Apple's (Product) RED Holiday Campaign Raised $20 Million to Fight AIDS

For this year's World AIDS Day campaign, Apple ran several (Product) RED promotions, providing a (RED) section in the App Store and donating a portion of all retail and online sales from Friday, November 28 and Monday, December 1.

According to an email Apple CEO Tim Cook sent out to Apple employees (via Re/code), the campaign was a huge success, earning more than $20 million for the (Product) RED charity, which uses its funds to fight AIDS in Africa.

apple_product_red_gift_card

"I'm thrilled to announce that our total donation for this quarter will be more than $20 million -- our biggest ever -- bringing the total amount Apple has raised for (PRODUCT) RED to over $100 million," Cook wrote. "The money we've raised is saving lives and bringing hope to people in need. It's a cause we can all be proud to support."

During the campaign, Apple partnered with 25 app developers to offer a variety of (RED) themed apps in the App Store, with purchase proceeds going towards the charity. Apple's annual Black Friday event was also (RED) themed, and customers who purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or qualifying Apple accessory received a (RED) iTunes gift card.

According to Cook, Apple's $20 million quarterly donation to the charity is its biggest ever, but over the course of the company's long partnership with Product (RED), it has contributed more than $95 million. As of June, Apple had contributed $75 million to the charity, which is joined by this quarter's $20 million.

Throughout its partnership with (RED), Apple has released a number of (RED) devices including iPod nanos and shuffles, iPad Smart Covers, iPhone Bumpers, and iPhone cases. With every (RED) product bought, Apple continues to donate a portion of the purchase price to the Global Fund to fight AIDs.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

New Version of Siri to 'Lean' on Google Gemini

Sunday November 2, 2025 6:06 am PST by
In his "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today provided an update on the status of Apple Intelligence and the plans for it in 2026. Apple is still planning to roll out its revamped version of Siri around March of next year. The release should be accompanied by the release of a new smart home display product with speaker-base and wall-mount options. A new Apple TV and HomePod...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Likely Launching Soon

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:49 am PST by
A new Apple TV and HomePod mini could launch as soon as this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today suggested. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple retail stores are planning an overnight refresh on the evening of November 11, where changes will be made after closing, such as refreshing displays and placing new products for the following day. The timing of the overnight...
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far. Ove...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.1 With Liquid Glass Toggle, Slide to Stop Alarm, New Apple Intelligence Languages and More

Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.1 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Early Black Friday Deals 2

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Sunday November 2, 2025 10:04 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...

Top Rated Comments

allthatjazz Avatar
142 months ago
Again, another distraction from making better iPhones and iPads. Besides, doing good deeds then boasting about them is actually more self serving than anything else.

Here's an idea Apple. Donate to whatever cause you want but shut the hell up and concentrate on innovation and customer satisfaction which has been losing ground as of late.
About the dumbest post I've seen on here.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
s2mikey Avatar
142 months ago
Speaking as one of those always-complaining liberals, I'm all for it.

That said, Apple has about $100 billion in net assets. So let's say you're a median US family, with a net worth of around $100,000. So $20 million to Apple would be about $20 for you. The grand total of $100 million would be like $100 for you.

I'm not saying every little bit doesn't count, but rich people and corporations get credit for charity far out of proportion to what any individual would get for giving a similar percentage of their worth.

Absolutely, positively. Anonymous charity is the ONLY true charity. Otherwise, it's just a PR move and a tax write off. Plus, the percentages are also to comical. With all of the tax evasion and funny accounting Apple does, the amount they gave to SIDS is literally pocket change when scaled down to what the average persons income is.

So, this is just simply a "hey, look at us caring about people with AIDS" maneuver during the holidays.

Big effing deal. :rolleyes:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azhava Avatar
142 months ago
This is pretty impressive. Despite some earlier posts complaining about it not being enough, this is huge bucks towards a good cause. These enormous world problems don't get soved without large corporate partnership. So many worthy causes, one at a time.
As evidenced by some of the posts in this thread already (and plenty of others elsewhere in other threads), there are people who will complain no matter what Apple does. If they gave a million dollars to everybody who owned an Apple product, there are people who would complain about what currency denominations it was given to them in, or the color of the check it was written on.

Kudos to Apple for donating to what they consider a worthy cause. It's more than a lot of other people and/or companies have done.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azhava Avatar
142 months ago
Again, another distraction from making better iPhones and iPads....
...because I'm sure all their iPhone/iPad designers and iOS programmers closed up shop and had to work in the Public Relations department during the entire RED Holiday Campaign, right?

See, there's this thing called organizational structure. They have different departments which work on different things. No campaign or program they participate in has any effect whatsoever on the people designing and building products. This isn't a mom-and-pop shop where they have to quit stocking shelves to go help you at the cash register.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Patriot24 Avatar
142 months ago
No good deed goes unpunished.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleFan360 Avatar
142 months ago
Again, another distraction from making better iPhones and iPads. Besides, doing good deeds then boasting about them is actually more self serving than anything else.

Here's an idea Apple. Donate to whatever cause you want but shut the hell up and concentrate on innovation and customer satisfaction which has been losing ground as of late.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)