After years of rumors, Apple finally unveiled the second-generation AirTag on Monday. At first glance, it looks identical to the original, but the similarities end there.

From improved tracking precision to a louder speaker, AirTag 2 builds on its predecessor in every way.

Apple just paid $2 billion for Q.ai, an AI company with technology that could dramatically enhance the Siri voice assistant. It’s a stealth-mode Israeli artificial intelligence startup that develops advanced technologies to improve human/computer communication beyond basic speech recognition.

It’s the second largest acquisition in Apple history.

January 29, 1990: Apple CEO John Sculley appoints Michael Spindler as the company’s new chief operating officer.

Nicknamed “The Diesel” on account of his work ethic, Spindler’s new job continues his upward trajectory at Apple. Three years later, he will become CEO.

Apple just gave new subscribers an extended opportunity to try its music streaming service, offering three months of Apple Music completely free. The promotion to get three months of Apple Music free — which runs through February 24 — greatly expands the standard one-month trial period.

The new offer coincides with Apple’s sponsorship of the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show with musical act Bad Bunny.

With the launch of Apple Creator Studio Wednesday, Apple also updated its suite of productivity apps otherwise known as iWork. That’s Keynote, Pages and Numbers, which were always free and are now “freemium.” Some features will only work for Creator Studio subscribers, but others work for anyone using free versions of the productivity apps.

Seven out of the ten bestselling smartphones in 2025 were iPhones, reports a market research firm, including all of the top four. But it’s not a Pro model that was the No. 1 seller, nor was it the cheapest. It was the base iPhone 16.

Those strong sales powered iPhone to the top of the global market overall. Apple outsold all rival smartphone makers last year, according to a separate report.

Spendify is a personal finance app that helps you track and plan your spending. The new AI tool turns a tedious and sometimes overwhelming task into something extremely manageable. It can even help you identify ways you’re unknowingly wasting your hard-earned cash.

With a lifetime subscription to Spendify, you get long-term access to tools that help you understand where your money goes and how to improve your habits. And the savings start now: Lifetime access to Spendify is on sale now for just $29.99 (regularly $180).

An AirTag 2 teardown video reveals Apple’s second-gen AirTag packs major internal changes. From the outside, though, the tracking tag looks identical to its predecessor. 

Internally, Apple has used a thinner PCB and revamped the speaker assembly to make it louder. The latter will also help avoid unwanted tampering with the tag.

Apple just launched the long-awaited new version of its AirTag. The upgraded tracking tag is easier to find, with much longer range when using either a Bluetooth or Ultra Wideband connection from your iPhone. It also includes a louder, shriller speaker.

I put the improvements in the AirTag (2nd generation) through real-world testing for this hands-on review.

The iPhone’s Live Captions feature generates subtitles of any media playing on your device or heard by its microphone. Powered by the Neural Engine in Apple’s custom silicon, the ability to convert words from music, videos and real-time conversations into text on the fly is a boon to many users in many situations.

If you’re hard of hearing, for instance, the ability to see instant captions on the screen is a game-changer. Or, if you don’t have headphones when you’re sitting in bed late at night and your partner is asleep — or you’re in any situation where you don’t want to make noise, like on the bus or in an office — you can turn on Live Captions to get subtitles.

The applications are endless and exciting. Here’s how to use Live Captions on your iPhone.

A fresh AirPods Pro 3 deal drops Apple’s excellent noise-canceling earbuds to a record-low price of just $199 at Amazon. That’s a $50 discount off the recently upgraded earbuds — and even less than on Black Friday.

AirPods Pro 3 bring new features, including a heart rate monitor, revved-up audio quality and redesigned ear tips for better active noise cancellation. Plus, like the previous model, they can even function as clinical-grade hearing aids.

Make no mistake: These are the best wireless earbuds you can buy for your iPhone, Mac and other Apple gear. Nothing can match how seamlessly AirPods integrate with Apple devices. 

The beloved comedy series Ted Lasso comes back to Apple TV for its fourth season with a premiere set for summer 2026, Apple said Wednesday. It’s not a specific release date, but hey, fans will take it. And it comes with first-look photos, too.

January 28, 1978: Apple Computer occupies Bandley 1, its first custom-built office, giving the company a bespoke business center to house its growing operations in Cupertino, California.

A full 15 years before 1 Infinite Loop, and almost four decades before Apple Park’s stunning “spaceship” HQ  landed, 10260 Bandley Drive in Cupertino becomes the first purpose-built, permanent headquarters for the newly founded company.

If you come across a live concert recording, a demo track or an indie song that’s not already in Apple Music, you can add it to your Apple Music library really easily. It’s simple to upload music to Apple Music and, in fact, you don’t even need an Apple Music subscription — just a computer and your iPhone.

