You don’t need to buy a new handset to bring a fresh look to your iPhone. Apple just unveiled the iPhone 17e, which comes with a beautiful wallpaper — and you can easily add it to your own device now.
Here’s how. (It really is easy.)
Apple on Monday introduced a new iPad Air powered by its M4 chip, upgrading the silicon in its midrange tablet to narrow the performance gap with the iPad Pro. In addition, the device comes with more RAM that’s also faster, plus new wireless networking chips that support Wi-Fi 7.
“iPad Air gives users more ways than ever to be creative and productive, offering powerful performance and incredible versatility to help them turn their ideas into reality,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a press release. “With its blazing performance thanks to M4, incredible AI capabilities, and game-changing iPadOS 26 features, there’s never been a better time to choose or upgrade to iPad Air.”
Apple launched the iPhone 17e on Monday, offering a new option for those who want a premium smartphone that won’t empty their bank account. The base version offers twice as much storage capacity as its predecessor, makes the jump to the latest Apple A19 processor and adds full support for MagSafe accessories.
“iPhone 17e combines powerful performance and features our users love at an exceptional value, making it a compelling option for customers looking to upgrade to the iPhone 17 family,” said Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of worldwide iPhone product marketing, in a press release. “We know our customers want a product that will last, and iPhone 17e delivers just that. With A19 for incredible performance, double the entry storage, a smarter camera system, and enhanced durability, iPhone 17e is designed to stay fast, secure, and valuable for years to come.”
Soundcore unveiled its new Space 2 over-ear headphones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday. Aimed squarely at travelers and commuters, Space 2 combines advanced noise cancellation, extended battery life and personalized sound tuning — all at a price point that undercuts many competitors — $129.99.
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: Apple’s prepping to launch something Monday, but who knows what? We put our professional reputations on the line once again with predictions about what’s coming next week, including the “special Apple Experience” set for March 4.
Writer, developer and Accidental Tech Podcast host Casey Liss joins us for our fun Apple predictions game — and you can play along, too!
Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:
Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
The whole point of upgrading the MacBook Pro with the new M5 Pro or M5 Max processors is to boost performance. Although Apple has yet to announce the new high-speed chip variants, we can still make solid estimates of the increase to be expected. Spoiler alert: WOW.
Here’s the hefty CPU and GPU performance jumps to expect from the upcoming M5 Pro and M5 Max processors.
The giant monster action of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters returned on Friday with season two stomping onto Apple TV. The series is set in the MonsterVerse that includes Godzilla and other kaiju, with Kong taking a giant-size role in the season that just premiered. Plus there’s a new Titan X to battle with.
Watch the new season two now on Apple TV, or get caught up with season one.
The new Aliro 1.0 communication protocol and credential standard could fundamentally change how iPhone users interact with smart locks, Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) said Thursday upon release of the specification. And it will affect usage not just at home, but in places like offices, hotels, colleges and apartment buildings.
There’s huge anticipation for the budget MacBook that’s rumored to launch soon. But a critical question about the laptop has yet to be answered: Just how much will it cost? We already know it’ll be the most affordable macOS notebook ever, and there’s plenty of speculation about the exact cost.
There’s definitely a level that the price cannot go above if Apple wants the low-cost MacBook to succeed. Trouble is, the ongoing AI boom might force Apple to increase the cost of the device above its original plan. That raises questions about how successful the budget laptop will be.
The iPhone and iPad are the first consumer devices to meet the information assurance standards set by NATO member nations. As a result, the devices can be used to handle classified information up to the NATO Restricted level without the need for specialized software or additional configuration, the company announced Thursday.
“Apple has built the most secure devices in the world for all its users, and those same protections are now uniquely certified under assurance requirements for NATO nations — unlike any other device in the industry,” said Ivan Krstić, Apple’s vice president of Security Engineering and Architecture.
Apple is in advanced talks with major banks and global card networks to bring Apple Pay to India, potentially by mid 2026 — a move that could significantly expand the iPhone maker’s footprint in the world’s most populous country.
Star City is an ambitious new Apple TV drama set in the Soviet space program. It expands the alternate-history universe established by the streamer’s acclaimed series For All Mankind. And the new show got the “first-look” treatment Thursday, when Apple sent out a new photo to get fans excited about the premiere of Star City season 1.
