The Green Bubble Drama is dumb. Granted, like so many other stupid culture wars, it’s a decidedly American thing (that bleeds into a few other markets). In most of the world, the first thing everyone does with an iPhone or Android phone is download WhatsApp, which is creeping up on three billion users.

But in the incredibly valuable U.S. market, which leans heavily toward “premium” smartphones and their highly monetizable users, everyone just “texts.” Maybe that’s a byproduct of most smartphone sales here being made with big lock-in carrier deals, maybe we’re just too lazy to use anything other than the default app that comes with our phones.

Or it could just be because iMessage is so great. Back in 2011, it solved the biggest problems with texting: terrible file limits that make for bad-quality photos and videos, text limits, no read receipts or typing indicators, and no security at all. Best of all, it was a drop-in, “choiceless” replacement for SMS. If you’re on an iPhone, you just “text” someone and if they’re on an iPhone, it’s an iMessage. If not, it’s SMS.

That lack of choice, that ability for Apple to make a default that usurps the open standard automatically without any additional app download, account, or even a setting to enable, is probably why the company is finding iMessage at the heart of a lot of current legal and regulatory hand-wringing about “gatekeeping” and “interoperability.”

Second-class citizens

While Android phones are in the vast majority worldwide, iPhones represent a large majority of teenagers’ first phones here in the U.S. Teenagers. Social pressure machines. So much so that it’s an entire movie genre. And when a teen in the majority with an iPhone sends a text to someone with an Android phone, they don’t get the nice attractive high-contrast blue bubble, they get an icky lower-contrast green bubble (seriously Apple, darken the green a little).

And they know that means the other person is an OUTSIDER. The tapbacks and reactions won’t work. The images will look bad. This Android person, this green bubble, is messing up my texting experience! And just one of them poisons the entire group chat!

It makes sense for Apple to visually denote the difference between iMessage and SMS. You should know, immediately, whether your messages are end-to-end encrypted or open for anyone to view (and likely logged by your carrier). You should know if the image you send is going to look good. You should know if you should even bother trying to send that video or not.

But Apple’s desire to make Android users into second-class citizens here, to make iPhone users exert social pressure on their peers, has been an extremely customer-hostile move. Yes, it has been effective at pushing teens to prefer iPhones. But we should be clear: If you are an iPhone user, Apple’s refusal to either adopt a better texting standard (RCS) or make iMessage for Android has harmed you, not the Android users. Apple made iPhone users’ texting experience worse to sell more iPhones.

The green bubbles aren’t going away

So Apple, after vocally opposing any sort of solution that would improve the ability of its own users to message 70 percent of the world’s smartphones without tearing their hair out, has finally relented and announced RCS support is coming to iPhone. It’s a great thing for both iPhone and Android users. And, with a release date of “later next year,” it’s about five years later than it should be. The GSM Association formally adopted the RCS Universal Profile back in 2016!

Is this an end to the Green Bubble Drama? Not if Apple can help it.

The company confirmed to 9to5Mac that iMessages will continue to be blue, and not-iMessages will continue to be green, whether they’re SMS or RCS. This does make a certain amount of sense. Again, users should know whether their messages are end-to-end encrypted, and RCS messages currently are not. (Google has built its own extension to E2E encrypt RCS in its own app, but it’s not part of the standard. Apple says it will work with the GSMA to adopt a standardized solution.) And you can’t edit or delete RCS messages like you can with iMessages. Other iMessage features like stickers won’t work on RCS, and you can be sure that iOS 18 next year will add more iMessage features to make it better than RCS.

But do they need to keep the green/blue divide? Once a single “green bubble” in the group chat user no longer prevents everyone else from getting decent images, read receipts, or typing indicators, isn’t it fair to take them out of Green Bubble Jail and use a less-dramatic indicator? Apple is apparently not interested in taking Android users out of Green Bubble Jail, only in making the jail conditions a little nicer.

We’ll take what we can get. But whether it’s the iPhone moving to USB-C or Messages adopting RCS, I can’t help but feel that Apple only does the clearly right thing years after it should, and under protest. It’s frustrating when technology standards are adopted that are better than Apple’s solution and Apple refuses to support it in order to maintain its infamous “walled garden.”

iOS

Just about any product you can think of has a Black Friday deal somewhere, and there are plenty if you are thinking of buying a new iPhone case. You can save your phone from drops and scrapes and save yourself a bunch of cash in the process. Black Friday deals on iPhone cases abound.

Black Friday isn’t just the Thanksgiving weekend. Deals are live already and extend through to Cyber Monday on Monday, November 27.

Here are the best prices for iPhone cases we have seen leading up to the big discount shopping extravaganza. Some require codes; others not.

Most case makers offer protection and style for iPhones from version 11 up.

Casely is offering 50% off its huge range of colorful case designs. No code required. The Classic cases are glossy and flexible. The Bold cases are some of our favorite design-led protective cases. The range is well worth a look and you buy now for half-price bargains.

Casetify is another brand that offers an almost ridiculously large range of iPhone case designs, ranging from the thin to the super-protective. It is offering up to 30% off using the code BF2023 this Black Friday.

ESR is also halving prices on some of its iPhone accessories, including its flexible clear cases with built-in stands and other features. Code: BLACK20. Its offers cases for the iPhone 7 and later. You’ve still got an iPhone 7?

There is a range of Black Friday discounts at the QDOS iPhone case store. No code required. It specializes in clear and tinted iPhone cases, with varying levels of protection.

Another clear-case maker is Totallee, which is offering 50% of its cases until November 30 either direct or via Amazon.

Mous makes some quirky iPhone cases with wood, iridescent and pearl-effect designs, and is offering up to 30% off a portion of its range. No code required.

If you want a slim but protective iPhone case, check out the options at Benks, which is offering 15% off everything using code BF15, and 20% off orders over $100 (BF20).

This Black Friday you can get up to a massive 60% off Pitaka pixelated iPhone cases, as well as deals on its Apple Watch bands and iPad cases. No code required.

A similar (up to) 60% off is being offered by leather iPhone case maker Decoded. No code required.

Not messing around with percentages, the MOFT Black Friday sale delivers up to $60 off, using various codes. BF60 saves you $60 on orders over $200, BF37 over $150, BF20 over $100 and BF10 over $50. There are also tempting deals on its range of MagSafe accessories.

We’ve tested the best iPhone 15 cases and many of those cases are also available for earlier iPhone versions. Remember to look out for MagSafe compatibility in cases for iPhone 12 and later as that means you can magnetically and wirelessly charge your iPhone without having to remove the case.

Black Friday 2023: All Apple deals

Stay on top of the best Black Friday deals as they arrive with our dedicated roundups

Best Black Friday 2023 MacBook deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Mac deals

Best Black Friday 2023 AirPods deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Apple Watch deals

Best Black Friday 2023 iPad deals

Best Black Friday 2023 iPhone deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Mac monitor deals

Best Black Friday 2023 SSD and external hard drive deals

Mobile Phone Accessories

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Accessories

Wondering which type of MacBook to buy? This buying guide will help you decide which Apple laptop is best for you.

Apple makes two types of laptops, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Within those two categories of Mac is a wide range of capabilities, the gap between the entry-level MacBook Air and the high-end 16in MacBook Pro is vast, but even within the MacBook Pro category you will find huge differences. We have more information on the differences between the MacBook Air and Pro in another article.

While there are five MacBook Air models and nine MacBook Pro models sold as standard, in reality, there are multiple combinations if you factor in all the build-to-order options that you can add such as extra RAM, more storage, or a faster processor, with which you can build an even more powerful Mac, should you need to.

Choosing which of the 14 MacBooks to buy can be a tough decision, fortunately, we are here to help.

If you’re not sure yet if you want a laptop or desktop Mac, you should also read our Mac buying guide, which covers both MacBooks and Apple’s desktop Macs. We also compare all the MacBook Pro models here: Which MacBook Pro.

There are various sections in this article. If you aren’t sure which Mac laptop you want then read on, if you have a vague idea but are choosing between two similar models, or if your needs are more professional than personal, then you might find the models further down this article more relevant. In that case, we suggest that you jump to the section that is most relevant to your needs. See the Table of Contents above.

MacBook release dates

One consideration to make when shopping for a MacBook is how recently Apple updated the laptop and whether it is likely to be updating it again soon. Here is a quick look at when the laptops Apple is selling were released.

• 13-inch MacBook Air (M1): November 2020
• 13-inch MacBook Air (M2): July 2022
• 15-inch MacBook Air (M2): June 2023
• 13-inch MacBook Pro (M2): June 2022 DISCONTINUED in October 2023
• 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3, M3 Pro & M3 Max): October 2023
• 16-inch MacBook Pro (M3 Pro & M3 Max): October 2023

We expect that the MacBook Air will be updated to the M3 chip in the spring of 2023.

What happened to the 13-inch MacBook Pro?

Before we begin, there’s a MacBook missing from the lineup that we should mention briefly. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is no longer sold by Apple, but it will no doubt be available from resellers and Apple’s refurbished store for a while yet. There were two standard 13-inch MacBook Pro to consider. The only real difference is storage here though:

• M2, 8-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 8GB Unified Memory, 256GB SSD Storage: Was $1,299 / £1,349
• M2, 8-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 8GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD Storage: Was $1,499 / £1,549

The 13-inch MacBook Pro has been replaced by the M3 version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which costs more, but has a far superior screen, better battery life and many other benefits that we will discuss below.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro had a few advantages over the MacBook Air, better cooling being of importance to anyone who would be pushing the machine to any extent. The other advantage of the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar, which is something that some people enjoyed, while others weren’t convinced by. If you want a Touch Bar you’ll want to snap up one of the last 13-inch MacBook Pro before they run out.

MacBook buyers guide

We’ll start by running through the different MacBooks Apple sells, giving an overview of the pros and cons of each model, and reasons why each might be ideally suited to your needs. You’ll also be able to see the best prices right now, so that you don’t spend more than you need to.

We will also look at different components and features for each model, so you can make an informed decision about how much RAM, which chip, how big the SSD should be and the best price, so you don’t spend more than necessary.

Which Apple MacBook: Verdict

So, the choice is pretty clear in terms of what you get for your money:

Buying an entry-level M1 MacBook Air for £999/$999 will get you a decent Mac laptop for less than a grand, but it only costs $100/£150 more to get an M2 MacBook Air with a brand new design, a bigger screen, and a newer chip. The only reason not to buy the M2 MacBook Pro right now is that Apple is likely to upgrade it to the M3 soon–but when it does so expect the M1 model to disappear from the lineup.

The 15-inch MacBook Air shook up the range when it arrived in July 2023, also featuring an M2 chip. It lowered the price of getting a larger screen on a Mac laptop. Even now that price of entry for the 14-inch MacBook Pro has been lowered the 15-inch MacBook Air is still an attractive proposition, but again, we’d wait for the M3 model to arrive.

Now that the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been retired the price of entry for a MacBook Pro has risen, which is another point in favour of the MacBook Air. But the 14-inch MacBook Pro is a far superior machine to the old 13-inch model thanks to a much better screen. The M3 chip supports more memory – and we recommend you get as much Unified Memory as you can afford because the standard 8GB is not nearly enough these days.

The price of the M3 Pro models is high, but these MacBook Pro models offer the kind of specs professional users, especially creatives, need, including support for up to 36GB Unified Memory, and more CPU and GPU cores. If you can afford to stretch to the M3 Max then you will get the ultimate Mac without a doubt, but you may need to remortgage to afford to.

When it comes to the choice between the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro it really is all down to the screen size. The 16-inch models are more expensive, but once you spec them out in such a way to be comparable the price difference is really minor. So if you want 16-inch screen then go for it. Alternatively plug your MacBook into an external display when you are at your desk. This being the other major benefit of the M3 Pro and M3 Max chips compared to the M3–the M3 will only support one external screen while you can plug in multiple displays and use them with an M3 Pro or M3 Max MacBook Pro.

For the latest MacBook Pro discounts, including discontinued models, check out our round-up of the Best MacBook Pro deals.

Mac, MacBook

Apple has planted its own flag in the streaming wars with Apple TV+, its in-house streaming service that focuses almost entirely on original programming rather than an extensive library of existing TV shows or movies.

This guide will list all the Apple TV+ content you can watch today, divided into episodic shows or series and movies. There’s also a ton of new content in the works for Apple’s $9.99-a-month service. If you want to know what’s on the way, check out our list of upcoming Apple TV+ shows and movies.

