With Prime Day now over, some of the summer's best deals have expired. However, there are plenty that remain available to purchase on Amazon, and we're recapping all of these sales below, including savings on iPad, AirPods Pro 2, MacBook Air, and more.
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.
One of the week's most consistent deals has been on the 9th generation iPad, which is down to just $249.99 for 64GB Wi-Fi, from $329.00. You can also get the 256GB Wi-Fi model for $389.99, down from $479.00.
The best MacBook deal of the week was on the 256GB M1 MacBook Air, which hit $749.99, down from $999.00. This was a new all-time low price for the notebook, and it's still available in all three colors on Amazon.
Anker
There are also still quite a few Anker and Eufy accessories on sale as the week comes to an end, including Eufy's SmartTrack Card and Anker's PowerCore portable charger.
The Apple Pencil 2 dropped to $89.00 earlier in the week and remains on sale at this price today, which is $40 in savings and one of the best prices of the year so far.
Lastly, Apple's AirTag 4-Pack is on sale for $88.99 today, down from $99.00. This is a bit cheaper than the last time we shared the deal earlier in the week.
Samsung
Samsung is holding its next Galaxy Unpacked event on July 26, and the company is teasing the launch of its next-generation Fold and Flip devices at the event. Potential customers can sign up to hold their pre-order spot (no commitment at this time) and receive $50 in Samsung Credit if they follow through with a pre-order.
Apple no longer offers gift wrapping for online orders in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and select other countries where the option was available. References to gift wrapping were removed from Apple's website this week, and the option no longer appears to be available at checkout.
The gift wrapping consisted of a "signature" white box with a red ribbon, along with a greeting card that could include a personal message. The option was available for an additional charge, although it was occasionally free during limited-time promotions.
Apple has also discontinued the option to include a gift message on the packing slip for an order.
Apple continues to offer free personalized engraving for select products, allowing for a custom message or emojis to be etched directly onto select iPads, AirPods, and Beats, as well as the AirTag and second-generation Apple Pencil.
The government of New South Wales in Australia today announced that the Opal ticketing system now supports Express Mode for Apple Pay payments, allowing the fare card to be added to the Wallet app on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch for tap-and-go payments across the public transport network.
Express Transit mode allows users to pay for rides without having to wake or unlock their iPhone or Apple Watch, or open the Opal app. The mode also bypasses the need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Users simply need to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near the contactless payment reader until a checkmark appears on the display.
Transport for NSW undertook a staggered rollout of Express Mode across the 25,000 card readers on the Opal network, starting with ferries and light rail, then train stations, and then the thousands of Opal readers on buses, which finished this week.
"Commuters in the Hunter, Illawarra, Blue Mountains and everywhere in between will benefit from being the first public transport users in Australia to benefit from the mass roll out of this initiative," said NSW transport minister Jo Haylen. "It will make life so much easier for the almost two million transport passengers who use contactless payments with a digital wallet in NSW."
How to Set Up Express Transit on iPhone
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
Tap Express Transit Card.
Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
Authenticate your device using Touch ID or Face ID.
If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no error message appears, you're good to tap-and-go.
How to Set Up Express Transit on Apple Watch
Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
Tap Express Transit Card.
Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
Authenticate by entering your passcode on your Apple Watch.
If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no message appears, you're all set.
New emoji coming in 2024 could include head shaking vertically, head shaking horizontally, lime, phoenix, broken chain, brown mushroom, family silhouettes, and directional people emoji with multiple skin tones. The characters could be included in the Emoji 15.1 specification that the Unicode Consortium will be approving this September.
The emoji listed by Emojipedia are proposed and are under consideration, but many emoji at this stage are approved and make it into official emoji releases. Emojipedia has created sample designs for the proposed emoji, so these are not the versions that will be used on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
There are 108 new directional emoji, with most of these consisting of people emoji with multiple skin tones. The emoji build on existing person walking, person running, person kneeling, person with white cane, person in manual wheelchair, and person in motorized wheelchair emoji, adding orientation directions like left and right.
Emoji 15.1 characters will be finalized in September 2023, and then Apple, Google, and other device manufacturers will adopt them through future software updates. It often takes Apple several months to introduce new emoji, so while these are set to be approved in September, Apple won't add them to its devices until 2024. The last emoji addition came in iOS 16.4, which was released in February 2023.
