Apple has two new iPad models slated for early in the year: a new base iPad with A18 chip, and a new iPad Air with an M4 chip. While Apple product launches can often sound exciting, there might not be too much more to the story for these iPad models.

Lately, I’ve been leaning more and more into a sling-based EDC. As a techy husband and father of two, I constantly find myself needing more space than my pockets can hold, but not always wanting to bring an entire backpack. A cross-body sling (or fanny pack, as it was once called) has become the perfect middle ground. It forces you to be intentional about what you carry, while still giving you more flexibility than a standard pocket setup. I wanted to share some of my favorite and most standout tech accessories that I bring with me on most days—whether I’m bouncing between meetings, running errands, traveling, or just getting work done wherever I happen to be. This is my ideal everyday carry cross-body sling.

Apple’s next iPhone launch is expected to be one of its cheapest. With the new iPhone 17e, a follow up to last years first generation iPhone 16e – the company will add three important upgrades to the device, though one thing won’t be changing: the price.

iOS 26.4 is set to be one of the most important updates ever for the iPhone, offering a suite of new Apple Intelligence and Siri features. A new report from Bloomberg today reveals Apple’s timeline for launching iOS 26.4.

There’s been loads of speculation as to when the next generation MacBook Pros with high-end Apple Silicon would launch. Many thought January, then January came and went. All we knew is that they’d launch alongside macOS 26.3 – which should go out to the public in the coming days.

However, that only means that the MacBook Pros have to launch sometime before macOS 26.4 launches to the public. Despite the imminent launch of macOS 26.3, the MacBook Pro launch isn’t quite as imminent, per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

In many of its most recent hardware launches, including iPad Pro and iPhone 17 Pro, Apple has prioritized one thing heavily: thermals. With how powerful Apple Silicon can be, having sufficient passive cooling is important on fanless devices.

There’s one key product line that’s so far missed out on this treatment: the MacBook Air.

While iPhone Fold is certainly the more interesting iPhone launching this fall, the iPhone 18 Pro will always be important for one reason: cameras. iPhone Fold won’t be able to pack a flagship camera experience, so if that’s something you’re after, you’ll have to settle for the “boring” iPhone 18 Pro.

Despite looking similar on the outside though, there’ll be a number of interesting camera upgrades to look forward to.

If you’re looking to kick off the new year with a new MacBook, now’s a fantastic time to buy. In recent years, Macs have become more and more affordable – largely in part because of Apple’s transition to Apple Silicon. These MacBooks are also more capable than ever.

Apple’s latest macOS Tahoe update also dropped support for practically all Intel Macs (with some small exceptions). If you’d like to stay on the latest and greatest Apple software, nows a fitting time to upgrade.

Keep up with all of the latest MacBook deals on 9to5Toys.

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.

If you’re an avid Apple Watch user, you might find yourself wanting more workout choices than what the Workout app can offer you. WatchFit bridges that gap, allowing you to build custom, structured workouts to your choosing.

Last year, Apple confirmed that it’d be supporting end-to-end encryption with RCS in a future software update. At the time, iOS 18 was still the latest version of iOS – thus implying that the upgrade would come as part of the next round of software – iOS 26.

So far, end-to-end encryption is yet to ship. That’s not the only thing though. The upgrade to end-to-end encryption would’ve also necessitated other major upgrades to the RCS protocol, and as of iOS 26.3 RC, it’s all still missing.

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage and protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle 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.

For the last fifteen years, Mac admins have been chasing a ghost: the “Single Glass Pane” of identity. We spent years trying to bind Macs to Active Directory, only to realize it was a nightmare to manage. Then we moved to other tools to sync local passwords with the cloud. These were great tools, but they were band-aids. They were third-party software trying to connect two different worlds (local and cloud).

With Platform SSO, Apple has built that glue directly into the foundation of macOS. I will go on record: this is the most critical enterprise technology Apple has shipped since the foundation of device management. It marked the moment where the Mac became a direct extension of your cloud identity.

A few months back, I reviewed Kuxiu’s X40 Turbo. It was one of the first chargers to bring us the new Qi2.2 25W charging speeds. It came in an awesome cosmic orange color to match the new iPhone 17 Pro, was super compact, and also charged my Apple Watch and AirPods. That charger became a mainstay in my travel pack. But now Kuxiu has introduced its new X55 Turbo charger, a more budget-focused option that delivers nearly the same core experience at a more competitive price point. The biggest change comes down to the design and materials, but performance stays the same, which is the most important aspect. Here is what you should know.

Welcome to 9to5Mac’s top stories of the week, where we recap the biggest news in the Apple world every Saturday. This week, we have new iPhone Fold rumors, CarPlay expectations, and an Apple all-hands meeting. Plus, our usual slate of new podcast episodes, opinion pieces, and much more. Read on for all of this week’s top stories.

Apple releases iOS 26.3 RC, Jeff plays with Moltbot on his Mac mini, Fernando gets his iPhone’s screen fixed, Jeff laments what it’s like to use Apple Pay at drive thrus, why Apple should add native screen sharing from the iPad back to the Mac, and Fernando gets a new MacBook Pro and considers switching to Final Cut Pro.

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.

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 Stuff: Stuff helps you get everything out of your head and into a simple, elegant system—closing open loops and reducing mental stress. Use code 9TO5 at checkout for 50% off your first year.

Apple’s controversial partnership with Taboola to serve ads on Apple News seems to be going exactly as expected. Here’s why.

Apple’s WebKit blog published a post today highlighting the results of Interop 2025, an industry-wide effort to improve cross-browser interoperability. Here are the details.

Apple overhauled the Phone app in iOS 26 with a new design and added several powerful features, including a new call screening option that I don’t ever want to go without.

Apple has updated its App Review Guidelines to expand the list of user-generated content experiences that can be removed from the App Store without notice. Here are the details.

While AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini feature conversational voice mode, the apps don’t exactly work well with Apple CarPlay. That will soon change, it appears, with an upcoming iOS software update.

The new feature, currently in beta, is rolling out to select Premium users in six countries. Here are the details.

Since early 2020, I’ve used abode as my primary security system and have done so across two separate homes. It is now 2026, and in the world of smart home tech, six years is usually an eternity. I continue to get emails asking if I am still using it, or if I’ve jumped ship to some thing. I wanted to take an opportunity to update my review for 2026, discuss how the hardware has held up, and frankly, warn you about which hub you should buy for HomeKit.

This Sunday is the Super Bowl, the biggest TV event of the year in the US. But aside from sponsoring the halftime show, you may not see much from Apple in terms of paid commercials—except for one F1 ad created by Cadillac.

Siri hasn’t yet gotten the big AI upgrades we’re expecting soon, but it sounds like Alexa’s recent AI revamp is already resulting in at least one user running back to the arms of “old” (current) Siri.