better. It further bolsters the company’s already impressive momentum in a market where it has consistently gained share, while accelerating and solidifying its critical supply chain diversification efforts away from over-reliance on any single region.

Bottom line, this is another smart, pragmatic step that plays directly into Apple’s strengths — and the company is well-positioned to capitalize on it.

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The post Apple set to gain as India scraps import tariffs on key smartphone and electronics parts appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Luxshare is one of the ultimate rags-to-riches stories, founded by a woman who started out as a Foxconn assembly-line worker and growing into a multi-billion dollar company and key Apple supplier.

It’s been a publicly traded company in China since 2010, but has now added a second listing in Hong Kong, making it more accessible to overseas investors. Its latest listing set a new record before sliding back …

It took the iPhone an eternity to strike Lightning in favor of the universal USB-C port. Now that it’s here on all models, including the low-end 16e, many users still limit its use to charging, overlooking the slew of other advantages it offers over Lightning. If you’ve got an iPhone 15 or newer, you can expand the USB-C port’s functionality beyond fast charging, and we’ve got a few ideas to share.

1. Charge another device

Rival companies, like Samsung, have long supported reverse wireless charging, letting users turn their smartphones into portable Qi pads. However, it’s not all that practical, forcing users to flip over their phones and rendering both unusable. With the iPhone 15 and newer models, Apple introduced its own version that works via the USB-C port.

Your iPhone can now deliver up to 4.5W of power, letting you charge your AirPods, Apple Watch, or even a friend’s Android phone. To do so, simply plug your USB-C cable into the iPhone and the other end into the USB-C port on the other device.

2. Increase your storage

Even with 128 GB as the standard, we’ve probably all come across the iPhone’s full storage alert. While data stored in iCloud can easily be offloaded from the local memory, not all users trust cloud storage. Fortunately, the iPhone supports a wide range of external storage devices, including USB sticks and hard drives. This makes it easy to free up space by moving large files to a separate drive. To get started, connect a compatible flash drive to your iPhone using its USB-C port. You can then view, manage, and transfer data using the built-in Files app.

One of the solid options out there is this tiny Samsung Type-C Flash Drive ($80), which supports regular file transfers and real-time ProRes video storage. As a Pro exclusive, those with the highest-end iPhone models can directly record ProRes video to a compatible external storage device. Given the considerable size of raw footage, being able to write the data directly onto a separate device can help you shoot for longer periods and avoid filling up your iPhone’s memory.

Your iPhone’s USB-C cable can do more than just charge your iPhone.

Foundry

3. Connect a keyboard

While iPads and Macs are better suited for long-form typing, iPhones—especially the near-7-inch Plus and Pro Max models—can still handle productivity tasks effectively. To make the most of the relatively small screen, though, you may want to pair it with a dedicated keyboard. Fortunately, iOS natively supports this through the USB-C port.

Most standard keyboards, such as this compact Macally keyboard ($30), will work with your iPhone just fine. Or if you want to always have a keyboard with you, you can opt for a Clicks case ($139), which connects to your USB-C port so it’s always ready for a text or email.

4. Amplify your microphone

In the era of TikTok, everyone is a content creator, so a high-quality microphone is an essential tool. Fortunately, your iPhone’s USB-C port can support a wide range of them, letting you pair your footage with crystal-clear high-quality audio. One reliable option is the Rode Wireless Micro ($85), which utilizes your iPhone’s port while maintaining the convenience of wireless recording.

5. Add an SD card

Photographers and videographers love the handy SD card slots on board the newest MacBook Pro and Mac Studio, but that convenience doesn’t extend to the device that does most of your shooting. Fortunately, that can be easily remedied with a wired SD card reader. While newer cameras generally support wireless photo transfers via their respective companion apps, the process tends to be slower than the wired alternative. Apple’s USB-C to SD Card Reader ($39) connects to your iPhone through its charging port and should work with all relevant SD cards. You can also use this same dongle with your Mac or iPad when editing on a larger screen.

With the right cable, you can connect your iPhone to any display.

Willis Lai / Foundry

6. Hook up an external display

If you’re staying at a hotel that blocks wireless media casting, you may be able to mirror your iPhone’s screen to the TV using a wired solution. Apple’s USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69) transforms your iPhone’s charging port into an HDMI connector, allowing you to watch 4K content on bigger displays using a regular HDMI cable.

7. Plug in a game controller

Thanks to the A17 and A18 chips, the latest Pro-tier iPhones can run some AAA games. Notably, though, these titles typically need a controller, as touch controls don’t always offer the best gameplay, if they’re available at all. While Sony’s DualSense controller ($75) supports Bluetooth pairing, opting for wired mode using the iPhone’s USB-C port can minimize latency and enhance overall performance.

8. Connect to Ethernet 

Speaking of gaming, the iPhone fully supports Ethernet dongles, allowing for faster download and upload speeds. While Wi-Fi and 5G are sufficient for most users, Ethernet can come in handy when seeking an even more dependable connection. Belkin’s USB-C to Ethernet Adapter ($23) is one of the solid options that is guaranteed to get the job done.

9. Peer into small places

There are many accessories that you can plug into your iPhone’s USB-C port, but none are cooler than a borescope/endoscope camera. Basically, it’s a snake wire with a tiny HD endoscope camera at the end and an LCD light. It’s flexible yet rigid enough to fit into the smallest of crevices, and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. We haven’t tested them, but this model has a 4.3-star rating with nearly 7,000 reviews and costs just $30.

10. Cool off in summer

With temperatures steadily rising all around the world, we can all use a little relief during long days outdoors. Your iPhone’s USB-C port can help there too. This 17,000 RPM 4-setting high-speed fan ($15) plugs directly into your iPhone’s USB-C port and offers a “focused airflow channel that generates a high-speed airflow of up to 36 ft/s.” Reviewers praise its size, portability, and low-power requirements, but you’ll just appreciate a quick blast of cool air when you’re overheating.

One port can do it all!

The biggest detriment of the iPhone is that there’s just one port, but a USB hub can give you much more. We recommend the Plugable 7-in-1 USB-C Hub Multiport Adapter ($40), which will bring a headphone jack, USB-C charging, HDMI, an SD card reader, Ethernet, and even a couple of USB-A ports for good measure. It’s not exactly small, but if you need to use several ports at once, there’s no substitute.

Your iPhone’s USB-C port is a multi-purpose connector for displays, hard drives, and other accessories.

Connor Jewiss / Foundry

Michael Simon contributed to this report.

Meta this week launched its own AI image model integrated into the Instagram app. While this might sound useful, it comes with rather a big privacy issue: by default, anyone can use your profile photo and posts as prompts for generative images.

You can fix this by flipping two toggles, but they’re pretty well hidden …

Apple recently increased the prices of most of its products, from the Apple TV and HomePods through iPads and Macs to the Vision Pro. iPhones have so far escaped the increases, but that will likely change in September.

You’d think that would be bad news for the company, reducing demand – but ironically, increasing memory costs might actually end up boosting iPhone sales …

Apple is a premium company, and that means its prices are tied strongly to its own self-image. High prices make products “aspirational,” or so the crack marketing team would have you believe, and that’s something Apple has built its brand around.

When the company announced massive price hikes across the board, I was more worried than you might think. For a company that trades in premium optics and where prices rarely go down (if ever), the unstated implication was that these increased costs were here to stay for the foreseeable future.

But there’s another concerning aspect to this fiscal fiasco, and that’s the timing. With several price-sensitive products either just out the door or looming on the horizon, Apple can ill afford to jack up prices in this way. Doing so risks compromising their whole raison d’être and making them a much tougher sell for consumers who are already pinching pennies.

Given the astonishing constraints on component supply, Apple was under tremendous pressure to revise its prices upwards, and it’s far from the only company doing so right now. But its move could end up condemning its latest products before they’ve even had a chance to shine–that’s a massive gamble for the Cupertino-based company.

MacBook Neo’s momentum killed

I’ve argued before that the Apple Tax is a myth; when you compare rival products so that they’re actually feature-comparable, Apple products stand up remarkably well. There’s a difference between expensive and overpriced, and while Apple devices are often the former, they are rarely the latter.

The MacBook Neo was a key demonstrator of this idea. When its regular starting price was $599, it represented phenomenal value for money. Try to configure a Windows laptop with the same budget, and you’d get a hopelessly inferior device.

At the time the MacBook Neo was released, I started to wonder if this heralded a new era for Apple, one where it was less averse to competing at the entry-level end of the market. Coupled with the Mac mini, the iPhone 16e and the Apple Watch SE, you could find budget options right across Apple’s lineup.

But in one fell swoop, Apple’s price rises have undone all of that progress and halted the MacBook Neo’s momentum a mere three months after it got underway.

The $100 price hike effectively muted all the talk that was about the MacBook Neo.

Foundry

The MacBook Neo’s $100 jump is an increase of 17 percent, so it’s far from the hardest hit Apple product, both in terms of percentage points and raw cash. But it might be the worst affected when you consider that its entire purpose was to compete at a budget price point, convert Windows and Chromebook users, and dispel the idea that Apple only knows how to do premium.

Now, the MacBook Neo has lost a significant edge against the competition and made it a lot easier for mediocre Windows laptops to justify themselves to potential customers.

The fact that this has happened so soon after the Neo’s debut just makes the pill even more bitter All that hope and optimism has been dashed before it ever got a chance to settle in. Far from the “new normal,” the MacBook Neo’s $599 pricing just feels like a freak blip, a strange dream that drifts away in the mournful morning haze.

Dead on arrival

If the MacBook Neo is getting screwed over at one end of the spectrum, then there’s equally unpalatable news for flagship Macs. I’m thinking in particular of the upcoming MacBook Ultra.

The MacBook Pro is about to undergo a drastic hardware change–and they’ll also be more expensive.