Now that Amazon Prime Day has ended, many of the week's best deals have expired. However, today we are still tracking a few Apple products that remain at their best-ever prices even after the end of Prime Day, including iPad mini 6, AirPods Pro 2, M1 MacBook Air, and a few accessories.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
9th Gen iPad
A popular Prime Day deal was on Apple's 9th generation iPad, with the 64GB Wi-Fi model available for just $249.99, down from $329.00. This markdown is still available today in the form of an on-page $29.01 coupon, which will be automatically applied at checkout.
Note: You won't see the deal price until checkout.
The 256GB Wi-Fi iPad is also still on sale for $389.99, down from $479.00. At up to $89 off, both of these represent all-time low prices on the 2021 iPad.
Apple's AirPods Pro 2 hit $199.00 during Prime Day, down from $249.00, and this deal is still available today. This is the only AirPods model to retain its Prime Day pricing today, with the exception of AirPods Max. Unfortunately, that model has extremely delayed delivery estimates that stretch into September.
One of the first major Prime Day deals is still around today, with the 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Air from 2020 available for $749.99 on Amazon, down from $999.00. You can get Gold, Silver, and Space Gray at this record low price.
Additionally, the notebooks are still available for quick delivery dates, with all three colors getting an estimated July 17 arrival date for most orders placed within the United States. If you're looking for a breakdown on the similarities and differences between this MacBook Air and the M2 models, be sure to read our guide.
Accessories
Lastly, there are quite a few first- and third-party accessories still on sale at all-time low prices today, including power adapters, Bluetooth trackers, portable batteries, and more.
Apple in the latest iOS 17 public and developer betas has added support for saving full-page screenshots as image files in apps where the system supports the feature.
In iOS 16, users can already opt to take a screenshot in apps like Safari, Notes, and Maps, and save the full-page content, or scrolling content, as a PDF document. But in the updated iOS 17 developer beta 3 and the new public beta, Apple has now added a "Save to Photos" option to the Full Page screenshot interface for added flexibility.
The new option also appears in the latest beta versions of iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma. The ability to save "scrolling screenshots" as images has been available on Android devices for a while now, but iPhone users have had to use third-party apps like Tailor to achieve the same thing.
In another notable addition spotted by TechCrunch, users are also getting better dual-SIM support, with the ability to sort messages based on SIM, separate ringtones for each SIM, and the ability to choose a SIM when calling back an unknown number.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma updates now. Apple is expected to release final stable versions of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma later in the fall.
Apple yesterday released its first set of public betas for iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, and these versions add new features for Indian users across platforms, including support for bilingual queries to Siri.
According to TechCrunch, users will be able to ask queries to Siri by mixing English with select Indic languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada, and Marathi.
India-based users often speak a mix of languages in daily conversations, so the ability to mix English with Hindi and other Indic languages when querying Siri will be broadly welcomed.
TechCrunch also highlights some other improvements for Indian users, including:
Transliteration support on iOS for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. With this expansion, Apple now supports 10 indic languages.
Users can sign into Apple ID using their phone number instead of an email ID on iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma.
A new built-in Punjabi dictionary to get definition of words and phrases across platforms.
Users will be able to see up to 2,000 calls in the call history section including Facetime and WhatsApp calls.
Filtering messages by known and unknown senders on iPad.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma updates now. Developers have had three betas so far, and the first public betas offer the same content as the third developer betas.
Apple is expected to release final stable versions of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma later in the fall.
Apple has announced the launch of Tap to Pay on iPhone in the United Kingdom, allowing independent sellers, small merchants, and large retailers in the country to use iPhones as a payment terminal.
Introduced in February 2022, the feature allows compatible iPhones to accept payments via Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets, using only an iPhone - no additional hardware or credit card machine is required.
Tap to Pay on iPhone uses NFC technology to securely authenticate the contactless payments, plus the feature also supports PIN entry, which includes accessibility options.
