MacRumors

Today is Labor Day in the United States, and a number of retailers have introduced deals on Apple products and related accessories. In this article we've rounded up some of the best Labor Day deals for Apple fans, including discounts on the Apple Watch Series 4, charging accessories, HomeKit devices, and more. Most of the bargains will expire later tonight.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Apple Watch Series 4

Best Buy's Labor Day sale is winding down today, and still offers $50 off the Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS) and $70 off models with cellular support. This means that prices start at $349.00 for 40mm Aluminum models (GPS) and $379.00 for 44mm Aluminum models (GPS), and then rise to $429.00 for 40mm Aluminum models (GPS + cellular) and $459.00 for 44mm Aluminum models (GPS + cellular).

Of course, there are a wide variety of Apple Watches on sale at Best Buy through this weekend, including Nike+ editions and models with stainless steel cases. You can browse the full list by heading to Best Buy, and then check out the full Labor Day sale by visiting this page.

AirPods

There are a few AirPods-related deals going on this Labor Day, with the best sales found on Amazon. You can get the AirPods with Wireless Charging Case for $169.99, down from $199.00 ($30 off). Additionally, the retailer has the updated AirPods with Charging Case for $144.95, down from $159.00 ($14 off).

Adorama has the best deal on the standalone Wireless Charging Case, priced at $64.99, down from $79.00. This option is best for anyone with the original AirPods model, which they can upgrade to wireless charging through the accessory.

iPad

Amazon's sale on the 2018 9.7-inch iPad and iPad Pro continues today, with savings of up to $399 off original prices of the tablets.

9.7-inch (Early 2018)

• Cellular, 32GB - $379.99, down from $459.00 ($79 off)
• Cellular, 128GB - $459.99, down from $559.00 ($99 off)

11-inch iPad Pro (Late 2018)

• Wi-Fi, 64GB - $674.00, down from $799.00 ($125 off)
• Wi-Fi, 256GB - $799.99, down from $949.00 ($149 off)
• Wi-Fi, 1TB - $1,149.99, down from $1,549.00 ($399 off, lowest ever)
• Cellular, 256GB - $899.99, down from $1,099.00 ($199 off)

12.9-inch iPad Pro (Late 2018)

• Wi-Fi, 1TB - $1,349.99, down from $1,749.00 ($399 off, lowest ever)
• Cellular, 64GB - $899.99, down from $1,149.00 ($249 off, lowest ever)
• Cellular, 256GB - $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00 ($199 off)

MacBook Air

You can find discounts on the MacBook Air from late 2018 at B&H Photo, with savings of up to $300. If you're on the hunt for the newer models, Amazon has savings on the 2019 MacBook Air models.

Late 2018

• 256GB - $1,099.99, down from $1,399.00 ($300 off)
• 16GB RAM, 512GB Flash Storage - $1,149.99, down from $1,799.00 ($650 off)

Mid 2019

• 128GB - $999.99, down from $1,099.00 ($99 off)
• 256GB - $1,199.99, down from $1,299.00 ($99 off)

MacBook Pro

Best Buy's Labor Day sale includes a few solid discounts on the brand-new MacBook Pro from 2019, with lowest-ever prices on both the 13-inch and 15-inch models.

13-inch (Mid 2019)

• 2.4 GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1,499.99, down from $1,799.00 ($300 off, lowest ever)
• 2.4 GHz, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD - $1,699.99, down from $1,999.00 ($300 off, lowest ever)

15-inch (Mid 2019)

• 2.6 GHz, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1,999.99, down from $2,399.00 ($400 off, lowest ever)
• 2.3 GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - $2,399.99, down from $2,799.00 ($400 off, lowest ever)

Arlo

A variety of Labor Day deals have hit Arlo's security camera line across Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot.

Target

• Arlo Smart Home Security Camera System (1-camera) – $119, down from $149
• Arlo Smart Home Security Camera System (2-cameras) – $199, down from $249

Best Buy

• Arlo Pro Security (1-camera) – $179, down from $229
• Arlo Pro 2-Camera + Audio Doorbell Bundle – $379, down from $479
• Arlo Pro 2-Camera – $329, down from $399

Home Depot

• Arlo Pro 2 Security Camera System – $329, down from $399

CalDigit

CalDigit's Labor Day sale kicked off late last week, and offers discounts on both refurbished and brand-new items.

