In the Apple Silicon era, MacBooks have become more affordable than ever – with brand new models starting as low as $649. With looming tariffs, these great deals could potentially be coming to an end very soon – so if you’re in the market for a new MacBook for any reason, now may be one of the best ever times to purchase.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Sofa is an easy-to-use app that helps keep you organized when you don’t have something to do. Everyone has some level of downtime, but often don’t plan things out. Social media doomscrolling is often an option, but Sofa helps you plan out other leisure activities. In its new update, it also added a built-in podcast player.

Last month, Apple introduced a number of new products, including a for $599. While that iPad wasn’t exactly remarkable, it did bring something new to the table – another variant of .

This new Magic Keyboard brings function keys to the for the first time, which is a pretty big win, but it also includes a number of head-scratching compromises. Let’s discuss.

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Apple’s enterprise business is doing incredible, but not because of subscriptions or recurring revenue. The bulk of Apple’s enterprise comes from hardware sales, with Macs, iPhones, and iPads that are powering businesses worldwide. While Apple does offer services like AppleCare and Apple Business Essentials, their impact on recurring revenue is a rounding error. At Apple’s scale, it needs massive revenue to drive growth. If Apple wants to drive revenue growth in the enterprise, something has to change.

With the , I have been telling people that this is the most recommendable and best bang-for-buck laptop on the market. The power of the M4 chip combined with 16 GB of unified memory will be more than enough for 95% of customers walking into an Apple Store. But it is not all perfect, with only 256GB of base storage and no additional USB-C ports there is room to add some accessories to make your experience even better. So here are the best accessories for your new MacBook Air!

If you’ve been experiencing issues when trying to access some of Apple’s online services, it’s not just you. The App Store and other Apple services are facing an outage and are currently down for some users.

President Trump announced this week a series of tariffs imposed on the import of products from other countries, which will end up hitting many US companies like Apple – since most of its products come from China. Now it seems that Apple is considering expanding the assembly of iPhones in Brazil to get around the US tariffs.

iOS 18’s new Control Center has proven to be much more than a one-off design change. Apple has steadily added new capabilities to Control Center via software updates, and iOS 18.4 continues that trend in a big way thanks to several nice upgrades.

Apple TV+ is having an especially good year. Severance was a mainstream hit that somehow exceeded Ted Lasso’s success. The streamer had just come off a long string of other critical hits too, and Apple’s follow-through with shows post-Severance has been especially strong. After years of being called “the new HBO,” I think Apple TV+ may have finally started earning that reputation.

Over the years, we’ve seen a handful of unreleased Apple Watch bands emerge outside Apple, but this one might be my favorite. The Apple Watch will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this month, and it turns out Apple made a special edition anniversary Apple Watch Sport Band to celebrate.

Here are a bunch of images showing it off…but you’ll probably never be able to buy it.

Fernando and Jeff talk about the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, how the perception of Nintendo has changed, and how Apple dropped the ball on gaming.

9to5Mac Overtime is a weekly video-first podcast exploring fun and interesting observations in the Apple ecosystem, featuring 9to5Mac’s Fernando Silva & Jeff Benjamin. Subscribe to Overtime via Apple Podcasts and our YouTube channel for more.

My favorite moments with Apple Maps are when I’m not going anywhere physically, but rather browsing the app and saving new places to visit. And an iOS 18 upgrade has made that experience better than ever.

Most people don’t think about air quality until it becomes a problem. It might not be random if you’ve ever felt sluggish in a home office or noticed your allergies acting up indoors. CO2 levels, humidity, and temperature all affect how comfortable and healthy your home actually is. A car fire at my neighbor’s house a few months ago reaffirmed this for me. The is built to make tracking air quality easier and integrates with HomeKit over Matter.

Days after sweeping new tariffs on US imports were announced, many are still wondering what the actual bottom-line impact will be on everyday products. According to analysts at one firm, Apple’s current flagship iPhone could soon cost up to $2,300 for high-end models.

9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

In this week’s Security Bite, I’m taking it back over 20 years to the launch of Gmail in 2004–because that’s how long its little-known plus addressing (aliasing) feature has quietly existed. It was originally created to help with filtering and keeping inboxes tidy long before spam became what it is today. Google never really promoted it, so most people still don’t realize it’s a thing. But over the years, it’s become popular among privacy-minded folks to track which online services, subscriptions, etc., are selling email addresses to other companies or leaking them.