Foundry

As the name implies, this device is intended to sit right at the top end of Apple’s laptop roster, and it’ll come with a spec sheet to match. Expect an OLED display, touchscreen capabilities, a slimline design, ultra-powerful chips, and more. It’s a statement Mac for those times when the MacBook Pro just doesn’t cut it.

Unfortunately, it’s also going to be a major casualty of Apple’s price rises. While low-end Macs like the MacBook Neo were robbed of their competitive edge, pricier Macs were affected just as badly.

Indeed, the Mac Studio was handed the largest increase, both in terms of its dollar price and the percentage increase, in the entire Mac collection. The M3 Ultra model was the single worst-hit Mac model available, with its starting price rising a shocking $1,300 from $3,999 to $5,299. That translates to a jump of 33 percent. The M4 Max model, meanwhile, saw the second-highest jump in terms of cash, up $500 from $1,999 to $2,499. That’s a step up of 25 percent.

A fully kitted-out 16-inch MacBook Pro, meanwhile, will now set you back over $10,000 ($10,149 to be precise, not including software or a power adapter). To my knowledge, that’s the first time a MacBook Pro has ever crossed the $10,000 threshold.

The supply shortages that are at the root of the price hikes also restrict the memory configurations available for the Mac Studio.

Thomas Bergbold

In other words, top-of-the-range customers are being absolutely gouged by these price increases, and if you think the MacBook Ultra is going to somehow escape the slaughter, you’re kidding yourself.

Apple’s rivals have been selling touchscreen laptops for years, and this kind of functionality sits at the top of many Mac users’ wishlists. But how is Apple going to carve out a meaningful niche among touchscreen laptops when the only Mac it sells with this feature requires remortgaging your home in order to afford it?

There’s now a real risk that this device is doomed before it’s even been announced, just like the iPhone Ultra, it could end up being dead on arrival.

The new Siri

When Apple finally lifted the lid on the much-delayed Siri AI overhaul at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, it earned some positive press for its decision to make macOS 27 (the minimum requirement for Siri AI) available on a huge selection of Macs. You can run it on anything back to an M1 Mac from 2020, which is great news for price-conscious buyers.

Older M-series Macs are not able to 

support Siri AI features such as expressive voices and more advanced dictation.

Foundry

The bad news is that this doesn’t quite apply to every Siri AI feature. At WWDC, Apple’s Craig Federighi explained that “Our most powerful on-device model, and the features it enables–like expressive voices and more advanced dictation–will be coming to our most capable iPhone, iPad and Mac systems.” For the Mac, that means you need an M3 chip or later with 12GB of memory of higher.

And maybe it’s just me, but Federighi’s phrasing strikes me as leaving the door open for other Siri AI features to be similarly device-locked in the future. As Apple expands the capabilities of its most powerful AI model, so the list of features it gatekeeps will surely continue to grow.

Now that a big selection of the products needed to access these demanding features is more expensive, Apple seems to have inadvertently locked some of Siri’s best elements behind a paywall that just got significantly higher.

And we’re not just talking about Macs, of course. Siri is available on a whole assortment of Apple devices, including iPhones, Apple Watches, iPads and Vision Pros. The latter two categories are seeing their prices head skywards, further pushing Siri out of reach for many customers. While iPhones and Apple Watches have escaped harm for now, don’t expect that to last long past September.

This comes at a critical time for Apple. Siri is already scrambling to make up for two years of negative press and frustrating delays. It needs to wow users and make an instant impact. But if you now have to pay even more just to get access to some of its best features, you’ll find its progress blocked by substantial barriers.

A no-win situation

I understand why Apple raised prices across the board. If anything, it’s done well not to do so sooner. Apple is a company that prioritizes its juicy margins, and those margins gave it a little leeway to hold out longer than much of its competition.

But things were going to have to change eventually if Apple was to preserve its profitability–with Tim Cook still at the helm, that was never in doubt. The question was when, not if.

While Apple held out as long as it could, the timing of its price increases couldn’t be worse. It risks not only more pain at the pump for Apple’s customers, but could put a real dent in the prospects of its hardware and software, both present and future.

If ever there was a no-win situation, it’s this, for everyone involved.

The Mac mini boasts the fast processors, and rivals even Apple’s most pro computers despite costing significantly less. However, as great as it is, there is a problem with the Mac mini—the at-purchase storage upgrades are pricey and after you buy one, it’s nearly impossible to upgrade its internal components. However, we’re here to help.

There are two basic Mac mini models: latest M4 mini (5 inches square, 2 inches deep) and older M1/M2 mini (7.7 inches square, 1.4 inches deep). Here, we have rounded up the best hardware upgrades and accessories you can buy for either the old or newer models. Most of the M1/M2 tips work with the Apple Studio, too, as that remains the same size.

Apple doesn’t let you upgrade the Mac mini with inexpensive third-party components such as RAM or internal storage, and it prices its custom-build options at the very high end of affordability. With the earlier Mac mini Apple fixed the RAM to the processor and the SSD to the logic board so they couldn’t be swapped out after you buy one. The M4 mini is different with a detachable SSD but swapping this out is beyond most mere mortals.

Here we look at your best Mac mini upgrade options, adding: storage, memory, screen, speakers and microphone. If you want to jump straight to the reviews:

Hubs and docks for Mac mini M4

Hubs and docks for Mac mini M2

Other Mac mini accessories

Above: Inside the Mac mini M4. Although it looks easy, because Apple’s SSD controller is built into the chip, you can’t simply swap out its SSD with a part bought from Amazon or some computer store. If you can do this yourself you probably wouldn’t be reading this article!L0vertodream via X

Upgrading the Mac mini: Adding memory and storage

In our FAQ at the foot of this feature we go into more detail about the difficulties of upgrading the Mac mini’s internal components—as it is with most Macs. There are solutions that are quite messy, such as adding external storage.

Flexible but messy: A Mac mini with two external SSDs: a Plugable 1TB Thunderbolt 3 External SSD NVMe Drive and a CalDigit Tuff Nano (10Gbps USB-C). Thankfully there are less messy ways of adding fast storage to your Mac mini.

Foundry

Adding external storage

The simplest way to add storage to a Mac mini is the same as any other Mac: Connect an external hard drive or SSD using one of the Thunderbolt ports on the back of the computer. Even the slowest Solid-state drives (SSD) are faster than mechanical hard disk drives (HDD), but look out for speed differences—entry-level SSDs provide speeds of around 500MB/s, while more advanced models can step up to 2,000MB/s or even 6,000MB/s. See SSD or HDD in the FAQs.

Another way to add inexpensive portable storage is via an SD or microSD card—once the go-to storage format for camera users but also a great format for cheap and portable backup and archive storage. Sadly, the Mac mini doesn’t have a card reader slot, so you’ll need to add one, such as this UGreen USB-C SD Card Reader for $15.

But these are admittedly ugly methods. You’ll have wires hanging out of the back of your Mac mini and a desk cluttered with drives. It’s neater to keep storage hidden inside. Apple won’t let you do it, but there are some great solutions that we have tested here.

Adding Internal storage

The best option is to get more internal storage in your Mac mini, but Apple’s custom-built pricing means upgrading a 256GB model to 1TB will cost you an extra $500, and 2TB will cost $800, while M4 Pro options cost even more: 4TB is $1,800 and 8TB will set you back a whopping $3,800.

If you can’t swing the prices for more storage or just decide later that you need more, there are hardware solutions that connect to the mini without messing up the footprint of the small computer. We’ve tested and reviewed these Mac mini storage accessories for you. The tested Mac mini hubs feature upgradeable and inexpensive internal storage plus a range of extra ports, supporting the NVMe form factors that resemble a stick of chewing gum.

Installing SSD into Mac mini hub or dock

Below we review the best Mac mini hubs and docks. Some include a hidden SSD enclosure where you can slot your own storage card with an included screwdriver and sometimes a thermal gel pad to transfer heat away from the drive and into the metal enclosure, preventing the SSD from overheating and suffering from thermal throttling.

The Satechi CubeDock matched the Mac mini M4 and hides its internal SSD slot under its base.

Simon Jary

For the M4 mini, there are SSD slots in the Ugreen 11-in-1 Mac mini Dock, Satechi CubeDock, Satechi Stand & Hub, and Orico MiniLink, reviewed below. Satechi has an M2 mini version of its Stand & Hub, and you can also choose the OWC ministack STX.

Installation is simple, with everything bar the SSD board itself included (screwdriver, screws, thermal gel pads). It’s a little fiddly but nothing to be worried about—if you can use a screwdriver, you can install the SSD board yourself.

SSD types: The docks and hubs we tested all take NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) M.2 SSDs, but check on the appropriate SSD size before investing in the SSD. Some take several lengths—for example 2230, 2242, 2260 and 2280—while others just fit the standard 2280. If that sounds scary, don’t worry as the 2280 is the most common SSD length.

SSD speeds: Note that the speed of the USB-C or Thunderbolt connection from the dock to the Mac mini will determine the data-transfer rate. A 10Gbps USB-C connection allows an SSD to achieve real-world transfer speeds of around 900 to 1,250 Megabytes per second (MBps). While 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 pipes have a theoretical maximum of 5,000MB/s, protocol overhead and enclosure translation typically cap your speeds at around 3,000MBps. An 80Gbps connection (such as Thunderbolt 5) supports real-world SSD speeds of up to 7,000MBps.

Upgrading the Mac mini: Adding ports and extra expansion

While the Mac mini has plenty of ports around the back, Apple includes just two USB-C to the front of the M4 mini, and did not bless the M2 Mac mini with any ports at the front at all. Alongside the SSD slots, all of the hubs and docks tested and reviewed here include an array of ports, including USB-A (missing from the M4 mini) and SD/MicroSD card readers (missing from the M2 and M4 Mac mini).

Thunderbolt, USB-C, Ethernet and HDMI are all included in the Mac mini. Having access to more Thunderbolt or USB-C is useful, especially if powered. Some docks feature faster Ethernet.

