As rumored, Apple’s iPad Air 4 is now available for preorder on the Apple Online Store. The fourth-gen iPad Air was shown off by Apple at last month’s “Time Flies” event, but Apple declined to announce a preorder date — beyond simply “October.”

Because both the iPad Air 4 and new iPhone 12 handsets feature Apple’s A14 chip, Apple reportedly wanted to hold back the iPad Air 4 until the first iPhone 12 handsets were available to preorder.

On your marks, get set, go, go, go! Apple preorders went live Friday at 5am Pacific time, giving customers the chance to order their new iPhone 12 handsets.

For the first time in history, Apple is this year offering four different iPhone models. The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini are Apple’s two “regular” iPhones, while the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and monster 6.7-inch iPhone Pro Max are its premium handsets.

You can only order the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models today, though. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, this year’s two size extremes, will be available for preorder November 6. Phones available for preorder today will ship October 23.

One of the biggest reasons to upgrade to iPhone 12 this year is for its 5G connectivity. It promises to be significantly faster than the 4G networks we’ve become accustomed to, making things like mobile gaming, content streaming, web browsing — basically everything you do online — better than ever.

You should be excited, but not too excited. 5G can be as spectacular as Apple led us to believe during this week’s iPhone 12 unveiling … but only if you can get good 5G coverage — and the right kind of 5G connection.

Allow us to explain what you need to know about 5G.

Friday means, among other things, new shows on Apple TV+. This week, Apple debuted a new episode of both its hit spy drama Tehran and Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman-fronted travelogue Long Way Up. There’s also a new series of kids show Helpsters.

Here’s what to expect from this week’s new shows.

If rumors are to be believed, Apple is set to host yet another virtual event in November, making three in a row after September’s “Time Flies” iPad and Apple Watch event and October’s “Hi, Time” HomePod mini and iPhone 12 unveiling.

While the November event has yet to be officially announced, notorious Apple leaker Jon Prosser thinks he knows when it will be — and we don’t have long to wait.

Apple execs uttered the term “5G” so many times during Tuesday’s iPhone 12 unveiling that they could have triggered semantic satiation. (That’s when you hear something so many times that it starts to sound … really weird.)

If their repetition of the word didn’t burn 5G into your brain — or turn your gray matter into mush — the 5G supercuts that followed certainly will.

Nuheara IQbuds 2 Max aren’t typical wireless earbuds. Sure, they let you listen to music and podcasts, but that’s just the start. They have active noise cancellation when you want quiet. Or they help you hear in-person conversations better by filtering out background sounds.

I did real-world testing of these in-ear headphones designed for people whose hearing isn’t quite good as it used to be.

Nike offers a bonus for new users of Apple’s credit card. Sign up for an Apple Card, buy $75 or more from Nike in the first 30 days, and get $75 in Daily Cash.

Plus, Nike offers unlimited 3% back at Nike when Apple Card with Apple Pay is used.

With a recent study showing the virus that causes COVID-19 can live up to 28 days on glass and stainless steel, it might be time to double down on your disinfectant efforts. Remind me again what iPhones are made of … oh, yeah, glass and metal. Yikes!

One easy way to sanitize your iPhone and other small items is to use a device like the Mophie UV Sanitizer with a built-in wireless charger. While the company doesn’t specifically claim that the device kills COVID-19 dead, another recent study showed definitively that ultraviolet light can kill the potentially deadly virus.

At some point, “better safe than sorry” comes into play.

Recurring subscriptions have changed how we pay for digital content. And, while each service might only demand a couple of our hard-earned bucks at a time, the costs can quickly add up.

According to a report citing data from mobile measurement firm Adjust, the average person in the U.S. spends $20.78 a month on app subscriptions. And, given that this just an average, many spend a whole lot more than that.

If Spotify remains your main streaming music listening platform, there’s some good news: the streaming giant has finally released an iOS 14 widget that lets you quickly access recently played artists, podcasts, and albums in a single tap.

There are both small and medium-sized versions of the widget. The smaller of these shows your most recently listened to item. Meanwhile, the medium-sized widget offers a more luxurious, five most recent items array.

Had a little too much of the news lately? As 2020 winds down (at last!), there’s no better time to immerse yourself in historical events.

Living, as we do, in the age of binge-watching, you can stream history straight to your favorite viewing or listening devices. And this inexpensive subscription service makes sure you’re never lacking for something new and intriguing to explore.

