The start of a new year is fast approaching, and with it several rumored new MacBooks launching in early 2026. Here’s what’s coming.

Thanksgiving is incredibly late this year, so Christmas shopping is already in full swing. HomeKit accessories make great gifts for any Apple fan. They are usually low-cost and add real value to any smart home setup. For this week’s HomeKit Weekly, I have updated my HomeKit gift guide for 2025 to help you find the perfect addition for your favorite Apple smart home fan.

Benjamin and Chance give their opinion on the 2025 Apple holiday ad ‘A Critter Carol’, and talk about some of the Apple tech deals they’ve found this Black Friday. Also, there’s more clarity on the Apple Watch WiFi sync changes coming to the EU next month, and Google pulls off an impressive stunt to make AirDrop work on Android. Finally, Benjamin installed macOS Tahoe for the first time and has some thoughts to share.

And in Happy Hour Plus, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman delivers the first details about what to expect from iOS 27. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join. 

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This Black Friday, transform your home cleaning routine with Roborock’s best-selling vacuums at unbeatable prices. Whether you’re looking for cutting-edge robotic technology or powerful cordless convenience, Roborock has you covered with savings up to 50% across their entire lineup.

From pet-friendly models with zero-tangling technology to flagship vacuums featuring industry-first innovations, there’s a perfect solution for every home and budget, starting at just $199.99. Don’t miss these exclusive limited-time offers for 9to5Mac readers on the smart cleaning tools that will make your life easier all year long.

The iPhone Air was arguably the biggest innovation in iPhone design since the iPhone X. The iPhone Fold we’re expecting to see launch next year will be an even bigger shift.

All the signs point to the iPhone Fold being the best foldable smartphone launched to date, but there is one big problem with it – and it’s almost the obvious one …

Apple first launched HomeKit over a decade ago, but the smart home dream has remained a bit of a mess since then. Here’s why I’m hopeful that Apple Home will become what I always wanted this coming year.

This is it folks…Black Friday 2025 is here and so are the best prices of the year on just all of Apple’s latest and greatest. We have already collected an AirPods 4 with ANC, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods Max, alongside a whole bunch more, but some brand new deals went live this morning. Firstly, Apple Watch Ultra 3. On the Mac side of things, the brand new M5 MacBook Pro has now dropped to new lows at $250 off and we have a wild $300 price drop on select M4 MacBook Air configs. But there’s tons more below. 

A new study by Apple researchers presents a method that lets an AI model learn one aspect of the structure of brain electrical activity without any annotated data. Here’s how.

Apple is about to wrap up its most successful year ever, and December will bring a variety of new software and service-related launches for users. Here’s everything Apple has coming in December, and what not to expect.

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Updated on Nov. 28, 2025

Ever wonder what malware macOS can detect and remove without help from third-party software? Apple continuously adds new malware detection rules to Mac’s built-in XProtect suite. While most rule names (signatures) are obfuscated, with a bit of reversing engineering, security researchers can map them to their common industry names.

In this updated Thanksgiving edition of Security Bite, I revisit a story I started working on in May of 2024. Because Apple is continuously adding new modules to its XProtect suite to combat the latest malware trends, I suspect this column will continue to update over time. Here’s what malware your Mac can detect and remove on its own:

Apple currently partners exclusively with TSMC for production of its M-series chips, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that may change soon, with Intel being brought in as an important new supplier.

As it’s tradition, many indie (and major) app developers take Black Friday and Cyber Monday to offer steep and rare discounts for their apps. Here’s a list of great deals you should check out.

AirPods just might be the best Black Friday deals on offer this year. It’s incredibly rare, if not unprecedented, that we have such massive savings on Apple’s newest-generation of products. We’re tracking new lows on the just-released AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Max, and more. It truly doesn’t get better than this folks.

While I don’t have a bunch of Thunderbolt 5 compatible gear yet, that transition is coming promising blisteringly-fast data transfer speeds and even more bandwidth for high-res external displays.

The 11-port OWC Thunderbolt 5 dock (on sale for 15% off for Black Friday) makes the convenient single cable desk lifestyle even better, with access to higher throughputs. By plugging in your MacBook Pro to the dock with a Thunderbolt 5 cable, you can connect to fast external storage, 2.5Gb Ethernet, up to two 6K displays, keep your laptop battery charged with 140 W power delivery, and access even more I/O peripherals …

Regulation enforcement against Apple in the EU may be about to intensify. Under the Digital Markets Act rules, the company must notify the EU commission about services that reach the thresholds for so-called gatekeeper status, targeting big tech services with more than 45 million active users in Europe.

As it is obliged, Apple informed the EU that Apple Maps and Apple Ads meet that level. The commission now has 45 days to decide whether Maps and the company’s ad businesses are sufficiently monopolistic to warrant a step up in regulation.

Apple’s annual Black Friday Shopping Event is now live. This year, you can score an up to $250 gift card with purchase of an eligible product, including select iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, AirPods, and more. Head below for the full details.

As always, however, you can save far more in cash by shopping at other retailers. Our friends over at 9to5Toys are meticulously rounding up all of the best Apple deals. You can also keep up with all my favorite Apple gear at Best Buy.

For all the latest Black Friday Apple deals, make sure to bookmark our dedicated guide to the best offerings!

Users in the U.S. trying to access Apple’s online store right now are being greeted with a “be right back” message, inviting them to check back soon. Here’s why.

A new report from Counterpoint Research shows that the iPhone’s comeback in China is still going strong. Here are the details.

If you’ve had Apple Podcasts open randomly to a show you don’t subscribe to, you’re not alone. Here’s what’s going on.

Happy Thanksgiving Black Friday edition (as usual). Amazon’s Thanksgiving sale is now in full swing with Black Friday deals rolling through holiday Thursday and we have everything waiting for you right here. Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is here though to highlight some of the new and standout offers that went live overnight – the most affordable 24GB Mac mini you can buy just hit the best price ever at $150 off for today only and Apple Pencil (USB-C) is now sitting down at the $49 Black Friday Amazon all-time low. Those offers join the chance to land an Apple Watch today as low as $129, M4 MacBook Air at $250 off, and well about a thousand other things. Check em’ all out below. 

Let’s say you already have the latest and greatest Apple gear, maybe like yours truly. Well, the good news is we still have plenty of Black Friday deals on ways to accessorize your gear. We’re tracking huge savings on Apple’s entire lineup of official accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch, and more. Plus, deals on the best accessories from our favorite accessory makers like Nomad, Twelve South, and Satechi.

Apple has had quite the rollercoaster ride over plans to scan devices for the presence of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).

After announcing and then withdrawing its own plans for CSAM scanning, it appeared that it might be legally required to do it anyway. The EU has now backed down on this, but that doesn’t necessarily let Apple off the hook …

My favorite gift picks to make any desk setup even better!

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: iOS 27’s ‘Snow Leopard’ update, iPhone Fold pricing, 2026 product launches, and more Apple rumors.