Updated 11/17/23: Mega-monster (Godzilla, King Kong) series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is now streaming.

What’s new on Apple TV+

Best shows on Apple TV+

There’s far too much content on Apple TV+ to sift through it all yourself. If you’re looking for something to watch and don’t know where to start, here are a few of the Macworld staff’s favorite shows, series, and movies.

Bad Sisters

• Synopsis: A dark comedy about a group of Irish sisters who find themselves at the center of a life insurance investigation after John Paul–the abusive husband to one of the sisters–dies unexpectedly.
• Number of seasons: 1
• Release date: August 19, 2022

Black Bird

• Synopsis: A gripping miniseries about a convicted con artist who works for the FBI to try to get a serial killer’s confession before he is released from prison. Based on the true story of James Keene and Larry Hall.
• Number of seasons: 1
• Release date: July 8, 2022

For All Mankind

• Synopsis: What if the U.S.S.R. put a man on the moon before the U.S.? How would the ensuing space race change history throughout the decades? That’s the high concept behind this gripping big-budget sci-fi series.
• Number of seasons: 3
• Release date: November 1, 2019

Mythic Quest

• Synopsis: A lighthearted workplace comedy about a game development studio and the big egos and personal conflicts that happen within. It’s goofy good fun but sometimes quite touching.
• Number of seasons: 3
• Release date: February 7, 2020

Physical

• Synopsis: Even if you’re not old enough to remember the aerobics craze in the 80s, Physical will give you all the big hair and leotard vibes. Starting Rose Byrne as an alternate-universe Jane Fonda, this dark comedy will keep you laughing, guessing, and sweating with plot twists and crisp writing.
• Number of seasons: 2
• Release date: June 18, 2021

Severance

• Synopsis: A combination of dystopian sci-fi drama and workplace comedy about a company where employees are “severed”–when at work, they can’t remember their outside lives, and vice-versa.
• Number of seasons: 1
• Release date: February 18, 2022

Shrinking

• Synopsis: A surprisingly quick-witted comedy about a therapist who has trouble dealing with the death of his wife and his eccentric patients.
• Number of seasons: 1
• Release date: January 27, 2023

Slow Horses

• Synopsis: Gary Oldman turns in a great performance as the cranky leader of a band of misfit spies.
• Number of seasons: 2
• Release date: April 1, 2022

Ted Lasso

• Synopsis: Apple’s fish-out-of-water comedy/drama about a midwestern college football coach who heads to England to coach Premiere League soccer is a breakout hit for good reason.
• Number of seasons: 3
• Release date: August 14, 2020

The Morning Show

• Synopsis: Big star power and a fantastic performance by Jenniffer Aniston highlight this fast-paced drama that goes behind the scenes of a fictional morning news program.
• Number of seasons: 2
• Release date: November 1, 2019

Apple TV+ shows and series

These are all the episodic series you can currently watch on Apple TV+, including both recurring and limited series. This list is in alphabetical order.

Title	Premiere	Seasons / Episodes
1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything	May 21, 2021	8 episodes
Acapulco	October 8, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Amazing Stories	March 6, 2020	1 season, 5 episodes
Amber Brown	July 29, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Bad Sisters	August 19, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Becoming You	November 13, 2020	1 season, 6 episodes
Best Foot Forward	July 22, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Big Beasts	April 21, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Black Bird	July 8, 2022	6 episodes
Boom! Boom! The World vs Boris Becker	April 7, 2023	2 episodes
The Buccaneers	November 8, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Calls	March 19, 2021	1 season, 9 episodes
Carpool Karaoke	August 8, 2017	5 seasons, 75 episodes
Central Park	May 29, 2020	3 seasons, 39 episodes
Circuit Breakers	November 11, 2022	1 season, 7 episodes
City on Fire	May 12, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Curses!	October 27, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Dear Edward	February 3, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Dear…	June 5, 2020	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Defending Jacob	April 24, 2020	8 episodes
Dickinson	November 1, 2019	3 seasons, 30 episodes
Doug Unplugs	November 13, 2020	2 seasons, 26 episodes
Dr. Brain	November 3, 2021	1 season, 6 episodes
Drops of God	April 21, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Duck & Goose	July 8, 2022	2 seasons, 17 episodes
Earth at Night in Color	December 4, 2020	2 seasons, 12 episodes
Echo 3	November 23, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
El Deafo	January 7, 2022	3 episodes
Eva the Owlet	March 31, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Extrapolations	March 17, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Five Days at Memorial	August 12, 2022	8 episodes
For All Mankind	November 1, 2019	4 seasons, 40 episodes
Foundation	September 24, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock	January 21, 2022	1 season, 14 episodes
Fraggle Rock: Rock On!	April 21, 2020	1 season, 6 episodes
Frog and Toad	April 28, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Get Rolling with Otis	October 8, 2021	2 seasons, 18 episodes
Ghostwriter	November 1, 2019	3 seasons, 39 episodes
Greatness Code	July 10, 2020	2 seasons, 13 episodes
Gutsy	September 9, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Harriet the Spy	November 19, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Hello Tomorrow!	February 17, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show	November 5, 2021	2 seasons, 16 episodes
Helpsters	November 1, 2019	3 seasons, 40 episodes
Helpsters Help You	April 24, 2020	6 episodes
High Desert	May 17, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Hijack	June 28, 2023	7 episodes
Home	April 17, 2020	2 season, 19 episodes
Home Before Dark	April 3, 2020	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Interrupting Chicken	November 18, 2022	2 seasons, 17 episodes
Invasion	October 22, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes
Jane	April 14, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Lessons in Chemistry	October 13, 2023	8 episodes
Liaison	February 24, 2023	1 season, 6 episodes
Life by Ella	September 2, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Lincoln’s Dilemma	February 18, 2022	4 episodes
Lisey’s Story	June 4, 2021	8 episodes
Little America	January 17, 2020	2 seasons, 16 episodes
Little Voice	July 10, 2020	1 season, 9 episodes
Long Way Up	September 18, 2020	11 episodes
Loot	June 24, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Losing Alice	January 22, 2021	1 season, 8 episodes
Lovely Little Farm	June 10, 2022	2 seasons, 14 episodes
Make or Break	April 29, 2022	2 seasons, 15 episodes
Messi Meets America	October 11, 2023	6 episodes
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters	November 17, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Monster Factory	March 17, 2023	6 episodes
Mr. Corman	August 6, 2021	1 season, 10 episodes
My Kind of Country	March 24, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Mythic Quest	February 7, 2020	3 seasons, 30 episodes
Now and Then	May 20, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
One-of-a-Kind Marcie	August 18, 2023	39 min.
Oprah Talks COVID-19	March 21, 2020	1 season, 13 episodes
Oprah’s Book Club	November 1, 2019	1 season, 14 episodes
Pachinko	March 25, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Physical	June 18, 2021	3 seasons, 30 episodes
Pinecone & Pony	April 8, 2022	2 seasons, 16 episodes
Platonic	May 24, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Prehistoric Planet	May 23, 2022	2 season, 10 episodes
Pretzel and the Puppies	February 11, 2022	2 seasons, 18 episodes
Puppy Place	October 15, 2021	2 seasons, 16 episodes
Real Madrid: Until the End	March 10, 2023	3 episodes
Roar	April 15, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Sago Mini Friends	September 16, 2022	1 season, 12 episodes
Schmigadoon!	July 16, 2021	2 seasons, 12 episodes
See	November 1, 2019	3 seasons, 24 episodes
Servant	November 28, 2019	4 seasons, 40 episodes
Severance	February 18, 2022	1 season, 9 episodes
Shantaram	October 14, 2022	1 season, 12 episodes
Shape Island	January 20, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Shining Girls	April 29, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Shrinking	January 27, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Silo	May 5, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Slow Horses	April 1, 2022	2 seasons, 12 episodes
Slumberkins	November 4, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Snoopy in Space	November 1, 2019	2 seasons, 24 episodes
Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne	December 10, 2021	38 min.
Snoopy Presents: It’s The Small Things, Charlie Brown	April 15, 2022	38 min.
Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School	August 12, 2022	38 min.
Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love	May 6, 2022	38 min.
Still Up	September 22, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
Stillwater	December 4, 2020	3 seasons, 30 episodes
Strange Planet	August 9, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
Super League: The War for Football	January 13, 2023	4 episodes
Surface	July 29, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Surfside Girls	August 19, 2022	1 season, 10 episodes
Suspicion	February 4, 2022	1 season, 8 episodes
Swagger	October 29, 2021	2 season2, 18 episodes
Ted Lasso	August 14, 2020	3 seasons, 34 episodes
Tehran	September 25, 2020	2 seasons, 16 episodes
The Afterparty	January 28, 2022	2 seasons, 16 episodes
The Big Conn	May 6, 2022	4 episodes
The Big Door Prize	March 29, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
The Changeling	September 8, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
The Crowded Room	June 9, 2023	1 season, 10 episodes
The Enfield Poltergeist	October 27, 2023	4 episodes
The Essex Serpent	May 13, 2022	6 episodes
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey	March 11, 2022	6 episodes
The Last Thing He Told Me	April 14, 2023	7 episodes
The Line	November 19, 2021	4 episodes[a]
The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball	April 22, 2022	1 season, 5 episodes
The Me You Can’t See	May 21, 2021	1 season, 6 episodes
The Morning Show	November 1, 2019	3 seasons, 30 episodes
The Mosquito Coast	April 30, 2021	2 seasons, 17 episodes
The Oprah Conversation	July 30, 2020	1 season, 15 episodes
The Problem with Jon Stewart	September 30, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes
The Reluctant Traveler	February 24, 2023	1 season, 8 episodes
The Shrink Next Door	November 12, 2021	8 episodes
The Snoopy Show	February 5, 2021	2 seasons, 26 episodes
The Super Models	September 20, 2023	4 episodes
They Call Me Magic	April 22, 2022	1 season, 4 episodes
Tiny World	October 2, 2020	2 seasons, 12 episodes
Truth Be Told	December 6, 2019	3 seasons, 28 episodes
Trying	May 1, 2020	3 seasons, 24 episodes
Visible: Out on Television	February 14, 2020	5 episodes
Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn	August 25, 2023	4 episodes
Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson	July 30, 2021	1 season, 6 episodes
WeCrashed	March 18, 2022	8 episodes
Wolfboy and the Everything Factory	September 24, 2021	2 seasons, 20 episodes

Apple TV movies and short films

Apple TV+ is home to a fair number of original movies, too. Some of the movies saw a limited theatrical release, all are listed here in alphabetical order.

Title	Release Date
Hala	December 6, 2019
9/11: Inside the President’s War Room	September 1, 2021
Beastie Boys Story	April 24, 2020
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry	February 26, 2021
Blush	October 1, 2021
Boys State	August 14, 2020
Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You	October 23, 2020
Causeway	November 4, 2022
Cha Cha Real Smooth	June 17, 2022
Cherry	March 12, 2021
CODA	August 13, 2021
Come from Away	September 10, 2021
Dads	June 19, 2020
Emancipation	December 9, 2022
Fathom	June 25, 2021
Finch	November 5, 2021
Fingernails	November 3, 2023
Flora and Son	September 29, 2023
Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds	November 13, 2020
Ghosted	April 21, 2023
Greyhound	July 10, 2020
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth	April 17, 2020
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues	October 28, 2022
Luck	August 5, 2022
Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special	December 4, 2020
Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues	December 3, 2021
On the Rocks	October 23, 2020
Palmer	January 29, 2021
Raymond & Ray	October 21, 2022
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me	November 4, 2022
Sharper	February 17, 2023
Sidney	September 23, 2022
Spirited	November 18, 2022
Stephen Curry: Underrated	July 21, 2023
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie	May 12, 2023
Swan Song	December 17, 2021
Tetris	March 31, 2023
The Banker	March 20, 2020
The Beanie Bubble	July 28, 2023
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse	December 25, 2022
The Elephant Queen	November 1, 2019
The Greatest Beer Run Ever	September 30, 2022
The Pigeon Tunnel	October 20, 2023
The Sky Is Everywhere	February 11, 2022
The Tragedy of Macbeth	January 14, 2022
The Velvet Underground	October 15, 2021
The Year Earth Changed	April 16, 2021
Twas the Fight Before Christmas	November 26, 2021
Who Are You, Charlie Brown?	June 25, 2021
Wolfwalkers	December 11, 2020

Apple TV

If you’re looking for an Apple deal, there’s no better time to get one than Black Friday weekend. No matter what you’re looking to buy, you are likely to find a great price on it—possibly the lowest ever.