After years of mostly unchanged iPhone lineups, Apple has already shaken things up this year by debuting the iPhone 16e instead of the expected new iPhone SE. The company is just getting started though, as this fall’s iPhone 17 family—particularly the Air and Pro Max—will change even more, with direct inspiration from the Apple Watch.

Your Friday edition of the best Apple deals is now ready to roll with the return of all-time low pricing on Apple’s most affordable new M4 MacBook Air (all colors included). We then move over the banger 2TB 13-inch iPad Pro that is now $300 off the list price and joined by an ongoing price drop on the compatible Apple Pencil Pro at Amazon. Next, the regularly $329 Level Lock+ with Apple Home Key support has now dropped to $145 alongside a host of charging and accessory offers. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

iOS 18.4 launched this week, bringing a variety of new features—including some small enhancements to the Apple TV app worth noting. Here are three nice updates that just hit your iPhone.

Apple this week quietly released a huge update to the Apple Music app for Windows. With the latest version, PC users can now play Spatial Audio songs with Dolby Atmos.

This week, Trump announced his plans to implement wide-ranging tariffs on all imports into the United States. The move sent the stock market into a free fall, with Apple among many companies down over 10% for the week.

While the world prepares for the full impact of this move, here’s what I think is some straightforward advice for iPhone buyers.

I love my M4 iPad Pro and do all of my work on it. I am interested, however, in using a Mac again full-time. But until the Mac gains cellular support, that’s not really possible for me. Here’s why the iPad Pro is my only current computer option.

I said a few years ago that Express Transit is a tiny feature that makes a huge difference, and planning a last-minute trip revealed the same is true of another Wallet feature.

The ability to add foreign transit cards direct to the Wallet app before you even leave home is a traveler’s delight …

As we have reported in recent months, Apple has been facing scrutiny in Brazil over accusations of anti-competitive practices with the App Store. Although the company has been given more time to discuss the case, the Brazilian antitrust regulator “Cade” is now investigating Apple over the App Tracking Transparency feature.

Apple last week officially announced that WWDC 2025 will take place from June 9 to 13, and although most of the event will take place online, the company will hold an in-person opening keynote at Apple Park. Developers who have applied for a ticket are now being notified of their status.

With the premiere of Severance season two in January, Apple revealed an increase in Apple TV+ subscriptions compared to previous months. But was that enough to make Apple TV+ overtake its competitors? New data from JustWatch seen by 9to5Mac shows details about the market share of streaming platforms in the US during Q1 2025.

Apple released iOS 18.4 for iPhone users on with Priority Notifications, new emoji, several changes to CarPlay, and more. According to a growing number of users, however, the iOS 18.4 update has rendered CarPlay unusable in their cars.

Back in February, Amazon announced an interesting new test that would show you products from other retailers’ sites. Now, the company is taking things even further: Amazon’s new “Buy for me” feature can use agentic AI to actually make purchases elsewhere on your behalf—so you never have to leave Amazon.

Apple Podcasts isn’t the dominant force in podcasting that it once was. But if you still get your podcasts from Apple rather than YouTube or another third-party app, there are some nice Podcasts app additions in iOS 18.4—including a new widget that solves a key shortcoming.

Benjamin and Chance start with a catch-up on changes to Friday Night Baseball, before diving into the software updates of the week, with the launch of iOS 18.4 and the first iOS 18.5 beta launching. Also, thoughts on Apple’s rumored AI Health service plans, and the latest on finding a new partner for the Apple Card.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Benjamin embarks on a mission to convert baby videos from old camcorder tapes, to digital files. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

• : Get up to $600 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs in DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale now.

Intel Unison was a strong tool for Android and iOS users that wanted to share files, check messages, and more. Now, it seems like Intel is shutting that app down, leaving some users without a strong option for PC connection.

iOS 18.4 is available now, and among its many features are some easy-to-miss changes to Apple’s Photos app that give users more flexibility and options than before. Here are the details on iOS 18.4’s Photos enhancements.

This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: updates on the M5 and M6 iPad Pro models, an Apple Health+ service, iPhone Fold, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.

