On Monday, Apple released iOS 27 beta 5 to developers on Monday after a weeklong delay, bringing another round of changes and refinements ahead of the update’s public release next month. But hidden inside the software are also some interesting clues about what Apple has planned for the iPhone over the coming months.

Macworld has found references to six unreleased iPhone models in the latest iOS 27 beta, including the entire iPhone 18 family, iPhone 18e, iPhone Air 2, and iPhone Ultra. While none of these products have been officially announced by Apple, the references provide perhaps the clearest evidence yet of what the company has planned for the next generation of iPhone.

Six new iPhones hidden in iOS 27

The references were found in system files related to the iPhone’s battery drivers and Battery Intelligence features. Alongside existing iPhone models, iOS 27 beta 5 explicitly lists six unreleased devices using Apple’s internal codenames:

• V62: iPhone Air 2
• V63: iPhone 18 Pro
• V64: iPhone 18 Pro Max
• V67: iPhone 18
• V68: iPhone Ultra
• V69: iPhone 18e

Although this isn’t the first time a beta version of iOS has revealed details about upcoming hardware, this appears to be the first time the entire iPhone 18 lineup has been explicitly mentioned in the internal code of the iOS 27 beta. The codenames also align with previous leaks and reports from other sources about the next generation of the iPhone.

The references don’t reveal specifications or other details about the new devices. However, their presence inside battery-related system components makes sense, as Apple needs to prepare iOS for the various new configurations and power-management characteristics of new hardware before those products reach customers.

For instance, earlier beta versions of iOS 27 revealed support for foldable displays and even multiple batteries, both features not found in any current iPhone hardware.

Apple is changing the iPhone release schedule

Unlike previous years, Apple isn’t expected to introduce its entire next-generation iPhone lineup at once.

Rumors suggest the company will focus on its premium models this fall, with the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max arriving alongside Apple’s first foldable iPhone. Macworld previously reported that Apple will likely call this new foldable device the “iPhone Ultra,” and the latest iOS 27 beta once again uses that name internally.

Neither the regular iPhone 18 nor the entry-level iPhone 18e is expected to be released until early 2027. A second-generation iPhone Air is also in the works, but is unlikely to be announced this fall. Still, today’s leak confirms that Apple has been actively working on these devices.

Apple is expected to announce its fall event in just a couple of weeks, so this could be one of the last betas before iOS 27 arrives in mid-September. Of course, Apple’s plans can always change, but seeing a product’s codename listed in beta software is usually a strong indication that it’s almost ready for release.

We are weeks away from the unveiling of what is likely to be called the iPhone Ultra, Apple’s first major change tot he iPhone form factor in ages and first folding phone ever. We’ve got our video product Adam Patrick Murray (who fans of The Full Nerd will recognize) filling in for Roman on vacation, and he’s the perfect match because he’s been a fan of, and using, folding Android phones for years now.

While on the topic of advanced new iPhones, we bring up the 20th Anniversary iPhone expected to release next fall, when the iPhone turns 20. A financial analyst reported that the project had been cancelled, and a day later Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (the most reliable source for unannounced Apple products) published an article to specifically refute that, saying it’s still on track.

We answer a few reader emails, too.

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iOS 27 includes lots of useful improvements and tweaks to the Camera and Photos experience, and several of them revolve around making it easier to organize and find your big library of images.

One of the ways Apple is taking care of a common issue is in producing still images from videos. Prior to iOS 27, you’d have to use a special application or just freeze your video at the right spot and take a screenshot. But screenshots of videos are fraught with problems. The resolution is lower; you’ll see on-screen interface elements; black bars are shown; the format is PNG instead of HEIF; and the metadata classifies the image as a screenshot instead of a photo.

With iOS 27, Apple lets you save any frame from a video in your Photos collection as a new image in just a few taps. Here’s how.

1. In the Photos app, open one of your videos.
2. Use the seek bar to advance to the part of the video you wish to save as an image, and pause.
3. Tap the tree-dot (…) menu in the upper right.
4. Select Save Video Frame as Photo.

This also works in the edit menu, when you’re trimming the ends of your video, cropping it, or adjusting colors. Just choose the three-dot menu, as before.

Note that this new image will be in a normal photo format (HEIF or JPG, depending on your settings) rather than PNG like a screenshot. It will be the full resolution of your video. And it will inherit metadata from the original video, including date and location.

This means your new photo won’t appear at the bottom of your photo library with your most recent images. You’ll have to scroll back to the date of your video to find the image you created.

Since it first launched around a decade ago, the Apple Watch’s exterior design has largely stayed the same. Sure, we got larger displays, thinner bezels, and a slimmer body, but the overall look today still resembles that of the Apple Watch Series 0. Many online users, in fact, have voiced their frustration over the smartwatch’s slow evolution, with some even suggesting that Apple should spice things up and switch to a circular design.

Be careful what you wish for. According to a recent report, Apple has internally explored several new designs, including a round model like the Pixel or Galaxy watches. While thinking differently to fuel innovation is always welcome, a round Apple Watch will almost certainly remain an unreleased prototype buried in a secret Cupertino basement. It just doesn’t work.

It’s not actually a watch

Let me start with a potentially controversial statement: the Apple Watch is not actually a watch; it’s a miniature computer strapped to our wrists. While, yes, it was inspired by analog watches and can tell the time, its purpose and the technology it packs transcend that traditional formula.

Mechanical timepieces typically come in circular designs to match the standard clock layout, but that’s not applicable to Apple Watches (or digital watches in general). You don’t hear people complaining about vintage Casio digital watches for having squarish designs. Just because a wearable sits on our wrists doesn’t mean it has to look the same as a traditional wristwatch. It’s okay to break free from archaic concepts when they become irrelevant.

Back to the mini computer. Today, we’re surrounded by all sorts of computing machines. We’ve got laptops, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, smart fridge displays, car infotainment systems, and so on. The vast majority of these displays are rectangular because we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the most intuitive form factor for computer screens. The Apple Watch is no different.

I’ve used round Android smartwatches, and they’re a nightmare to operate. The way text moves along the circle’s curved edges when scrolling makes reading messages deeply challenging, and the entire user experience is wonky. You wouldn’t want to use a round iPhone, let alone a round version of a much smaller accessory with limited screen real estate like a smartwatch.

Corners are more important than you’d think

Beyond the unintuitive UI/UX, adopting a round Apple Watch would come with hardware compromises.

Switching from a square to a circle while maintaining the same width/diameter would decrease the overall area by around 20%. The battery would have to shrink, along with the space that houses the smartwatch’s advanced sensors and health monitors. While they may seem insignificant, the Apple Watch’s corners actually play an integral role in its internal architecture.