But Black Friday isn’t just one weekend. We see deals starting in early November and culminating in the post-Thanksgiving weekend from Friday, November 24 to Cyber Monday on Monday, November 27. In the weeks leading up to Black Friday, we expect to see some truly fantastic deals—and as you can see below, the bargains already starting. Here are the best prices leading up to the big shopping extravaganza.

Black Friday 2023: Apple’s shopping event

Every year Apple holds shopping event from Black Friday (November 24) to Cyber Monday (November 27). However, since Apple rarely discounts its products, the event consists of gift card offers rather than actual savings. The newest products are excluded, so don’t expect any offers on the iPhone 15 or M3 MacBooks, but the Apple Watch Series 9 is included this year.

In 2023 you can get gift cards for the following amounts with the following purchases made on Apple’s site.

Product	U.S.	U.K.
iPhone 14	$75	£60
iPhone 13	$50	£40
iPhone SE	$25	£20
iPad Pro	$50	£80
iPad Air	$75	£60
iPad mini	$50	£40
iPad (10th gen.)	$50	£40
15-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip	$200	£160
13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip	$175	£140
13-inch MacBook Air with M1 chip	$150	£120
Mac mini	$100	£80
Apple Watch Series 9	$50	£40
Apple Watch SE	$50	£40
AirPods (2nd generation)	$25	£20
AirPods (3rd generation)	$25	£20
AirPods Pro (2nd generation)	$50	£40
AirPods Max	$75	£60
Apple Pencil (2nd generation)	$25	£20
HomePod	$50	£40
Apple TV 4K	$25	£20

Black Friday 2023: Best Apple deals

We’re constantly tracking the best Apple deals, so stay tuned to this list for the best bargains we find.

U.S. deals

MacBook Air and Pro

• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 256GB): $750 ($250 off after coupon, MSRP $999)
• B&H Photo, 13-inch MacBook Air (M2, 256GB): $949 ($150 off, MSRP $1,099)
• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Pro (M2, 512GB): $1,300 ($199 off, MSRP $1,499)
• Amazon, 15-inch MacBook Air (M2, 256GB): $1,049 ($250 off, MSRP $1,299)
• Amazon, 15-inch MacBook Air (M2, 512GB): $1,249 ($250 off, MSRP $1,499)
• Amazon, 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3, 256GB): $1,449 ($150 off, MSRP $1599)
• Amazon, 14-inch MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 512GB): $1,849 ($150 off, MSRP $1,999)
• Amazon, 16-inch MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 512GB): $2,249 ($150 off, MSRP $2,499)

• B&H Photo, 14-inch MacBook Pro (M2 Pro, 512GB): $1,749 ($250 off, MSRP $1,999)
• B&H Photo, 16-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro, 1TB, 16GB RAM): $1,949 ($750 off, MSRP $2,699)
• B&H Photo, 16-inch MacBook Pro (M1 Pro, 4TB, 64GB RAM): $2,999 ($1,900 off, MSRP $4,899)

iMac and Mac mini

• Amazon, 24-inch iMac (M3, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 256GB): $1,419 ($180 off, MSRP $1,499)

• B&H Photo, 24-inch iMac (M1, 8‑core CPU/8‑core GPU, 256GB): $1,299 ($200 off, MSRP $1,499)
• B&H Photo, Mac mini (M2, 256GB): $549 ($50 off, MSRP $599)

• B&H Photo, Mac Studio (M1 Ultra, 128GB RAM, 8TB): $5,099 ($2,900 off, MSRP $7,999)

AirPods

• Amazon, AirPods Pro (2nd-gen, USB-C case): $230 ($19 off, MSRP $249)
• Amazon, AirPods (2nd gen): $99 ($29 off, MSRP $129)
• Amazon, AirPods (3rd gen, Lightning case): $140 ($29 off, MSRP $169)
• Amazon, AirPods Max: $450 ($99 off, MSRP $549)

Apple Watch

• Walmart, Apple Watch Series 9 (41mm, GPS): $349 ($50 off, MSRP $399) 
• Walmart, Apple Watch Series 9 (45mm, GPS): $379 ($50 off, MSRP $429)
• Amazon, Apple Watch SE (2nd gen, 40mm): $220 ($29 off after coupon, MSRP $249)
• Amazon, Apple Watch SE (2nd gen, 44mm): $259 ($20 off, MSRP $279)
• Amazon, Apple Watch Ultra (2nd gen): $774 ($25 off, MSRP $799)

• Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8 (41mm, GPS): $299 ($100 off, MSRP $399)
• Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8 (45mm, GPS): $329 ($100 off, MSRP $429)

iPad

• Amazon: iPad (9th-gen, 64GB): $249 ($80 off, MSRP $329)
• Amazon: iPad (10th-gen, 64GB): $349 ($100 off, MSRP $449)
• Amazon, iPad mini (64GB): $400 ($99 off, MSRP $499)
• Amazon: iPad Air (64GB): $500 ($99 off), MSRP $599)
• Amazon, 11-inch iPad Pro (M2, 512TB): $1,150 ($140 off, MSRP $1,299)
• Amazon, 12.9-inch iPad Pro (M2, 128GB): $999 ($100 off, MSRP $1,099)

Accessories

• Amazon, Magic Keyboard (11-inch): $199 ($100 off, MSRP $299)
• Amazon, Magic Keyboard (12.9-inch): $249 ($100 off, MSRP $249)
• Amazon, Apple Pencil (1st gen): $79 ($20 off, MSRP $99)
• Amazon, Apple Pencil (2nd gen): $89 ($40 off, MSRP $129)
• Amazon, Apple Pencil (USB-C): $71 ($8 off, MSRP $79)

• Amazon, MagSafe charger: $29 ($10 off, MSRP $39)
• Amazon, AirTag (4-pack): $86 ($12 off after coupon, MSRP $99)

• Amazon, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Number Pad: $179 ($20 off, MSRP $199)
• Amazon, Magic Mouse: $68 ($11 off, MSRP $79)

Apple TV

• B&H Photo, Apple TV 4K (128GB): $145 ($4 off, MSRP $149)

Displays

• B&H Photo, Apple Studio Display (Nano-Texture Glass, Tilt-Adjustable Stand): $1,799 ($100 off, MSRP $1,899)

U.K. deals

MacBook Pro

• KRCS, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £1,529.10 (£169.90 off, MSRP £1,699)
• KRCS, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 (8-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 8GB RAM, 1TB SSD: £1,709.97 (£189.99 off, MSRP £1,899)
• KRCS, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro (11-core CPU, 14-core GPU), 18GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £1,889.10 (£209.90 off, MSRP £2,099)
• KRCS, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro (12-core CPU, 18-core GPU), 18GB RAM, 1TB SSD: £2,249.10 (£249.90 off, MSRP £2,499)
• KRCS, 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro (12-core CPU, 18-core GPU), 18GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £2,339.10 (£259.90 off, MSRP £2,599)
• KRCS, 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro (12-core CPU, 18-core GPU), 36GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £2,699.10 (£149 off, MSRP £2,999)
• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip (10-core GPU), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD: £1,329 (£20 off, MSRP £1,349)
• John Lewis, 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip (10-core GPU), 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £1,397.97 (£151 off, MSRP £1,549)
• AO, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip (12-core CPU, 19-core GPU), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD: £2,270 (£429 off, MSRP £2,699)
• KRCS, 14-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Max chip (30-core GPU), 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD: £2,749 (£600 off, MSRP was £3,349)
• Amazon, 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip (19-core GPU), 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD: £2,279.97 (£419 off, MSRP £2,699)
• eBuyer, 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip (19-core GPU), 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD: £2,569.12 (£329.88 off, MSRP £2,899)

MacBook Air

• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Air, M2 (256GB) £1,029.97 (£119 off, MSRP £1,149)
• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Air, M2 (512GB) £1,289.97 (£159 off, MSRP £1,449)
• Amazon, 13-inch MacBook Air, M1 (256GB) £826 (£173 off, MSRP £999)
• Amazon, 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 (256GB) £1,249.97 (£149 off, MSRP £1,399)
• Amazon, 15-inch MacBook Air, M2 (512GB) £1,399 (£200 off, MSRP £1,599)

iMac

• KRCS, 24-inch M3 iMac, 8-core GPU, 256GB: £1,259.10 (£139.90 off, RRP: £1,399).
• Amazon, 24-inch M3 iMac, 10-core GPU, 256GB: £1,439.97 (£49 off, RRP: £1,599).
• Amazon, 24-inch M3 iMac, 10-core GPU, 512GB: £1,729.97 (£69 off, RRP: £1,799).
• Amazon, 24-inch M1 iMac, 7-core GPU, 256GB: £1,227.97 (Was £1,399, £171 off – note Apple used to sell this model for £1,249).
• Amazon, 24-inch M1 iMac, 8-core GPU, 256GB: £1,409.98 (Was £1,599, £189 off – note Apple used to sell this model for £1,449).
• Amazon, 24-inch M1 iMac, 8-core GPU, 512GB SSD: £1,599 (Was £1,799, £200 off – note Apple used to sell this model for £1,649).

Mac mini

• Amazon: M2 Mac mini, 256GB: £579.99 (£69 off MRSP £649)
• Amazon: M2 Mac mini, 512GB: £767.97 (£81 off MRSP £849)
• Amazon: M2 Pro Mac mini, 512GB: £1,272 (£127 off MRSP £1,399)

Mac Studio

• AO, Mac Studio M2 Max: £1,904 (£195 off, MSRP £2,099).
• AO.com, Mac Studio M2 Ultra: £3,799 (£400 off, MSRP £4,199).

AirPods

• John Lewis, AirPods Pro (2nd gen): £219 (£30 off the old price, but note this is the Lightning version not the new USB-C one)
• eBuyer, AirPods Max: £490.98 (£8.02 off; current RRP £499)

iPads

• Amazon, 10.9in 10th gen iPad 64GB WiFi, £449 (£50 off, RRP £499).
• AO, 10.9in 10th gen iPad 256GB WiFi, £639 (£40 off, RRP £679).
• Very, 10.2in 9th gen iPad 64GB WiFi, £319 (£50 off). Apple originally sold this model for £319, but increased the price to £369.
• eBuyer, 10.2in 9th gen iPad 256GB WiFi, £491 (£58 off). This model originally cost £459 before Apple raised the price to £549.
• Amazon, 2022 iPad Air, 64GB, WiFi: £629 (£40 off, RRP £669)
• Amazon, 2022 iPad Air, 64GB, Cellular: £782.97 (£66 off, RRP £849)
• Amazon, 2022 iPad Air, 256GB, Cellular: £977.55 (£51.45 off, RRP £1,029)
• Amazon, 2021 iPad mini, 64GB, Wi-Fi: £527.98 (£41 off, RRP £569).
• Amazon, 2021 iPad mini, 256GB, Wi-Fi: £701 (£48 off, RRP £749).
• Amazon, 2021 iPad mini, 64GB, Cellular: £683.98 (£65 off, RRP £749).
• Amazon, 2021 iPad mini, 258GB, Cellular: £739.90 (£190 off, RRP £929).
• Amazon: 11in iPad Pro, M2, 128GB, Wi-Fi for £839 (£60 off, RRP £899)
• Amazon: 11in iPad Pro, M2, 256GB, Wi-Fi for £948.99 (£70 off, RRP £1,019)
• Amazon: 11in iPad Pro, M2, 2TB, Wi-Fi for £1,741.65 (£307 off, RRP £2,149)
• Amazon: 12.9in iPad Pro, M2, 256GB, Wi-Fi for £1,309 (£60 off, RRP £1,369)
• Amazon: 12.9in iPad Pro, M2, 512GB, Wi-Fi for £1,489.99 (£109 off, RRP £1,599)