"We've seen Tap to Pay on iPhone transform the checkout experience for so many different types of businesses, and we're thrilled to now support merchants across the U.K. by offering an easy, secure, and private way to accept contactless payments using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone, with no additional hardware needed," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. "Small and medium-sized businesses have long played a vital role in the U.K. economy, and alongside payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we're making it easier than ever for U.K. businesses to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business."
Revolut and Tyl by NatWest are the first payment platforms to offer Tap to Pay on iPhone to their U.K. business customers, with Adyen, Dojo, myPOS, Stripe, SumUp, Viva Wallet, Worldline, and Zettle by PayPal coming soon. Tap to Pay on iPhone will also roll out to Apple Store locations in the U.K. in the coming weeks.
Tap to Pay on iPhone requires iPhone XS or newer models, and works for customers as any normal Apple Pay transaction would. Sellers just need to open up the app, register the sale, and present their iPhone to the buyer, who can then use an appropriate contactless payment method.
Tap to Pay on iPhone is available to over 700,000 additional businesses across the United States, and Apple Stores in the U.S. have also rolled out the feature. The U.K. is the fourth region to support Tap to Pay, following similar rollouts in Australia and Taiwan earlier in the year.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview 174 includes fixes and updates for CSS, CSS Container Queries, Layout, JavaScript, Media, Popover, Accessibility, SVG, and Web API.
The update now features content coming in Safari 17 alongside macOS Sonoma. On Sonoma, the browser offers Profiles for separating browsing data like History and Favorites, web apps, and improved private browsing mode. Features for all operating systems include Feature Flags (replacing Experimental Features), a redesigned Develop menu, Live Text support for vertical text recognition in images and videos, HEIC support, and JPEG XL, a new image format with an improved compression algorithm for better image quality at smaller file sizes than JPEG.
The current Safari Technology Preview release is compatible with machines running macOS Ventura and macOS Sonoma, the latest version of macOS that Apple is beta testing right now.
The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences or System Settings to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple today released updated Rapid Security Response (RSR) fixes that are available for iPhone and iPad users running the iOS and iPadOS 16.5.1 updates and the macOS Ventura 13.4.1 update.
Rapid Security Response updates are designed to provide iOS and macOS users with security fixes without the need to install a full software update. Today's updates address an actively exploited WebKit vulnerability, so it is a good idea to update as soon as possible.
iOS Security Response 16.5.1 (c) and macOS Ventura Security Response 13.4.1 (c) are available through the standard Software Update mechanism in the Settings app. These are quick updates, requiring just a couple of minutes to download the update and then a restart for the install process.
Once the Rapid Security Response update is installed, iOS 16.5.1 users and macOS Ventura 13.4.1 users will see an updated version of the software, and tapping on the version in the About section of Settings will display information about the installed OS version and the Rapid Security Response update. Those who want to disable Rapid Security Response updates on iPhone can do so by following our how to. The updates can also be disabled on the Mac.
Apple initially introduced these Rapid Security Response updates earlier in the week, but the way they were named caused issues with Safari. Select websites like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Zoom, and more began giving a warning about not being supported on the Safari browser following the software installation.
As a result, Apple pulled the RSRs pending a fix and provided information to users on how to remove the updates. The new (c) RSRs will not cause the same Safari issue.
Apple today plans to launch its annual "Back to School" promotion in the UK and select countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Websites in countries where back to school deals will be going live soon are currently down.
Higher education students and educators in eligible countries can get an Apple gift card, AirPods, or Apple Pencil with the purchase of select Macs and iPads.
Gift cards are available in the UK, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Denmark. In the UK, gift cards valued at up to £130 are available with the purchase of an eligible device, and in other European countries, the amount tops out at €150.
AirPods or an Apple Pencil are available for free with a Mac or an iPad purchase in Germany, Hungary, Czechia, Belgium, Türkiye, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. Customers who buy a 24-inch iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air can get AirPods 3 with Lightning Case for free, while customers who purchase a Mac mini can get AirPods 2 for free. Upgrades to higher-tier AirPods are available for an additional fee, so those eligible for AirPods 2 can upgrade to AirPods 3 or AirPods Pro, and those eligible for AirPods 3 can upgrade to AirPods Pro. Those who buy an iPad Pro or an iPad Air will get a free second-generation Apple Pencil.