Beyond saying it would be available in October, Apple didn’t announce a precise launch date for the iPad Air 4 when it showed it off at last month’s “Time Flies” event.

Eagle-eyed Apple watchers may have uncovered the official release date, with Best Buy’s Canadian website listing October 23 as the date it will go on sale. While that’s not conclusive on its own, it coincides with a previous date suggested by Apple tipster Jon Prosser.

Pick up a 10.5-inch iPad Pro and enjoy a whopping $299.01 off the usual price with Amazon’s biggest ever discount. You can pick up a 64GB model with Wi-Fi + Cellular connectivity for just $479.99.

Get yours before they’re all gone!

While it’s long been considered a fundamental spec for computers, Apple doesn’t publicize the amount of RAM its iPhones ship with. But newly published AnTuTu scores, referring to a popular Chinese benchmarking tool, appears to shed some light on this year’s iPhone 12 handsets.

They suggest that the iPhone 12 comes with 4GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the iPhone 12 Pro model comes with 6GB of RAM. If accurate, that would be an increase for the Pro models from the 4GB used for both variants of iPhone 11 last year.

Apple is currently facing a mini-scandal involving messaging app Telegram and posts made by pro-democracy protestors in Belarus, which Apple asked to be removed.

The posts concern political controversy in the country, following this year’s election of President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko, who has been president of Belarus since 1994, supposedly won 80 percent of the vote in August. However, opposition has accused his party of rigging the election, with the fallout continuing several months later.

The release of two upcoming Apple accessories may have just been rescheduled. AirTags item trackers jumped up, but AirPods Studio headphones slid back, according to information supposedly leaking out of Cupertino on Wednesday.

Apple won’t include a wall charger or a pair of headphones with the upcoming iPhone 12 series. And it doesn’t stop there. The company no longer bundles these accessories with any handset ordered from the Apple Store. Even if they came in the box before.

The LiDAR Scanner in the iPhone 12 Pro makes Apple’s new flagship device an augmented reality powerhouse. It enables the handset to make an accurate 3D map of its location into which virtual objects can then be placed.

However, the scanner apparently has been added to the iPhone 12 Pro models in a “build it and they will come” strategy. Apple didn’t show many specific applications demonstrating the benefits of the tech during Tuesday’s launch event for the device.

There was something big missing from Tuesday’s iPhone 12 event. And, no, I’m not talking about AirTags, AirPods Studio, a new Apple TV, Apple Silicon Macs or live attendees.

The thing that went missing was an “S” at the end of the new iPhones’ names. The demise of the naming convention to indicate alternate-year iPhones marked the end of an era. And it’s totally a good thing.

UPDATE: Apple lowered the iPhone 12 price for T-Mobile/Sprint subscribers on Friday.

The prices Apple promotes for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini aren’t for everyone. Subscribers to T-Mobile/Sprint must pay $30 more. The same goes for anyone who wants an unlocked unit.

This isn’t the case for the iPhone 12 Pro series.

Amazon is offering a whopping $400 off the 16-inch MacBook Pro for the first time. You can pick up an Intel Core i9 model with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for just $2,399 — down from $2,799.

You can also save $300 on the Intel Core i7 model.

The iPhone 12 mini is, without a doubt, the iPhone I’ll be buying this year. In an upgrade cycle in which I fully expected the iPhone 12 Pro to win me over, the 12 mini emerged as my absolute favorite iPhone of Tuesday’s “Hi, Speed” event — and, perhaps, my most anticipated iPhone in years.

It’s a blend of classic iPhone and modern iPhone: the handset I’ve wanted since Apple devices started growing progressively bigger around the time CEO Tim Cook took the reins at Apple. Here’s what makes the iPhone 12 mini so compelling.

Prime Day (or at least the first day of this misnamed two-day shopping event) has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find great deals on iPhone accessories. Cult of Mac Deals rounded up of some of the best to ease your post-Prime Day shopping withdrawal — and we’re still offering an extra 20% off almost everything in our store.

You can use coupon code “OCTSALE20” at checkout to get the extra savings on almost all of these must-have iPhone accessories. But the savings madness can’t go on forever. In fact, the extra 20% discount ends today.

Ready for an Apple Watch upgrade? Treat yourself to a new model on Amazon today and enjoy stellar Prime Day savings. A bunch of models — including Apple Watch 3 and Apple Watch 6 — are discounted.

Get yours before they sell out!