USB-A is the legacy port missing from the Mac mini M4, used mainly for flash drives, memory sticks and older devices. This has largely been replaced with USB-C, but having at least one at your disposal can be handy.

SD card readers are also missing from the Mac mini, and are an affordable way of adding ultra-portable storage cards, which are cheaper—but slower—than SSDs. You can buy a SanDisk memory card with 512GB of storage for under $100.

Another port-adding option is to buy yourself a Thunderbolt hub, such as the 40Gbps Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub that features four 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 ports (including one side-mounted upstream to the computer), four 10Gbps USB-A ports, and a power supply. The Element 5 Hub from the same company offers four Thunderbolt 5, two 10Gbps USB-C and three 10Gbps USB-A ports. We’ve tested the best Thunderbolt hubs and docks if you want even more ports than that. Granted, they won’t be as neat as the dedicated Mac mini docks and hubs reviewed here, but there are tons of options out there.

Best Mac mini M4 hubs and docks

The criteria we used for the products reviewed below was that they had to fit the Mac mini and connect to it without ruining the Apple aesthetic or the Mac mini’s compact footprint. We tested the following docks and hubs with the Apple Mac mini M4.

Satechi Thunderbolt 5 CubeDock with SSD Enclosure

Pros

Fits Mac mini M4

Four Thunderbolt 5 ports

Built-in NVMe SSD slot

Two USB-C ports

Two USB-A ports

SD and MicroSD card readers

2.5Gb Ethernet

Cons

Premium price

Price When Reviewed:

$399.99

Best Prices Today:


$399.99 at B&H$399.99 at Best Buy US$399.99 at Satechi

Compatible with: Any Thunderbolt Mac

Size: 4.9 x 4.9 x 2 inches (125 x 125 x 52mm)

Ports:

1x USB-C (10Gbps, 30W)

1x USB-C (10Gbps, 7.5W)

2x USB-A (10Gbps)

1x M.2 SSD enclosure (up to 8TB)

SD card reader (UHS-II, 312MBps)

MicroSD card reader (UHS-II, 312MBps)

2.5Gb Ethernet

3.5mm audio jack

180W power supply

Of all the docks that fit the Mac mini M4’s compact footprint, only the Satechi CubeDock can be used with any Mac—it will charge a connected 16-inch MacBook Pro at a full 140W. The likelihood, however, is that you’ll want to pair this dock with the Mac mini, as they go together so well.

As a Thunderbolt 5 docking station it works best with the 80Gbps Mac mini M4 Pro but will work well with the 40Gbps mini M4. Of all the Mac mini docks we review here, it alone offers a decent charging port: a 30W USB-C that is powerful enough to fast-charge an iPhone or iPad and even keep a MacBook charged. There are a couple of USB-A ports for legacy devices such as memory sticks and flash drives. If your mini M4 is equipped with just 1Gb Ethernet, the CubeDock offers 2.5GbE for faster networks.

The CubeDock offers 80Gbps connectivity unlike most of the 10Gbps or 40Gbps docks and hubs we tested.

Simon Jary

Underneath the dock there’s a hatch that when removed reveals a slot for an SSD drive of up to 8TB. It supports 2280 and shorter 2230/2242/2260 M.2 NVMe SSD sizes (PCIe 4×4), and delivers up to 6000MBps in data transfer speed. Satechi even includes a visual SSD installation guide in the CubeDock’s packaging.

Read our full

Satechi Thunderbolt 5 CubeDock with SSD Enclosure review

Ugreen Mac mini 11-in-1 Docking Station with SSD Expansion

Pros

Fits Mac mini M4

Built-in NVMe SSD slot

Two USB-C ports

Five USB-A ports

SD and MicroSD card readers

Cutout for mini’s power button

Cons

Requires USB-C wall charger

Slow card readers

Price When Reviewed:

$89.99

Best Prices Today:


$89.99 at Ugreen

Compatible with: Apple Mac mini M4

Size: 4.9 x 4.9 x 1 inch (125 x 125 x 26mm)

Ports:

2x USB-C (10Gbps)

3x USB-A (10Gbps)

2x USB-A (5Gbps)

1x M.2 SSD enclosure (up to 8TB)

SD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

MicroSD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

There’s not as many ports here as on the CubeDock reviewed above but there’s still plenty to add to the Mac mini’s own, including two USB-C rather than just focusing on USB-A like some Mac mini hubs do. The Satechi CubeDock”s two USB-A ports should be plenty enough for most people but Ugreen includes five, which seems like overkill.

There’s an SSD slot that takes M.2 NVMe SSDs of types 2230/2242/2260/2280, with a maximum capacity of 8TB. You’re advised to connect to a wall charger to keep the SSD working to its peak performance.

The two card readers at the front of the dock support ultra-portable SD and MicroSD cards. You could just use these for backup storage, but at 104MBps UHS-I they are probably too slow to work directly from while the dock’s internal SSD supports up to 10Gbps.

Simon Jary

If you find the Mac mini’s power button tricky to reach, the dock’s clever cutout means you can turn it on without lifting it. Anti-slip silicone pads on the bottom add stability on the desk.

Read our full

Ugreen Mac mini 11-in-1 Docking Station with SSD Expansion review

Orico MiniLink 40Gbps One-Stop Storage and Dock

Pros

Fits Mac mini M4

Upstream 40Gbps USB4 port

Two built-in NVMe SSD slots

Three 10Gbps USB-A ports

SD and MicroSD card readers

36W total power

Cons

Noisy fan

Placement can affect Wi-Fi performance

Price When Reviewed:

$159.99

Best Prices Today:


$119.99 at Orico

Compatible with: Apple Mac mini M4

Size: 4.9 x 4.9 x 1 inch (125 x 125 x 25mm)

Ports:

3x USB-A (10Gbps)

2x M.2 SSD enclosure (up ro 16TB)

SD card reader (UHS-II, 312MBps)

MicroSD card reader (UHS-II, 312MBps)

The Orico MiniLink gives you the requisite USB-A ports and fast card readers missing from the Mac mini. Where it differs from the other docks and hubs reviewed here is its dual SSD slots, meaning you can add up to 16TB of fast storage in the two bays.

One slot is rated at around 3000MB/s and the other around 1300MB/s because the faster slot has more USB4 bandwidth available. Start with an affordable drive today and add another later without replacing it, or dedicate one SSD to active projects and the other to backups, media libraries or archived files. 16TB of storage could set you back as much as $3,000, so you might pick this dock for the flexibility of two slots rather than the massive potential capacity.

Simon Jary

There are two basic models of MiniLink: the dual-SSD 40Gbps M47P and a 10Gbps one-slot M49P that has a couple of extra audio ports but slower card readers. Mae sure you chose the correct model because the company’s online store can be confusing as are its Amazon listings.

In testing, we did find the active cooling fan quite noisy. In a busy environment it can be ignored but if you need silence at least the MiniLink has a front-mounted power button.

Read our full

Orico MiniLink 40Gbps One-Stop Storage and Dock review

Satechi Stand & Hub Mac Mini M4

Pros

Fits Mac mini M4

Built-in NVMe SSD slot (up to 8TB)

Three USB-A ports

SD card reader

Cutout for mini’s power button

Price When Reviewed:

$99.99

Best Prices Today:


$84.98 at Best Buy US$89.99 at Walmart$99.99 at B&H

Compatible with: Apple Mac mini M4

Size: 4.9 x 4.9 x 0.7 inch (125 x 125 x 17mm)

Ports:

2x USB-A (10Gbps)

1x USB-A (480Mbps)

1x M.2 SSD enclosure (up to 8TB)

SD card reader (UHS-II, 312MBps)

While the other docks also mimic the length and width of the mini, this is the slimmest Mac mini M4 hub at just 0.7 inches deep. There’s space for the SSD slot in the base, and this like most others can handle up to 8TB. It’s the simplest latch of the lot with no screws required until you install the SSD card itself.

Simon Jary

Of the four ports, three are legacy USB-A where we’d have preferred a USB-C in the mix—although the Mac mini provides enough for most use cases. The single card reader is SD size, but you can add an adapter for MicroSD cards, and it’s fast at 312MBps compared to the 10MBps slots on some hubs.

There’s a neat notch that allows easier access to the Mac mini M4’s power button.

Read our full

Satechi Stand & Hub Mac Mini M4 review

CalDigit Thunderbolt 5 Element 5 Hub

Pros

Four Thunderbolt 5 ports

Two 10Gbps USB-C ports

150W total power

Compact

Cons

Sits away from Mac mini

No extra storage capacity

Price When Reviewed:

$249.95

Best Prices Today:


$249.95 at CalDigit

Compatible with: Any USB-C/Thunderbolt computer

Size: 4.5 x 2.75 x 1 inch (114 x 70 x 25mm)

Ports:

4x Thunderbolt 5 ports (80Gbps, 15W)

2x USB-C (10Gbps, 7.5W)

3x USB-A (10Gbps, 7.5W)

This Thunderbolt 5 hub is even more compact than the Mac mini M4. It’s not designed to sit under or atop the Mac mini so will reside outside of its footprint on your desk

It gives you eight fast ports—plus the upstream Thunderbolt 5 port that connects to your Mac mini—that will also ably charge connected devices. Even if your M4 mini has Thunderbolt 4, we recommend the TB5 version as it is backwards compatible with the TB4 and we prefer the two extra USB-C ports to the CalDigit Element 4 Hub’s four USB-A.

If your Mac mini or Mac Studio has enough storage for your needs but not enough ports, this excellent hub blesses you with multiple top-rated ports.

Read our full

CalDigit Thunderbolt 5 Element 5 Hub review

Upgrading the older Apple Mac mini M2 or M1

Foundry

If you own the older and larger Mac mini with either an M1 or M2 chip (pre 2024), there are a couple of great hubs that mean you can add ports plus storage drives within the same footprint as the mini.