Apple Watch

• Amazon, Apple Watch Ultra 1: £649 (£130 less than Ultra 2)
• Amazon, Apple Watch Series 8, 41mm (GPS): £369 (£30 less than Series 9)

iPhone

• Box, iPhone 15, 512GB, £989.10, £109 off
• John Lewis, iPhone 14 Pro Max: £1,139 (£60 off, plus two-year warranty; RRP before being discontinued in fall 2023 was £1,199)
• John Lewis, iPhone 14 Pro: £1,039 (£60 off, plus two-year warranty; RRP before being discontinued in fall 2023 was £1,099)
• Amazon, iPhone 14 Plus: £749 (£50 off; RRP £799)
• Amazon, iPhone 14: £649 (£50 off; RRP £699)
• Amazon, iPhone 13: £549 (£50 off; RRP £599)
• Amazon, iPhone 13 mini (128GB): £603.64 (£45 off; RRP before being discontinued in fall 2023 was £649)
• Currys, iPhone 12: £499 (£100 off; RRP before being discontinued in fall 2023 was £599)

iPhone accessories

• Amazon U.K., Apple MagSafe Battery Pack: £79 (£20 off)
• Amazon U.K., Apple MagSafe Duo Charger: £99 (£30 off)
• Amazon U.K., Apple MagSafe Charger: £39 (£6 off)
• O2, pack of four Apple AirTags for £89 (£30 off)
• Amazon U.K., AirTag 4-pack: £99 (£20 off)
• Currys, single AirTag for £28.99 (£6 off)
• Amazon U.K., AirTag Leather Loop: £25.96 (£19.04 off)
• Amazon U.K., up to 34 percent off iPhone 14 and 14 Pro cases

Apple TV

• KRCS, 2022 Apple TV 4K (64GB): £141.55 (£7.45 off)
• KRCS: 2022 Apple TV 4K (128GB): £160.55 (£8.45 off)

Accessories

• Currys, Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID for £129, usually £149 (£20 off)
• Amazon, Magic TrackPad for £103, usually £129 (£26 off)
• Ebuyer, black version of the Magic TrackPad for £135.99, usually £149 (£13 off)
• John Lewis, 2021 Magic Mouse for £63, usually £79 (£16 off)
• Currys, Apple Magic Keyboard, with numeric keys, without Touch ID for £106.99, usually £129 (£22 off)
• John Lewis, Magic Keyboard without Touch ID for £79, usually £99 (£20 off)
• Currys, Apple Pencil (2nd gen) for £119, usually £139 (£20 off). John Lewis has the same deal

Black Friday 2023: Where to shop for Apple deals

Stay tuned to Macworld throughout November to find the best deals as they arrive. But if you’re looking for a specific color or capacity, you can check out the following retailers. In the U.S., here are the best stores to shop for Black Friday deals:

• Apple
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Costco
• Target
• Walmart

If you’re based in the U.K., you’ll find deals at the following shops:

• Apple
• AO.com
• Amazon
• Argos
• Carphone Warehouse
• Currys
• eBuyer
• John Lewis
• KRCS
• Laptops Direct
• Very

Black Friday 2023: All Apple deals

Stay on top of the best Black Friday deals as they arrive with our dedicated roundups

Best Black Friday 2023 MacBook deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Mac deals

Best Black Friday 2023 AirPods deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Apple Watch deals

Best Black Friday 2023 iPad deals

Best Black Friday 2023 iPhone deals

Best Black Friday 2023 Mac monitor deals

Best Black Friday 2023 SSD and external hard drive deals

Apple Inc

It hasn’t even been a month since the M3 MacBook Pros have been on shelves and we’re already seeing the first significant discounts: Amazon is selling the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro for $1,449, the 14-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro for $1,849, and the 16-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro for $2,249, a savings of $150 on each and the best price we’ve seen so far.

The main reason to buy one of these machines is the new M3 chip, which brings a nice speed boost over the prior generation. The entry-level M3 model replaces the aging 13-inch MacBook Pro with a new design and upgraded display. It also gets HDMI and an SD card reader like the higher-end Pro models. And the M3 Pro models now come in Space Black, the first new Pro color in more than a decade.

In our 4.5-star review of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, we praised the new color and chip and concluded that anyone still using an older MacBook Pro “really missing out if you stick with Intel.” So go grab one while the price is better than ever.

MacBook

Gaming subscription services are all the rage now, but Apple Arcade isn’t quite like PlayStation Plus, EA Play, or Xbox Game Pass. So if you’ve got questions about it, we’ve got plenty of answers.

Updated 11/17/23: Downwell+ is now available.

What is Apple Arcade?

Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AppleTV that features more than 200 games. The games are a mix of genres and styles, and include original games you’ll only find on the service and others that can be found on the regular App Store or even other platforms. Apple Arcade isn’t a streaming service like Xbox Live Cloud Gaming or GeForce NOW. Games must be downloaded onto your device in order to be played.

What do I need to run it?

Apple Arcade was made available as part of iOS 13, iPad OS 13, tvOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. Some of the more visually-intensive games may only run well on newer hardware, though, and some Mac games require macOS 11 (Big Sur).

How much does Apple Arcade cost?

Apple Arcade costs $6.99 per month, and you’ll also get a one-month free trial.

If you’re currently on the $6.99 month-to-month plan and want to switch to the annual plan, you can do so on your iPhone or iPad. Open the App Store app, then tap your account icon in the upper right. Tap Subscriptions, then tap the entry for Apple Arcade. Here, you can switch to the annual plan. Apple Arcade is also included in the Apple One subscription bundles, which range from $20 a month to $38 a month.

How do I sign up for Apple Arcade?

There isn’t an Apple Arcade app—it’s built into the App Store. On your iPhone, iPad, or Mac open the App Store and look for the Apple Arcade tab at the bottom of the screen (or in the left column on macOS). A sign-up screen with a Try It Free button will appear. After the trial you’ll be charged either the monthly or annual fee, depending on your selection. When subscribing, you’ll need to enter your Apple ID password or use Touch ID or Face ID to sign in, and you’ll have to confirm your subscription purchase a few times.

Once you’re done with the sign up, the Arcade section of the App Store shows what games are available to you. To access a game, tap on it in the App Store, then tap the Get button. When the game is done installing on your device, the Get button turns into a Play button, and you can tap it to launch the game. The game app icon will also appear on your device’s Home page.

On the Apple TV, there actually is an Arcade app. Open that to see the sign-up offer. You’ll also find an Arcade tab within the App Store.

Does my subscription include family sharing?

Yes. One $6.99 per month subscription can be shared between up to six people (including you).

How do I cancel Apple Arcade?

First off, keep in mind that if you cancel Apple Arcade (either before your free trial is up or after subscribing), you won’t be able to keep playing the games unless you re-subscribe. If you’re okay with that, you can use the same process you use to cancel any other subscription service. Here’s the easiest way to do it on the iPhone and iPad:

1. Open the App Store app and tap on your profile photo in the upper right.
2. In the screen that pops up, press Subscriptions near the top of the page.
3. You’ll then see a list of active subscriptions, and Apple Arcade should be listed there. Tap it.
4. You’ll either see Cancel Free Trial or Cancel Subscription toward the middle of the page that appears. Tap whatever option is available, then Confirm Cancellation.

And here’s how to cancel Apple Arcade on the Mac:

1. Open the App Store app and then press the icon with your profile photo in the lower left.
2. The Account window will appear, and you should then click View Information at the top of the window. Enter your password when/if prompted.
3. When your Account Information appears, scroll down to the Manage section and click the Manage link to the right of Subscriptions.
4. When the list of your active subscriptions appears, click Edit to the right of Apple Arcade.
5. Toward the middle of the page that appears, you’ll see a button that says either Cancel Free Trial or Cancel Subscription. Click it, then click Confirm Cancellation and Confirm.

How do I access Apple Arcade games?

Apple Arcade is its own tab in the App Store. You can find games to download there, and grab anything you like without fear of being charged, seeing ads, or having to later buy in-app purchases.

Once downloaded, Apple Arcade games are found just like any other app on your device.

Does Apple curate the games on Apple Arcade?

Yes. Apple says it is “handpicking the games in Apple Arcade” and that it curates them “based on originality, quality, creativity, fun, and their appeal to players of all ages.”

Do Apple Arcade games have in-app purchases?

No. In Apple’s words, “since every game includes access to the full experience, including all game features, content, and future updates, no additional purchases will be required.” Even games that have in-app purchases on the App Store won’t have any in Apple Arcade.

Do Apple Arcade games have ads?

Also no. On a related note, Apple says Apple Arcade has no ad tracking.

Is Apple Arcade a game streaming service like Google’s Stadia or Xbox Game Streaming?

No. All Apple Arcade are downloaded.

Are Apple Arcade games available on other systems?

Apple Arcade games were originally exclusive to Apple Arcade—not in the regular App Store nor on any other mobile platform. Some would appear on PC or consoles, but never in a subscription service.

Apple has since relaxed that policy somewhat, and you can find games in Apple Arcade that also exist in the regular App Store or on Android. They are usually denoted by a “+” at the end, to differentiate the Apple Arcade version (free to download with your subscription, and free from ads or in-app purchases) from the App Store version. For example Mini Metro (App Store) vs. Mini Metro+ (Apple Arcade).

Will I still be able to buy games on the App Store without an Apple Arcade subscription?

Yes. There’s no sign that the existing games model will be going away, as it works fine for freemium games like Idle Heroes or Toon Blast. Apple is focusing on “handpicked” games for Apple Arcade, so there’s little doubt that the library will be much smaller than the thousands of games available in the App Store.

Are there demos for Apple Arcade games?

No, and they’re not really necessary. Like App Store apps, games download quickly and can easily be removed if you don’t want to keep it anymore.

Apple partly envisions Apple Arcade as a way of letting players try out games with more freedom than the App Store currently allows (which is basically none). In Apple’s words, “rather than pay upfront for each game, a subscription to Apple Arcade will give players the opportunity to try any game in the service without risk.”

The service has a free trial, though, as we’ve seen with both Apple Music and Apple News+.

Am I able to keep playing Apple Arcade games if I cancel my subscription?

No. As with most subscription services, you only have access while you’re a subscriber.

Can I use controllers with Apple Arcade games?

Yes. In additional to traditional MFi (Made for iOS) controllers, you can pair some specific Bluetooth controllers for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with either your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. Since many Apple Arcade games are playable on Mac and Apple TV (where controller support is more common), many games will support them. Some games, especially those that are also available in the broader App Store and only for iPhone or iPad, have no controller support.

How often are new games released?

Games are typically released on Fridays, but not every Friday. The release schedule is sporadic—some Fridays there are no new games released, some see one game released, some more than one. Sometimes there will be no new game release, but existing games will get a big update with new content and features.

On average, new games are released at a rate of about one every 2-3 weeks, though this may improve as Apple has loosened the rules around Apple Arcade exclusivity.

What games have been released so far?

There are over 200 games available for Apple Arcade, and the list grows all the time.

