MacRumors

A new configuration of the M1 MacBook Air with 128GB of storage and a lower $799 price has today been spotted on Apple's U.S. Education Institution Hardware and Software Price List.

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Air‌ is only available with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage. There is currently no 128GB configuration on the Apple Store.

However, Reddit user "u/dduci97" noticed that Apple has listed "13-inch ‌MacBook Air‌: Apple ‌M1‌ chip w/8-core CPU and 7-core GPU, 8GB, 128GB" in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray on its U.S. Education Price List at a price of $799. Apple also has options to purchase this ‌MacBook Air‌ configuration in bulk quantities, as is the case with many other devices on the Education Price List.

Although Apple's U.S. Education Store is not yet displaying a 128GB ‌MacBook Air‌, another Reddit user shared a screenshot of the education institutions page showing the new configuration.

It is unclear whether this lower-cost ‌MacBook Air‌ configuration will ever be sold to the general public. Factoring in education discount, it seems that a 128GB ‌MacBook Air‌ would come in at $899 for the average consumer, making it the cheapest MacBook option for years.

Alternately, it is possible that the configuration may be reserved for education customers only. Apple has been known to reserve some Mac models for education, such as the Intel Core i3 iMac, as well as older models such as the eMac and "molar" Power Mac G3.

The team behind the "Checkra1n" jailbreaking tool for iOS claims to have used it to successfully jailbreak Apple's HomePod, although it's unclear what that could mean for the smart speaker in terms of hacking potential.

The news was announced by Twitter user L1ngL1ng, who shared a screenshot of a macOS Terminal window that appears to show command line root access to the ‌HomePod‌ over a secure shell (SSH) connection.

The command line grab suggests the device in question is an original 2018 ‌HomePod‌ model (with the identifier AudioAccessory 1,1) rather than Apple's new HomePod mini (AudioAccessory 5,1). The original ‌HomePod‌ runs on an Apple-designed A8 chip, which is the same chip that was first introduced with the iPhone 6.

The development is a novel one indeed, but the practical utility of jailbreaking a ‌HomePod‌ is largely unknown, although that hasn't stopped commenters on the r/jailbreak subreddit from speculating on the possibilities.

So far ideas have included opening up the speaker's locked-down Bluetooth connectivity, changing Siri to a rival virtual assistant, displaying custom colors on the top screen, and enabling support for more third-party streaming services.

The checkm8 bootrom exploit that powers the checkra1n jailbreak has previously been demonstrated to be capable of hacking Apple's T2 Security chip present in new Macs, which could theoretically open the door to circumventing disk encryption, firmware passwords, and the whole T2 security verification chain.

Apple has launched a new Today at Apple program called "Make Your Holiday," aimed at getting users of all ages to create unique festive gifts using their Apple devices.

At the center of the program is a free downloadable 74-page project book that gives families and friends "easy-to-do projects and ideas for sharing gratitude, giving thoughtfully, and celebrating festively."

Add a bit of fun and creativity to the holidays this year. In this Project Book, you'll find easy-to-do projects and ideas for sharing gratitude, giving thoughtfully, and celebrating festively. And the best part — your family and friends can create together whether near or far.

The project book is a Pages document containing inline links, and includes creative ideas and step-by-step instructions to help users make posters, family portraits, gratitude journals, emoji quilts, greeting cards, gift cards, and more. Some of the projects rely on native Apple apps, but others involve more advanced software like Procreate and DoubleTake.

The ideas are backed by weekly virtual sessions that run from November 19 through December 31, and involve Apple Creatives offering inspiration and project tips. For more information, see the Today at Apple website and enter your location.

With the launch of iOS 14 in September, Apple introduced Home Screen widgets for the first time, ushering in an unprecedented wave of customization for the iPhone.

Several apps quickly emerged allowing users to personalize their ‌Home Screen‌ with custom widgets and icons, and new research by Sensor Tower reveals that almost 15% of iPhone users in the U.S. have installed at least one app to do just that.

The Sensor Tower report tracked the download numbers of five of the most popular ‌Home Screen‌ widget apps – Widgetsmith, Color Widgets, Photo Widget: Simple, WidgetBox, and Photo Widget – and found that they had been downloaded from the U.S. App Store 13 million times since iOS 14 was released on September 16.

Installs peaked during the week of September 21, reaching 3.8 million downloads, and this month they have hit 1.7 installs so far. Collectively, the five apps have reached an estimated 45 million installs across the globe to date.

When it comes to apps that offer replacement icons for other apps, the top five include Brass, App Icons, Icon Changer +, ScreenKit, and Icon Themer, which have collectively reached 1.8 million ‌iPhone‌ installs in the U.S. since September 16, according to the research.

As the report notes, ‌iPhone‌ users have maintained their interest in adding Android-style custom widgets to their Home Screens over the past two months, and with the recent news that custom app icons no longer route through the Shortcuts App in iOS 14.3 Beta 2, that interest is only likely to continue.

Following the release of macOS Big Sur last week, a number of 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pro owners found that the update bricked their machines. Affected users saw their Macs get stuck displaying a black screen after attempting to install the new software.