OWC miniStack STX

Pros

NVMe M.2 SSD bay

3.5-inch HDD bay

4x Thunderbolt 4 ports

Cons

No front ports

No card reader

Black only color choice

Price When Reviewed:

From $279.99

Best Prices Today:


$279.99 at OWC

Compatible with: Mac Mini M2 & M2 Pro 2023; M1 2020; Mac mini 2018; Mac Studio 2022

Size: 7.8 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches (198 x 198 x 38mm)

Ports:

4x Thunderbolt 4 ports (40Gbps, 15W)

Internal SSD enclosure

Internal HDD bay

This double-drive bay Mac mini accessory is a decent Thunderbolt 4 hub in its own right—hence its higher price tag compared to the USB-C Satechi hub reviewed below.

Its four Thunderbolt 4 ports allow you to create three independent daisy chains with up to five total Thunderbolt devices with a USB device on the end of each chain (eight devices total).

Foundry

But the real benefit of the miniStack STX is its bays that can be pre-configured or self-installed with one 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disk drive (HDD) and one speedy NVMe SSD.

Buy an inexpensive (but trustworthy) HHD for a Time Machine backup or secondary storage, and a faster SSD for operational file storage. The miniStack STX offers the best of both worlds in terms of storage flexibility.

Read our full

OWC miniStack STX review

Satechi Stand Hub for Mac mini with SSD Enclosure

Pros

SSD bay

Front-facing ports

Supports SATA SSD and faster NVMe

Card readers

Silver color matches mini

Cons

USB-C not Thunderbolt

Price When Reviewed:

$99.99

Best Prices Today:


$99.99 at Satechi

Compatible with: Mac Mini M2 & M2 Pro 2023; Mac mini M1 2020; Mac Studio 2022

Size: 7.8 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches (198 x 198 x 23mm)

Ports:

1x USB-C (10Gbps)

1x USB-A (10Gbps)

2x USB-A (5Gbps)

SD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

microSD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

3.5mm audio jack

Internal SSD enclosure

This inexpensive USB-C hub adds much-needed ports to the front of your Mac mini setup. These ports include SD and microSD card readers, which are lacking from the mini itself.

You can buy a slightly cheaper version without the SSD enclosure but we advise spending the extra $20 even if, right now, you don’t think you need any extra storage. If your Mac mini has a 512GB internal SSD, then a 1TB or greater SSD within the hub offers excellent and speedy Time Machine backup or just extra space for your files. Remember you can’t go back and increase the capacity of the Mac mini’s integrated SSD.

An M.2 SSD can be discretely installed in the Satechi Stand & Hub.

Foundry

The latest version lets you choose between an SATA SSD or more modern NVMe SSD. Either way, it’s much faster than a mechanical hard disk drive.

The lack of Thunderbolt is not a problem if the two (M2) or four (M2 Pro) Thunderbolt 4 ports on the back of the mini are all you require. Note that one of the mini’s Thunderbolt ports will be used to connect the hub.

Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub

Pros

Four Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 ports

Four 10Gbps USB-A ports

150W total power

Compact

Cons

Sits away from Mac mini

No extra storage capacity

Price When Reviewed:

$179.99

Best Prices Today:


$179.95 at CalDigit

Compatible with: Any USB-C/Thunderbolt computer

Size: 4.5 x 2.8 x 0.7 inches (114 x 71 x 18mm)

Ports:

4x Thunderbolt 4 ports (40Gbps, 15W)

4x USB-A (10Gbps, 7.5W)

This super-compact Thunderbolt 4 hub differs from the OWC and Satechi hubs by being a different size and form to the Mac mini, and so it will sit outside of its footprint on your desk It offers you seven fast ports—plus the upstream Thunderbolt 4 port that connects to your Mac mini—that will also ably charge connected devices.

If your Mac mini or Mac Studio has enough storage for your needs but not enough ports (step forward the more limited non-Pro M2 Mac mini), this excellent hub blesses you with multiple top-rated ports.

Read the full Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub review

Other Mac mini accessories

Hubs and docks help you add missing ports and provide fast internal storage options, but there are many other accessories that will enhance your Mac mini setup. For starters you need a keyboard and mouse, plus at least one monitors to connect to. These work with any version of the Mac mini.

Alogic Aspekt 32-inch 4K Docking Monitor

Pros

32-inch 4K 60Hz touchscreen

Omni Stand option for Mac mini M4 owners

Extra ports

Fine color accuracy

Cons

Premium price

Mac mini cradle works only with this monitor

Price When Reviewed:

From £2,148.99

Best Prices Today:


$2148.99 at Alogic

Ports:

1x USB-C (upstream)

2x USB-C (5Gbps, 1x 30W, 1x 15W)

2x USB-A ports (5Gbps)

2x DisplayPort 1.4

Gigabit Ethernet

3.5mm audio jack

The Alogic Aspekt 4K Touch is a 32-inch touchscreen monitor with docking features and an optional but very special Mac mini M4 cradle. Mac mini M4 owners will be particularly interested in the neat cradle in its optional Omni Stand that carries the mini without hampering the stand’s folding flexibility and gives you some tidy desk space back.

Simon Jary

Both front and rear Mac mini ports are easily accessible in the cradle that stays fixed even when the stand above it folds up and down.

Sadly for Mac mini owners with other monitors, the Alogic Omni Stand works with only the 32-inch Aspekt Monitor as it features a custom quick-release mechanism that means it won’t fit into other monitors, even those that support 100x100mm VESA mounts.

Read our full

Alogic Aspekt 32-inch 4K Docking Monitor review

Alogic Clarity 27in UHD 4K Monitor

Pros

27-inch 4K 60Hz screen

Excellent adjustable stand

Extra ports

Cons

Not 5K like the old 27-inch iMac’s screen

Price When Reviewed:

$599.99

Best Prices Today:


$599.99 at Alogic$719.99 at Best Buy US$719.99 at Target

Ports:

1x USB-C (upstream)

1x USB-B (upstream)

2x USB-A ports (5Gbps)

DisplayPort 1.4

2x HDMI 2.0

3.5mm audio jack

From the same company we chose its entry-level 27-inch display that boasts a superb adjustable stand, even if it lacks the Aspekt’s cute Mac mini cradle. It even has its own integrated hub offering a range of ports to complement the Mac mini’s own, including two USB-A ports that can be used to attach peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse or webcam to the computer. For the computer to see any attached devices, it must be connected to the computer by either the USB-C or USB-B upstream port.

There are now more advanced versions of the Clarity, with a Clarity Pro that adds a retractable webcam and touchscreen versions—available in either 27- or widescreen 32- and 34-inch sizes.

Read our full

Alogic Clarity 27in UHD 4K Monitor review

Logitech MX Keys S For Mac

Pros

Competitive price

Function keys and numeric keypad

Super sturdy

Backlight

Price When Reviewed:

From $99.99

Best Prices Today:


$109.99 at Logitech$129.99 at B&H$129.99 at Logitech US Canada and Mexico

As you will notice when you pick up your Mac mini from the Apple Store, it comes with neither keyboard nor mouse. You can add an Apple keyboard at the point of purchase but we prefer products from Logitech’s Mac-friendly MX series of products.

The MX Keys S for Mac has a slimline, low-profile design that is smart and attractive, and available in either Space Gray or Pale Gray. It’s the most solidly built Mac keyboard we have tested, and is capable of surviving some heavy-handed typing when it needs to.

It is significantly cheaper than Apple’s Magic Keyboard (from $179 / £179), but also a lot more versatile, as it includes a dedicated set of buttons that allow you to pair it with three separate devices, including Macs, iPads, and even Windows PCs. It does, like all non-Apple keyboards, lack the Magic Keyboard’s Touch ID key. Look for the “For Mac” model as it offers a Mac dedicated layout. The Command Key is the giveaway when you want to ensure you have the regular Mac keyboard layout.

If you are committed to the mini philosophy of small peripherals, the compact Logitech MX Keys Mini for Mac ($99.99 / £84.99) drops the numeric keypad. See more of the best Mac keyboards in our roundup.

Logitech MX Master 4

Pros

Sturdy and comfortable design

New haptic feedback features

Two scrolling wheels

Lots of programmable buttons

Cons

Right-handed only 

Premium price

Price When Reviewed:

$119.99

Best Prices Today:


$119.99 at B&H$119.99 at Lenovo USA$119.99 at Logitech

Logitech’s MX Master 4 mouse, which has eight buttons and new haptic feedback technology (just for Adobe users right now), an Action Ring, and longer battery life. Its smoothly curved surface fits the palm of the (right) hand very well, along with a thumb-rest for extra comfort. It has the usual left/right buttons and a scroll wheel at the top. The scroll-wheel works in two different modes, with a feature called SmartShift that automatically switches the scroll wheel from line-by-line scrolling to super-fast scrolling when it senses you want to scroll much faster.

There’s also a second scroll wheel on the side, which allows you to scroll horizontally—which is great for photo-editing and graphics work plus very long spreadsheets—and three more buttons that can be programmed using the excellent Options+ app. If you want a simpler or smaller mouse, we’ve rounded up and tested the best Mac mice.

Read our full

Logitech MX Master 4 review

Logitech MX Brio 4K webcam

Pros

4K webcam with HDR

Excellent image quality

Sturdy, aluminum frame

Good Mac app

Cons

Premium price

Price When Reviewed:

$199.99

Best Prices Today:


$199.99 at Adorama$199.99 at B&H$199.99 at Best Buy

Rounding out the Logitech MX series in our recommendations, the MX Brio has a sensitive camera that provides a very sharper image, as well as a sturdy aluminum body and adjustable stand that lets you attach it to your computer screen or sit it flat on a desk. There’s a manual privacy shutter, along with two noise-reducing microphones.