Title	Publisher	Release Date
A Fold Apart	Lightning Rod Games	04/17/20
A Monster’s Expedition	Draknek Limited	09/10/20
Agent Intercept	Prodigy Design	09/19/19
Air Twister	YS Net Inc.	06/24/22
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure	ustwo	12/11/20
All of You	Alike Studio	11/06/20
Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City	Team Alto / Snowman	07/16/21
Alto’s Adventure—Remastered	Team Alto / Snowman	03/25/22
Amazing Bomberman	Konami	08/05/22
Angry Birds Reloaded	Rovio	07/16/21
Asphalt 8: Airborne+	Gameloft	08/27/21
Assemble With Care	ustwo	09/19/19
ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree	Wildboy Studios	09/19/19
Badland Party	HypeHype Oy	05/06/22
Baldo: The Guardian Owls	Naps Team	08/27/21
Ballistic Baseball	Gameloft	10/18/19
Battleheart Legacy+	Mika Mobile	11/04/22
BattleSky Brigade: Harpooner	BattleBrew Productions	09/19/19
Beyond a Steel Sky	Revolution Software	06/26/20
Beyond Blue	E-Line Media	04/17/20
Big Time Sports	Frosty Pop Games	09/19/19
Bleak Sword	Devolver Digital	09/19/19
Bold Moves+	Red Games Co.	06/09/23
Bridge Constructor+	Headup GmbH	02/04/22
Butter Royale	Mighty Bear Games	01/24/20
Card of Darkness	Pendleton Ward	09/19/19
Cardpocalypse	Versus Evil	09/19/19
Castle Crumble	Orbital Knight	02/03/23
Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls	Konami	09/17/21
Cat Quest II	The Gentlebros.	09/19/19
Charrua Soccer	Batovi Games	02/07/20
Chess Universe+	Tilting Point	05/04/23
ChuChu Rocket! Universe	Sega	09/19/19
Cityscapes: Sim Builder	Playstack	05/04/23
Clap Hanz Golf	Claphanz	04/02/21
Clue: The Classic Mystery Game+	Marmalade Game Studio	03/24/23
Construction Simulator 2+	Astragon Entertainment	04/15/22
Cooking Mama: Cuisine!	Office Create Corp.	06/17/22
Cozy Grove	Spry Fox	03/18/21
Crashlands+	Butterscotch Shenanigans, Inc.	01/14/21
Crayola Create and Play+	Red Games Co.	10/29/21
Creaks	Amanita Design	07/10/20
Cricket Through the Ages	Devolver Digital	09/19/19
Crossword Jam+	PlaySimple Games	10/20/23
Crossy Road+	Hipster Whale	10/08/21
Crossy Road Castle	Hipster Whale	02/28/20
Cut the Rope 3	SeptoLab UK	10/13/23
Cut the Rope Remastered	Paladin Studios	04/02/21
Cypher 007	Tilting Point	09/29/23
Dandara: Trials of Fear+	Raw Fury	12/03/21
Dead End Job	Headup GmbH, Ant Workshop	09/19/19
Dead Cells+	Playdigious	12/02/22
Dear Reader	Local No. 12	09/19/19
Decoherence	Efecto Estudios	10/11/19
Detonation Racing	Electric Square	07/30/21
Discolored	Shifty Eye Games & Jason Godbey	11/08/19
Disney Coloring World+	StoryToys Entertainment	05/04/23
Disney Getaway Blast+	Gameloft	05/04/23
Disney Melee Mania	Mighty Bear Games	12/17/21
Disney SpellStruck	Artist Arcade	05/04/23
Doctor Who: An Unlikely Heist	Tilting Point	04/07/23
Dodo Peak	Moving Pieces Interactive	09/19/19
Don’t Bug Me!	Frosty Pop Games	09/19/19
Doodle God Universe	JoyBits	07/16/21
Doomsday Vault	Flightless	01/03/20
Down in Bermuda	Yak & Co	09/19/19
Downwell+	Devolver	11/17/23
Dread Nautical	Zen Studios	09/19/19
EarthNight	Cleaversoft	09/19/19
Episode XOXO	Episode Interactive	01/06/23
Exit the Gungeon	Devolver Digital	09/19/19
Explottens	WRP Pvt.	09/19/19
Fallen Knight	FairPlay Studios	10/25/19
Fantasian	Mistwalker	04/01/21
Farm It!	Tummy Games	03/26/21
Farming Simulator 20+	Giants Software	05/04/23
Farmside	The Label	02/17/23
Finity	Seabaa	08/25/23
Fledgling Heroes	Subtle Boom	09/19/19
Football Manager 2023 Touch	SEGA	11/08/22
Frenzic: Overtime	The Iconfactory	06/18/21
Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins	Konami	06/03/22
Frogger in Toy Town	Konami	09/19/19
Galaga Wars+	Bandai Namco	11/12/21
Game Dev Story+	Kairosoft Co., Ltd	06/18/21
Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows	Devolver Digital	08/07/20
Garden Tails: Match and Grow	Playdots, Inc.	09/16/22
The Gardens Between+	The Voxel Agents	10/14/22
Gear.Club Stradale	Eden Games	04/08/22
Getting Over It+	Bennett Foddy	05/04/23
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees	Broken Rules	02/25/22
Gin Rummy Classic+	MobilityWare	10/07/22
Goat Simulator+	Coffee Stain Publishing	05/13/22
Grand Mountain Adventure+	Toppluva	04/28/23
Grindstone	Capybara Games	09/19/19
GRIS+	Devolver	09/30/22
Guildlings	Sirvo Studios, Inc.	11/08/19
Hanx101 Trivia	BlueLine Studios Inc.	09/02/22
Hearts: Card Game+	MobilityWare	01/07/22
Hello Kitty Island Adventure	Sunblink	07/28/23
HEROish	Sunblink	07/22/22
Hexaflip: The Action Puzzler	Rogue Games, Inc.	09/19/19
Hidden Folks+	Adriaan de Jongh	01/28/22
Hill Climb Racing+	Fingersoft	05/04/23
HitchHiker	Versus Evil	03/26/21
Hogwash	Bossa Studios	10/25/19
Horizon Chase 2	Aquiris Game Studio	09/09/22
Hot Lava	Klei Entertainment	09/19/19
Human: Fall Flat+	505 Games	03/31/23
HyperBrawl Tournament	Milkey Tea Limited	09/19/19
Illustrated	BorderLeap	01/13/23
INKS.+	State of Play Games	06/25/21
INMOST	Chucklefish Limited	10/11/19
Iron Marines+	Ironhide Irl	05/04/23
Japanese Rural Life Adventure	Game Start	09/15/23
JellyCar Worlds	Walaber Entertainment	12/09/22
Jenny LeClue	Mografi	09/19/19
Jeopardy! World Tour+	Uken	10/06/23
Jet Dragon	Grezzo Co.	06/16/23
Jetpack Joyride+	Halfbrick Studios	07/23/21
Jetpack Joyride 2	Halfbrick Studios	08/19/22
Jigsaw Puzzle by MobilityWare+	MobilityWare	06/10/22
Jumper Jon	Ogre Pixel	11/01/19
Junkworld TD	Ironhide	09/22/23
Kimono Cats	HamaNature Studios	03/03/23
King’s League II	Kurechi Sdn. Bhd.	09/19/19
Kingdom Rush Frontiers TD+	Ironhide Irl	11/12/21
Kingdom Rush Vengeance TD+	Ironhide Irl	07/29/22
Kingdom Two Crowns+	Raw Fury	05/04/23
Kingdoms: Merge & Build	Cherrypick Games	08/18/23
Kings of the Castle	Frosty Pop	01/17/20
Knotwords+	Zach Gage	11/03/23
Layton’s Mystery Journey+	Level-5 Inc.	09/03/21
Legend of the Skyfish 2	Crescent Moon Games	04/03/20
Legends of Kingdom Rush	Ironhide Game Studio	06/11/21
LEGO Brawls	The Lego Group	09/19/19
LEGO Builder’s Journey	The Lego Group	12/19/19
LEGO DUPLO World+	StoryToys Entertainment	07/07/23
LEGO Star Wars Battles	TT Games	09/24/21
LEGO Star Wars: Castaways	Gameloft	11/19/21
Leo’s Fortune+	1337 & Senri LLC	06/25/21
Lifelike	kunabi brother	10/25/19
Lifeline+	3 Minute Games	02/24/23
Lifeslide	Dreamteck	09/19/19
Limbo+	Playdead	05/04/23
Little Orpheus	Sumo Digital	06/12/20
Love You to Bits+	Alike Studio	08/26/22
Lumen	Lykkegaard International	02/05/21
Manifold Garden	William Chyr Studio	10/18/19
Marble It Up: Mayhem!	Marble it up	11/08/19
Marble Knights	WayForward	09/18/20
MasterChef: Let’s Cook!	Tilting Point	09/03/21
Mind Symphony	Rogue Games, Inc.	10/11/19
Mini Motorways	Dinosaur Polo Club	09/19/19
Millionaire Trivia: TV Game+	Uken	06/30/23
Monomals	Picomy	11/01/19
Monster Hunter Stories+	Capcom	08/06/21
Monument Valley 2+	ustwo games	03/11/22
Moonshot – A Journey Home	Noodlecake	04/22/22
Murder Mystery Machine	Blazing Griffin	09/19/19
Mutazione	Die Gute Fabrik	09/19/19
My Bowling 3D+	iWare Designs	07/01/22
My Little Pony: Mane Merge	Gameloft	12/16/22
My Talking Angela 2+	Outfit7 Limited	09/08/23
My Talking Tom+	Outfit7 Limited	08/12/22
My Town Home – Family Games+	My Town Games	05/04/23
NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition	2K Sports	04/02/21
NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition	2K Sports	10/19/21
NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition	2K Sports	10/21/22
NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition	2K Sports	10/24/23
Necrobarista	Route 59	07/17/20
Nekograms+	Hungry Sky	08/10/23
Neo Cab	Chance Agency	09/19/19
Neversong	Serenity Forge	05/01/20
Next Stop Nowhere	Night School Studio	08/14/20
Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis	Viacom International	01/21/22
Nightmare Farm	Hit-Point Co., Ltd.	10/05/19
No Way Home	SMG Studio	01/10/20
NUTS	Noodlecake Studios	01/22/21
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm	Cornfox & Bros.	09/19/19
Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon	Cornfox & Bros.	01/08/21
Octodad: Dadliest Catch+	Young Horses	05/04/23
Oddmar+	Mobje Ltd.	12/03/21
Old Man’s Journey	Broken Rules	11/18/22
Operator 41	Shifty Eye Games	09/19/19
Osmos+	Hemisphere Games	03/17/23
Outlanders	Pomelo Games	09/19/19
Over the Alps	Stave Studios	09/19/19
Overland	Finji	09/19/19
PAC-MAN Party Royale	BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment	10/18/19
Painty Mob	Devolver Digital	09/19/19
Patterned	BorderLeap	09/19/19
Pilgrims	Amanita Design	10/05/19
Pocket Build+	MoonBear LTD	04/01/22
Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!	Game Freak	01/20/23
Populus Run	FIFTYTWO	01/29/21
Possessions	Noodlecake Studios	09/19/19
PPKP+	Shimada Toshiro	05/04/23
Pro Darts 2022+	iWare Designs	05/27/22
Pro Snooker & Pool 2022+	iWare Designs Ltd.	04/15/22
Projection: First Light	Blowfish Studios	09/19/19
Prune+	Joel McDonald	04/29/22
Punch Planet	Sector-K Games	09/19/19
Rayman Mini	Ubisoft	09/19/19
Red Reign	Ninja Kiwi Limited	09/19/19
Redout: Space Assault	34BigThings	10/05/19
Reigns: Beyond	Devolver Digital	11/06/20
Retro Bowl+	New Star R&D	06/23/23
Retro Goal+	New Star R&D	06/23/23
Ridiculous Fishing EX	Vlambeer	07/17/23
Riptide GP: Renegade+	Vector Unit	02/10/23
Rosie’s Reality	RosieReality	11/15/19
Roundguard	Wonderbelly Games	03/13/20
Samba de Amigo: Party-To-Go	Sega	08/29/23
Samorost 3+	Amanita Design	07/08/22
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time	Cartoon Network	08/21/20
Sayonara Wild Hearts	Annapurna Interactive	09/19/19
Scrappers	Q-Games	04/10/20
Secret Oops!	Mixedbag	01/31/20
Shadow Blade+	Crescent Moon Games	03/04/22
Shantae and the Seven Sirens	WayForward	09/19/19
Shinsekai: Into the Depths	Capcom	09/19/19
ShockRods	Stainless Games	10/11/19
Shovel Knight Dig	Yacht Club Games	09/23/22
Simon’s Cat – Story Time	Tactile Games Limited	04/02/21
Skate City	Snowman	09/19/19
Slash Quest	Noodlecake Studios	10/01/20
Slay the Spire+	Humble Bundle	07/07/23
Snake.io+	Kooapps	05/04/23
Sneaky Sasquatch	RAC7	09/19/19
Sociable Soccer	Rogue Games, Inc.	11/08/19
Solitaire Stories	Red Games Co.	07/02/21
SongPop Party	Gameloft	04/02/21
Sonic Dash+	Sega	04/08/22
Sonic Racing	Sega	09/19/19
South of the Circle	State of Play	10/30/20
Sp!ng	SMG Studio	03/05/21
Spaceland	Tortuga Games	09/19/19
Spades: Card Game+	MobilityWare	01/07/22
Speed Demons	Radiangames	09/19/19
Spek	RAC7 Games	09/19/19
Spelldrifter	Free Range Games	09/19/19
Spider Solitaire: Card Game+	MobilityWare	10/07/22
Spidersaurs	WayForward	09/19/19
Spire Blast	Orbital Knight sp.	01/22/21
Splitter Critters+	RAC7 Games	12/10/21
Spongebob SquarePants: Patty Pursuit	Nickelodeon	05/28/20
Spyder	Sumo_Digital	03/20/20
Squiggle Drop	Noodlecake	01/27/23
Star Fetched	Crescent Moon Games	11/01/19
Star Trek: Legends	Tilting Point LLC	04/02/21
Stardew Valley+	ConcernedApe	07/21/23
Stela	SkyBox Labs	10/11/19
Stellar Commanders	Blindflug Studios	09/19/19
Steven Universe: Unleash the Light	Cartoon Network	11/27/19
Stitch.	Lykkegaard Europe	10/28/22
Stranded Sails	Shifty Eye Games	09/19/19
Subway Surfers Tag	Sybo Games	07/15/22
Summon Quest	The Label	04/21/23
Super Leap Day	Nitrome	08/06/21
Super Impossible Road	Rogue Games, Inc.	09/19/19
Super Mega Mini Party	Red Games Co, LLC	11/01/19
Super Stickman Golf 3+	Noodlecake	08/06/21
Survival Z	Ember Entertainment	02/19/21
Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat	BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment	04/02/21
Takeshi and Hiroshi	Oink Games Inc.	11/08/19
Tales of Memo	Tendays Studio	10/25/19
Tangle Tower	SFB Games	09/19/19
Temple Run+	Imangi Studios	05/04/23
Temple Run: Puzzle Adventure	Scopely, Inc.	09/17/21
Tetris Beat	N3twork Inc.	08/20/21
The Bradwell Conspiracy	Bossa Studios	10/05/19
The Collage Atlas	Robot House Games Ltd	10/16/20
The Enchanted World	Noodlecake Studios	09/19/19
The Get Out Kids	Frosty Pop Games	09/19/19
The Last Campfire	Hello Games	08/27/20
The Loud House: Outta Control	Nickelodeon	02/14/20
The Lullaby of Life	1 Simple Game	07/24/20
The Mosaic	Raw Fury	11/01/19
The Oregon Trail	Gameloft	04/02/21
The Otherside	The Label	05/08/20
The Pathless	Annapurna Interactive	11/12/20
The Pinball Wizard	Frosty Pop Games	09/19/19
The Survivalists	Team17	10/08/20
Things That Go Bump	Tinybop Inc.	10/18/19
Thumper: Pocket Edition+	Drool LLC	10/01/21
Time Locker+	Sotaro Otsuka	05/04/23
tint.	Lykkegaard International	09/19/19
Tiny Wings+	Andreas Illiger	10/15/21
TMNT Splintered Fate	Paramount Global	05/04/23
Transformers Tactical Arena	Red Games Co	11/05/21
Towaga: Among Shadows	Noodlecake Studios	09/19/19
Towers of Everland	Cobra Mobile Limited	05/22/20
UFO on Tape: First Contact	Revolutionary Concepts	11/08/19
Ultimate Rivals: The Court	Bit Fry Games	07/09/21
Ultimate Rivals: The Rink	Bit Fry Games	12/12/19
Various Daylife	Square Enix	09/19/19
Very Little Nightmares+	Bandai Namco	05/04/23
Warp Drive	Supergonk	11/27/20
Warped Kart Racers	Electric Square	05/20/22
Way of the Turtle	Illusion Labs	09/19/19
What the Car?	Triband ApS	05/04/23
What the Golf?	Fig	09/19/19
Where Cards Fall	Snowman	09/19/19
Winding Worlds	KO_OP	05/15/20
Wonderbox: The Adventure Maker	Aquiris	04/01/21
Word Laces	minimega	09/19/19
World of Demons	PlatinumGames	04/02/21
World’s End Club	IzanagiGames	09/04/20
Wurdweb	Aran & Adriaan	08/13/21
Wylde Flowers	Studio Drydock	02/22/22
Yaga	Versus Evil	10/25/19
Zen Pinball Party	ZEN Studios	09/03/21
Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes	Firefly Games	12/04/20
Zookeeper World	Kiteretsu Inc.	09/10/21