You can find the full list of markdowns right here, including sales on Thunderbolt docks, external hard drives, USB-C cables, and much more.

Nimble

Nimble is offering 30 percent off sitewide today in celebration of its one-year anniversary, offering you a chance to save on the company's eco-friendly portable chargers, wireless chargers, bottle iPhone cases, and cables. Nimble also just released its first USB-C to Lightning cable to support fast charging on the iPhone.

All of Nimble's products have been made with as small a carbon footprint as possible, and each device and all of the company's packaging is made with environmentally friendly materials. Head to Nimble.com to check out all of the company's products before the anniversary sale ends.

Miscellaneous

• Twelve South - Get free two-day shipping on all U.S. orders $19.99 and up
• Pad & Quill - Up to 15 percent off
• Macally - Save on Macally's mounts, stands, and other accessories
• eBay - eBay's heralding in the fall season with a big sale on numerous categories, including tech deals on iPhone and other devices
• Satechi - Get 20 percent off sitewide with the code SATECHI20
• JBL - Save up to 60 percent off speakers and headphones
• Newegg - Get up to 50 percent off

As always, you can check out our full Deals Roundup to browse even more of the best Apple-related sales and bargains.

Update - Sep 2: The Elec has again reported that Apple plans to release an iPad Pro with 3D sensing camera technology early next year:

US-based Apple also plans to adopt the ToF module for the first time in its tablet, the iPad Pro, early next year. The ToF function will be available for the iPhones beginning in the latter half of next year.

Update - Aug 27: In an email to MacRumors, a representative for Derkwoo Electronics claimed that The Elec's report contained "wrong information" and "something that is not true about us." The Elec has since deleted its article. Original story follows.

Apple plans to release a new ‌iPad Pro‌ with 3D sensing rear cameras in March 2020, according to Korean website The Elec.

The report, citing unnamed industry sources, claims that Korean contract manufacturer Derkwoo Electronics will provide some of the components for the 3D sensing camera modules, including stiffeners and brackets. Mass production of those parts will supposedly begin towards the end of 2019.

The rear 3D sensing is said to be powered by time-of-flight technology, which measures the time that it takes for a laser or LED to bounce off of objects in a room, providing an accurate 3D map of the surroundings.

While the iPhone is expected to adopt a similar time-of-flight system next year, the report suggests that the ‌iPad Pro‌ will adopt the technology six months before the iPhone. Specifically, the new ‌iPad Pro‌ models would be released in March 2020, while new iPhones would likely follow in September.

This lines up with a January 2019 report from Bloomberg that claimed a laser-powered 3D camera could debut first on an ‌iPad Pro‌ as early as spring 2020, but Bloomberg more recently reported that Apple plans to refresh the iPad Pro line by the end of 2019, so Apple's roadmap is not entirely clear.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also said there is an over 50 percent probability that the ‌iPad Pro‌ adopts time-of-flight technology in the fourth quarter of 2019 or first quarter of 2020.

Apple would be breaking precedent by refreshing the ‌iPad Pro‌ in March 2020, as the tablet has gone roughly 18 months between hardware updates since first launching in November 2015 — the second-generation 12.9-inch model was released in June 2017, followed by third-generation models in November 2018.

It's also worth considering that the iPad rarely receives new features before the ‌iPhone‌, with exceptions including LTE on the ‌iPad‌ 3 before the ‌iPhone‌ 5 in 2012, and the ‌iPad‌ receiving A4 and A5 chips before the ‌iPhone‌.

Given that Bloomberg and Japanese blog Mac Otakara expect an ‌iPad Pro‌ refresh by the end of 2019, it is possible the March 2020 timeframe is inaccurate and that next year's ‌iPad Pro‌ models launch in the fall instead, which would better space out the 2019 and 2020 refreshes and allow rear 3D sensing to debut on the ‌iPhone‌.

3D sensing rear cameras coming to both the ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ is not much of a surprise as Apple pushes further into augmented reality.

As additional reports surface, the ‌iPad Pro‌'s roadmap should become clearer.

Updated at 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time with additional details from Bloomberg and analyst ‌Ming-Chi Kuo‌.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on an augmented reality headset or glasses, and despite a recent DigiTimes report claiming the project had been suspended, documentation seen by MacRumors in an internal build of iOS 13 suggests development of a head-mounted augmented reality display has continued.