It also includes AI features, including auto-light-correction designed to improve detail in low-light conditions and to focus the image directly on your face for improved visibility. It can display 4K video at 30 frames per second, and that image quality will work well for video calls with clients or colleagues.

As always, Logitech provides better Mac support than most webcam manufacturers. You can plug the MX Brio into your Mac using its USB-C cable (the Mac mini M4 has no USB-A port beloved of many webcam makers. Check out our reviews of the best Mac webcams for more solutions.

Apple HomePod mini

Pros

Very nice design and small footprint

Decent sound with excellent volume

Works with more than just Apple Music

Cons

Sound isn’t as full or deep as the original HomePod

Price When Reviewed:

$129 (was £99)

Best Prices Today:


$99 at Adorama$99 at Apple$99.99 at Best Buy

The Mac mini’s built-in speaker is a feeble affair, which is fine for system alerts but woeful if you want to fire up Apple Music or stream video. What better option for the Mac mini than Apple’s other mini, the HomePod mini that’s available in a fun range of colors and at 3.3 x 3.9 inches is smaller than even the mini M4.

If your budget can stretch that far, we compare it to its $349 bigger sibling in our Apple HomePod vs HomePod mini face-off.

Read our full

Apple HomePod mini review

Above: Inside the Mac mini M2, with one SSD and space for another at the left— but it’s only configurable at the point of purchase.

Foundry

FAQ
1.
Can you upgrade the M2 Mac mini hard drive?

Apple solders the solid-state drive (SSD) directly onto the logic board of the Mac mini when you choose the capacity at the point of purchase. While it is not possible to later upgrade the drive, you can add extra SSDs or hard-disk drives (HDD) via accessories, which we have reviewed here.

2.
Can you upgrade the M2 Mac mini memory?

Apple builds the RAM directly as part of the M2 processor of the Mac mini when you choose the amount of memory at the point of purchase. It is not possible to later upgrade the RAM, so you must choose the most you are likely to need when buying the computer.

3.
SSD or HDD?

Solid-state drives (SSD) have no moving parts. Data is stored on interconnected flash memory microchips, which allows for data to be pulled from many different places at once and significantly increases memory read speeds. Hard disk drives (HDD) rely on spinning metal disks to read and write data.

Most of the solutions reviewed here are focused on the faster NVMe type of SSD that speed up boot times, improve the responsiveness of your programs, and generally make your computer feel faster. However, you’ll pay more money for the same storage capacity on SSDs as HDDs. SSDs cost more per gigabyte than mechanical HDDs and aren’t often available in ultra-high capacities. Even as prices of SSDs continue to drop, HDDs will always be cheaper.

4.
Upgrading the Mac mini: Adding faster ethernet

One of the build-to-order options offered by Apple is to upgrade the Mac mini’s ethernet from 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit (an extra $100). As with the RAM and storage, once you’ve picked your Ethernet speed, there’s no way to upgrade the internal connector later. But you can buy adapters quite cheaply. Cable Matters sells a 10G Ethernet Adapter for around $89 if you suddenly need faster network access after you’ve purchased your Mac mini. Ugreen has 2.5GbE and 5GbE adapters that connect to one of your Mac’s USB-C or Thunderbolt ports.

TL;DR: Visual Studio 2026 delivers AI-powered coding, collaboration, and cross-platform development tools for $34.97 until July 12.

Modern development rarely lives in one place anymore. Even Mac-based developers often find themselves working across cloud environments, backend services, and Windows applications — which means toolchains need to keep up without slowing teams down. Visual Studio Professional 2026 is built for that kind of workflow. Until July 12, you can get lifetime access for just $34.97 (MSRP $499.99).

It’s a full-featured IDE designed for building applications across .NET, C++, web frameworks, and cloud-connected services, with deeper AI-assisted coding built in. Instead of jumping between disconnected tools, developers get an integrated environment that supports faster iteration and cleaner collaboration.

For teams that include Mac users, Visual Studio often fits into a broader setup rather than replacing native tools — used alongside macOS environments for backend development, API work, or Azure-connected projects. Features like Live Share enable real-time collaboration across operating systems, while AI suggestions through IntelliCode help reduce repetitive coding and improve accuracy across larger codebases.

With cross-platform deployment and cloud integration becoming standard in modern engineering workflows, Visual Studio 2026 is positioned as a central hub for development teams.

Get a lifetime license to Visual Studio Professional 2026 for $34.97 until July 12 while the deal lasts.

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

But iOS app icons (and iPadOS) were always in squircle shape. Why
is and was this okay for you, but it’s not for macOS?

This is a good and fair question. But I not only have an answer, I have an answer that clarifies why this entire debate is important. That “design is how it works” applies even to something as seemingly superficial as icons.

There are all sorts of limitations and simplifications in iOS that would be bad ideas to bring to MacOS, which would range in effect from disappointing to frustrating to maddening to ruinous. Where squircle jail falls on that scale is subjective. It’s certainly not ruinous, but I’d say it’s maddening. (iOS baby-computer-isms that would be ruinous to bring to MacOS would include killing AppKit, removing the Unix terminal layer, or requiring all apps to come from the App Store.)

MacOS has suffered many such frustrating decisions before. E.g., it arguably makes sense for iOS to omit always-visible scroll bars because screen real estate is so limited. It makes no such sense on the Mac.

As for mandatory squircle shapes for app icons in particular:

(a) I don’t think this is a good mandate for iOS either;

(b) it was always so for iOS, though, so it’s not like Apple has ever taken away rich creative icon shapes on the platform;

(c) MacOS is a far richer and more precise environment than iOS.

App icons on the iOS home screen are effectively simple buttons. I think it’s rather obvious that’s why they have had that squircle/roundsquare shape ever since the iPhone was announced in January 2007 (source). They’re one-tap launchers. App icons in MacOS are not mere buttons. You can drag them, move them, and drop things on them. You click them to select, and double-click to launch. They are richer objects that deserve a richer visual vocabulary. iOS is a world meant for fat-tipped Magic Markers and blunt safety scissors. MacOS is a world meant to support fine-tipped drafting pens and precision razor-sharp X-ACTO knives.

Plus, Macintosh icons have four decades of glorious history. Style and fashion change over time. But limitations should not be imposed where freedom once reigned.

And shape as a differentiating factor is not mere decoration. We have long known this. We all knew this. And not only did Apple know it, the rest of us knew it because we learned it from Apple. Via the Internet Archive, here’s Apple’s Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines from 2018,1 which is not that long ago:

Consider giving your app icon a realistic, unique shape. In
macOS, app icons can have the shape of the objects they depict. A
unique outline focuses attention on the object and makes it easy
to recognize the icon at a glance. If necessary, you can use a
circular shape to encapsulate a set of images. Avoid using the
rounded rectangle shape that people associate with iOS app icons.

“A unique outline focuses attention on the object and makes it easy to recognize the icon at a glance.” Eight short years ago. That is not the description of a fad or fashion. It is a description of human perception. Our unchanging nature.

So much collective hard-earned wisdom has been ignored of late. But it’s not lost or forgotten. Chapter 11 of the 2002 Aqua Human Interface Guidelines is a good place to start remembering. There was tremendous thought, rigor, and logic behind those guidelines — all of it in the name of creating a visual language for icons that most people simply thought looked cool as fuck.

It caught my attention that as recently as 2018, Apple still published platform-specific Human Interface Guidelines. At some point after that they did a Dye job on the whole thing and now there’s just one Apple Human Interface Guidelines. Instead of platform-specific HIGs, there’s one HIG, with platform-specific call-outs as sidebars within the text. This is no little thing. It’s emblematic of Apple shipping user interfaces that are ignorant of the principles Apple itself forged over the previous decades. It’s like trying to make movies without ever having watched and studied the best movies made in the past, or writing a novel without having read a fucking book. It’s not just the Mac that should have its own HIG. Each of Apple’s platforms should. (iPadOS can share iOS’s.) There could be a “foundations” HIG that serves as a primer on fundamentals, but platform-specific HIGs could — and in the past, did — explain in detail why they are discrete platforms with different idioms, capabilities, and requirements. ↩︎

Apple TV’s 2026 Emmy nominations total soars to a new record, with Widow’s Bay and Pluribus leading the way.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

In addition to bringing new keyboard and typing improvements across multiple languages, iOS 27 will also add several languages and accents to Apple Translate. Here are the details.

Apple continues its steady push toward the iOS 27 ecosystem with the release of a new developer beta firmware for its AirPods lineup. Build 9A5314b is now rolling out to developers, bringing compatibility for several major audio and interface enhancements coming in the fall.

What’s New in This Beta Firmware?

This marks the third beta iteration of firmware version 9.0 (following earlier builds like 9A5292e and 9A5304b). It prepares the following models for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate features:

• AirPods Pro 2 (including USB-C version)
• AirPods Pro 3
• AirPods 4 (standard and ANC models)
• AirPods Max 2

Key additions enabled by this firmware include:

• Custom EQ Support: Finally, users can tweak Lows, Mids, and Highs directly in the Settings app. This long-requested feature lets you personalize sound beyond Apple’s preset profiles — a big win for audiophiles and anyone frustrated with the stock tuning.

• Adaptive Mode Slider: Easier real-time control over noise control modes.

• Redesigned AirPods Settings Interface: A cleaner, more organized menu with better grouping and labels, making it easier to navigate all the features Apple has stacked on over the years.

• Enhanced Siri AI Compatibility: Seamless integration with Apple’s next-generation Siri intelligence.

Additional rumored or previously announced tie-ins (like GymKit syncing for AirPods Pro 3) may also see refinements here.

How to Install the Beta Firmware

Ensure your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is running iOS 26 / iPadOS 26 / macOS 26 (or later betas).
Connect your AirPods and open the dedicated AirPods settings page.
Scroll down and toggle AirPods Beta Updates on.
Place the AirPods in their charging case near your device (and ideally on a charger). The update happens automatically in the background — it can take minutes to hours.