Think about the Complications

Chopping off the corners would also affect one of the Apple Watch’s essential software features: Complications.

Most circular Apple Watch faces let you utilize the unused display corners by adding custom Complications. This handy perk allows you to quickly glance at the weather conditions, your heart rate, today’s date, Activity rings, battery level, and more. You can also use the feature to effortlessly launch apps or run shortcuts.

watchOS has been carefully crafted to take full advantage of the rectangular design, and no part of the screen currently goes to waste.

Defacing an icon

It goes without saying that moving from a rectangle to a circle would require redesigning the extensive watch face library. Some faces will have to be completely dropped, while others will work less effectively. More importantly, all first- and third-party apps will need to be fully overhauled to support the new design.

It would essentially require rebuilding the entire watchOS platform from the ground up, and that’s not something Apple is willing to do. The company strategically avoids shocking its users with transformative changes to fundamental elements in such a manner, especially when the change serves no constructive purpose.

On the contrary, Apple is bringing watchOS closer to iOS by adopting familiar user interfaces. Pre-installed Apple Watch apps now resemble their iPhone counterparts as far as is practical, featuring similar designs and more advanced functionality, further contributing to the smartwatch’s independence. In fact, all Apple platforms are en route to becoming tweaked iterations of each other, with OS 27 streamlining the design language through Liquid Glass. Apple won’t throw that all away.

It’s an Apple Watch

Apart from the functional software and hardware downgrades, adopting a round design would weaken the Apple Watch brand.

Its present look has become an iconic representation of its identity, just like Pro iPhones’ rear camera arrangement. Anyone who spots the rectangular screen and protruding Digital Crown recognizes it’s an Apple Watch. A circular model would simply vanish into a sea of generic, uninspired round smartwatches; Apple would never let that happen.

TL;DR: A refurbished 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is on sale for $267.99 (reg. $1,499), packing an Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

Not every Mac purchase needs to be a brand-new M-series machine, and this deal is proof. This Grade A refurbished 2017 MacBook Pro brings the Touch Bar era back for a fraction of its original price, and it still holds up for everyday use.

The 3.1GHz dual-core Core i5 chip (Turbo Boost to 3.5GHz) paired with 8GB of RAM handles browser tabs, docs, and light multitasking without complaint, while the 512GB SSD leaves plenty of room for apps, photos, and projects.

The 13.3-inch Retina display still looks sharp at 2560×1600, and four Thunderbolt 3 ports mean you’re not hunting for a dongle every time you want to charge or plug in an external drive. Touch ID handles logins and Apple Pay, and the whole thing weighs just over three pounds, so it travels well.

At $267.99 versus the original $1,499 price tag, it’s a low-risk way to get a legit Mac laptop for a backup machine, a kid heading to school, or a second computer for the home office.

Get this MacBook Pro with Touch Bar for $267.99 (reg. $1,499) while supplies last.

Apple Macbook Pro (2017) 13″ i5 3.1GHz Touchbar 8GB RAM 512GB SSD Space Grey (Refurbished)See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Apple’s baseline iPhone is reportedly about to get a boost to its RAM allocation, and potentially a very substantial one. This is particularly surprising in light of the memory shortage currently afflicting the consumer tech industry and causing cost headaches for Apple and many of its rivals.

The claim comes from a new research note by Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), in which the analyst predicts that next spring’s iPhone 18 will have a whopping 12GB of RAM. That’s a 50 percent jump from the 8GB on the iPhone 17, and would bring the baseline model in line with the currently top-end iPhone 17 Pro.

(By that point, of course, this fall’s iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will have taken the 17 Pro’s place at the top of the Apple range, and they may boast even more than 12GB of RAM. But that isn’t currently expected to happen, since 12GB is more than enough to run AI applications smoothly and anything more would inflate their cost to manufacture.)

The idea that the iPhone 18 will have 12GB of RAM isn’t entirely new. Another analyst made the same claim in April, and one Weibo expert made the call as long ago as October 2024. Mind you, the latter expert also claimed the iPhone 17 would get 12GB of RAM, which clearly didn’t work out.

Such predictive anomalies, sadly, are typical in this area. And while three analysts have separately pointed to the iPhone 18 getting 12GB, it’s worth pointing out that one recent and extremely credible source disagrees. In June, Ming-Chi Kuo, citing his latest industry checks, predicted that Apple’s “lower-end 1H27 iPhones, powered by the A20 chip, will move to 9GB DRAM.” That was the last word on the subject until this week.

Aside from being a highly respected figure in the industry, Kuo has logic on his side. RAM is ruinously expensive at the moment, and Apple is currently fighting for its life trying to keep iPhone prices reasonable. What’s more, the company loves to maintain a clear hierarchy between its entry-level and premium products, and while it doesn’t publicly disclose RAM specs, the marketing team will want to dangle the carrot of superior performance if you spend a little more.

So on balance, and even though he’s outnumbered, we’d narrowly favor Kuo’s prediction of 9GB at this point. That’s still an improvement, however, and considering current market conditions we may be lucky to get even that.

The iPhone 18 is expected to launch in spring 2027, alongside the iPhone 18e. For all the latest news and rumors, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone 18 superguide, which covers both budget models.

Unlike every other streaming service out there, Apple TV subscribers sign up for one thing: original programming. However, this week, Apple TV users got a surprise in their Apple TV tab. Along with “Ted Lasso,” “Cape Fear,” and “Widow’s Bay,” subscribers now have access to more than a dozen popular movies.

This isn’t the first time Apple has randomly offered a collection of “Great Movies” for subscribers. However, while previous offerings have been labeled “limited,” this offer doesn’t have any indication that it’s available for a short time. The titles available have a “Just Added” label and are accessible in the first row in the TV app.

In the U.S., these are the titles that are available for streaming:

• 21 Jump Street
• Arrival
• The Aviator
• A Beautiful Mind
• The Bourne Identity
• Charlie’s Angels
• E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
• Gone Girl
• I, Robot
• Looper
• The Martian
• Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
• The Proposal
• The Rookie
• The Sixth Sense
• Titanic
• Zodiac
• Zoolander

As it’s unclear whether this is a limited-time offer or a long-term deal, if you’re interested in watching any of these titles, you should probably do so sooner rather than later. There’s no accompanying press release to announce the movies, nor is there any indication to why these particular titles were chosen. Outside the North American region, the movie selection is more limited, likely due to licensing restrictions.

If you’re just as tired as we are of bulky chargers, today’s deal has your name on it. Amazon is selling this tiny Anker Nano charger for $26, a savings of $14 on its $40 MSRP and matching the best price we’ve ever seen.

Just as small as the price, this charger will fit into your pocket just as easily as your backpack, while still delivering enough power to fast-charge your gadgets. Even better, it comes with foldable prongs that go both 90 and 180 degrees, so you can use it with either a wall outlet or a desktop power strip.

