September 7, 2016: Apple unveils the first-gen AirPods during a special event in San Francisco. The blindingly white wireless earbuds look undeniably strange at first glance, with their long, slender stems and a charging case that looks like a dental floss container.

However, after their December release, AirPods will quickly become the most popular earbuds in the world.

The remarkable demo of the first-gen AirPods comes exactly 11 years after Apple showcased its first phone, a doomed collaboration with Motorola called the Rokr E1.

Apple could finally be making a game controller. Buried code in a recent macOS beta points to two unreleased designs, and they seem to be built for very different kinds of players.

The references showed up in a test build of macOS Tahoe 26.7 before Apple pulled them. One points to a bare-bones wired controller. The other looks like a full-featured wireless model packed with sensors no third-party controller offers on the Mac today.

Want an iPad mini for less? For just $464.99, you can snag this refurbished iPad mini 7, the 2024 model that packs Apple’s A17 Pro chip into a compact package.

It comes with 128GB of storage and support for Apple Intelligence. And at this price, it won’t gut your bank account.

A high-end Apple tablet with pro-level power costs well over $1,000. But this refurbished 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro is on sale for $459.99, backed by a 30-day aftermarket warranty on parts and labor.

BERLIN – With iPhones finally supporting 25W wireless charging, a wave of 25W magnetic power banks has hit the market. However, they also bring on one of wireless charging’s oldest problems: heat. Sustained 25W power transfer makes a power bank uncomfortably hot.

At IFA 2026, major iPhone accessory makers unveiled an unlikely solution: power banks with built-in cooling systems designed to tame the heat.

The launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max is about a month away. Should you be saving up? Or maybe jump on an iPhone 17 model before the price rise instead? What you need is early info on Apple’s next flagship handsets to help you decide.

The biggest changes are reportedly happening inside the phones, but Apple may also shrink the Dynamic Island, add a major camera upgrade and give the Pro Max a much bigger battery. And there might be a new color option!

Here’s everything the rumor mill is saying about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max as Apple’s September launch approaches.

Get lifetime access to more than 20 professional-grade PDF tools with IndyPDF. It packs editing, converting, signing, OCR and encryption into a single cross-platform PDF app.

It works on macOS, iOS, Windows and Android, and right now a lifetime license is on sale for $19.99. That’s 60% off the regular price of $49.99.

September 6, 1995: The newly launched Windows 95 operating system dominates software sales, sending virtually every other company scurrying for cover — Apple included.

After launching Windows 95 at the end of August, Microsoft sells a massive 1.63 million copies of the $85 PC operating system by early September, according to excited analysts. It represents a massive triumph for Apple’s biggest rival of the 1990s.

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: New Apple CEO John Ternus steps into his role with a wealth of hardware experience and a supremely promising product pipeline. And he’ll lead his first Apple event next week.

What will he hit us with during the Surprise and Shine event? And how will he change Apple going forward? There’s lots to ponder.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• Will the iPhone 18 Pro upgrades be big enough to lure us into upgrading? It looks increasingly unlikely.
• Rumors indicate the first folding iPhone won’t get a certain accessory that practically nobody wanted, but will get a feature that almost everybody loves. So that’s a win.
• What to expect from the next Apple Watch models, which should arrive next week as well.

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 version, embedded below.

After years of rumors, Apple finally appears ready to launch the first folding iPhone. It’ll be the most significant shakeup to the basic design of an iOS device since… well, ever.

There’s no official confirmation of a foldable iPhone, of course. But the rumors are unusually detailed, covering everything from the screen size and hinge design to the processor, cameras and even the phone’s possible name.

Here’s what to expect, when and at what cost.

September 5, 2007: Apple introduces its first new iPods after the release of the iPhone. The lineup includes the third-gen iPod nano, the newly renamed iPod Classic and — most significantly — the debut of the iPod touch.

In doing so, Apple sets out to demonstrate that there is still plenty of life left in its iconic portable music player.

AI headshot generator Magic Studio can turn 10 average-looking photos into 50 eye-catching images that make you look like a million bucks — no photographer, studio appointment or trip across town required.

And it doesn’t cost a million bucks — or even take very long. Simply upload those 10 pix, and Magic Studio will generate dozens of 4K headshots in about 15 minutes. You get all this, plus 50 edit credits, for a one-time purchase of just $59.99 (regularly $200).

Apple’s September product launch event kicks off on Wednesday, and there is so much to look forward to. It’ll be a milestone for the company in multiple ways.

First off, the “Surprise and Shine” event be the first with John Ternus welcoming everyone, not Tim Cook. He became Apple CEO just days ago, and will surely be acting as ringmaster for all the announcments.

That will keep him busy, with plenty of new products on the agenda. The first folding iPhone is expected to be the star of the show, joined by the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, with potentially even more products in store.