The eight-episode series debuts May 29 with two episodes, followed by one new episode each Friday through July 10.
Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed Thursday what had previously been rumored: The company will launch new products starting Monday, March 2.
The graphic he posted on X hints at the new MacBooks that are expected to be among the announcements. Beyond notebooks, the iPhone 17e, revamped iPads and possibly more could all be unveiled in just a few days.
Never shy about making keyboards that look as good as they perform, Keychron just pushed that idea into genuinely unexpected territory. Launched Tuesday, the K2 HE Special Edition comes in two versions — one with a body made entirely of concrete, and one cast in resin. Both cost $199.99.
“Mechanical keyboards have advanced significantly in switch engineering, but enclosure materials have remained largely unchanged,” said Paul Tan, Co-founder at Keychron. “With K2 HE Special Edition, we applied magnetic switch performance to a material-driven redesign, expanding how a keyboard can look and feel.”
Apple TV’s stated summer 2026 release date of beloved soccer comedy Ted Lasso season four just got more specific, if what star Hannah Waddingham blurted out in a red carpet interview the other day turns out to be accurate.
“August, I think,” she said to an interviewer on the BAFTA Awards red carpet Sunday. Then, turning to the side, she added, “Am I allowed to say August?”
1Password, a popular third-party password manager service among Apple users, will soon cost significantly more. The company plans to raise prices for both individual and family accounts by as much as 33%.
After the increase, 1Password’s individual subscription will cost $47.88 yearly, while the Family plan will rise to $71.88 annually.
Building a touchscreen into the MacBook Pro coming late this year will require significant changes to macOS 27. Some early details of what Apple has in store for macOS leaked out Tuesday from a generally reliable source.
The upcoming notebooks will supposedly be the first Macs with a Dynamic Island — but that’s just the start of what Apple has planned.
Sandisk just launched a third generation of the Extreme Portable SSD. It offers 2,000 MBps data transfers, drop protection and more. Capacities go up to 4TB.
The drive will be joined later in 2026 with two more additions to the line of SSDs — one with even faster data transfer speeds, and the other expected to be more affordable.
Earth almost seems to have a “make Earth great again” moment in the new For All Mankind season five trailer Apple TV released Tuesday. Happy Valley, the burgeoning Mars colony that the alternative-history drama depicts, needs so much funding and resources it’s starting to piss people off — on both planets.
The new trailer, full of new characters and aging favorites, ratchets up the tension for the upcoming 10 episodes. Season 5 debuts on Friday, March 27 on Apple TV.
Nearly every high-end chip powering Apple devices is manufactured in Taiwan, a small island democracy over which China claims ownership. U.S. officials have warned Apple and the rest of Silicon Valley for years that a Chinese blockade, invasion or prolonged military standoff — possibly coming by 2027, according to intelligence sources — could cut off the chip supply.
And with a too little, too late response by tech giants grinding forward, a chip shortage could crush the tech industry, hobble the U.S. economy and keep your next iPhone out of reach for a long time, according to a new report.
Apple continues testing iOS 26.4, releasing its second beta two weeks after the first developer beta. It builds on the changes introduced in the first beta, making minor improvements.
Here’s everything new in iOS 26.4 beta 2 (along with all the new features from the previous beta).
Apple will soon replace the Studio Display with an even more gorgeous second-generation version with a range of upgrades, according to reliable rumor sources.
Read on for all the enhancements that rumors indicate will come to the high-end Mac monitor.
WhatsApp is preparing to add a long-requested message scheduling feature. The app will let users compose messages in advance and send them at a chosen time, similar to how iMessage handles scheduled texts.
References to the feature popped up in the latest WhatsApp beta release on TestFlight.
Apple will start assembling Mac mini in the United States later this year. Foxconn will build the tiny desktop computers at its facility in Houston, Texas.
The assembled units will primarily serve local demand, which surged recently due to interest in agentic AI OpenClaw. (For more info, see: How OpenClaw turns your Mac into an action-based AI agent.)
Apple CEO Tim Cook has a well-established habit of dropping subtle hints about where the company is headed. This time, the dropped breadcrumbs all point toward Visual Intelligence. And the impression they leave is of a company preparing to reshape how humans interact with the world around them.