Don’t let the size fool you, though, because this Anker model can deliver 45W of fast charging. This means it can take an iPhone 17 Pro to 50 percent in just 20 minutes, which is the perfect top-up when you’re in a hurry. Oh, and it will even recognize some iPhone models, automatically fine-tuning power for supported devices.

There’s a good reason why the prongs fold both ways too — because this will make it possible to see the smart display on top. The screen gives you information about real-time charging status, while double-tapping the little button will make you switch from Auto to Care Mode, which will lower the charging temperature and help protect your battery during long overnight battery refills.

At $26, the Anker Nano 45W Smart Display is a compact, travel-friendly charger that punches well above its size. So go grab one before the price jumps back up.

Apple is a large and wealthy company which employs roughly 166,000 people, so a fair amount of staff turnover is to be expected. What’s striking about the past couple of years, however, has been the number of employees leaving high-profile roles at Apple Park.

Last December, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman discussed what he called Apple’s “biggest personnel shake-up in decades,” listing 18 big-name departures that had either happened that year or were expected to happen soon. By February, the situation had become so noticeable that CEO Tim Cook was moved to comment, sagely observing that “when people get to a certain age, some are going to retire. This is kind of a natural thing,” and insisting that the departures had been carefully orchestrated.

Whether planned or not, the high-profile personnel changes keep coming, with two more emerging this week.

First, Apple internally announced the retirement of Jennifer Bailey, who has been at the company for more than two decades, most recently as head of Pay and Wallet services. In an article revealing the move, Gurman claimed Bailey’s exit “is seen as a major loss within Apple, according to people with knowledge of the move” and that staff fears it will “presage a broader exodus of senior leaders in their 60s.” Bailey will retire in October, although services boss Eddy Cue (current age: 61) insists she will continue in an advisory role and that a succession plan will be announced nearer the time. The current lack of a succession plan (or disinclination to reveal one) hints that this departure was less orchestrated, but there may be other factors we don’t know about.

Second, and more positively, it was announced (again by Mark Gurman at Bloomberg) that Apple is hiring a new head of government affairs. Nate Gatten, formerly an exec at American Airlines, will take on this “delicate role,” for which his Republican ties are likely to be seen as an advantage.

A big-name signing is a win, of course, but there are complications. For one thing, this is connected to another retirement: legal chief Katherine Adams is leaving at the same time as Jennifer Bailey, and she currently serves in a similar but lower-profile role of senior VP of government affairs. For another, the need for a full-time head of government affairs reflects the murky political waters Apple currently has to navigate.

Some pundits (including this one) have speculated that this year’s biggest personnel change–Tim Cook stepping down as CEO–will see the current boss spend more time liaising with the White House, but even Cupertino’s most famous workaholic may not be able to handle the workload on his own.

Finally, Gurman reported last week that incoming CEO John Ternus will be rehiring Laura Legros, who served as a vice president of hardware engineering until she retired in 2022. Legros will assume a vice president role, “working cross-functionally with different parts of the company,” according to the report.

Legros was one of Ternus’ “most trusted deputies,” Gurman reports. In 2018, she appeared during an Apple event in New York to introduce an updated MacBook Air and was also front and center for the iPad Air design, two important products in Apple’s recent history.

A good MacBook bag shares many qualities with Apple’s laptops. We want it to be tough, so it needs to be made from good materials. We want to use it for multiple tasks, so it needs to have plenty of pockets and compartments. Let’s admit it, with the diminishing number of ports on the MacBook, the bags often have the edge. And since we all admire good design here, we certainly don’t mind if the bag looks fantastic.

Plus, whatever MacBook you’ve got, Air or Pro, you’ve probably spent enough on it that you don’t want to risk it breaking—and don’t mind spending just a little more to keep it safe.

There’s no shortage of companies out there that make protective accessories for MacBooks, from laptop bags and rucksacks to sleeves, covers, and shells that clip on directly, and plenty of them do their best to be just as stylish as the Mac they’re protecting.

We’ve rounded up a selection of our favorite cases, sleeves, backpacks, roll-tops, shells and totes for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, whether you have a 13-, 14-, 15- or 16-inch model, to keep your Mac safe. Some might seem expensive but remember you are entrusting the bag to protect your valuable MacBook and also relieving stress on your body when carrying it. Here’s where you don’t want to skimp and risk your laptop, back and neck.

Keep reading for the full list or jump to your preferred type of laptop carrier below. A sleeve usually just protects the MacBook from scuffs and knocks when carried on its own or as further protection within a bag. Backpacks offer a lot more storage aside from your tech. Briefcases are somewhere in between and often look more business smart. We rounded up other bags such as duffles, messenger bags and totes, wheeled luggage, and finished with protective shells that encase the MacBook for all-day protection.

• Best MacBook sleeves
• Best MacBook backpacks
• Best MacBook briefcases
• Best MacBook bags
• Best MacBook luggage cases
• Best MacBook shells

Best laptop sleeves for MacBook

A simple or multi-function laptop sleeve keeps the MacBook protected during travel either tucked under your arm or not taking up too much space in a bag.

Best MacBook backpacks

For safe and comfortable laptop transport a quality backpack is hard to beat. There are more traditionally business-like laptop briefcases (reviewed lower down) but a premium laptop backpack can also look businesslike while distributing the weight better than a briefcase and including plenty of extra storage for your other travel essentials, gym kit or shopping. We have also road tested different type of laptop bag, such as duffels and tote bags.

Best MacBook briefcases

A briefcase with laptop protection is slimmer and more traditionally business-like laptop storage than a backpack, but with less extra-stuff capacity.

Best MacBook bags: laptop-friendly duffel, tote bags and more

Bags comes in many shapes and sizes from backpacks to briefcases, but in between there are some fantastic laptop duffel, tote and messenger bags.

Best luggage bags for MacBook

While we wouldn’t recommend your ever store your precious MacBook in the airplane’s hold, there’s no denying that while in your company a luggage case offers wheeled convenience when travelling less lightly.

Best shells for MacBook

Not strictly a bag but more a protective skin for your beloved MacBook, a shell can protect the laptop without adding bulk.

It’s a table-stakes feature for almost all headphones, but for some reason Apple has resisted adding it to AirPods. Until now. With iOS 27, Apple is adding a simple equalizer to its AirPods controls, after years of user complaints.

Here’s how to use it.

How to find and use the custom EQ for AirPods

With your AirPods connected to your iPhone, enabling and adjusting the custom EQ is simple once you know where to look.

• Open the Settings app.
• Tap your AirPods name at the top of the screen.
• Select Audio and Routing.
• Tap Equalizer and then select Custom.