Note: This is developer-only for now. A public beta may follow soon, but there’s no forced update button — patience (and charging) is required.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s AirPods firmware updates have historically been somewhat opaque and slow, but the company has made the beta process far more accessible this year. With iOS 27 expected in September, this firmware gets early adopters ready for meaningful upgrades like custom audio tuning and a refreshed user experience.

If you’re a developer or beta tester with compatible AirPods, this is worth installing to preview what’s coming. For everyone else, the stable version will arrive alongside iOS 27 this fall.

‎
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The post Apple releases third AirPods beta firmware, unlocking iOS 27 features appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple continues its steady push toward the iOS 27 ecosystem with the release of a new developer beta firmware for its AirPods lineup. Build 9A5314b is now rolling out to developers, bringing compatibility for several major audio and interface enhancements coming in the fall.

What’s New in This Beta Firmware?

This marks the third beta iteration of firmware version 9.0 (following earlier builds like 9A5292e and 9A5304b). It prepares the following models for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate features:

• AirPods Pro 2 (including USB-C version)
• AirPods Pro 3
• AirPods 4 (standard and ANC models)
• AirPods Max 2

Key additions enabled by this firmware include:

• Custom EQ Support: Finally, users can tweak Lows, Mids, and Highs directly in the Settings app. This long-requested feature lets you personalize sound beyond Apple’s preset profiles — a big win for audiophiles and anyone frustrated with the stock tuning.

• Adaptive Mode Slider: Easier real-time control over noise control modes.

• Redesigned AirPods Settings Interface: A cleaner, more organized menu with better grouping and labels, making it easier to navigate all the features Apple has stacked on over the years.

• Enhanced Siri AI Compatibility: Seamless integration with Apple’s next-generation Siri intelligence.

Additional rumored or previously announced tie-ins (like GymKit syncing for AirPods Pro 3) may also see refinements here.

How to Install the Beta Firmware

Ensure your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is running iOS 26 / iPadOS 26 / macOS 26 (or later betas).
Connect your AirPods and open the dedicated AirPods settings page.
Scroll down and toggle AirPods Beta Updates on.
Place the AirPods in their charging case near your device (and ideally on a charger). The update happens automatically in the background — it can take minutes to hours.

Note: This is developer-only for now. A public beta may follow soon, but there’s no forced update button — patience (and charging) is required.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s AirPods firmware updates have historically been somewhat opaque and slow, but the company has made the beta process far more accessible this year. With iOS 27 expected in September, this firmware gets early adopters ready for meaningful upgrades like custom audio tuning and a refreshed user experience.

If you’re a developer or beta tester with compatible AirPods, this is worth installing to preview what’s coming. For everyone else, the stable version will arrive alongside iOS 27 this fall.

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

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The post Apple releases third AirPods beta firmware, unlocking iOS 27 features appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple continues its steady push toward the iOS 27 ecosystem with the release of a new developer beta firmware for its AirPods lineup. Build 9A5314b is now rolling out to developers, bringing compatibility for several major audio and interface enhancements coming in the fall.

What’s New in This Beta Firmware?

This marks the third beta iteration of firmware version 9.0 (following earlier builds like 9A5292e and 9A5304b). It prepares the following models for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate features:

• AirPods Pro 2 (including USB-C version)
• AirPods Pro 3
• AirPods 4 (standard and ANC models)
• AirPods Max 2

Key additions enabled by this firmware include:

• Custom EQ Support: Finally, users can tweak Lows, Mids, and Highs directly in the Settings app. This long-requested feature lets you personalize sound beyond Apple’s preset profiles — a big win for audiophiles and anyone frustrated with the stock tuning.

• Adaptive Mode Slider: Easier real-time control over noise control modes.

• Redesigned AirPods Settings Interface: A cleaner, more organized menu with better grouping and labels, making it easier to navigate all the features Apple has stacked on over the years.

• Enhanced Siri AI Compatibility: Seamless integration with Apple’s next-generation Siri intelligence.

Additional rumored or previously announced tie-ins (like GymKit syncing for AirPods Pro 3) may also see refinements here.

How to Install the Beta Firmware

Ensure your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is running iOS 26 / iPadOS 26 / macOS 26 (or later betas).
Connect your AirPods and open the dedicated AirPods settings page.
Scroll down and toggle AirPods Beta Updates on.
Place the AirPods in their charging case near your device (and ideally on a charger). The update happens automatically in the background — it can take minutes to hours.

Note: This is developer-only for now. A public beta may follow soon, but there’s no forced update button — patience (and charging) is required.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s AirPods firmware updates have historically been somewhat opaque and slow, but the company has made the beta process far more accessible this year. With iOS 27 expected in September, this firmware gets early adopters ready for meaningful upgrades like custom audio tuning and a refreshed user experience.

If you’re a developer or beta tester with compatible AirPods, this is worth installing to preview what’s coming. For everyone else, the stable version will arrive alongside iOS 27 this fall.

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Apple releases third AirPods beta firmware, unlocking iOS 27 features appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Apple continues its steady push toward the iOS 27 ecosystem with the release of a new developer beta firmware for its AirPods lineup. Build 9A5314b is now rolling out to developers, bringing compatibility for several major audio and interface enhancements coming in the fall.

What’s New in This Beta Firmware?

This marks the third beta iteration of firmware version 9.0 (following earlier builds like 9A5292e and 9A5304b). It prepares the following models for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate features:

• AirPods Pro 2 (including USB-C version)
• AirPods Pro 3
• AirPods 4 (standard and ANC models)
• AirPods Max 2

Key additions enabled by this firmware include:

• Custom EQ Support: Finally, users can tweak Lows, Mids, and Highs directly in the Settings app. This long-requested feature lets you personalize sound beyond Apple’s preset profiles — a big win for audiophiles and anyone frustrated with the stock tuning.

• Adaptive Mode Slider: Easier real-time control over noise control modes.

• Redesigned AirPods Settings Interface: A cleaner, more organized menu with better grouping and labels, making it easier to navigate all the features Apple has stacked on over the years.

• Enhanced Siri AI Compatibility: Seamless integration with Apple’s next-generation Siri intelligence.

Additional rumored or previously announced tie-ins (like GymKit syncing for AirPods Pro 3) may also see refinements here.

How to Install the Beta Firmware

Ensure your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is running iOS 26 / iPadOS 26 / macOS 26 (or later betas).
Connect your AirPods and open the dedicated AirPods settings page.
Scroll down and toggle AirPods Beta Updates on.
Place the AirPods in their charging case near your device (and ideally on a charger). The update happens automatically in the background — it can take minutes to hours.

Note: This is developer-only for now. A public beta may follow soon, but there’s no forced update button — patience (and charging) is required.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s AirPods firmware updates have historically been somewhat opaque and slow, but the company has made the beta process far more accessible this year. With iOS 27 expected in September, this firmware gets early adopters ready for meaningful upgrades like custom audio tuning and a refreshed user experience.

If you’re a developer or beta tester with compatible AirPods, this is worth installing to preview what’s coming. For everyone else, the stable version will arrive alongside iOS 27 this fall.

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Apple releases third AirPods beta firmware, unlocking iOS 27 features appeared first on MacDailyNews.

Just a few days after releasing Halide Mark III, the folks at Lux are already getting ready to roll out Halide 3.1: Scarlet Edition. Here’s what’s coming.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences just announced the contenders for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, and Apple just scored 87 nominations across all major categories. Here’s the full list of nominees.

Rumors of delays for Apple’s long-awaited first foldable iPhone have been circulating in early July 2026, fueled by the device’s complex assembly and reportedly low initial yields. However, multiple insiders from Apple’s supply chain companies have pushed back strongly, telling Caijing She that the product is proceeding normally with no known postponements.

The design and production plans are already finalized, and relevant suppliers are in peak production season as of early July. Multiple sources explicitly stated that the September 2026 delivery timeline faces “no issues” and that they have “not heard” of any plans to delay the launch.This reassurance comes amid mixed analyst forecasts. One well-known analyst had predicted relatively limited shipments in the second half of 2026 (around 7–8 million units total, with only 500,000–1 million in early Q3) and a high price tag of roughly $2,300–$2,500. Supply chain voices have reportedly pushed back against those more conservative volume estimates.

Liquidmetal Hinge: The Key to Durability and a Near-Crease-Free Display Experience

One of the most intriguing technical details supporting Apple’s ambitious timeline is the rumored use of Liquidmetal (also known as amorphous metal or metallic glass) in the hinge mechanism.

According to prominent supply-chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to use Liquidmetal for critical hinge components (bearings/shafts), manufactured via a die-casting process. This marks the company’s first major application of the material in a structural mechanical part.

Apple has held exclusive worldwide rights to Liquidmetal technology for consumer electronics since 2010 (via a deal with Liquidmetal Technologies), but until now it has been limited to small components like the SIM card ejector tool.

Why Liquidmetal for the hinge?

• Its amorphous (non-crystalline) atomic structure makes it exceptionally resistant to bending, deformation, and denting.

• It is approximately 2.5× harder than titanium alloy while offering a smooth, glossy finish similar to high-end stainless steel.

• Superior corrosion resistance and fatigue strength suit a component that must endure hundreds of thousands of folding cycles.

• Precise die-casting enables tight tolerances, contributing to better screen flatness when unfolded and helping minimize the visible crease that plagues many competing foldables.

• It supports Apple’s goal of an ultra-thin design (rumors suggest the device could be around 4.5 mm thick when open).

The exclusive supplier for these Liquidmetal parts is reportedly Dongguan EonTec (also referred to as Yi’an Technology or related entities like Yihao Metal). The company had already shipped over 10 million central shafts for the hinge by the end of 2024 in preparation.

Later reports through mid-2026 indicate prototypes have reached carriers for network testing with the Liquidmetal hinge in place, and production continues to progress rapidly despite earlier yield challenges common to complex foldable mechanisms.