Personal Software

In a shocking turn, Apple has confirmed in a statement that it will bring RCS to iPhone, greatly improving the experience of sending messages between iPhones and most Android phones. The announcement comes at a time when Apple is under unprecedented regulatory and legal pressure to interoperate better with non-Apple products and services and increased public outcry from users to do the same.

The statement, sent to several media outlets, reads:

Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users.

RCS is the new messaging standard that has been heavily pushed by Google and adopted by the GSM Association, a governing standards body for the wireless industry. It is meant to replace SMS and MMS as the default carrier-based messaging solution, taking it up to modern standards in an interoperable, device-and-platform agnostic way. While RCS is not exclusive to Android, it is supported in the messaging clients for most Android phones and Apple’s reluctance to support the standard has made it a de-facto “Android only” technology.

Apple told TechRadar that it won’t be supporting “proprietary extensions” that seek to add encryption on top of RCS and hopes, instead, to work with the GSM Association to add encryption to the standard. On Android phones some apps (such as Google Messages) support encryption while others do not.

We don’t know exactly how RCS will work on the iPhone, but the most likely scenario is that RCS clients will still look like messaging with SMS clients, aka green bubbles, while iMessage users will still be sent with blue bubbles. Apple will still want to differentiate between messages sent with Apple devices and those sent with Android phones since many features won’t be supported through RCS. But they’ll be able to co-exist and a single green bubble won’t blow up the whole group chat.

We have no idea when “later next year” is, but that phrase makes it sound like this is an iOS 18 feature due for release in the fall. We’ll likely learn more at WWDC in June, but in a nutshell, RCS support means that when you use Messages to communicate with someone who has an Android phone (or there is an Android user in the group text), you’ll get features like:

• Sending messages over Wi-Fi or cellular.
• Group chats up to 100 people.
• Full-size files, photos, and videos (up to 100MB, probably).
• Delivery and Read reciepts.
• Typing indicators.
• Improved security, including encryption.

The RCS Universal Profile has gone through a number of updates in the last few years to add features and capabilities, and we don’t yet know which version Apple intends to support, or which optional features it will embrace. You can probably expect everything on the list above, but perhaps not some of RCS’s more advanced or recent features.

The move is something of an about-face for Apple, which hasn’t shown any inclination to adopt RCS. At a conference last September, in fact, Tim Cook told an attendee that the best solution for blurry photos sent from iPhones to Android phones is to “Buy your Mom an iPhone.”

As for iMessage, it will still offer more features, including the ability to edit and unsend messages and superior privacy and security. In other words, there will still be an iMessage advantage, but the experience for iPhone users who send messages to those using Android phones will improve greatly—even of they’ll still need to look at green bubbles.

iOS

Three years ago today, Apple’s M1 chip had a tremendous debut in the Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air. Since then, those Macs have gone through their cycles and have had chip upgrades–or have been replaced altogether. But a single M1 Mac remains in Apple’s current Mac lineup: the M1 MacBook Air.

Apple keeps the M1 MacBook Air around because, at $999, it’s the company’s only sub-$1,000 laptop (yes, by only a $1, but, you know, marketing). It’s actually a decent MacBook by today’s standards, but it’s also a three-year-old laptop that’s no longer worth that price—especially when the M2 model is just $100 more.

3-year-old laptop, 5-year-old design

The $999 price was the original price back in November 2020. But the price isn’t the only thing that hasn’t changed–the M1 MacBook Air uses a design that was introduced in 2018.

When the M2 MacBook Air was released, Apple redesigned the laptop. Along with the retirement of the wedge profile, the new design has thinner bezels, and the keyboard has full-sized Function keys. Apple also added Midnight and Starlight to the Space Gray and Silver color choices and dumped Gold. It originally sold for $1,199 but the price was cut to $1,099 when the 15-inch model arrived.

The M1 MacBook Air has the classic wedge design that people love, but its bezels are thick, which cuts down on the usable screen area. It has half-sized Function keys, and the color choices are limited to Space Gray, Gold, and Silver.

At $999, customers are paying a premium for an old design that cuts down on functionality. But hey, the wedge shape holds some sentimental value and some customers mourned its disappearance in the new design. But it’s not worth $999.

Price, performance, and the M3

An argument can be made that design is mostly a matter of taste and that the 2020 MacBook Air’s shortcomings don’t really affect productivity. Fine. But processing speed does, and we’re coming close to a point where the price being paid is too much for the performance you get.

The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air is $1,099 and is 20 percent faster than the M1 MacBook Air. That’s not a bad deal–$100 more for a boost you can feel. If you really don’t want to pay over $1,000 for a laptop, well, the M1 Air is a fine option, just not at $999.

But the introduction of the M3 also brings some intrigue. Apple will upgrade the MacBook Air to an M3 at some point, and if the M3 MacBook Pro is any indicator, it’s going to be about 40 percent faster than the M1 model (see chart above). That’s a huge boost.

If the M3 MacBook Air is still priced at $1,099 and offers similar performance as the M3 MacBook Pro (neither of which if guaranteed), then the $999 M1 MacBook Air becomes an afterthought. For $100 more, you get 40 percent more performance. Now that’s a deal!

Just lower the price and boom!

As it turns out, the M3 creates an opportunity for Apple and its customers. If an M3 MacBook Air starts at $1,099, then $999 for an M1 MacBook Air is way too much. Apple could lower the price to $899, which would be more palatable. After all, Amazon regularly sells the M1 Air for $750—and you can get a $150 gift card if you buy one from Apple during its Black Friday shopping event—so Apple would definitely still make a tidy profit at $899.

At that price, it would continue to sell, even if it is over three years old by the time the M3 MacBook Air is out. Going forward, Apple could even copy the iPhone product cycle, where the new model is released, the old model it replaces is still on sale but with a price reduction, and the model that is two cycles older than the brand-new one is still on sale at an even cheaper price. So the M1 would be $899, the M2 would be $999, and the M3 is $1,099.

That $899 M1 MacBook Air in particular would be very popular and could be the Mac that boosts the lagging sales numbers that have the company concerned. ($849 or $799 would be even better, but Apple loves its margins.)

For Apple, it’s not that simple

The M1 MacBook Air situation seems like it has a simple solution that’s a win for Apple and its customers. But Mac sales aren’t like iPhone sales, so an iPhone product cycle like I just described may not create the Mac sales results the company wants. A $899 MacBook Air will cut into sales of pricier, more modern Macs. Apple doesn’t want to have a three-year-old laptop be a top-selling product.

What’s more likely is that when the M3 MacBook Air is introduced (probably in the spring of 2024), the M2 model becomes the new $999 option, and the M1 MacBook Air is discontinued.

Which would be too bad. It’s still a good laptop and with a lower price, it could be the Mac that breaks the sales barrier that exists for Mac. If the M1 MacBook Air’s run does end next year, it was a good one.

MacBook

Whether you’re an experienced iPhone user or just got your first iPhone, it can be hard to know which model you have. Apple updates the iPhone every year, but it doesn’t always change the design—sometimes the significant changes are on the inside, such as faster new components.

There are various reasons why you might be wondering what iPhone I have. Not everyone walks into an Apple shop to buy the latest model. You might have been handed down an iPhone by a family member who was unclear about which model it is, in which case you might be wondering if it would be a good idea to update the iOS on it. This can be an issue because only certain models can run the latest version of iOS.

If you’re struggling to identify one of your other Apple devices, we also have guides to finding which iPad you have and which Mac you have. Read on to find out how to tell which iPhone you have.

Check your iPhone Name in Settings

The simplest way to tell which iPhone you have is to open up the Settings app.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to General > About.
3. At the top of the list, you’ll see Model Name, which tells you exactly which iPhone model you have.
4. Tip: You can also scroll down to check the capacity of your iPhone, which is something you will want to share if you are thinking of selling it.

Check the Model number

Below Model Name, you will also see Model Number in Settings. This can tell you a little more than the name of the device.

This is actually even more useful because the number that is displayed by default is actually the part number (it probably begins with an M, though if you have a replacement phone it may start with an N). If you pop that part number into a search engine it will tell you exactly which model you have including capacity and color.

There’s a huge number of possible M numbers, far more than we can list here. Check the iPhone Wiki for a full list.

Find the Part Number

Here’s how to find that iPhone part number in Settings.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to General > About
3. Below Model Name you will see Model Number.
4. Tap Model Number to see the Part Number (it will begin with an A).

The easiest way to identify an iPhone if you couldn’t turn it on used to be to check the part number that was etched onto the back. But Apple hasn’t printed part numbers on the back since the iPhone 7. If you have a recent model, or find the number too small to read, there are other ways to identify the iPhone A number, which we will discuss below.

This model number can give you useful information like the country it was sold in, which may be important for warranty reasons.

If you have an older iPhone

If you have an older iPhone (iPhone 7 and earlier) you will see a small identification number printed on the back. When we say “small number,” we really do mean small, and you may find it hard to read the number with the naked eye. A magnifying glass will help if you’ve got one!

If you have a SIM tray

There is another way to find the A number if you can’t turn your iPhone on and it’s not on the back, but you may need a magnifying glass! Assuming you have one of those tools for removing a SIM tray handy pop it out and look very carefully at the slot where the SIM card goes and you can see the A number. (Note, Apple stopped putting SIM trays in iPhones with the iPhone 14.)