The EQ is a very simple three-band adjustment that only lets you increase or decrease the lows, mids, and highs. But if you find your new AirPods are too bass-heavy or that your hearing needs a little help with bright high frequencies, it gets the job done.

This is a new iOS 27 feature and requires you to run both iOS 27 and have a related firmware update to your AirPods. If you’re using the beta, you’ll need to enable Beta Updates for your AirPods.

To do this, open Settings, tap your AirPods name, then scroll to the bottom and select AirPods Beta Updates. Make sure Beta Updates is enabled, then put your AirPods back in the case and plug them in to charge. It can sometimes take hours or more for new firmware to be delivered to your AirPods, and there’s not much you can do to make it go faster. You’ll need firmware newer than 8B41. The first beta firmware to support this feature was 9A292e.

@macworld.com

Apple finally added EQ to AirPods Pro. #tech #howto #ios27 #airpods

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The Apple TV 4K has long been cord-cutters’ go-to set-top box due to its ad-free experience, fluid performance, superior app quality, and much more. Apple had been offering the 3rd-generation model for a tantalizing starting price of $129, with the maxed-out Ethernet variant going for $149. While there have always been cheaper options, at those prices, it was hard not to recommend Apple TV to anyone looking for a standalone set-top box. 

However, following a significant price increase and stagnant innovation, this device has rapidly lost its appeal—making it challenging for newcomers to justify buying an Apple TV 4K. And from what the rumors say, it doesn’t look like the new model will make it much more compelling.

Make it make cents

Perhaps the Apple TV 4K 3’s biggest con is its updated, illogical pricing. The entry-level model now costs $199 while the pricier one sells (or doesn’t) for a whopping $249—a 67 percent increase and the most expensive it’s ever been. While it’s understandable to see iPad and Mac price hikes due to the memory crisis, the set-top box is four years old and packs a five-year-old A15 Bionic chip with just 4GB of RAM. It’s neither new nor powerful enough to justify such a crazy price bump.

For comparison, Google’s TV Streamer costs just $99, and there are a ton of more affordable TV sticks from Roku, Amazon, and others that get the job done for a fraction of the price. Unlike personal computing devices, smart TVs don’t heavily revolve around essential ecosystem integrations and personal data sync. Most users exclusively rely on them to download streaming apps like YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, and Hulu. These services typically share the same main UI across different smart TV platforms and let you quickly sign in with any smartphone by simply scanning a QR code.

While nice to have, a pretty interface and the Apple ecosystem tie-in won’t be worth it for many budget-conscious iPhone users, especially when the app’s already on their other devices.

Siri-ous setbacks

In the age of AI, smart assistants are expected to be baked into all of our everyday devices. Despite costing 50 percent less than Apple TV 4K, Google’s TV Streamer has managed to port the Gemini experience, letting users control their big screens via speech, ask complex questions, and more. Amazon Fire TVs similarly offer an Alexa integration to assist viewers with various tasks.

The latest Apple TV 4K, on the other hand, is still plagued by the outdated Siri, which can barely answer any meaningful questions or get anything done. It’s true that Apple Intelligence and the overhauled Siri AI require at least 8GB of RAM on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but that didn’t not stop Apple from bringing Siri AI to 2023’s Apple Watch Series 9 with the S9 chip. Granted, it needs an iPhone nearby, but it’s safe to assume nearly every Apple TV 4K will also have an iPhone connected to the same network.

Furthermore, the Apple TV 4K won’t need to generate Genmoji or index emails, messages, and documents, so it shouldn’t need as much memory as an iPhone. tvOS could’ve at least adopted the more conversational Siri with world knowledge and ChatGPT integration, as it heavily relies on cloud processing anyway and isn’t locally demanding. Its omission sends the wrong message to anyone who has or may be looking to buy an Apple TV 4K.

Playing games

The Siri exclusion would’ve been more tolerable had tvOS 27 introduced other noteworthy features that keep users engaged. Alas, tvOS was barely mentioned at WWDC, with its main highlights including AutoMix for Apple Music, a redesigned Podcasts app, and other minor enhancements. In fact, even Apple’s own OS 27 preview webpage fails to include a tvOS section. Adding the lack of AI and the dramatic price hike into the mix makes it hard to recommend the Apple TV 4K to customers.

Instead, Apple could’ve promoted gaming on tvOS 27 by building a native Steam Link alternative. The Apple TV 4K already supports PlayStation, Xbox, and MFi-certified controllers, letting users quickly pair and customize them. Its game library, however, is too underwhelming due to the processing constraints and the platform’s unpopularity among serious console gamers and game developers.

Letting Mac gamers seamlessly access their titles—beyond Steam games—on Apple TV 4K could contribute to its unique selling points. Apple TV 4K would become an entertainment hub that houses movies, music, games, and more. Alternatively, Apple could’ve introduced an Xbox Cloud Gaming rival service on tvOS, eliminating the need for a nearby Mac and enabling any user to run demanding AAA games using the tiny box. Such a move would’ve potentially increased its subscription service revenue, too.

Eye on the future

The Apple TV 4K 4 is rumored to launch this fall, packing the A17 Pro chipset. This will reportedly allow Siri AI on tvOS and introduce significant performance gains. Whether Apple will come up with innovative ways to harness the power of the A17 Pro and unlock its full potential—through heavier gaming or otherwise—is yet to be seen, but most reports suggest this will be a minor update with few additional features.

Regardless, time is running out. Unless the company makes fundamental changes to the set-top box’s direction, software, and use cases, Siri AI won’t be enough to justify the marked-up pricing. Plus, the millions of people who already own an Apple TV will be stuck with the old Siri until they pay to upgrade to a model that’s pricier than the one they own.

With the more capable HomePad home hub likely coming soon, Apple needs to make a decision about Apple TV. Because a chip-and-ship upgrade after four years isn’t going to cut it. Not at these prices.

This is not a sponsored post. I am not being paid to promote this product. But it transformed my experience of using my AirPods Pro 2 so much that I want you to know about it.

Comply foam tips, which generally sell for around $20 on Amazon, make my AirPods Pro more comfortable, more secure, and better-sounding. They’re so good that Apple did something similar with AirPods Pro 3. I’ve used both, and I can report that if your main reason for upgrading is the fit of your AirPods Pro, don’t bother. Just get these $20 tips, as I wrote in my review: “While [the AirPods Pro 3 tips] still look and act more-or-less like the familiar silicone flanges, there’s enough foam buried inside to create the same snug and comfortable fit I’m used to with the aftermarket tips.”