There is also an internal README file in iOS 13 that describes a "StarBoard" system shell for stereo AR-enabled apps, which implies a headset of some kind. The file also suggests Apple is developing an augmented reality device codenamed "Garta," possibly as one of several prototypes under the "T288" umbrella.

Digging further into the internal iOS 13 code, we uncovered numerous strings related to a so-called "StarBoard mode" and various "views" and "scenes." Many of the strings reference augmented reality, including "ARStarBoardViewController" and "ARStarBoardSceneManager."

Multiple sources have claimed that Apple plans to release augmented reality glasses as early as 2020, including analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, CNET, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who in November 2017 reported that Apple's headset would run a custom iOS-based operating system dubbed "rOS" for "reality operating system."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has talked up the prospect of augmented reality several times, saying he views AR as "profound" because the technology "amplifies human performance instead of isolating humans."

Steve Moser contributed to this report.

Update: Within the internal Find My app bundle that MacRumors exclusively shared last week, there is an icon depicting what appears to be an AR or VR headset that looks similar to the Google Cardboard.

There are "on" and "off" versions of the icon in white and gray respectively, and each has "MockMode" and "B389" in its filename, which is the codename for Apple's item tracking tags. As such, this icon could simply represent the expected AR mode in the Find My app and likely does not depict Apple's actual headset.

Apple today announced the launch of a new screen replacement program for Series 2 and Series 3 Apple Watch models, due to cracking issues.

Apple says that "under very rare circumstances" a crack can form along the rounded edge of the screen in aluminum Series 2 and Series 3 Apple Watch models, starting on one side of the screen and then continuing around it.

Customers with an eligible Apple Watch model can have their Apple Watch screen replaced free of charge from Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider if it is exhibiting this kind of crack. Affected customers can contact Apple support for a mail-in repair, visit an AASP, or visit an Apple retail store.

All Apple Watch Series 2 and Series 3 models in aluminum are included in the repair program, with a list available in Apple's support document.

Apple says that the new program covers eligible aluminum ‌Apple Watch Series 2‌ and Series 3 models for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or one year from the start date of the program, whichever is longer.

Starting this Sunday, Apple's AirPods, Apple Watch, headphones, some iMacs, HomePod, and other products will be impacted by a 15 percent tariff as part of the United States' ongoing trade dispute with China, reports Bloomberg.

The tariffs were entered into the Federal Register today and will go into effect on 12:01 a.m. local time on Sunday in Washington, D.C. for products entering the U.S. or being pulled from warehouses for use in the United States.

Apple devices set to be impacted include the Apple Watch and Apple Watch bands, AirPods, ‌HomePod‌, some Beats headphones, and some iMacs. Bloomberg says that repair parts for iPhones could also be affected, as could the NAND flash storage used in iPhones.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier in August that he believes Apple will absorb most of the U.S. tariff costs on its devices "in the mid-short term" rather than raising prices for consumers. Apple has been expanding its production facilities in countries like India and Vietnam, which, in the long term, will diversify manufacturing beyond China and alleviate tariff concerns.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently met with U.S. president Donald Trump at Trump's Bedminster golf club, where Cook reportedly made a "good case" that tariffs would put Apple at a disadvantage with rivals like Samsung. "I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I'm thinking about it," Trump told reporters.

Apple in June also sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging against the tariffs because it would reduce Apple's contributions to the United States economy and weigh on its global competitiveness. Trump could still elect to delay the tariffs or exempt Apple products ahead of when they are set to go into effect, but recent tweets suggest that may be unlikely to happen.

Apple accessories like power adapters, cables, and cases are already subjected to an import tax at the current time, separate from the tariff set to hit new Apple products on Sunday.

This tariff won't immediately affect the iPhone, one of Apple's most popular devices that's responsible for a large portion of its revenue, until December 15 as tariffs on electronics like smartphones and laptop computers have been delayed so as to not impact the holiday shopping season.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Apple is developing a Tile-like accessory that will help users keep track of their personal belongings, such as their keys, wallets, and backpacks, according to an internal build of iOS 13 seen by MacRumors.

The internal build contains an image of the accessory that suggests it will be a small, circular tag with an Apple logo in the center, similar to many other Bluetooth trackers. The image could be a mockup or placeholder, however, so the final design of the tag may vary at least slightly.