Look for design differences

If you simply can’t turn the iPhone on to check Settings for the information above, don’t worry. You can still tell which kind of iPhone you’ve got by checking its build, external features, and so on. Simply compare it against this guide, which includes all models of iPhone.

If you’re trying to identify a bricked device or one you can’t unlock, this visual identification guide section is for you.

iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max: Apple’s newest iPhone has titanium sides instead of stainless steel and comes in four new colors: black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, and natural titanium. It’s the first iPhone to have a USB-C port on the bottom instead of Lightning.

iPhone 15/15 Plus: The iPhone 15 ditches the notch for the Dynamic Island and comes in several new shades, including pink, yellow, green, blue, and black.

The iPhone 14 Pro/14 Pro Max: The iPhone 14 Pro has the Dynamic Island instead of a notch and comes in two unique colors, deep purple and space black, along with silver and gold.

iPhone 14/14 Plus: The iPhone 14 line is the first with a 6.7-inch model in the Plus and comes in several new colors, midnight, starlight, red, blue, purple, and yellow.

iPhone 13 Pro/13 Pro Max: The iPhone 13 Pro has a smaller notch than its predecessor and comes in the following colors: Graphite, Gold, Silver, Sierra Blue, and Alpine Green.

iPhone 13/13 mini: Like the Pro, the iPhone 13 has a smaller notch than the 12 and has a diagonal camera layout for the first time. It comes in purple, blue, green, red, white and black.

iPhone SE (3rd Gen): Unless you have an iPhone that’s many years old, the SE is the only iPhone made since 2017 that has a home button. It’s trickier to tell the difference between the 2nd-gen and 3rd-ge models, as the colors are only slightly different (starlight and and midnight vs white and black).

iPhone 12 Pro/12 Pro Max: The iPhone 12 Pro has a “flat” design with a relatively small camera array on the back. The Pro Max is Apple’s first 6.7-inch iPhone and comes in silver, graphite, gold, Pacific Blue.

iPhone 12/12 mini: The iPhone 12 has a vertical camera arrangement and comes in black, white, red, light green, dark blue and purple. The 5.4-inch mini model is one of only two and the only with a vertical camera array. It’s also Apple’s first non-Pro phone with an OLED display.

iPhone 11 Pro/11 Pro Max: The iPhone 11 Pro is Apple’s first triple-camera phone and its last with curved edges. It comes in gold, silver, space gray, and Midnight Green.

iPhone 11: The iPhone 11 has curved edges and a dual camera with a vertical array. It has a plastic back and comes in white, black, green, yellow, purple and red.

iPhone XS/XS Max: The iPhone XS looks extremely similar to the iPhone X but the Max model is the first iPhone over six inches. It comes in a new color, gold, along with white and black.

iPhone XR: The iPhone XR is Apple’s first 6.1-inch iPhone and has a single camera on the back. It comes in six colors: black, white, blue, yellow, coral and red.

iPhone X: The iPhone X is Apple’s first iPhone without a home button and is available in two colors, silver and space gray. It has a completely new design with stainless steel sides and a notch for the front camera. If you have one you should probably keep it.

iPhone 8/8 Plus: The iPhone 8 is Apple’s last design with a home button (until the SE revived it) and comes in silver, space gray, gold, and red.

iPhone 7/7 Plus: The iPhone 7 is Apple’s last with an aluminum back and first with a dual camera. It also ditches the headphone jack. It was also the first iPhone to come in red and the only to come in Jet Black.

iPhone 6/6S: Apple completely redesigned the iPhone 6 with a 4.7-inch screen and a curved design

iPhone 6 Plus/6S Plus: The iPhone 6 Plus introduced a 5.5-inch display for the first time and come in black, silver, gold, and rose gold.

iPhone SE (1st-gen): The original iPhone SE is a revamped iPhone 5s with a new rose gold color.

iPhone 5/5S: The iPhone 5 has a larger 4-inch display while the 5S ditched the clicky Home button for a new Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

iPhone 5c: This one’s easy to spot: The iPhone 5c came in a range of bright plastic colors and had a curved plastic back. No other iPhone looks like this.

iPhone 4/4S: The Phone 4 has a completely new flat design with a glass back.

iPhone 3G/3GS: the iPhone 3G has a similar design to the original but with a plastic back. The iPhone 3GS also came in white along with black.

Original iPhone: The first iPhone has a silver back with a large black antenna band across the bottom. it has a 3.5-inch display.

For more advice on the various handsets that Apple sells, take a look at our iPhone buying guide. And if you’re looking to pick up a bargain on your next handset, check our roundup of the best iPhone deals.

iPhone

How to choose the right floor cleaner for your needs

Vacuum cleaners have been around for well over a century, but the technology hasn’t stood still. Today you can choose from a range of sophisticated and versatile floor cleaners–but with so many clever features and powerful capabilities on the market, it’s even more crucial that you pick the right model for your needs. Here’s what you should be looking for.

1. Ability to wash and mop as well as vacuum. That way you can clean hard floors just as effectively as carpets, and tackle spillages with ease.
2. Effective cleaning capabilities! Otherwise, what’s the point?
3. Self-cleaning function, to save you a huge amount of hassle.
4. Cordless design, so you’re not constantly trying to work around the available power points.
5. Low weight for convenience of use.
6. Ability to last a long time between pauses for charging or emptying. Look for a model with excellent battery performance and large tank capacity.
7. Additional features. Does the cleaner provide alerts when tanks need emptying? Does it have multiple modes? Does it have functions to preserve battery life?
8. Affordable price tag: Currently in the market, it’s really hard to find an all-round floor cleaner for less than $200.

If your chosen cleaner ticks all eight boxes, it’s the one for you.

Why the Eureka NEW400 is worth a look

Let’s get more specific. On the eight criteria mentioned above, the Eureka NEW400 is a high-scoring, great-value floor cleaner you should seriously consider.

1. It’s a versatile cleaner, with the ability to vacuum, mop and wash simultaneously. The mopping function is based on running water: clean water drains through multiple holes to soak the roller, while dirty water is removed to a separate tank. It avoids the re-use of dirty water, solving the issue of traditional steam mops that just seem to spread the dirt around.
2. This is a superb cleaner. On carpets, rugs, marble, ceramic and wood alike, the powerful suction is highly effective at removing debris, while the mop disposes quickly of stains and spillages. Pet and other odors are neutralized by sterilizing liquid. And because the mop function boasts an impressive 90%-plus water recovery rate, your floors will be dry in no time, and protected from the water stains you may get with lesser products.
3. The Eureka has a user-friendly self-cleaning function. When this is activated, the rolling brush spins at high speed; it is sprayed with clean water, brushed, and scraped, with the dirty water safely removed to the appropriate tank. You never need to hand-wash the brush.
4. Of course it’s cordless! Why would you want to be limited by inconvenient wires?
5. At just 8.7lb, the Eureka is lightweight, portable and easy to use. It’s even effortless to push around thanks to a convenient self-propelling function, and convenient to store because of its small base.
6. You won’t need to change the water tanks very often because of their impressive capacities: 600ml of clean water and 400ml of dirty; both compare favorably to rival products. And battery performance is excellent: the 2500mAh cell can last for up to 30 minutes of intense cleaning. Best of all, even when there isn’t enough power remaining to do any more floor cleaning, the device will be able to perform a full self-clean. This is crucial to avoid unpleasant smells!
7. Yes, yes, and yes! When the dirty water tank is full, the Eureka gives you an alert, stopping automatically and flashing purple lights. There are multiple modes, and the cleaner intelligently stops operation whenever you stand it upright, saving on power and reducing unnecessary noise.
8. Price? All of this can be yours for just $199. We don’t think you’ll find a better deal elsewhere.

Get the best deal on your new floor cleaner

You can order the Eureka NEW400 today direct from Amazon or find it through all good home appliance retailers. Furthermore, over the Black Friday sales event, Eureka is offering an amazing $60 off, making it a really great deal!

Smart Appliances

With the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple announced the ability to use Siri to access health and fitness data and even log entries into the Health app. It’s one of those features, like Double Tap, that wasn’t available at launch but was coming in a software update. Though it was never explicitly stated, the new Siri capabilities work just fine on iPhone as well.

The latest iOS 17.2 and watchOS 10.2 beta now support this feature, so it will almost certainly be there in the final release. Here’s a breakdown of what this new feature does and how it works.

What you’ll need

To use Siri with your Health data and extended Fitness data, you’ll need an iPhone running iOS 17.2 (beta 3 or later) or an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 running watchOS 10.2 (beta 3 or later).

Only the newest watches are supported because they support on-device Siri processing, while older Apple Watches do not. Apple isn’t comfortable letting your requests for Health data or logging of Health info go out over the internet for your commands to be processed. If you have an iPhone with an A12 Bionic or later—essentially anything from the last five years—your phone has handled some Siri requests on-device ever since iOS 15.

You’ll also need to enable access to your Health data for Siri. You’ll be prompted to do this the first time you make a Health request, but if you want to do it before that or you forget, here are the steps:

Open Settings > Health > Data Access & Devices > Siri and toggle the switch labeled “Access Health Data.”

On your Apple Watch, open Settings > Health > Apps and Services > Siri and toggle the switch labeled “Allow Siri Access to Health Data.”

What you can do with Siri Health access

Once access is granted, you’ll be able to use Siri to request all sorts of Health and Fitness data that you previously were unable to. Here are some examples:

• How many steps have I taken today?
• How many steps have I taken this week?
• What’s my heart rate?
• What’s my blood oxygen level?
• Check my Exercise ring.
• How does my Move ring look today?
• What’s my average walking heart rate?
• How many calories have I burned?

Your Apple Watch will have a cache of Health data going back about a week or so, so you’ll only be able to request data from that time period. Your iPhone will have all your health data and can answer questions like “What was my weight on January 1st?”

You can also log data directly to your Health app, which can be a huge time-saver. Here are just a few examples of the many supported logging abilities:

• My weight is 195.3 pounds.
• I started spotting today.
• I’ve taken my 6 pm medications.
• My body temperature is 98.5 degrees.
• My period started today.
• My blood sugar is 143.
• Record my blood pressure as 118 over 76.

The ability to log common health data with a quick Siri command instead of digging several layers down in the Health app should be a big time saver.

Apple Watch, iOS

While Macs are incredible for various tasks, they’re not so compatible with PDFs. Managing PDFs on any Mac is difficult, but PDF Expert can make it easier. For a limited time, you can grab PDF Expert, Apple Editor’s Choice, for only $69.99 (reg. $139).

PDF Expert makes it simple to modify text, images, and links in a PDF document on Macs. Along with a variety of markup tools to highlight, strikeout, underline, and more for just the right annotation, filling out PDF forms with interactive fields is quick work for PDF Expert. 

Meanwhile, nifty features also allow you to convert PDFs into a handful of other popular file formats, edit images imported from a scanner or iOS device, assemble a collection of PDFs for printing, and more.

And since PDF Expert’s AI power is so smart, it can recognize both text and OCR and even use machine learning to fix the typical problems that less advanced PDF managers can’t. Just push the Enhance mode, and PDF Expert can correct distortions, remove shadows, and improve a document’s contrast, so even tough-to-read PDFs will look brilliant.

Grab lifetime access to PDF Expert for just $69.99, best price online.

 

PDF Expert One-Time Purchase: Lifetime License

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Prices subject to change.

Accessories

At one point, you could pay a bundle for a set of AirPods, drop one or both, and never find either again. Apple may make money off your misfortune if you buy a replacement, but the company’s motive is always building loyalty by making things better for you, so you stick with them. Such is what’s happened with Find My.

Originally, Find My covered just the iPhone and iPad, and only when they were powered on and had an internet connection. Over the last few years, Apple enhanced the feature: extending it to Macs and Apple Watches, then to Apple AirPods and Beats earbuds. The company also added the Find My network, with the AirTag as the flagship tracking product, but also allowing all of Apple’s hardware–eventually including audio hardware–to leverage nearby iPhones, iPads, and Macs that had an internet connection to relay securely their locations back to their owners.

AirPods, AirPods Pro, and (take a deep breath) Powerbeats Pro, Beats Studio Buds, Beats Studio Buds+, and Beats Fit Pro can all be tracked in their charging cases. For some models, the last location appears when the charging case was last opened; for others, the location tracking is continuous and indicates the last time it was in range of any Apple device.

You can play a sound on earbuds that you might hear inside the charging case; with the 2nd generation AirPods Pro, you can also play a sound on the charging case, which will be more audible.