Apple knows that people have different ears, which is why it offers several AirPods Pro ear tips for different ear shapes. But before AIrPods Pro 3, they were just hollow silicone flanges, which isn’t ideal for all ears. Comply (and a few other companies) saw the issue and decided to make really excellent replacement tips that are made of memory foam. They attach just like Apple tips—just pop off the ones on your AirPods Pro and snap on the foam tips in their place. They fit as securely as the AirPods Pro’s ear tips and don’t interfere with their fit in the charging case.

The memory foam shapes to the contours of your ear and is denser than that little silicone flap, so it forms a better seal. This slightly improves sound quality (especially on the low end) and is better at blocking out more outside noise, which in turn makes active noise canceling more effective.

But they’re also more comfortable to wear for long periods and help the earbuds stay in place, which is a frequent problem for me—with Apple’s AirPods Pro 1 and 2 eartips, no matter which size I choose, one or both earbuds eventually work themselves loose if I’m doing something active like yard work or working out at the gym. With the Comply foam tips, they never come loose.

The tips come in sets of three pairs. At first, you buy a set where you get one small, medium, and large pair. Once you’ve found your size, you can buy three of the same size when you need a new set. Which brings us to the downside of these tips: You need to replace them after a few months of daily wear as the memory foam eventually starts to break down and wear out. So it’s good that you get three pairs.

You can get them in a few different colors too, which adds a nice bit of flair to the plain white AirPods Pro.

One set of $20 ear tips will last for a year or so of daily use. It’s a small price to pay to give your AirPods Pro a more secure and fit and better sound. If your AirPods Pro aren’t entirely comfortable, give them a chance—you’ll never want to use your AirPods Pro without them again.

TL;DR: Pay $59.99 once for lifetime access to Pok Pok, an award-winning, ad-free learning app.

Not every minute your child spends with a screen has to involve flashy rewards, loud sound effects, or endless ads. Pok Pok Lifetime is built around giving kids a calm, open-ended space to explore, create, and learn at their own pace. Right now, lifetime access is just $59.99 (reg. $250).

Inspired by Montessori principles, Pok Pok replaces levels and high scores with digital toys that encourage curiosity. Kids can explore space, experiment with shapes, make music, solve puzzles, play with dinosaurs, and discover new ways to interact with the world—all without being told they’re “winning” or “losing.”

That thoughtful approach helped Pok Pok earn a 2023 App Store Award, recognizing it as one of the standout apps on Apple’s platform. It’s the kind of recognition that suggests this isn’t just another kids’ game trying to grab attention.

Parents may appreciate what’s missing just as much as what’s included. The app is completely ad-free, works offline, avoids in-app purchases, and regularly adds new activities to keep playtime fresh. One lifetime subscription also covers the whole family across compatible devices.

Made for kids ages 2–8, Pok Pok has also received the Academic’s Choice Smart Media Award.

Get lifetime access to Pok Pok for just $59.99 (reg. $250).

Pok Pok: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

If your desk is buried under a pile of chargers and cords, this 6-in-1 Anker Prime charging station, on sale for $60 right now, is just what you need. The current price represents a 25 percent discount, the best price we’ve seen for this model.

The big draw of this charging station is that it can power up six devices at once. There are 2 AC outlets on top of the station and four ports on the very edge of the device. There are two USB-C and two USB-A ports on it, so you can handle smartphones, tablets, and even laptops. Thanks to the fact that it uses GaN technology, a single USB-C port can deliver up to 140W, which is enough to take a 16-inch MacBook Pro from empty to 100 percent in just over an hour. When you plug in multiple devices, the station smartly shares power across ports, so everything gets the exact charging speed it needs.

It’s built to look good on a modern desk, too. The stacked design is just 0.7 inches thick. The AC outlet pop-up keeps things flush and minimalist when you don’t need it. There’s smart tech working behind the scenes as well. A built-in display shows real-time charging data, so you can see exactly what’s drawing power at a glance. And of course, it means fewer tangled cables and a cleaner setup.

At $60, the Anker Prime 6-in-1 Charging Station is an easy, clutter-cutting upgrade that charges fast and keeps your gear protected.

Apple is set to launch several new products this fall, including the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Watch Series 12, but there’s no doubt what its biggest release will be: the company’s first-ever folding smartphone. But there’s still a question about what it will be called.

Until the official branding is announced, these things tend to spread by subjective word of mouth: somebody influential will use one particular name, perhaps with little evidence other than personal preference, and it either catches on or doesn’t. That was the case for a while with the name “iPhone Fold.” But in late March, we all switched to “iPhone Ultra” after a claim was made by a leaker on Weibo and corroborated by our own sources.

The point, however, is that none of this is yet official: when the device eventually launches, it could be called iPhone Fold, or iPhone Ultra, or something else entirely. It’s still up for debate. And earlier this week, the analyst Max Weinbach did just that, arguing that iPhone Ultra “makes no sense” and saying he doesn’t believe Apple will use that branding.

“It makes no sense to me, given the other Ultra branding Apple has,” he tweeted. “It does not seem Ultra. It’s lesser than but unique compared to the Pro; that is not an Apple Ultra product.”

There’s a logic to that point of view (Apple’s Ultra chips are indeed its most powerful, rather than following a different design philosophy or incorporating any compromises, although I would point out that the Apple Watch Ultra does have certain weaknesses compared to the slimmer alternative designs), but a point of view is all it is. The tweet received a reply, however, that put forward what is allegedly a factual riposte: that whether or not analysts think the name is a good or logical one, “everyone” at Apple is currently using it internally.

“Everyone calls it the Ultra internally,” wrote the well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. “We’ll see what happens.”

Everyone calls it the Ultra internally. We’ll see what happens.

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 11, 2026

In itself, that doesn’t necessarily mean very much. Apple, like other tech companies, commonly uses codenames to refer to unreleased products; partly for simplicity (since the marketing department may not have decided on the official name yet) and partly to protect its secrets. That could be the case with iPhone Ultra.

But this would be an unusual codename, in that it sounds like a real name. Codenames tend to be dull, like B188 (the original AirPods) or whimsical, like “Dulcimer” (the original iPod). The original iPhone had both: M68 and “Purple.”

It’s therefore surprising to hear that Apple staff are referring to the folding iPhone as the iPhone Ultra. If that’s the official name, then it’s rather careless; if that’s a codename, it’s not a very good one.

As Gurman says, we’ll see what happens. For all the latest news and rumors, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone Ultra (!) superguide.

Buying a new iPhone, iPad or Mac can be an expensive business, and is getting more expensive with today’s component shortages. But if you don’t mind trading in your previous device then you can make a decent saving on the cost of its replacement. We explain how Apple trade in works and why it’s something you should definitely consider. Trade-in prices are even increasing because of those tech shortages.