Qualifying devices include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini, as well as the iPad Pro and the iPad Air.
Apple is providing its standard educational discounts, and students are able to get lower prices on Macs and iPads through the EDU store in each country. Students are also eligible for AppleCare+ at a 20 percent discount.
Apple's Back to School promotion requires verification through UNiDAYS in many countries, with full terms and conditions available on the promotional pages for Apple's country-specific websites.
Back to School deals will be available when the EDU stores in each country come up in a few hours and they will last through October 23, 2023.
Last year, accessory company Alogic launched its 27-inch "Clarity" display, offering a 4K experience with 90 watts of power delivery to charge a connected computer, an array of connectivity options, and hub functionality for connecting peripheral devices.
With an IPS display for viewing across a wide range of angles, 97% coverage of DCI-P3 color, HDR 400 support, and the ability to quickly transition between landscape and portrait orientations, the Clarity display offers a solid set of features, but Alogic is now tacking on some extra features with its just-launched Clarity Pro and Clarity Pro Touch models.
I've been testing out the two new models for a few weeks, and I've found the clever new features included on them to be interesting additions that give buyers some nice options to consider depending on their needs.
All three models use the same basic display and design, and I've found them to be bright with vivid colors for a high-quality viewing experience, thanks in part to the quatum dot (QD) backlighting that offers good contrast and supports over a billion colors.
I've been using a pair of LG UltraFine 5K displays for a number of years now, and I was pleased to find that I didn't really notice any difference in the day-to-day experience when running these 4K displays at a scaled 2560 x 1440 resolution to match the desktop size of my previous 27-inch 5K displays, even though the Alogic displays aren't running at exact retina scaling in this scenario.
What the Clarity Pro adds beyond the standard Clarity display is an integrated webcam, which has a clever privacy-related feature in that it automatically tucks itself away behind the display while not in use, ensuring that the camera can't be surreptitiously accessed by malware or other attacks without your knowledge. If the camera is up, it's active, and if it's down, it can't see anything except the inside of the display housing even if video capture were to be activated without your knowledge.
The camera does make some noise as it moves up and down, which reminds of the potential for motorized parts like this to break over time, but I appreciate the automated privacy aspect of it. I also like the small adjustment wheel that allows for the camera's field of view to be moved up or down to better frame the subject. It doesn't offer as much flexibility as a standalone webcam accessory might, but it's better than a fixed camera integrated into a display bezel, for example.
The 8-megapixel webcam offers solid video quality compared to many other options built into Apple's notebooks or external displays, although the Continuity Camera feature recently added to macOS and iOS means you could do even better by using your iPhone as your Mac's webcam.
I did run into one camera bug with Zoom while trying to use a pair of these displays, as the app would only recognize one of the webcams regardless of which of the identically named Alogic display cameras I selected in video settings. Alogic says this is a known issue without a resolution yet, but I didn't have the same issue with other apps I tested including Skype, FaceTime, and Teams, so it appears to be something specific to Zoom.
Stepping up to the Clarity Pro Touch adds one additional major feature compared to the Clarity Pro, and that's touchscreen support. While macOS doesn't offer as much support for touch functionality as Windows, some drivers and a configuration app from Alogic help provide a decent amount of functionality on macOS. With touchscreen support, you can use either your fingers or a capacitive stylus (Apple Pencil not supported) to interact with onscreen content.
With the UPDD Commander app, you can customize a fairly significant list of touch gestures involving one, two, three, or five fingers with taps, swipes, and drags in various locations on the screen. For instance, a one-finger tap can register as a traditional mouse click, while a two-finger tap can register as a right click and you can even customize which of the two fingers should be considered as the location of the tap.
A swipe up from the bottom of the screen can be configured to show/hide the dock, while other combinations of fingers and gestures can do things like invoke Mission Control, hide or quit apps, minimize windows, and much more. Two-finger rotating and pinching motions can also be recognized, allowing for basic direct manipulation of images for rotation and zoom.
Beyond a series of default gestures, you can also configure gestures on a per-app basis with a number of Mac apps like Finder, Maps, and Preview automatically preconfigured upon installation of Alogic's drivers and apps. But you're free to further customize any of these and add additional apps to the list however you see fit. It took me a little bit of poking around to get everything set up, but once that was done I found the touch functionality to work well and feel pretty natural.