As someone who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s, I played a ton of simulation games on my computer. Games like The Sims, Age of Mythology, and Roller Coaster Tycoon are synonymous with my childhood. So when I saw that Apple was bringing the original Roller Coaster Tycoon to Apple Arcade, I dropped everything and put it on my iPad Pro. I was immediately taken back! In that same light, Apple released five other brand-new games that are worth taking a look at!

iOS 18.4 packs a lot of new features, but one of my top picks is the addition of tens of thousands of recipes to Apple News alongside a special cooking mode. Here’s how it works.

Hyperspace, the new utility from Macintosh veteran John Siracusa, has been updated a handful of times since we covered its launch in February. If you haven’t tried Hyperspace since it first launched, there are new capabilities that could reveal even more space to reclaim.

Joining some ongoing $100 price drops on iPad mini 7 and the new M4 MacBook Air, today we are turning our attention back to AirPods. Amazon has now brought back its best price of the year on the latest AirPods 4 with ANC down at $149 shipped, which is now joined by a solid $250 price drop on Apple’s 1TB 13-inch M4 iPad Pro. From there we move over to a 20% clearance price drop on the official blue Apple Ocean Band alongside a new all-time low Belkin’s 15W MagSafe Wireless Car Charger mount, a 25% price drop on Eve’s latest Energy (Matter) smart plug, Bose earbuds, and this 140W USB-C to MagSafe 3 nylon braided cable at just $20. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

After nearly a decade, Nintendo finally returned with a true successor to the original Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2, unveiled at Nintendo’s Direct event, brings long-awaited upgrades across the board – from display and performance to multiplayer features and accessories. I spent some hands-on time with the device at press-only Nintendo event yesterday, and as someone who has owned every Switch variant from the OG Switch to the Switch OLED, here are my thoughts.

Apple is updating its iWork suite of productivity apps with new features that require iOS 18.4. This includes version 14.4 of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers for iPhone and iPad.

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

Sponsored by DREAME: Get up to $600 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs in DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale now.

In the aftermath of Severance’s season ending, Apple TV+ has been able to debut two strong new shows to keep subscribers engaged: The Studio and Dope Thief. But next week, yet another prestige new series is coming to the streamer. It’s called Your Friends & Neighbors.

Apple is a US-based company that relies heavily on a global supply chain to manufacture its products. As a result, the tech firm’s stock seems to be getting hit especially hard by the new tariffs just announced yesterday, with AAPL down almost 10% upon the market’s open today—a big hit to Apple.

The Trump administration yesterday announced punishing import tariffs on a long list of countries, including all of Apple’s key manufacturing hubs. It’s been estimated that this would force the company to either increase US prices by 40% or see its profit slashed by 32%.

The news saw stock market slumps around the world, with AAPL stock falling more than 7% in pre-market trading on fears of the impact …

Prototypes of an OLED iPad mini display are currently being evaluated by Apple, according to a leaker with a decent track record.

It seems pretty clear by this point that the next model will have an OLED screen, and it will definitely be worth waiting for if you currently have an older model …

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has turned up the dial to 11 on his anti-Apple rhetoric, calling the iPhone maker a “gangster-style business” which has concluded that “crime pays.”

He said that both Apple and Google are guilty of the same practices, including using scare tactics to make iPhone and Android users afraid to install the Epic Games Store …

Apple has big plans for the iPhone 17 lineup. In addition to the rumored iPhone 17 Air, the Pro models are also expected to receive significant hardware upgrades, especially when it comes to cameras. And in addition to everything that’s been leaked so far, it looks like the iPhone 17 Pro will have another camera surprise.

AirPods Max.

The full extent of the U.S. government’s impeding tariffs were revealed by the Trump administration today in a press conference. The hefty tariffs threaten economic trade on a massive scale with implications on almost all big US companies, including Apple.

The Apple supply chain relies on manufacturing and assembly of its devices in countries like China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. All of these regions are now facing huge tariffs, which ultimately increases the cost of production and undermines Apple’s margins and potential profitability.

With the release of iOS 18.4, Apple Intelligence now supports eight additional languages besides English. However, a small number of users have been complaining that they don’t see Apple Intelligence in the settings even after updating an eligible iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the latest software – and this may be related to having a device purchased in China.