What to Expect from Apple’s First Foldable iPhone

The device is widely expected to be a book-style foldable rather than a clamshell. Rumored specs include:

• A large inner display around 7.8 inches when unfolded

• A cover display of about 5.5 inches

• Titanium frame elements for the body

• Premium pricing starting around $2,000

While exact details remain under wraps, the combination of a finalized design, active mass-production ramp-up, and advanced materials like Liquidmetal in the hinge suggests Apple is prioritizing durability, thinness, and a premium folding experience.

MacDailyNews Take: Supply chain confirmation that everything is on track for a September 2026 launch (likely alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models) is welcome news for fans who have waited years for Apple to enter the foldable category. If the rumored Liquidmetal hinge delivers on its promised advantages, Apple’s debut foldable could set a new benchmark for the category.

‎
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Apple’s AirPods lineup is stronger than ever, but there are already rumors about what’s coming next. Here’s everything we know so far about when Apple will release new AirPods.

iPhone and iPad users hanging on to older devices will no longer be able to restore or downgrade to several older iOS versions starting today. Here are the details.

While the global personal computer market contracted for the first time in nearly two and a half years, Apple stood out as the clear winner. According to new data from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, Apple shipped 6.7 million Macs in the second quarter of 2026, representing a robust 10.1% year-over-year increase and capturing 9.9% of the worldwide market.

The overall PC market told a different story. Worldwide shipments fell 4.9% year-over-year to 68.2 million units in Q2 2026 — the first decline after nine consecutive quarters of growth — as a persistent memory chip shortage and rising component costs weighed on demand.

Apple’s performance was particularly striking when compared to its rivals in the top five:

• Lenovo: 16.6 million units (24.4% share, -2.1% YoY)
• HP Inc.: 13.0 million units (19.1% share, -9.0% YoY)
• Dell Technologies: 9.3 million units (13.6% share, -5.0% YoY)
• Apple: 6.7 million units (9.9% share, +10.1% YoY)
• Asus: 5.0 million units (7.4% share, +0.2% YoY)

MacBook Neo Drives Momentum

IDC analysts directly linked Apple’s strong showing to the successful launch of the MacBook Neo, Apple’s most affordable Mac laptop ever, which began shipping in March 2026. The new entry-level model helped expand Apple’s reach to first-time Mac buyers and students while maintaining strong demand for higher-end MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.

“Apple’s share gain coincided with its latest product launch, the MacBook Neo,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, vice president for consumer devices at IDC, in a statement. “While the company did raise prices in line with the broader market, it still remains well positioned against rivals facing the same cost pressures.”

Scale and Supply Chain Advantage

The results also underscore Apple’s structural advantages in the current environment. With its massive scale, long-standing supplier relationships, and diversified product portfolio (including iPhones and servers), Apple has been better able to secure critical components like memory chips compared to smaller competitors.

“As market conditions continue to worsen, the importance of supply chain management and capabilities are increasingly important,” Bouchard noted. “The largest vendors, with their buying power and long-standing supplier ties, are best positioned to take share from smaller rivals.”

What It Means for Apple

Apple’s Q2 performance demonstrates the company’s ability to grow even when broader PC demand softens. The combination of a compelling new affordable product (MacBook Neo), premium pricing power on higher-end models, and strong brand loyalty has allowed Apple to expand its footprint in the traditional PC market while many Windows PC makers struggled.

MacDailyNews Take: With memory shortages expected to persist and price pressure likely to continue into 2027, Apple appears well-positioned to maintain or even extend its gains in the second half of the year. For now, the message from the latest IDC numbers is clear: while the overall PC industry hit a speed bump in Q2 2026, Apple kept its foot on the accelerator.

‎
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On July 8, 1997, Steve Jobs embarked on an effort to reshape Apple into a success after former CEO Gil Amelio departed the company.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

The Television Academy has officially announced the nominations for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, and Apple TV has secured its most dominant showing in company history. Pushing past its previous company record of 79 nods, Apple captured a staggering 87 television nominations (89 total including commercial categories), locking in its place as an elite creative powerhouse.

The historic haul firmly places Apple TV as the third most-nominated network/platform of the year, trailing only heavyweights HBO Max (122 nominations) and Netflix (111 nominations). Most impressively, Apple achieved this milestone by leading all major streamers in pure comedy and drama categories, anchored heavily by an incredibly strong freshman class of programming.

Freshmen Phenoms Set the Pace

While industry forecasters anticipated a strong showing for veteran series, it was Apple’s rookie lineup that stole the spotlight. The horror-comedy sensation Widow’s Bay led the pack for Apple with 19 nominations, second overall in the comedy field only to the final season of HBO Max’s Hacks. Fronted by Matthew Rhys, who secured an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nomination, the series also yielded stellar supporting nods for Stephen Root, Dale Dickey, and Kate O’Flynn.

Right behind it was Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi thriller Pluribus, which achieved a spectacular 18 nominations. Its lone lead cast member, Rhea Seehorn, is already being pegged by awards prognosticators as the absolute frontrunner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Apple TV Excels in Major Series Categories

Apple TV demonstrated unprecedented breadth, successfully landing multiple contenders in both the premier Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series brackets:

Outstanding Comedy Series Contenders:

• Widow’s Bay (19 nominations)

• Shrinking (9 nominations — including a Lead Actor nod for Jason Segel and a Supporting Actor nod for Hollywood icon Harrison Ford)

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Featuring Lead Actress nominee Elle Fanning and Supporting Actress nominee Michelle Pfeiffer)

Outstanding Drama Series Contenders:

• Pluribus (18 nominations)

• Slow Horses (9 nominations — including Gary Oldman for Lead Actor and Jack Lowden for Supporting Actor)

• Your Friends & Neighbors

A New Era of Streaming Prominence

The absence of last year’s heavy-hitters like The Studio left a competitive vacuum that Apple filled masterfully. Veteran spy-caper Slow Horses continued its consistent prestige run, securing a well-deserved Outstanding Drama Series spot along with a Lead Actor nod for Gary Oldman. Meanwhile, newcomers like Margo’s Got Money Troubles made an immediate splash, proving that Apple’s talent-first pipeline is operating like a well-oiled machine.

With the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards broadcast set for Sunday, September 14 on NBC (hosted by Mariska Hargitay), Apple TV heads into the fall with maximum momentum, establishing that its combination of high-concept prestige dramas and accessible comedy hits is an unbeatable formula.
‎
MacDailyNews Take: Congratulations to all of the casts and crews of the nominated Apple TV fare! Full list of nominees here.

Anyone who loves quality TV should be subscribing to Apple TV!

MacDailyNews Note: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.

‎
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In a dramatic shift in the tech landscape, Apple is rapidly narrowing the gap with Nvidia in the race for the title of the world’s most valuable company. As of early July 2026, Nvidia holds a slim lead with a market capitalization hovering around $4.7–4.8 trillion, while Apple sits just behind at approximately $4.5–4.6 trillion — within striking distance of overtaking its rival.

This proximity marks a notable comeback for Apple, which has long been a market leader, but ceded the top spot to Nvidia amid the explosive growth of artificial intelligence demand.

The AI Boom vs. Consumer Resilience

Nvidia’s ascent has been fueled almost entirely by its dominance in AI chips. The company’s data center revenue has skyrocketed, with explosive growth in GPU sales powering everything from training large language models to enterprise AI infrastructure. Investors have rewarded this momentum, pushing Nvidia’s valuation to record highs despite occasional volatility in the semiconductor sector.

Apple, by contrast, derives its strength from a more diversified and stable ecosystem. Its massive installed base of iPhones, Macs, and iPads, services revenue (including App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, and iCloud), and growing enterprise presence provide a reliable cash flow engine. Recent reports of an expanded iPhone lineup — including potential new models and enticing AI integrations — have boosted investor sentiment, with Apple shares jumping nearly 5% in a single session as the gap with Nvidia narrowed.

Market Dynamics at Play

Several factors are contributing to Apple’s resurgence:

• Valuation and Stability: Apple trades at a premium multiple (around 37x earnings) compared to Nvidia’s (around 30x), reflecting its predictable growth. However, Apple’s lower volatility appeals to investors seeking shelter amid chip-sector sell-offs.

• Product Momentum: Rumors of a refreshed iPhone lineup, possibly including foldable devices or enhanced AI features, have created near-term excitement ahead of Apple’s earnings.

• Broader Tech Rotation: While Nvidia benefits from AI hype, any cooling in semiconductor enthusiasm—due to high valuations or supply concerns—creates openings for more established giants like Apple.

Alphabet (Google) also remains in the mix, with a market cap around $4.3–4.4 trillion, making the top three tech titans extremely competitive.

What Could Tip the Scales?

Analysts suggest Apple could reclaim the top spot as soon as this month if it delivers a strong earnings report on July 30 and Nvidia faces continued pressure in the chip space. A rumored multi-model iPhone release could provide the catalyst. However, Nvidia’s AI tailwinds remain formidable, with expectations of sustained high growth.

This battle underscores a broader theme in 2026 markets: the tension between high-growth AI infrastructure plays and resilient consumer tech empires. Regardless of which company wears the crown next, both highlight America’s enduring dominance in innovation and market value.

MacDailyNews Take: Perpetually undervalued Apple is breathing down overpriced Nvidia’s neck!

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Apple has issued a press release to let everyone know that it is involved in the plan for Broadcom to expand its manufacturing facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. While the press release is full of numbers, the actual details are still unclear.

Broadcom currently supplies important radio technology parts to Apple. While Apple is moving to its own modems for cellular (C1, C1X) and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth (N1), there are still lots of radio parts needed in Apple products, including antenna signal management, NFC, and more. The press release calls out FBAR filters, for example, which are a special kind of high-frequency radio filter.