This image looks similar to one shared by 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo, who was first to reveal Apple's plans for this product in April.

MacRumors can confirm the tags are codenamed "B389" within Apple, and there are many strings that are a dead giveaway as to what this product's purpose will be, such as "tag your everyday items with B389 and never lose them again."

The tags will be closely integrated with the new Find My app in iOS 13, which merged Apple's previous Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps into one. While not available in public betas of iOS 13, the internal build contains a new "Items" tab in the Find My app for tracking the location of personal belongings.

Users will receive a notification when they are separated from a tagged item, according to strings in the internal Find My app bundle. If necessary, users can then tap a button in the Find My app that will cause Apple's tag to start emitting an audible chime to help locate the lost item.

"Safe Locations" can be set where the user will not be notified if this item is left in those locations, and users will also be able to share the location of items with friends and family members, based on iOS 13 strings.

If users are unable to find an item, they can place the attached tag into a "Lost Mode." Then, if another iPhone user comes across the lost item, they will be able to view contact info for the item's owner and contact them by phone or text message. Perhaps the stranger will be alerted with a Find My notification on their iPhone when they have found a lost item. The item's owner will also be notified.

After digging further into the code, we remain confident that augmented reality will play a role in Apple's item tracking feature.

Like the Pixie Tracker, the Find My app will likely incorporate functionality from Apple's ARKit platform. The internal build of iOS 13 includes an asset for a 3D red balloon that could help a user pinpoint a lost item after scanning a room with their iPhone. There's also an image of a 2D orange balloon.

"Walk around several feet and move your iPhone up and down until a balloon comes into view," a string in the internal Find My app bundle reads.

There are also strings that suggest Apple's tags will be equipped with a removable battery, which would likely be a button cell, aka the small, circular batteries found in many watches and the latest Tile trackers. A low battery warning appears to prompt the tag to send a final location of the item it is attached to.

"Unscrew the back of the item and remove the battery," another string in the internal Find My app bundle reads.

While we were not able to proceed any further with the "Items" tab, it should be similar to the "Devices" tab in the Find My app, with a map at the top and a list of items at the bottom. It is possible the "Me" tab will be relocated to an avatar hovering over the map, although there could simply end up being four tabs.

Here's the image that should appear in the "Items" tab prior to any items being added, in line with the "People" and "Devices" tabs when empty:

This internal build of iOS 13 is from June, so we cannot guarantee that the "Items" tab or all of the details presented above will be exactly as described. The icon for the "People" tab has already been tweaked slightly in subsequent iOS 13 betas, for example, so there will be at least some minor changes.

Apple is hosting a September 10 event at Steve Jobs Theater, where it is widely expected to unveil new iPhone and Apple Watch models, but it is unclear if its item tracker tags will be unveiled at that time or later.

Apple yesterday invited the media to a special event on Tuesday, September 10 at the Steve Jobs Theater, where it is widely expected to unveil three new iPhones alongside an Apple Watch refresh and other announcements.

A tipster who claims to work at a major carrier has since provided MacRumors with internal communication that suggests the rumored iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models will be available to pre-order Friday, September 13 ahead of deliveries to customers and in-store availability starting Friday, September 20.

MacRumors has received similar tips echoing these dates in recent weeks, so there is a good chance they are accurate.

iPhone pre-orders have begun two to three days after Apple's event for years now, followed by availability a week later, so these dates are hardly a surprise but good to know nevertheless. Unlike the iPhone X in November 2017 and the iPhone XR in October 2018, however, all three 2019 iPhones are expected to launch simultaneously.

The tipster requested anonymity and asked us not to share the screenshots of the internal communication.

Google's Project Zero published a blog post this week about a previous security threat wherein malicious websites quietly hacked into the victim's iPhone. This small collection of hacked websites were used in what was described as "indiscriminate" attacks against unsuspecting visitors for years, but the threat has been addressed by Apple.

If the attacks were successful, a monitoring implant would be installed on the targeted ‌iPhone‌, able to steal private data including messages, photos, and GPS location in real time. Google estimated that thousands of visitors headed to these websites per week over the course of two years, and that iOS versions ranging from iOS 10 to iOS 12 were exploited.

There was no target discrimination; simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant. We estimate that these sites receive thousands of visitors per week.