Some examples of Apple’s increased trade-in prices include:

• Mac Studio: $1,305 (up $260)
• MacBook Pro: $855 (up $65)
• MacBook Air: $580 (up $60)
• iPhone 16 Pro Max: $720 (up $25)
• Apple Watch Series 10: $165 (up $15)
• iPad Pro: $720 (up $30)
• iPad: $260 (up $25)
• iMac: $380 (up $25)

We also look at some of the alternative trade in services, since it’s not only Apple who accepts an old iPhone, Mac, iPad or Apple Watch in exchange for a new one.

What devices can I trade-in at Apple?

Apple trade-ins cover a wide variety of devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.

Apple doesn’t take iPods or Apple TVs, but it will recycle them for you for free. On its Apple recycling page the company says that it “lets you recycle any Apple device and devices from Apple-owned brands at any Apple Store and online. We’ll make sure it’s recycled responsibly or given a chance to be used again. You can bring your batteries and old Apple-products to any Apple Store, and we’ll recycle them responsibly, free of charge.”

How much do you get for trading in an old device with Apple?

As you might expect, the amount on offer varies depending on the device you want to trade. The newer the product, and the better its condition, the more you can expect to get for it. Obviously, if your device is a few years old it’s likely its condition won’t be so great and you won’t get as much money for it. 

You can get money for trading in an old Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch. Trade in an old MacBook Pro and you could save as much as $855/£665, an old iPad Pro could save you up to $720/£645, and an Apple Watch Series 9 could get you $135/£110 credit.

In the US you can even get up to $305 if you trade in an old Google Pixel 9 Pro. Apple also offers trade in on other Android devices from a variety of manufacturers, such as Samsung, Google and Huawei, although at the time of writing tablets, PCs and other smartwatches were only available for recycling.

You can check the latest trade-in prices on Apple’s U.S. website here and the U.K. Apple site here.

Just be aware that this is a trade-in deal, so you won’t get any cash in exchange for your old device. Instead, Apple will either credit the amount against a new purchase or give you an Apple gift card of the same value.

How much does Apple give for old iPhones?

As of August 2026 you can save up to $720/£680 on the price of a new Apple product if you exchange an iPhone 16 Pro Max, while switching an aging iPhone 8 will save up to $40/£40.

Model	Estimated trade-in value
iPhone 16 Pro Max	up to $720 / £680
iPhone 16 Pro	up to $630 / £600
iPhone 16 Plus	up to $485 / £460
iPhone 16	up to $480 / £445
iPhone 16e	up to $310 / £345
iPhone 15 Pro Max	up to $530 / £480
iPhone 15 Pro	up to $420 / £435
iPhone 15 Plus	up to $340 / £340
iPhone 15	up to $335 / £325
iPhone 14 Pro Max	up to $405 / £375
iPhone 14 Pro	up to $335 / £335
iPhone 14 Plus	up to $235 / £240
iPhone 14	up to $235 / £240
iPhone SE (3rd generation)	up to $85 / £95
iPhone 13 Pro Max	up to $340 / £305
iPhone 13 Pro	up to $285 / £255
iPhone 13	up to $205 / £190
iPhone 13 mini	up to $155 / £145
iPhone 12 Pro Max	up to $240 / £195
iPhone 12 Pro	up to $195 / £160
iPhone 12	up to $135 / £115
iPhone 12 mini	up to $90 / £85
iPhone SE (2nd generation)	up to $45 / £50
iPhone 11 Pro Max	up to $160 / £125
iPhone 11 Pro	up to $145 / £120
iPhone 11	up to $110 / £95
iPhone XS Max	up to $95 / £85
iPhone XS	up to $70 / £60
iPhone XR	up to $90 / £75

How much does Apple give for old iPads?

As of August 2026 you can save up to $720/£645 on the price of a new Apple product if you exchange an iPad Pro, while switching an iPad will save up to $260/£275. The exchange price is dependent on the age of the iPad, so a newer model will get you more credit.

Model	Estimated trade-in value
iPad Pro	up to $720 / £645
iPad	up to $260 / £275
iPad Air	up to $490 / £510
iPad mini	up to $300 / £315

How much does Apple give for old Apple Watches?

As of August 2026 you can save up to $165/£145 on the price of a new Apple product if you exchange an Apple Watch Series 10.

Model	Estimated trade-in value
Apple Watch Series 10	up to $165 / £145
Apple Watch Ultra 2	up to $305 / £260
Apple Watch Series 9	up to $135 / £645
Apple Watch Ultra	up to $205 / £110
Apple Watch Series 8	up to $95 / £175
Apple Watch SE (2nd generation)	up to $60 / £80
Apple Watch Series 7	up to $70 / £40
Apple Watch Series 6	up to $45 / £45
Apple Watch SE (1st generation)	up to $30 / £30

How much does Apple give for old Macs?

As of August 2026 you can save up to $885/£665 on the price of a new Apple product if you exchange a MacBook Pro, while switching a Mac mini will save up to $480/£310. The exchange price is dependent on the age of the Mac, so a newer model will get you more credit.

Model	Estimated trade-in value
MacBook Pro	up to $885 / £665
MacBook Air	up to $580 / £350
iMac	up to $380 / £250
iMac Pro	up to $315 / £220
Mac mini	up to $480 / £310
Mac Studio	up to $1,305 / £1,040
Mac Pro	up to $2,195 / £1,310

Where can I check how much Apple will give me for my old device?

To find out how much your device is worth, go to the Apple Trade-In page where you’ll see all the details and be able to get an approximate valuation. Of course, this will be confirmed when you either bring your device to the Apple store or send it in by the post.

How to trade-in a device at Apple?

Once you’ve visited the site mentioned above and received your quote you have two options. The first is to take your device into an Apple store, where it will be assessed to see that it matches the condition you described when getting the quote. If so, you will be given the appropriate credit to use against a new purchase in the store.

The other is to agree to the quote online and then be sent a shipping pack which allows you to safely send your device to Apple who will check that it matches your description. This process usually takes two to three weeks, and if everything goes well you’ll receive a notification of the credit. Should the device be found to be in a lower condition then described, you’ll be offered a new quote which you can either accept or request that the device be returned to you free of charge.

Is Apple trade in safe?

Apple has one of the highest reputations of any retailer, so you can be sure you’ll get excellent customer service and have any problems dealt with immediately.

Can I trade in two iPhones at Apple? 

Yes, Apple allows you to trade in multiple devices all of which can go towards the cost of a new one.

Trade in Apple products at other resellers

Apple isn’t the only company that wants to buy your old iPhones, iPads, Macs and other devices. There are a number of services that will happily purchase your unwanted tech, with the advantage but you can get money rather than credit at the Apple store.

Read our dedicated features How to sell a Mac or MacBook and How to sell or trade in your old iPhone.