The release says Apple will invest $30B into Broadcom, and some of the financial press has run with that number, but it is unclear what exactly that means. In this context, “invest in,” typically means “agrees to spend that much on products or services over a certain span of time.” Apple was going to buy billions of dollars worth of Broadcom parts over the coming years, and the “$30B investment” likely means Apple just agreed to spend that much. There is no timeframe given, nor any context of how much of an increase in spend that would be, if any.

Some reports have loosely tied Apple to a $1.5B investment to help Broadcom expand its manufacturing plant in Fort Collins, Colorado. However, Apple’s press release makes it clear that it’s Broadcom spending that money, and that Apple’s $30B agreement simply enables them to do it: “This new agreement… will enable Broadcom to expand and modernize its manufacturing facilities in Fort Collins, Colorado, with a $1.5 billion capital expenditure investment.”

The press release closes with another vague, context-free number that Apple likes to throw around: “These investments are part of Apple’s commitment to invest $600 billion in the U.S. economy over four years, supporting manufacturing, job creation, and technology development across the country.” Apple’s $600B investment is not all new spending on manufacturing, but is the sum total the company will spend in the United States, including salaries, offices, electricity, buying parts, shipping, advertising, and more.

A shiny new model isn’t the only upgrade coming to ChatGPT this week. In addition to GPT-5.6’s release tomorrow, OpenAI is announcing an all-new ChatGPT voice mode experience as well.

In a newly released support document, Apple announced that support for the encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format will end with macOS 28, which is expected to be released in 2027. 

This means that users will need to reformat or decrypt any storage device formatted with encrypted Mac OS Extended to use the drive with macOS 28. Apple does not explain the end of Mac OS Extended (HFS+), though the company has been prioritizing its APFS format over HFS+. Apple previously announced the deprecation of encrypted Mac OS Extended in the developer notes of the macOS 27 beta. Also, the support document states that macOS 26 may start displaying alerts if an encrypted Mac OS Extended drive is being used, telling the user that it will not be compatible with macOS 28.

Apple introduced the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) format in 1998, a time when hard drives or Fusion drives were the storage devices used on Macs. In 2017, Apple introduced the APFS format to replace Mac OS Extended (HFS+), a more modern format designed to work with the SSDs that are now standard storage devices in every Mac. SSDs must be formatted with APFS, while hard drives can be formatted with either format.

To see which format a drive is using, attach the device to a Mac. Then:

If you set your Mac up to show storage devices on the Desktop, you can select the drive’s Desktop icon and the Get Info on the drive by pressing Command-I, or by right-clicking and selecting Get Info. In the Get Info window, look for the Format heading.

If you do not show storage devices on the Dekstop, you can open a Finder window, select the storage device in the sidebar, right-click and select Get Info. In the Get Info window, look for the Format heading.

You can also use the Disk Utility app, which shows the format under the storage device’s name in the main window.

What to do with your encrypted Mac OS Extended (HFS+) drive

You have two options: decrypt the drive and continue using Mac OS Extended (HFS+) without encryption, or reformat the drive to APFS. The former can be done without having to copy your data to another storage device, but it’s best to make a copy first before proceeding. The secind option requires you to erase the drive and all data on it, so you’ll want to make a backup before proceeding.

Apple offers complete instructions on how to decrypt the drive and continue using Mac OS Extended (HFS+) without encryption, or reformat the drive to APFS.

Ugreen Mac Mini M4 Dock and Stand

View Deal

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Ugreen’s M4 Mac mini dock and Stand is on sale for $55, which is quite a bit under its $90 MSRP. It’s not the absolute best we’ve seen for this model, which dropped once to $50, but it’s still an excellent discount for a dock that fixes so many of your problems.

The M4 Mac mini is a tiny powerhouse, but it’s somewhat short on ports and locked to whatever storage it had when you bought it. This Ugreen dock, which we just gave 4 stars in our review, tucks neatly under your Mini, bringing you a slew of extra ports to use. There are 11 of them in total, including three USB-A 3.2 ports, two USB-A 3.0 ports, two USB-C 3.2 ports, and a pair of card readers. In this way, you can connect extra peripherals, thumb drives, and more.

But that’s not all, because this Ugreen device can also help you expand your mini’s storage. The dock includes an M2. NVMe SSD slot that supports up to 8TB with fast 10Gbps transfer speeds. That’s going to be a massive help if you need more storage space. Plus, those speeds can handle 4K editing just fine, as well as big backups. With Apple charging more and more for extra storage, this will absolutely come in handy.

So grab this $55 M4 Mac mini Ugreen dock and get a ton of ports plus a way to expand storage whenever you have the budget for a new SSD.

The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, long nicknamed “billionaire summer camp,” is underway this week in the Idaho mountain resort, drawing an elite roster of tech, media, and finance leaders for private discussions on AI, media consolidation, and big-ticket deals.

Apple is prominently represented by CEO Tim Cook and incoming CEO John Ternus, alongside services chief Eddy Cue. This marks a notable transition year for the compnay, as Cook prepares to step down in September 2026 after nearly 15 years at the helm, handing the reins to hardware engineering chief Ternus.

Cook, a longtime Sun Valley regular, brings institutional continuity and his signature deal-making presence. Ternus’s attendance signals his elevated role as the company’s next leader amid ongoing executive transitions and a push into AI. Eddy Cue, who oversees Apple’s growing services business (Apple Music, Apple TV, App Store, etc.), rounds out the delegation — highlighting Apple’s diversification strategy beyond hardware.

The gathering comes at a pivotal moment for Apple. The company is navigating AI advancements post-WWDC 2026, regulatory pressures, and succession planning following a wave of senior executive departures. Discussions in Sun Valley’s informal setting — hikes, golf, and cabin meetings — often spark major industry moves, though everything remains off the record.

Broader 2026 Guest List Highlights

Other notable attendees this year include:

• Tech/AI: Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Sundar Pichai (Alphabet/Google), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic).

• Media/Entertainment: David Ellison (Paramount Skydance), Josh D’Amaro (Disney), Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters (Netflix), David Zaslav (Warner Bros. Discovery), the Murdochs (Fox Corporation and News Corp).

Observers expect hot topics to include AI infrastructure and investment, media mergers, and the evolving competitive landscape — areas where Apple is actively positioning itself under its shifting leadership.

This year’s Sun Valley summit continues its tradition as a discreet powerhouse venue where relationships forged in the Rockies can reshape industries. Apple’s delegation is well-placed to engage on the future of consumer tech, services, and AI.

MacDailyNews Note: While no specific Apple announcements have emerged from the closed-door event, the presence of Cook and Ternus together underscores a smooth handover and Apple’s commitment to high-level networking as it enters a new era. The conference typically runs through mid-July, with private jets clogging the local airport.

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Siri on Apple Watch can finally add time to a running timer in watchOS 27. Hurray, cooking just got easier!

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

According to code in the latest iOS 27 beta, Apple is preparing to launch car key support for two new automakers: Xiaomi and Lucid Motors. Here’s what we know right now.

According to The Elec, Samsung Display has fully scrapped the development project of a component tied to the rumored lower-cost Apple Vision Pro. Here are the details.

Alongside the ongoing deal on AirPods 4, if you’re quick you can land MacBook Neo 512GB at nearly $110 off the new list price to kick off today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. We also have Apple’s 14-inch M5 Pro MacBook Pro 2TB models at $449 off this week alongside mid-range M5 iPad Pro at $250 off, ongoing deals on Apple Watch Ultra 3, rare Prime Day lows still live on Apple Magic Mouse and Keyboards, Anker’s white model 3-in-1 25W foldable MagSafe charger back at the Prime Day low, and even more waiting below. 

Apple is actively testing memory chips from China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) for devices sold in China, while simultaneously lobbying the Trump administration for assurances to incorporate the supplier amid a severe global DRAM shortage.

According to the Financial Times and corroborating reports, Apple has begun qualification testing of CXMT’s DRAM products. Although the company has not yet committed to commercial volumes, the testing signals serious intent as it seeks to ease cost pressures and secure supply.

AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory has diverted production from consumer-grade DRAM and LPDDR, causing sharp price spikes (some contracts up 50-60%). This forced Apple to implement rare price increases of up to 20% on MacBooks, iPads, and other hardware in late June.

Adding CXMT (and potentially Yangtze Memory Technologies for NAND) would:

• Diversify beyond Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

• Strengthen Apple’s negotiating position on pricing and allocation.

• Help guarantee supply through 2027, at least for China-market devices.

CXMT’s Rapid Ascent

CXMT, a CCP state-backed champion, has grown into the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer with about 11% of global wafer capacity (forecast to hit 15% by 2028). It is mass-producing competitive DDR5 and LPDDR5X chips and preparing a major IPO.

Geopolitical Risks

CXMT remains on the Pentagon’s Section 1260H list of Chinese military-linked companies. While not outright banned for commercial purchase, deeper engagement could draw congressional criticism and regulatory scrutiny. Apple, including through direct engagement by outgoing CEO Tim Cook, is seeking political cover to mitigate that risk.

MacDailyNews Take: This development reflects the intense strain the AI boom is exerting on supply chains. Even Apple with its massive purchasing power is turning to alternative sources as traditional suppliers prioritize higher-margin AI customers.

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Discover the impressive sound quality of the Fender x Teufel Rockster Go 2 portable Bluetooth speaker, ideal for your next party.

(via Cult of Mac – Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

New data from IDC shows that Apple was the only major PC vendor to post significant shipment growth in Q2 2026, with the broader market declining for the first time in more than two years. Here are the details.

After Apple started lobbying the US government for approval to use memory chips from CXMT, The Financial Times now reports that the company is actively testing the components for devices sold in China. Here are the details.

OpenAI unveiled GPT-5.6 at the end of June, but the public release was held back while the U.S. government reviewed the new AI models. Now the company has shared an update on when customers will be able to use the upgraded model: this week.