Adding music to your library manually used to be the only way to listen to music on your computer, way back before the iTunes Music Store made paid downloads popular and Apple Music entered the streaming area. Even after 25-plus years, Apple still supports the feature — and thankfully so, because I use it all the time.

It’s the top reason why I don’t use Spotify. While Spotify technically supports custom music as well, it’s a convoluted and clunky process. On Apple Music, it’s dead simple to add your own tracks and only takes minutes. All you need is a Mac or a Windows 10 PC with iTunes.

Here’s how it works — keep reading or watch our quick video. 

Apple released significant updates to Final Cut Pro alongside the debut of Apple Creator Studio software bundle for creatives Wednesday. And in a new feature story, it showed how video director, dance choreographer and Blackpink collaborator Kyle Hanagami uses new AI-powered tools for video editing.

If you want a screaming-fast iPad Pro with a gorgeous, 13-inch screen, consider this refurbished M4 model. Released in 2024, it delivers the goods when it comes to working (and playing) at home, in the office or on the go.

Plus, it’s on sale for just $899.99 — while our limited inventory lasts.

Despite a steep rise in NAND and RAM prices, Apple will supposedly not increase iPhone and Mac prices. Instead, TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will take the hit to its gross margins to increase market share. 

The supply-crunch has already forced Apple to negotiate prices with its vendors every quarter, rather than the usual six-month cycle.

It’s annoying getting notifications that you’re almost out of storage on your phone or computer. But you can quit playing that ridiculous game with one of the cheapest cloud storage deals around. With this lifetime Koofr plan, you can free up space on your iPhone, Mac or iPad with cloud storage accessible from an unlimited number of devices.

Koofr offers this discounted 1TB cloud storage plan with a lifetime subscription you can’t beat. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to Koofr cloud storage for just $129.99 with code KOOFR.

The first new Sonos hardware product in over a year is the Sonos Amp Multi, a professional-grade multi-channel streaming amplifier designed specifically for large-scale residential audio installations, the company said Tuesday.

“Sonos Amp is the most widely used two-channel streaming amplifier in residential installation because it’s powerful, dependable, and intuitive,” said Tom Conrad, CEO of Sonos. “Amp Multi takes that same philosophy and applies it to larger systems. It makes ambitious designs more efficient to build and install, and easier to live with.”

The announcement marks a significant expansion of Sonos’ product lineup into the custom integration market, targeting professional installers rather than typical consumers. And it’s the first hardware to come out in a while following shakeups at the company.

The Apple Watch doesn’t just count your steps — its three Activity rings track different levels of energy you burn throughout the day. And the perpetual challenge to “close your rings” provides a motivational push that gamifies fitness.

Apple’s smartwatch gives you a bunch of options for customizing your Activity rings (and for taking a break when you need it). You can set different goals for each ring for different days of the week to fit your workout schedule. When you want a rest day or if you fall ill, you can take up to a month-long break without losing your streak.

If you’re all-in on the fitness tracking, you can add widgets that show your rings on your Apple Watch face and widgets on your iPhone. Or, on the other hand, if you find it all a bit annoying, you can turn off all the notifications so they won’t bother you anymore.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple Watch’s Activity rings.

As the new home of Formula 1 on TV in the United States, Apple TV really wants its users to dig big-time car racing. So it just raised the green flag on a caravan of F1 content for fans to watch before Grand Prix races get underway in March as the start of the 2026 season.

And it’s all free for subscribers.

Stuck using an older version of Microsoft Office? This offer gets you a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for just $49.97. With a low one-time payment, you can bid farewell to Microsoft 365’s pesky recurring subscription fees. You’ll never need to pay again for Microsoft’s widely used software for work and school.

And if you need Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, you can secure a lifetime license for even less: just $34.97.

January 27, 2010: After months of rumors and speculation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs publicly shows off the iPad for the first time. Aside from the name, which some people joke sounds like a female sanitary product, the first-generation iPad immediately earns critical acclaim.

“The last time there was this much excitement over a tablet, it had some commandments written on it,” The Wall Street Journal quips.

When it goes on sale a few months later, the first-gen iPad quickly becomes Apple’s fastest-selling new product ever.

The OhSnap Mcon mobile gaming controller magnetically attaches to an iPhone to add joysticks, buttons, triggers and a D-pad. It’s very portable and uses an innovative design that includes flip-out grips for more comfortable play.

OhSnap unveiled the Mcon a year ago, and it finally reached customers on Tuesday.

Get set for Apple to report boffo results from its latest financial quarter on Thursday. Wall Street expects Apple’s earnings report to reflect a record-breaking holiday season, with analysts anticipating significant growth driven by strong iPhone 17 demand.

Revenue may be up as much 11% year over year. Apple hasn’t seen revenue growth that strong since 2022. This should lead to truly stellar earnings per share.