While I still prefer to use a mouse for most things, I have found some utility to the touchscreen functionality on the Clarity Pro Touch. I've settled into a setup with it in portrait orientation off to my left with email, Twitter, and Slack set up on sort of a status screen, and it's handy to be able to reach over and tap into emails or scroll my feeds by touch rather than moving my mouse over from another screen.
All three displays feature a high-quality design with a solid two-piece aluminum stand with height, swivel, and tilt adjustments plus a cable management passthrough in the vertical support. The stand has really nice heft and keeps the display very stable with no wobbling as I type on the same support surface.
The displays also support 100x100 VESA attachments if you prefer other mounting solutions, and Alogic sells an optional Clarity Fold stand that puts the display in a more ergonomic configuration. That's specifically for the Clarity Pro Touch when used for drawing, for example, though the limited Mac support for this functionality makes that setup less appealing for users in the Apple ecosystem.
An assortment of cables in the box including 1-meter USB-C to USB-C (3.2 Gen 1), 1.5-meter USB-A to USB-B, 1.5-meter DisplayPort to DisplayPort, and 1.5-meter HDMI to HDMI options should work with almost any setup.
The displays are on the glossy side, but I didn't find a huge amount of glare in my setup. Black bezels measure approximately 1 cm around the top and sides, and around 2 cm along the bottom. These aren't the thinnest bezels on the market and the thicker bottom bezel looks a little out of place, but I've definitely seen worse and at least the displays and bezels are flat under a continuous sheet of glass except for very thin edges.
Both the Clarity Pro and the Clarity Pro Touch include a four-microphone array for the webcam, and the audio quality was solid in my testing. Less impressive are the onboard dual 5-watt speakers which sound quite hollow compared to the speakers in my MacBook Pro or even the ones in my usual LG UltraFine displays.
Speaker volume and display brightness on Alogic's displays also don't natively respond to the Mac's media keys, even when connected via USB-C. I tried a couple of third-party apps that try to add this functionality, but they yielded only partial success.
I know I've been spoiled by my LG displays that had the benefit of Apple's input to allow those functions to work pretty seamlessly, but the step down for me in audio management on Alogic's displays was still a bit of a disappointment. Volume and brightness can still be managed via button controls on the bottom edge of the display, but nothing beats having everything integrated with macOS for adjustments right from my menu bar or keyboard.
One downgrade for the Clarity Pro and Clarity Pro Touch compared to the original Clarity display is that USB-C passthrough charging is limited to 65 watts instead of 90 watts. This is due to the addition of the built-in webcam, with 25 watts of power reserved for running that.
I do wish Alogic had opted for a higher-wattage power brick on these Pro models to preserve 90-watt computer charging rather than using a 150-watt brick, but given the efficiency of Apple's latest notebooks, 65W will probably be enough to keep even a 16-inch MacBook Pro topped off unless you're performing particularly demanding tasks. It's certainly been sufficient for me, but if you find it's not, you can easily connect another charging source like the MagSafe power adapter.
Alogic displays include some USB hub functionality, though it's important to note that this is pretty limited as it includes just two USB-A ports on the rear of the display and a 3.5mm jack for audio. If your display is connected via USB-C, those USB-A ports will run at USB 2.0 speeds, which is fine for a wired keyboard or mouse, but likely too slow for most users' needs if they're trying to connect external storage.
If you connect the USB-B port on the display to your computer, those USB-A ports can run at USB 3.0 speeds, which is significantly better but still far slower than many other connectivity options. Regardless of the connections, these are still USB-A ports in an age where peripherals are increasingly using USB-C.
For example, connecting a modest USB-C SSD external drive to the display via USB-A over the USB 2.0 speed yielded transfer rates of just 38 MB/s, around 20x slower than a direct connection to my computer via USB-C. But for lower-bandwidth connectivity needs, it'll do just fine.
The original Clarity display carries a regular price of $799.99, while the new Clarity Pro with the webcam functionality comes in a $999.99 and the Clarity Pro Touch is a further $200 upgrade to $1,199.99. That's on the fairly pricey side for 27-inch 4K 60Hz displays, though they do come with a pretty robust set of features.
