September 2, 1985: Reports claim Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is on the verge of setting up a new company to compete with Cupertino. The rumors fly after Jobs sells Apple stock holdings worth $21.43 million.
For anyone who thinks speculation about Apple’s future is an invention of the blog era, today’s edition of “Today in Apple history” is a reminder that the tech rumor mill was alive and well in 1985.
September 1, 2010: Apple’s new music-focused social network, Ping, ships as part of iTunes 10. Apple says the service will let users discover new music and more easily follow their favorite artists.
Ping racks up 1 million signups in the first 48 hours. Nevertheless, Apple’s social network is doomed from the start.
Apple Pencil Pro is the best iPad stylus on the market, and a new deal knocks 23% off the regular cost. For a limited time, you can get an Apple Pencil Pro from Amazon for $99. That’s 23% off.
There’s also a deal on the Apple Pencil (USB-C), the iPad stylus for the rest of us.
It’s hard to know where to start on Apple Arcade because the service offers so many titles. But we scoured the catalog and found all the best Apple Arcade games so you can get right to the good stuff.
Check out our latest video or keep reading below to see the best Apple Arcade games. And if you like what you see, you can pick up a subscription here.
Apple may ditch the physical SIM card in more countries with the iPhone 17. A report points to the company going eSIM-only with its upcoming iPhones in Europe this year.
Apple dropped the physical SIM slot entirely in the US starting with the iPhone 14 in 2022.
August 31, 2004: Apple launches the iMac G5, a distinctive, white plastic computer that looks a little like the world’s biggest iPod.
Housed in a 2-inch-thick enclosure reminiscent of Apple’s Cinema Displays, the new all-in-one machine bridges the gap between the pleasing plasticity of the iconic original iMac and the minimalist form factor of the ultra-slim aluminum Macs that will follow.
“Just like the iPod redefined portable digital music players, the new iMac G5 redefines what users expect from a consumer desktop,” says Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a press release. “With the entire system, including a gorgeous 17- or 20-inch display, just two inches thin, a lot of people will be wondering ‘where did the computer go?’”
Invasion season 3 is the most popular show on Apple TV+ and among the most watched series on any streaming service, according to a company that tracks ratings. New episodes resumed last week for the epic alien onslaught.
Speaking of sci-fi, the Apple TV+ adaptation of Foundation also found a large audience last week.
August 30, 2010: Just two years after opening its virtual doors, the iOS App Store passes a key milestone: one-quarter of a million apps for sale.
It’s a massive demonstration of success for a service Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t even initially want to offer.
Apple looks poised to unveil its highly anticipated AirPods Pro 3 at its Awe Dropping event on September 9, marking the first major update to the premium noise-canceling earbuds since 2022. Multiple sources suggest the third-generation model will bring significant hardware upgrades alongside Apple’s continued software feature rollouts. Check out all the AirPods Pro 3 rumors below.
This week, invites are out for the “awe dropping” iPhone event! Also: Touch ID and bumper cases making a comeback like it’s 2013, how to combine emojis, the first ergonomic dual-ultra-widescreen setup, Twitter versus Mastodon and Leander’s review of PowerBeats Pro 2!
The United Kingdom government is reportedly still demanding a secret backdoor into encrypted Apple iCloud accounts, despite the Trump administration stating recently that the demand had been dropped.
Apple’s attempt to block the U.K. Home Office efforts to violate the privacy of Americans is headed for court.
A proposed Lego set for Apple’s iconic iMac G3 needs your vote. If enough people support the suggestion, it could be turned into a real Lego product.
The set is an homage to the original desktop iMac, with translucent Bondi Blue parts, and even the controversial mouse.
August 29, 2001: During a meeting, Apple’s board of directors awards CEO Steve Jobs new stock options that will become part of a stock-backdating scandal several years later.
When the matter eventually ends up in court, Apple’s former general counsel pays $2.2 million to settle charges that she backdated stock options for Jobs, herself and others — and created fake paperwork to hide this fact.
Spotlight on the Mac is a universal search bar, available everywhere, ready to quickly launch an app or find a file. And in macOS 26 Tahoe, Apple supercharged Spotlight by adding many advanced features.