If both earbuds are out of the case, you can no longer track the charging case except with AirPods Pro (2nd generation). However, you can play a sound on the earbuds and choose to play the sound only out of the left or right earbud as an aid to finding them if they’re nearby.

You can further track individual AirPods earbuds like this:

• AirPods Pro 2nd generation models can be tracked individually and, if close by, found using precision location from a phone with ultrawideband. This appears as an arrow pointing towards them (or each of them) and a rough distance.
• All other AirPods earbuds can be tracked. However, if they’re separated from each other, only one may be tracked at a time. Once you find that one, put it in the charging case, and the other earbud can now be separately tracked. If you don’t have a charging case, you may be out of luck in finding the other one if it’s not in the immediate area. If the earbuds are close by, a paired iPhone or iPad will help direct you towards them and you can play a sound.

This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Alex.

Ask Mac 911

We’ve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns: read our super FAQ to see if your question is covered. If not, we’re always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours to mac911@macworld.com, including screen captures as appropriate and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered, we don’t reply to email, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.

Headphones, Wearables

Giving the gift of knowledge is priceless. And if that gift can also jumpstart a job search or even unlock a new career, its value is even more spectacular. Now, you can give someone special a lifetime of StackSkills Unlimited, a repository of critical tech and self-development training courses.

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New courses are added monthly, and learners can dive into hot-button tech areas like web development, cyber security, cloud computing, and more. Beyond computers and programming, inquiring minds can also study topics like how to take better photos, succeed in business, deal with stress or avoid burnout, and much more.

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Accessories

For people who use Apple devices in work environments that are run by Windows, Microsoft is developing a new way to access Windows resources with its new Windows App. With Windows App, users can connect to Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Microsoft Dev Box, Remote Desktop Services, and remote PCs.

Microsoft announced that Windows App is available in a special preview run that is available for iPhones, iPads, and Macs through Apple’s TestFlight program and app, but TestFlight limits the number of users. The preview is open to anyone, but users will not be allowed to try it if the capacity limit has been met. Windows App can also be used through a browser or Windows PC.

Windows App lets users access Windows across multiple different services and remote PCs. The customizable home screen allows users to pin favorites for quick and easy access. Multiple accounts are also supported, and Windows App has a feature that allows users to switch between them. According to the Microsoft Ignite website, other features include multiple monitor support, custom display resolutions, dynamic display resolutions and scaling, device redirection for audio, printers, storage devices, and webcams; and Microsoft Teams optimizations.

The preview limits access to Microsoft business accounts, and the company has not commented on whether consumer access will be allowed in a future update. The Verge notes that the sign-in prompt indicates that a personal account can be used but it doesn’t work. However, it’s an indication that Microsoft is looking to bring Windows to the cloud and make it easily accessible on your Apple device without running virtualization software.

Windows

Spam calls are more than an annoyance

We’ve all suffered from the inconvenience of unwanted phone calls, whether automated robocalls or more old-fashioned spam sales calls. And you can hardly have failed to notice that this age-old irritation is not getting any better. If anything, spam calls become more frequent with each passing year, as technology plays into the hands of the phone pests.

But irritation–being frequently interrupted in the middle of important work or social activities, for example, or missing an important call because you’re so used to ignoring the pests–is the least of your worries. Spam calls bring real dangers, and it’s crucial that you understand the risks.

Spam callers aren’t just trying to waste your time (although that’s a significant side effect). Some ‘merely’ want to persuade you to waste your money on substandard products or services, or to get more details in order to send you unwanted ads. And many have actively malicious intent; each time you answer their calls you are at risk of a phishing attack.

Such miscreants use spam calls as a way to phish for information that can be used in a wide range of scams and attacks; in other cases, the fact that you’re receiving spam calls indicates that your data is already doing the rounds among unscrupulous brokers. Some data brokers, shockingly, have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for supplying lists of vulnerable people to scammers. Ultimately all of this could result in financial harm, reduced loan eligibility, higher insurance rates, identity theft, or the loss or exposure of sensitive data.

In other words, blocking spam calls–and addressing the unwanted data sharing behind them–isn’t just a question of convenience. It’s about protecting yourself from the attentions of criminals.

How to stop the spam

Fortunately, you don’t need to put up with the situation. There are a number of simple steps you can take in response to the growing spam-call problem.

1. Register your phone number(s) with the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry. This is the first and simplest step to take, and may help a little… although it will only affect the ‘legitimate’ spammers who respect the rules. Still, it’s a start.
2. Block the individual numbers used by spam callers; you can do this on iPhone by tapping the Info (“i”) button next to the number and selecting “Block this Caller.” This can be a useful tool when dealing with repeat offenders, but is likely to lead to a game of “whack-a-mole” as the spammers adapt and change their vector of attack. And again, this does not address the underlying problem of data exposure.
3. Block all unknown numbers by going to Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers. This is a far more powerful method and should drastically cut down the number of spam calls that make it through… but has the side effect of likely blocking legitimate calls too. For many, this will be too high a price.
4. Remove your personal information from the sites and databases of data brokers: the companies and individuals who share your personal details with spammers, likely without informed consent. You can do this by sending opt-out requests to each broker, but this is likely to take a lot of time and effort and may not reach all the relevant parties. An alternative approach would be to call on the services of a data-removal service to send the opt-out requests on your behalf; such firms know exactly who to speak to in order to get the job done, and will save you the hassle of doing so.

How Incogni can help

Let’s focus on one specific data-removal service that can help you efficiently tackle the annoyance and danger of spam calls: Incogni.

Incogni is a service that exists to help customers remove their data from brokers’ lists and databases. This has the effect of drastically reducing both spam emails and spam calls, including robocalls. Your details will be removed from “people search” sites, which scrape the internet for your personal information and sell it to anyone who looks you up: employers, landlords, relatives, romantic partners. This can protect you from harassment, financial harm, and personal embarrassment.

Sure, you could tackle some of these processes yourself. But it’s much more effective–and vastly less effort–if you let the experts manage things. Incogni handles all the interactions with brokers, from the initial opt-out requests to fighting rejected claims. (Needless to say, it’s in brokers’ interest to make data removal as difficult as possible.) By using this service you can scrub your data from the lists in a fraction of the time it would take to do so manually, and without any of the hassle. And even after the data is removed, Incogni will carry on sending the opt-out requests, since many brokers will merrily collect your information again after a short wait unless specifically told not to.

And for even more peace of mind, Incogni comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best of all, thanks to a special deal for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Macworld readers can get a one-year subscription with a stunning 55% discount. Just use the code MACWORLD to benefit from this outstanding deal!

iPhone

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max both have fantastic battery life. It’s roughly the same as the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max from last year (just slightly longer in our testing), but that makes them some of the longest-lasting high-end smartphones you can buy.

But the non-Pro iPhones generally have longer battery life. We know that the higher refresh rate of 120Hz ProMotion displays can have a significant impact on battery life which is one reason why Apple promotes the iPhone 15 Plus as having the longest battery life in the lineup.

So naturally I wondered: if you stopped your iPhone 15 Pro from going up to 120Hz, would it make the battery last longer? After a few days of testing, I can confirm that it does help, but not enough to be worth it, with one exception: gaming.

Using Accessibility to limit ProMotion

Apple doesn’t provide a means to disable ProMotion the iPhone Pro models. The display simply dynamically adjusts refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz making adjustments on the fly as determined by the system.

But you can use a setting in Accessibility to limit refresh rate to 60Hz, which will prevent the display from ramping up to those battery-draining high refresh rates. Of course, it also means you don’t get the smooth scrolling and animations of ProMotion, so you’re giving up one of the key features for which you buy a “Pro” iPhone. Perhaps if the battery life is much better, it will be worth it?

To limit your iPhone 15 Pro (or iPhone 14 Pro) to 60Hz, open Settings, choose Accessibility, then choose Motion. Scroll down and enable the option that says Limit Frame Rate.

Does it make a difference?

Of course, what I really want to know is whether or not this makes a real difference battery life. If you could get an extra hour of screen-on time with Limit Frame Rate enabled, it may be worth giving up the extra smoothness for some users.

I ran my standard battery benchmark on both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max with this setting enabled and disabled. This consists of running the Geekbench 4 battery life test with the display calibrated to 200 nits, with auto-brightness and True Tone disabled.

It looks like this setting does have an impact, albeit a minor one. In two tests per phone, I consistently saw a battery life improvement of around 5 percent. That something, but it’s not the kind of change that makes you want to give up the 120Hz smoothness for.

It’s hard to know what the refresh rate is during the Geekbench 4 test, which shows a relatively static screen during the entire benchmark, so I tried a few other tests. I scrolled through Instagram and reddit continuously, with very few pauses and the brightness cranked up to about 70 percent. After 20 minutes, the battery indicator still read 100%. After 30 minutes, still 100%. Somewhere between the 30 and 35 minute mark, the battery meter finally ticked down to 99.

That result was consistent with or without the Limit Frame Rate accessibility setting activated. At least when it comes to apps where you scroll through text and images, it appears that the dynamic nature of the frame rate has more to do with anything than whether the maximum is 60Hz or 120Hz. If there’s a difference, again, it’s rather minor.

Where it really matters: premium games

Many mobile games do not support ProMotion, but a few of them do. Shooters Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG Mobile support high refresh rates, as do games like Brawl Stars, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Genshin Impact, Alto’s Odyssey, and more. In most of these titles you have to open the in-game options to select a special 120fps or high frame rate mode.

It’s almost impossible to make consistently benchmark the difference in battery life during live gameplay–there are just too many variables. Still, in playing several of these games with the high frame rate options enabled for 20 minutes at a time, I noticed a lot less battery drain when I had Limit Frame Rate enabled. Battery drain varies wildly from one game to the next, but it wasn’t uncommon to have the battery last twice as long with Limit Frame Rate option enabled.

But then, game developers already know this. That’s is why it’s almost always an option, and usually not the default setting. In fact, many games even offer 30fps limits in their game settings, typically called “Power saving mode” or “Battery life mode,” even if the game doesn’t support ProMotion at all.

It’s not just the display uses more energy when a game runs at higher frame rates, but the processor as well. This drains your battery a lot faster.

Our recommendation

We recommend that most users looking to simply limit battery drain on their iPhone 13 Pro, 14 Pro, or 15 Pro should probably not enable the Limit Frame Rate accessibility setting. The difference in battery life in most apps is minimal and not worth the tradeoff in smoothness.

In games, however, limiting frame rate has a huge impact, and it should be the first thing you examine if you’re concerned with battery life. But this is best accomplished within the game’s visual settings, which often provide far more options than just a 60fps limit.

iPhone

Every year, while the rest of the retail world is slashing prices on big-ticket Apple products to lure customers into their stores, Apple holds a four-day Shopping Event that offers gift cards on purchases in place of actual discounts. Not only are you not actually saving money—in most cases, you can find better savings than the gift cards Apple offers.

On Thursday, Apple announced the terms of the 2023 sale, and it’s a little better than last year. As usual, the newest products are excluded, including the M3 MacBooks, iMac, and iPhone 15, but for the first time the newest Apple Watch is part of the offer. Here’s every product that’s part of the event with the corresponding gift card for this year and last:

Products	2023 offer	2022 offer
iPhone 14	$75	$50 (iPhone 13)
iPhone 13	$50	$50 (iPhone 12)
iPhone SE	$25	$50
Apple Watch Series 9	$50	N/A
Apple Watch SE	$50	$50
iPad Pro	$100	N/A
iPad Air	$75	$50
iPad (10th gen)	$50	N/A
iPad mini	$50	$50
15-inch MacBook Air	$200	N/A
13-inch MacBook Air (M2)	$175	$150
13-inch MacBook Air (M1)	$150	$150
Mac mini	$100	$100
AirPods Max	$75	$75
AirPods (2nd- or 3rd-gen)	$25	$25
Apple TV 4K	$25	N/A
HomePod	$50	N/A
Magic Keyboard	$50	$25
Smart Keyboard Folio	$25	$25
Apple Pencil (2nd-gen)	$25	$25

As you can see, many items are actually a little better than last year’s prices, particularly $50 back when you buy an Apple Watch Series 9. However, most of the biggest discounts in 2022—$250 off the MacBook Pro and $150 off the iMac—aren’t offered this year due to the recent updates. And oddly, Apple is offering $25 less when you buy an iPhone SE this year even though the phone is a year older and didn’t receive an update in 2023.

Apple’s shopping event will begin on Friday, November 24, and end on Monday, November 27. You can get these offers at the online store or by visiting an Apple Store during those days.

Apple Inc