TAG was able to collect five separate, complete and unique iPhone exploit chains, covering almost every version from iOS 10 through to the latest version of iOS 12. This indicated a group making a sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years.

Project Zero discovered exploits for a total of 14 vulnerabilities in iOS, seven for Safari, five for the kernel, and two separate sandbox escapes. The team reported these findings to Apple in February, and Apple's release of iOS 12.1.4 that same month addressed the issues.

Google's deep dive into the iOS exploit can be read on the company's Project Zero blog.

Following Apple's recall of some 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro models with faulty batteries, airlines around the world are starting to implement bans, some of which affect other non-impacted MacBook Pro models.

Qantas Airways, for example, told Bloomberg that all 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models are banned from checked luggage and must remain switched off for the duration of the flight. That ban applies not only to machines with faulty batteries, but also perfectly fine ‌MacBook Pro‌ models not subject to recall.

Virgin Australia, meanwhile, has banned "all Apple MacBooks" from checked luggage, requiring customers to put their MacBooks in their carry-on luggage.

Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways have both posted warnings on their website letting customers know that affected 2015 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models cannot be brought on board at all unless those models have received a replacement battery.

At the beginning of August, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued warnings to aircraft operators reminding them that affected 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with faulty batteries should be kept switched off during flight.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration gave similar warnings to U.S. airlines, reminding them of recall rules that prevent affected ‌MacBook Pro‌ models that have not received replacement batteries from being placed in checked luggage. United Airlines, one of the major operators in the U.S., asks passengers not to use affected models during flight.

Apple launched a voluntary recall and replacement program for 2015 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models sold between September 2015 and February 2017 as the models contain batteries that can overheat and pose a fire safety risk.

Apple has been offering free replacement batteries since June and a 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ that has had a battery repair is no longer in danger of overheating and can be safely used on airplanes and other locations.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way for an airline to determine what year a ‌MacBook Pro‌ is from (though there is an online serial number check) and further, whether it's had a battery replacement, which is leading to confusing rules on ‌MacBook Pro‌ usage that vary from airline to airline. Difficulty checking model numbers also makes it hard to enforce bans, and it's not clear how strict each airline is with the rules, which could lead to some non-banned models being flagged.

Customers who have a 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ from 2015 who have not replaced the battery should contact Apple immediately for a free replacement. Apple sold approximately 432,000 potentially affected units in the United States, along with 26,000 in Canada.

Apple today sent out media invites for its annual iPhone-centric event that will be held on Tuesday, September 10 at 10:00 a.m. at the Steve Jobs Theater at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California.

The media invites offer up a first look at the theme of the event and feature the tagline "By innovation only."

The two OLED models are said to have triple-lens camera setups arranged within in a square bump, with the setup including a telephoto lens, a wide-angle lens, and a new super-wide angle lens.

Users will be able to zoom out further to capture a wider field of view, and the new setup will bring improvements to low-light images. As for the 6.1-inch ‌iPhone‌, it's getting a dual-camera setup for the first time.

Apple is going to use a new matte finish for the iPhones, and they're said to feature better shatter and water resistance for improved durability. Face ID is being improved and will work from more angles, but there won't be other changes to the notch.

3D Touch is also being eliminated in favor of the haptic feedback system first introduced with the ‌iPhone‌ XR. Bilateral wireless charging, bigger batteries, a new AMX co-processor and A13 chip are some of the other features that we're expecting to see.

Apple's fall event also often includes the Apple Watch, and while it's looking like we're not going to see many updates to the watch this year, there are hints of new ceramic and titanium models.

New iPad Pro models, a new 10.2-inch iPad, and a new high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro are also on the horizon and are expected to launch in the fall, but it's not clear if Apple will introduce these at its September event or hold a second fall event as it often does.

Two new services, Apple Arcade and Apple TV+, are going to launch this fall, so we may hear additional details including pricing information and release timelines at the September event.

As with past events, Apple will stream the event live on its website and on the Apple TV when it kicks off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, but for those who are unable to watch, MacRumors will be providing full event coverage both on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Apple today shared a new AirPods ad in Korea that showcases a variety of cute ways in which customers have customized their AirPods charging cases, including adding heart stickers, teddy bear ornaments, salt and pepper decals, and more. Many of the AirPods cases have also been transformed into keychains.

This follows Apple's creative "Bounce" ad that highlighted the newer wireless charging case available for AirPods.