Spotlight has a new visual interface for browsing apps on your Mac. It’s also a powerful tool for running Shortcuts and actions inside the apps you use. And, finally, it’s a clipboard manager, too.
Here are the ins and outs of Spotlight on the Mac.
Apple dropped a teaser video for Powerbeats Fit, wireless earbuds the company has not yet formally announced, on Thursday. Details remain sketchy, but video of athletes wearing the in-ear audio devices revealed a bit about the hardware.
The video promises that Powerbeats Fit will be “fit for every move” when they launch this fall.
Say you’re in the kitchen and you hear an alarm going off on the iPad in your living room. Rather than walking across the house to deactivate it, you can use Siri on your iPhone or HomePod to shut off the alarm. This method also works with timers (and a variety of devices, too).
Here’s how to do a handy trick that everyone should know.
EarFun Tune Pro noise-canceling headphones knocked my socks off when they came out, rivaling pricier sets like Beats Studio Pro. And now an EarFun Tune Pro headphones deal at Amazon puts them at just $55.99. That’s 38% off the regular price of $89.99.
They’re affordable even at their regular price. But at an incredibly low price of $56, they’re a steal — and worthy of being your audio daily drivers, not just backups.
★★★★★
Love doesn’t have to be complicated. I can fall for a product just because it’s simply perfect, even though what it does isn’t very complex. That’s what happened with the new Casemade Leather Laptop Case.
It’s made of top-quality cowhide leather, with a wool interior… including a pocket. It zippers closed and cushions the computer without unnecessary bulk.
I’ve been happily carrying my notebook in this case because it’s simply beautiful and designed exactly right for what it does.
August 28, 1991: Astronauts send the first email from space using a Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software.
Sent by the crew of the Atlantis space shuttle, the message reads, “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
The just-launched Zagg Slim Book mini acts as a protective case for the latest iPad mini, but that’s only the start. It also adds a detachable keyboard that makes the tablet ready for serious productivity.
“With the Slim Book mini, we’ve taken the performance and typing experience people expect from a full-size laptop and packed it into a sleek, portable keyboard built specifically for the iPad mini,” said Brad Bell, SVP of global marketing for Zagg.
Switching to an AI speech-to-text tool could be the best productivity shift you make. VoiceType AI is a desktop-based dictation tool that turns your spoken words into clear, well-formatted text with 99.7% accuracy.
Most people type at around 40 words per minute. But VoiceType AI captures speech at up to 360 words per minute, giving you a serious productivity boost without sacrificing quality.
And right now, it costs just $39 for a lifetime subscription (regularly $154).
Surfshark VPN keeps you safe anywhere you go online, on an unlimited number of devices. This virtual private network can help you avoid hackers, trackers and regional restrictions.
Operating securely on the web is essential in the modern world. And right now, you can get a three-year subscription to Surfshark VPN for just $67.20 with code SAVE20. That’s a massive discount off the regular price of $430.
The graphic in the invitation to Apple’s upcoming “Awe dropping” product launch event looks like a thermal image, and that set off furious speculation Tuesday about whether it’s a hint about a feature coming to one of the many products expected to debut that day.
Could it refer to a way to cool the iPhone 17 Pro? Or a new Apple Watch sensor? Something else?
Apple sometimes uses its event invitations to hint about what it will announce, so it’s possible the company is clueing us in.
August 27, 1999: Apple Computer swaps out the striped, multicolored logo the company had used since 1977 for a new single-color version. The evolution of the iconic Apple logo from rainbow to monochrome shocks many longtime fans.
However, it is part of a sustained, company-wide overhaul led by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The makeover includes new products, the “Think Different” ad campaign and, eventually, the removal of the word “Computer” from the company’s name.
The M4 MacBook Air only launched a few months ago, but a sweet deal already offers $200 in savings on both the 15-inch and the 13-inch variants.
The sale drops the price of the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air to less than $1,000. That’s a stunning deal on a beautiful and powerful macOS notebook. Plus, the 13-inch variant receives a whopping 20% off, so it costs less than $800.