These services will buy the old Mac or iPhone from you in the U.S. They won’t pay you as much as they will sell it for, but this can be a quick and easy way to make some money by selling your Mac without the hassle. The amount on offer will depend on the condition of your machine.

• Back Market
• Mac Of All Trades

There are several services in the U.K. that will buy your old Mac or iPhone from you:

• Back Market
• Hoxton Macs
• MusicMagpie

All follow a similar process to that of Apple, with quotes being offered in lieu all the devices meeting the conditions described. Of course, there is also eBay and other auction sites where you can potentially earn more, but run the risk of dealing with private individuals rather than recognised companies.

We recommend that if you want to be confident about getting your money and avoid dealing with difficult customers, you sell your old iPhone to a recognised company like Back Market or MusicMagpie.

For example, if you want to sell a 512GB iPhone 16 Pro unlocked and in good condition Back Market would give you $550 / £614 (compared to Apple’s $630 / £600).

For more information read How to get the best price when selling an old Mac and How to sell or trade in your old Mac and save on a new one.

Apple always introduces its new iPhones and Apple Watches at a special event in September, and this year is no different.

Except this year, everything is different. The iPhones are different. The CEO is different. The event may be different. Here’s what we expect from Apple’s big September event.

Time and Date

Apple always holds its events at 10 am PT, with iPhone launches usually taking place on the second Tuesday or Wednesday of September. This year, that is September 8 and 9.

Because Monday, September 7, is Labor Day in the United States, it’s likely that Apple will opt for Wednesday, the 9th, for its event, giving attendees the prior business day to travel. Otherwise, it could push it to the following week, likely Tuesday, September 15.

The John Ternus show

Apple CEO Tim Cook is going to retire from the position on September 1, remaining on the company’s board of directors. He has named John Ternus, who was most recently senior vice president of hardware engineering, as his successor.

That means this is the first Apple Special Event in which Ternus will be the headliner, introducing the start of the event and thanking everyone at the end. Individual products are likely to be demonstrated by other Apple executives—they always are—but this is a big opportunity to shake up the format of Apple events in general.

Will we see a return to live stage events? Will the structure and format of the pre-recorded video events change at all? Or will Ternus be essentially interchangeable for Tim Cook, with nothing else about these big product reveals changing at all? Will Apple make a “Turn” pun in its event invitation? We’ll have to wait and see.

iPhone Ultra

For the first time in over a decade, Apple is going to dramatically change the iPhone’s form factor.

Apple is going to release a folding iPhone, which most are expecting to be called iPhone Ultra. It will fold in half like a book and be shaped sort of like a passport when closed; an unusual aspect ratio for any phone and especially an iPhone.

We expect two cameras (wide and ultrawide) on the back, one on the front, and the reintroduction of Touch ID in the side button for authentication. This is going to be a very premium product, with most rumors citing a starting price of $2,000 or more.

Not much is known about the software experience, though. Obviously, Apple will need to change some of how iOS looks and feels, and offer impressive new software features, to justify a folding phone with displays on the outside and inside and all new aspect ratios and sizes.

Check out our roundup of rumors about the iPhone Ultra for more.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

The iPhone Ultra won’t be the only high-priced iPhone hitting the market this fall. With the standard iPhone 18 supposedly getting bumped back to a spring release, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are going to be the only other iPhones launched this fall.

We expect an upgraded A20 Pro processor, a better modem (the C2 in many countries, possibly a Qualcomm modem in the U.S.), and a new Dark Cherry signature color.

For the most part, the iPhone 18 Pro will resemble the iPhone 17 Pro, but there should be a big upgrade to the rear camera (variable aperture, new sensor technology) and possibly a boost to 24 megapixels for the front camera. Battery capacity may go up by 6-8 percent, which could lead to longer battery life in conjunction with other improvements and optimizations.

Check out our roundup of rumors about the iPhone 18 Pro for more.

Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4

Apple always updates its Apple Watch line at the same time as the iPhone, whether it needs to or not.

That means that this year, we’ll see the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Ultra 4. So far, none of the rumors suggest much of a change from the previous model. There will be a somewhat faster S12 processor, but major new health features or other changes don’t seem to be in the cards this year. Rumors say there won’t be a new SE 4 this year.

Apple TV and Homepod mini

Both long overdue for an update, Apple has been waiting to release a new Apple TV 4K set-top box and the HomePod mini until it figured out how to really make the new Siri work.

Now, with a whole new Siri architecture coming in the OS 27 updates this fall, it’s finally ready to ship these products. Because Apple TV set-top boxes and HomePods act as a “home hub” for Apple’s smart home controls, Apple needed to make sure they’re capable of running the all-new Siri.

That said, we haven’t heard of any major new software features that make use of the improved hardware coming to Apple TV or HomePod. These new products will give you the new Siri experience just as a modern Apple Watch will, but the tvOS interface and features probably won’t get a big change. It’s more like: you’ll ask Siri something, and you’ll get Siri AI answers, not the old Siri.

HomePad preview

The new Apple TV and HomePod mini will mark the start of a bigger, more ambitious smart home plan for Apple that all revolves around the new Siri and the expanded AI features that will be built out on top of it in the coming months and years. The main device we’re waiting for is the so-called HomePad smart hub that has long been rumored.

The device is expected to have an iPad-like squarish screen that can either hang on a wall or dock to a speaker. It will reportedly run a new operating system dubbed HomeOS that is powered by Siri AI.

In his August 9 Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reported that “a September preview of that product is plausible.” That could very well be Ternus’ surprise “One more Thing” to close the show. However, it is unlikely to go on sale until later in 2026 or early 2027.

TL;DR: Get Visual Studio Pro for life on sale for $29.97 (reg. $499.99) through August 23.

Visual Studio Pro is an extremely popular IDE, but it’s also expensive to license. If you don’t want to pay recurring fees, you can buy Visual Studio Pro outright as a lifetime license for $29.97 (reg. $499.99).

Once you have it up and running, you can use Visual Studio Pro to build cross-platform mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI, write web UIs in C# with Blazor, and debug .NET and C++ projects targeting Windows, Linux, and containers. Hot reload drops your code changes into a running app instantly, so you stop restarting after every tweak. Azure and GitHub plug straight into the workflow when you push to the cloud.

IntelliCode studies your codebase and finishes lines and whole blocks from the patterns it picks up, then ranks the next moves so you type less. CodeLens surfaces recent changes, authors, test status, and commit history without leaving the editor. Live Share runs live sessions with teammates who never clone the repo or install dependencies first.

Pay once and stop renting your development environment.

Until August 23 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get Visual Studio Pro 2026 for life for $30.

Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2026See Deal

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Apple runs a higher education promotion every year that has traditionally been known as its “Back to School” sale. The company now refers to it as the “College Student Offer” or “Higher Education Offer” because it is only available to students in higher education and eligible education staff – not school-age children.