Here’s everything expected to take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park on September 9.

BERLIN — Ugreen is best known for chargers, cables and other accessories. But at its IFA 2026 launch event here, the company showed something far more ambitious: a smart home hub called HomeAgent that uses local AI as its brain.

The HomeAgent series is expensive and unproven. But it rethinks what a smart-home hub can be. It also raises the question: By the time Apple enters the smart home market, will local AI already be the norm?

Apple stopped development on a cutting-edge MacBook with a foldable screen, according to a market-analysts firm. The computer would have been larger than any current notebook offered by the company, and apparently take advantage of the support for touchscreens coming to macOS.

Rumors about the device circulated for years, but some of these mentioned that Apple was struggling with the design. It supposedly has now given up.

September 4, 1997: The writing is on the wall for Apple’s Newton product line as the recently returned Steve Jobs effectively kills the Newton Inc. spinoff.

He tells executives at the recently created subsidiary company not to bother moving into their new offices. The flip-flop on the Newton spinoff by Apple’s new interim CEO takes employees by surprise.

It’s quite the turnaround for the Newton division. Only months earlier, Apple portrayed it as large (and successful) enough to become its own company.

Got an M4 or newer Mac and a gaming PC? Nvidia’s new PAIR just gave them a reason to talk. The free, open-source tool pairs Apple Silicon Macs with RTX-equipped PCs into a private AI cluster.

It’s a quick fix for a problem Mac users relying on local AI are starting to hit. AI agents currently split a task into smaller ones, but all of them compete for the same GPU. Nvidia PAIR fixes that by spreading those requests across paired machines instead of your Mac choking on the pileup.

Apple seems to be laying the groundwork for real HomePod surround sound. Hidden code spotted in the latest audioOS 27 beta points to a four-speaker setup that splits audio across front and rear channels.

HomePod owners have waited years for more than just a basic stereo pair. If this ships, it could finally give Apple’s smart speakers a true home theater option. That would put HomePod in more direct competition with dedicated surround setups.

Chargers with displays have become increasingly common, displaying real-time information like the power output and temperature. Pexar is bringing the same concept to its PexarBolt Ultra Thunderbolt 5 dock.

It pairs a 5-inch touchscreen with 22 ports, up to 140W laptop charging and an integrated NVMe SSD slot.

Ugreen’s latest MagFlow lineup promises to solve two of the biggest problems with fast wireless charging and power banks: excess heat and thermal throttling. Its new charging accessories feature an advanced cooling system designed to keep your iPhone cool while delivering fast wired or wireless charging.

The lineup includes the world’s first Qi2 25W magnetic power bank with a micro-pump liquid cooling system.

Ahead of the iPhone 18 Pro’s rumored launch in a dark cherry color, Baseus unveiled its new Apple-friendly accessories at IFA 2026 in the same shade.

Its new Dark Cherry lineup includes a compact 100W wall charger, a magnetic power bank, open-ear earbuds and a USB-C cable.

Popular iPhone accessory maker Ugreen is entering the smart home segment, but with a twist. Instead of relying on the cloud, it’s launching a HomeAgent that will run AI models locally to keep your data private.

The lineup consists of the HomeAgent and the SynCare series of smart cameras.

When will you be able to add your driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet on your iPhone? In the United States, it varies by where you live. It’s not up to Apple: Each state and territory maintains a completely independent registry of drivers and identification cards, so each one must independently pass legislation and implement digital IDs.

If you live in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico or West Virginia, you can do it today. (Our guide will show you how to add your driver’s license to Apple Wallet.) Otherwise, check our map and lists below to see how likely your state is to let you add your ID to Apple Wallet, and when it might happen.

In several states, Apple’s state ID initiative enables iPhones and Apple Watches to hold a digital copy of the user’s driver’s license, in the same way these devices store credit cards and airline tickets. And across the United States, you can create an Apple Digital ID based on your passport that can get you through some airport security checks. 

The day when an iPhone can completely take the place of an old-fashioned wallet remains years away, but it’s a goal Apple is working toward. Apple Pay is making progress on replacing credit cards, you can put airline tickets in the Wallet app, and the same goes for loyalty cards.

But no wallet is complete unless it can hold an ID. And that’s where Apple’s digital ID initiative comes in. Here’s what you need to know to add your driver’s license, state ID or federal passport to your Apple Wallet.

Apple just made it easier to be a Mac developer: This week, the company told Mac App Store developers that they can build applications for Apple silicon only — they can drop Intel Mac support in their software. The change applies to all macOS apps that require macOS 13 or later.

If you’re still running an Intel Mac, that’s the clearest signal from Apple that your machine is in the final stretch. Developers can now flip a single build setting and stop updating Intel-compatible versions. This means fewer updates reaching Intel hardware from now on.