I started using OS X full-time when I was 18 and the Mac was 25. Booting up my first Apple computer, a 2009 MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5 Leopard, was like getting behind the wheel of a Porsche for the first time after being raised on pedestrian PCs.

Now it’s the iPhone and its software that are 18. In Macintosh terms, the iPhone and iOS are in the iMac G4 “iLamp” running OS X 10.2 Jaguar era — maturing products and platforms that still have room to grow up.

For this reason, I am still one to welcome changes to the way things look with open arms. ‘It looks different’ is a great feature if the way it looks is cool. “Does it look cooler” is a different question than “does it look better.” The former has more to do with trends while the latter is a matter of longevity.

If a change can be both stylish and practical such that it can last for years, then that’s a design change success. iOS 7 was too polarizing and required too many iterations before reaching stability to really hit that mark. iOS 19 has the potential to meet both metrics. It could also be a bigger deal than iOS 7 for three reasons.

TikTok was temporarily saved from a US ban earlier this year, but a key deadline is coming up that could see the ban reinstated. According to a new report, President Trump’s plan to stop that from happening is a new company called “TikTok America.”

iOS 18.5 beta 1 was released today for developers, and so far it’s been particularly light on noticeable changes. However, one key update makes it easier than before to get the old Apple Mail design back in iOS 18.5.

Apple is reportedly implementing vapor chamber cooling on some iPhone 17 models. That may sound like a rather insignificant upgrade, but with Apple wanting to squeeze more and more performance out of its iPhone chips in the era of Apple Intelligence, vapor chamber cooling will be meaningful.

A lot of people loved the iPhone mini, but not enough for Apple to keep selling it—the company isn’t working on a new ‘mini’ model. But Apple does, in fact, have a surprise alternative solution coming for small iPhone lovers: next year’s iPhone Fold.

It’s an exciting day for beta software releases, as Apple has just shipped developer beta 1 for tvOS 18.5, visionOS 2.5, HomePod 18.5, and more.

Hot off the heels of releasing iOS 18.4 to everyone, Apple has pushed out the first developer beta version of its next big point update. iOS 18.5 beta 1 is now available to developer beta testers. We’ll dig in to learn what’s new and report back so stay tuned.

Apple has just kicked off a new cycle of beta updates for its software platforms: macOS Sequoia 15.5 beta 1 is rolling out now to developers.

According to a report from The New York Times, Amazon has just submitted an offer to acquire TikTok. TikTok will potentially face another U.S. ban as soon as April 5th, if ByteDance does not divest the platform to an American entity by then.

Rivian is one of several CarPlay holdouts, opting instead to build its own infotainment system focused on deep integration with the R1S and R1T hardware. A new aftermarket accessory hitting the market this month, however, claims that it will add CarPlay and a wide suite of other apps to Rivian with a do-it-yourself installation process that takes just 25 minutes.

Joining a series of ongoing deals on iPad mini 7 configurations at $100 off, as well as new lows on the new iPad (A16), today we are turning our attention to the best cash deal on select M3 iPad Air models. We also spotted the new Sky Blue 15-inch M4 MacBook Air at its best Amazon price yet alongside a rare deal on Nomad’s gorgeous latest-gen metal and glass 15W 3-in-1 MagSafe charger. All of that and more awaits down below. 

Ever since Apple TV+ first launched, many have wondered why the maker of the iPhone would be interested in running its own Hollywood studio and major streaming services. Even Netflix’s CEO is stumped. But a new chart outlining Apple TV+ subscribers’ product ownership may have some clues.

Apple has a strong culture of secrecy, so when it shares details about its behind-the-scenes projects and processes, it’s a special treat. Today the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast has published one such treat. The latest episode features Apple staffers going in-depth on the company’s Accessibility and Health work, including AI and research developments that have powered recent features for AirPods Pro, Apple Watch, and more.

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

Sponsored by DREAME: Get up to $600 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs in DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale now.

iOS 18.4 launched earlier this week with a ton of new features and changes, including two App Store additions that should make downloading apps and updates just a little bit nicer of an experience than before.

Apple TV+ has been on a hot streak with prestige shows, and it’s starting to find real success with movies too. The next Apple TV+ film, Fountain of Youth, looks set to continue that trend with its big stars and heavy Indiana Jones vibes. Here’s the trailer.