The promotion gives eligible customers an extra incentive when purchasing qualifying products through Apple’s Education Store, where Macs and iPads are already sold at discounted prices. In recent years, those incentives have included free AirPods, a free Apple Pencil, and other accessories. This year Apple has returned to the tradition of offering gift cards with purchases – worth up to $150 in 2026. Apple launches the offer at different times around the world to coincide with the university summer break in each region. It typically begins before the new academic year and runs until several weeks after the first term starts.

In 2025, the U.S. promotion began on June 17 and ran until September 30, so a similar launch date had been expected in 2026. Instead, Apple started the promotion on Thursday, July 16, a month later than expected, and originally announced it would end on August 27, a month earlier than in 2025. However, in early August, Apple extended it until September 24.

There had been some speculation that the offer might not return this year – particularly after the company increased Mac and iPad price, citing rising component costs and memory shortages, but Apple is going ahead with the deal. The same promotion is likely to start in the U.K. and Europe before the end of July.

Region	2026 Start date	2026 End Date	2026 Deal
North America	July 15, 2026	September 24, 2026 (extended)	Confirmed: Gift cards worth up to $150
U.K. & Europe	Mid-July (TBC)	Mid-October (TBC)	Expected: Gift Cards worth up to £150.
Australia	January 7, 2026	March 11, 2026	Confirmed: Free/discounted AirPods, Apple Pencil, Keyboards and Mice

Read on to find out everything you need to know about Apple’s Higher Education promotion this year, including when it is expected to begin in your region, what products and incentives may be included, who qualifies, and how to take advantage of the offer.

U.S. “Back to School” giveaway details: 2026

In summer 2026, U.S. students making the following purchases can get the following vouchers. The terms and conditions of the deal are here: U.S.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Visit the U.S. Education Store and Canada Education Store for more information.

Additional spend	Get
MacBook Pro	$150 Gift voucher
MacBook Air	$100 Gift voucher
iPad Air or iPad Pro	$100 Gift voucher

U.K. “Back to School” giveaway details: 2025

Between July 10 and October 21 in 2025, U.K. students making the following purchases could either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the price of the AirPods Pro 2 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad. The terms and conditions of the deal are here: U.K.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Students and educators need to log in via UNiDAYS website to see the offers. Educational Store discounts are usually up to £280 for U.K. students. See Apple’s terms and conditions.

Buy	Get	Saving	Additional spend
MacBook Air or MacBook Pro	AirPods 4 with ANC	£179
	AirPods Pro 2	£179	£100
	Magic Mouse	£79 or £99
	Magic TrackPad	£29 or £149
	Magic Keyboard	$179 or $199
iMac	AirPods 4	£179
	AirPods Pro 2	£179	£100
iPad Air or iPad Pro	Apple Pencil Pro	£119
	AirPods 4	£129
	AirPods 4 with ANC	£129	£50
	AirPods Pro 2	£129	£100
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Air	£119	£130
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Air	£119	£180
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Pro	£119	£160
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Pro	£119	£210

Australian “Back to School” giveaway details: 2026

In summer 2026, Australian students making the following purchases can either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the education price of the AirPods Pro 3 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad. The terms and conditions of the Australian deal are here.

Apple’s education discounts are available all year round. Visit the Australian Education Store.

There were similar savings in New Zealand.

Buy	Get	Saving	Additional spend
MacBook Air or MacBook Pro	AirPods 4 with ANC	A$299
	AirPods Pro 3	A$299	A$130
	Magic Mouse	A$119 or A$149
	Magic TrackPad	A$179 or A$209
	Magic Keyboard	A$249 or A$279
iMac	AirPods 4 (with ANC)	A$299
	AirPods Pro 3	A$299	A$130
iPad Air or iPad Pro	Apple Pencil Pro	$199
	AirPods 4	A$219
	AirPods 4 with ANC	A$219	A$80
	AirPods Pro 3	A$219	A$210
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Air	A$199	A$220
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Air	A$199	A$270
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Pro	A$199	A$270
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Pro	A$199	A$350

Europe “Back to School” giveaway details: 2025

European students making the same purchases as those above could either get free Mice, TrackPad, Keyboard, Apple Pencil, or AirPods 4, or get a discount on the price of the AirPods Pro 2 and Magic Keyboard cases for iPad.

French details here. German details here. Spanish details here. Italian details here. Netherlands details here.

India “Back to School” giveaway details: 2026

The 2026 deal in India the Back to University is AirPods or Apple Pencil discounts.

Details here. T&C here.

Brazil and South Korea “Back to School” giveaway details: 2025

In Brazil and South Korea Apple gave away AirPods with Mac purchases and Apple Pencil with iPad purchases from January to March 13, 2024. The deal was the same in 2025.

What was the 2025 Back to School deal in the U.S?

Between June 17 and September 30 in 2025, Apple gave away accessories, or allowed shoppers to pay the difference where products cost more than the giveaway value. In 2026 shoppers get a $150 voucher with the MacBook Pro and a $100 voucher with the MacBook Air, iPad Air and iPad Pro.

Here’s the 2025 offer:

Buy	Get	Get	Additional spend
MacBook Air or MacBook Pro	AirPods 4 with ANC	$179
	AirPods Pro 2	$179	$70
	Magic Mouse	$79 or $99
	Magic TrackPad	$129 or $149
	Magic Keyboard	$179 or $199
iMac	AirPods 4	$179
	AirPods Pro	$179	$70
iPad Air or iPad Pro	Apple Pencil Pro	$119
	AirPods 4	$129
	AirPods 4 with ANC	$129	$50
	AirPods Pro 2	$129	$120
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Air	$119	$130
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Air $119		$180
	Magic Keyboard for 11-inch iPad Pro $119		$160
	Magic Keyboard for 13-inch iPad Pro	$119	$210

Other ways to save money on a Mac or iPad

If you don’t qualify for an education discount have a look at these best deals on a new Mac and iPad we’ve seen this month:

• $53 off AirPods Max Gen 2 at Amazon
• $180.66 off 14-inch, MacBook Pro M5 Max, 2TB at Amazon
• $125 off 14-inch, MacBook Pro M5 Pro, 1TB at Amazon
• $150 off MacBook Air, 13-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon
• $150 off MacBook Air, 15-inch, M5, 1TB at Amazon
• $150 off iPad Pro, 13-inch, M5, 2TB at Amazon
• $118 off iPad Pro, 11-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

We also have these round ups, for even more deals:

• Best MacBook Pro deals
• Best MacBook Air deals
• Best Mac mini deals
• Best iMac deals
• Best iPad deals

Also read about the Best Mac and the Best iPad to help you decide which model to buy.