Alogic is also currently running a 20% off promotion with code ALG20 that brings the prices down to a more palatable $640.00, $799.20, and $959.20 respectively, so this is a nice opportunity to pick up the new displays if they appeal to you.
Note: Alogic provided MacRumors with the Clarity Pro and Clarity Pro Touch displays for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Alogic. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The macOS Sonoma update that is in testing allows Mac owners who opt to use Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or another browser to use Apple's Password Manager for filling passwords.
Developers and public beta testers running macOS Sonoma can use their iCloud Keychain passwords with non-Safari browsers at this time, autofilling passwords and one-time codes. Third-party browsers can also save new passwords.
‼️🔑 macOS Sonoma brings Apple’s password manager to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and other browsers using their extensions stores with the “iCloud Passwords” browser extension.
If you’re running the macOS Sonoma public or developer beta, you can try it right now! [1/n] pic.twitter.com/stkbQqFtfx
— Ricky Mondello (@rmondello) July 12, 2023
Apple has made an iCloud Passwords Chrome extension available for macOS Sonoma users, and it can be downloaded and installed to access Apple passwords on the Chrome browser or any Chromium-based browser. Apple has also provided an extension for Microsoft Edge users.
Google and other browser developers are also working on implementing support for Passkeys, the password alternative that Apple introduced last year.
Amazon Prime Day is coming to a close later today, so we're quickly recapping all of the best Apple deals that are still live on Amazon right now. Since many of these products have been on sale for a few days, shipping may be delayed, but they're all at some of the lowest prices we've ever seen.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
You will need an active Amazon Prime subscription to see these deals. You can get one month of Amazon Prime for free when signing up this week, and afterwards the service will renew at $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
Apple Watch
Prime Day kicked off with stellar deals on both the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 8, but as the event went along the Apple Watch SE sales disappeared. Fortunately, all-time low prices remain available on both 41mm and 45mm GPS Apple Watch Series 8 models.
Apple's M1 MacBook Air was the first device to get a discount this Prime Day, and it remains one of the best deals around this week at $249 off. This beats the previous record low price by about $50, and it's still available in all three colors.
Perhaps the Apple product with the most abundant deals this Prime Day, we tracked numerous iPad discounts over the past few days. Many of these are still live, with all-time low prices on the 9th Gen iPad (from $249.99), iPad mini 6 (from $379.99), and iPad Air (from $499.99).
Only the 10th Gen iPad has seen a sale expire so far, with the 256GB Wi-Fi tablet now the only one available at an all-time low price of $529.99.
Amazon provided solid markdowns on a few AirPods this Prime Day. The AirPods Pro 2 remain at their consistent sale price of $199.00 ($50 off) and the AirPods 2 have hit $89.99 ($39 off). These were $10 cheaper yesterday, and they may return to that price before the day ends, but for now this is a good second-best price.
Lastly, we have an Apple-related sale going on today, with Anker offering several great markdowns across its best charging accessories. You can save on USB-C chargers, portable batteries, Bluetooth trackers, and more.
Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 to public beta testers, opening up the new software to the general public for the first time since the Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Developers have had three betas so far, and the first public beta offers the same content as the third developer beta.
Public beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program can download the iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates by opening up the Settings app, going to General, tapping on the Software Update section and toggling on the iOS 17 Public Beta option.
iOS 17 adds a new StandBy option for the iPhone, allowing it to serve as an information hub when it is in a horizontal position and connected to a charger. StandBy mode displays the time, Live Activities, incoming notifications, and tons of widgets.
Speaking of widgets, widgets you use on the Lock Screen and Home Screen are interactive, so you can do things like control a smart light or check off a Reminder without opening an app. Autocorrect is smarter than before, and it's easier to correct mistakes with a quick tap.
AirDrop has a new NameDrop feature for quickly sharing contact information with a person nearby, and the Phone app has customizable Contact Posters that let you choose what people see when you call them.
Live Voicemail shows the voicemail that someone is leaving right on your Lock Screen so you can pick up if it's important, and the Messages app has a refined look and a Check-In feature that's meant to help you get to your destination safely.