In a somewhat surreal event, the National Labor Relations Board has frozen two cases against Apple after Trump nominated one of the iPhone maker’s defence lawyers to head up the watchdog.

The NLRB was due to hear cases alleging that Apple illegally fired two organizers of the #AppleToo movement, but both cases have been “postponed indefinitely” just days after Crystal Carey was nominated to head up the body …

iPhone farms – banks of phones equipped with rotating temporary Apple IDs – are being used to send more 100,000 scam iMessages per day, found security researchers.

By using iMessages rather than texts, scammers can bypass spam and scam filters implemented by mobile carriers. Fraudsters don’t even need any technical skills to carry out their attacks, as there are companies offering phishing-as-a-service (PhAAS) …

Verizon-owned Visible seems to be offering a much better unlimited mobile data deal than its parent company. The new Visible+ Pro plan includes 5G Ultrawideband, unlimited hotspot usage, 4K video streaming, cellular service for one Apple Watch – and claims to have no throttling.

The cost of the plan is $45 per month, which is $20 cheaper than Verizon’s own Unlimited Welcome …

Following the release of iOS 18.4 on Tuesday, Apple also released a firmware update for that enables lossless audio via USB-C. However, it seems that users have been unable to install the update due to an iOS bug.

A number of people are reporting that previously deleted iPhone apps are reappearing on their devices after upgrading to iOS 18.4.

Some Reddit users are also claiming apps they have never installed have appeared on their iPhones …

The just-released iPhone software update has a bunch of headline features including Priority Notifications, new emoji, Sketch in Image Playgrounds and more, but iOS 18.4 also has some more under-the-radar changes.

As spotted by Mysk, iOS 18.4 adds a new setting buried in Location Services called ‘Improve Location Accuracy’. For some users, including myself, it was on by default. Here’s what Apple says this toggle does …

, Apple’s item tracking device, was announced almost four years ago. Although the company has introduced new software features for AirTag owners since then, the accessory has never had a hardware upgrade since its launch. But according to the latest rumors, an AirTag 2 is on the way – and here’s everything we know about it so far.

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

Sponsored by DREAME: Get up to $600 off intelligent robotic cleaners and effortless wet/dry vacs in DREAME’s Spring Cleaning sale now.

Apple’s push to make the iPhone more customizable and personal has brought a new iOS 18.4 feature: now there are two new categories for setting default apps, depending on where you live.

A battle is apparently breaking out among companies looking to get in on the Apple Card business. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are all in talks to become the payment network behind Apple Card…

Apple’s Messages app got some big upgrades in iOS 18, but one with the biggest potential impact—RCS support—has had a slow rollout among some carriers. Fortunately in iOS 18.4, Messages is bringing the feature to a lot of new users, including those on Google Fi, Mint Mobile, and more.

HBO Now gave way to HBO Max, which later became Max—and now, Max is getting its HBO vibes back with yet another rebranding. This go-around is mainly about color changes, but it just might be the most successful rebrand yet for the streamer.

Apple has just shipped version 1.1 of the Apple Invites app, which first debuted nearly two months ago. Here are the details.

One of my favorite Apple accessory brands, Nomad, is having an extremely rare sitewide sale for April Fools! Nomad is giving everyone 15% off all of its amazing products. That means all of its newest releases, from its 3 in 1 charger to its new Kevlar cables to its leather phone cases, are eligible here, using code FOOLS15 at checkout. It is not very often we see its new, full-priced releases see a sale opportunity like this, so jump on it while you can!

Your Tuesday deals on Apple gear and accessories are now live and at the ready down below. We are once again tracking $100 price drops on the latest iPad mini 7, including the mid-range 256GB model, as well as an ongoing offer on the 36GB M4 Max MacBook Pro at $350 off. From there we move over to OG Apple Watch Ultra units at up to $409 off the original list price, a new all-time low on Twelve South’s latest 15W Qi2 HiRise 2 MagSafe Charging Stand, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Bluetooth Headphones at $100 off. All of that and more awaits below in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

Rumors about next year’s ‘iPhone Fold’ have been growing, including sky-high expectations for the new device’s price. Those rumors may provide Apple yet another good reason to test the waters of premium pricing this year by launching an iPhone 17 Ultra. Here’s why.