FaceTime supports video messages so you can leave a video voicemail if someone misses a call, plus you can use it on the Apple TV. Safari has a locked private browsing window and a password sharing feature, and better tracking prevention. The Maps app now works offline, the Photos app can recognize your pets, and Visual Look Up works with food, symbols, videos, and more.
There's a new mood tracking feature available in the Health app, and later this year, Apple also plans to add a journaling app.
Apple today provided the first beta of the upcoming macOS Sonoma update to its public beta testing group, allowing non-developers to test the new operating system ahead of its fall launch.
Public beta testers can download the macOS 14 Sonoma update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after signing up on Apple's beta testing website and opting into the public beta under the Beta Updates section.
macOS Sonoma introduces interactive widgets for the desktop, making widgets more useful and more prominent. You can even use your iPhone widgets on your Mac's desktop through a new Continuity feature.
There are updated screensavers that are similar to the high-resolution animated screensavers available on the Apple TV, and for video calls and presenting, there's a Presenter Overlay option that lets you move, walk, and talk in front of content you're sharing from your Mac.
Safari supports web apps so you can add your favorite websites to your Dock, plus there are new Profiles to separate your work browsing and personal browsing. iCloud Keychain supports sharing passwords with others, and private browsing windows are locked when they are not in use.
Enhanced AutoFill is available for PDFs so you can quickly fill in information like names, addresses, and emails, plus users can collaborate on PDFs and see real-time updates through the Notes app.
For more on what's new in macOS Sonoma, including a new Game mode, we have a detailed macOS Sonoma roundup that highlights all of the features in the update.
Apple today provided the first beta of the upcoming watchOS 10 update to public beta testers, allowing the general public to try out the new Apple Watch software ahead of its fall launch.
watchOS 10 can be downloaded after upgrading your iPhone to the public beta version of iOS 17 and after signing up on Apple's beta software website. With those criteria fulfilled, you can open up the Watch app on iPhone, go to General, select Software Update, and choose the watchOS 10 Public Beta option under Beta Updates.
With watchOS 10, Apple is making a major update to the Apple Watch interface with a focus on widgets. The Smart Stack, accessible with a turn of the Digital Crown, displays the information that you need most. What's available changes throughout the day and as the Apple Watch learns your usage habits.
Apple has updated almost all of the built-in apps with an information-forward design that allows for quicker interactions. Weather, Maps, Home, Messages, Activity, Heart Rate, Stocks, and more have all been overhauled.
There are two new watch faces, including Palette and Snoopy. Snoopy features characters from the popular Peanuts cartoon, with the animations changing throughout the day. Palette shows the time in a variety of overlapping colors.
The Maps app has a topography view that shows elevation information, contour lines, hill shading, and points of interest to make it more useful on hikes and when out and about, and for cyclists, there are new advanced metrics, views, and experiences that work through a connection to Bluetooth-enabled cycling accessories.
The Mindfulness app has a new feature for logging moods and emotions, Group FaceTime audio calls are now supported, and NameDrop allows you to quickly exchange contact information with somebody just by holding your Apple Watch near someone's iPhone.
Apple today seeded the first beta of the upcoming tvOS 17 update to its public beta testing group, allowing the general public to download and test the update ahead of its September launch.
Public beta testers can download the tvOS 17 beta by opening up the Settings app on Apple TV, choosing the Software Updates section under System, and then toggling on the Get Public Beta Updates option. Signing up on Apple's public beta website is also required.
tvOS 17 adds FaceTime to the Apple TV, with an iPhone or iPad serving as the camera. The FaceTime interface shows up on the bigger display of the TV, and Center Stage keeps you front and center as you move around the room. There's even a Split View option so you can use FaceTime while watching TV or playing a game on the other part of the screen.
There's a revamped Control Center that makes it quicker to get to key settings and information without needing to go into the Settings app, plus it supports useful shortcuts and tools that are customized for each user.
If you have a second-generation Siri Remote, you can use the Apple TV Remote section in the iPhone's Control Center to track it down, preventing you from losing your remote.
Other new features in tvOS 17 include new aerial screen savers, screen savers based on the Memories section of the Photos app, an enhance dialogue option to make it easier to hear what's being said on a TV show or movie, and more. Additional details can be found in our Apple TV roundup.
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