Apple has now addressed this issue in a new support document that provides instructions on what to do if macOS Big Sur can't be installed on a 2013 or 2014 MacBook Pro machine. Apple suggests Mac owners experiencing these issues unplug external devices, attempt restarting, reset the SMC, and reset NVRAM or PRAM. From the support document:

1. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for at least 10 seconds, then release. If your Mac is on, it turns off.
2. Unplug all external devices from your Mac, including any displays and USB accessories, and remove any card inserted in the SDXC card slot. Then turn your Mac on.
3. If the issue persists, reset the SMC as described for notebook computers with a nonremovable battery.
4. If the issue persists, reset NVRAM or PRAM.

Apple says if these solutions do not work, affected customers should contact Apple Support for further help with the problem. The document also says that Apple plans to update the article as more information becomes available.

To be safe, those with older ‌MacBook Pro‌ models from 2013 or 2014 should avoid installing the macOS Big Sur update at this time until a more definitive fix becomes available. Apple today released a new version of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, but it is not clear if this addresses the problems that are being seen with older ‌MacBook Pro‌ models.

Apple's first M1 Macs have defied expectations and are more powerful than anyone expected, handily beating out many other Intel Macs that Apple is continuing to sell. We've seen endless speed tests, but we thought we'd pit the ‌M1‌ 13-inch MacBook Pro against the model that it's replacing, the 2020 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ with 1.4GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645, and 8GB RAM.

The prior-generation ‌MacBook Pro‌ was just released in May 2020, but it's already outdated and far inferior to Apple's new ‌M1‌ model, as our extensive speed testing will demonstrate.

Geekbench Scores

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌, which is the base model with 8GB storage, an ‌M1‌ chip with 8-core CPU and GPU, and a 256GB SSD, earned a single-core Geekbench score of 1722 and a multi-core score of 7535.

Comparatively, our Intel ‌MacBook Pro‌ earned a single-core score of 871 and a multi-core score of 3786, so performance is close to double here. OpenCL scores also demonstrated a stark difference with the ‌M1‌ earning a score of 19305 and the Intel chip earning a score of 6962.

SSD Speeds

There's a faster SSD in the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ and in our testing, we saw read speeds of 2800MB/s and write speeds of 2300MB/s. With the SSD in the Intel ‌MacBook Pro‌, we saw read speeds of 1600MB/s and write speeds of 1100MB/s. Apple says the SSD can reach sequential read speeds of up to 3.3GB/s thanks to the new SSD controller integrated in the ‌M1‌ chip.

File Transfers

When transferring a 40GB+ file, the ‌M1‌ completed the task in 27 seconds while it took the Intel Mac 90 seconds. Transfer speeds started out the same, but it didn't take long for the Intel Mac to fall behind.

4K Video Export

Exporting a 10 minute 4K video from Final Cut Pro took the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ 4 minutes and 53 seconds and it took the Intel ‌MacBook Pro‌ 6 minutes and 47 seconds. In addition to the faster transfer speeds on the ‌M1‌ Mac, the fans never came on at all, while the Intel Mac's fans were roaring.

Starting Up and Shutting Down

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ starts up noticeably faster thanks to the new Instant Wake feature that gets it going right when you open the lid. Shutting down was also faster.

Tab Test

We opened up a dozen YouTube tabs in Safari on both Macs and the CPU load was much lower on the ‌M1‌ Mac. The ‌M1‌ Mac was able to play every video without issue and the fans never even kicked on, but the Intel Mac struggled and the fans were on max speed.

App Test

We opened every app in the Applications folder on both Macs, which was approximately 50 apps. The ‌M1‌ excelled, while the Intel Mac lagged behind and had trouble opening everything up. It took a lot longer to open all of the apps on the Intel version, especially Final Cut Pro.

Opening up Mission Control with every single app open was seamless on the ‌M1‌ Mac but the Intel Mac couldn't quite handle it and there was a lot of lag.

Tests with single apps were much closer. The ‌M1‌ won out when opening up apps like Safari, Maps, Apple Music, and Final Cut Pro, but the Intel Mac wasn't too far off.

Conclusion

During our benchmarking and speed tests, the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌'s fans never turned on once, so expect near silent operation for almost all tasks if you pick up one of the new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models. The MacBook Air has no fans at all, and the Mac mini performs similarly to the ‌MacBook Pro‌.

In addition to speed, we've also been impressed with battery life. The ‌MacBook Pro‌ was used for an hour or two when we first got it and then most of the next day, and we never once had to plug it in to charge it even through all of the testing.

The ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌ beats out the 2020 Intel model, but it's also faster than the high-end 2019 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models in terms of CPU performance. If you're planning to buy a new Mac, at this point, it's probably worth holding out for a Mac with an ‌M1‌ chip if you can. Apple is planning to update the entire lineup with Apple Silicon, a process that will take approximately two years.

Rumors suggest some of the next Macs to get ‌M1‌ chips will include the iMac (there's a 24-inch model in the works) and the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

iFixit today shared a teardown overview of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, giving us a peek at what's under the hood. For the most part, these machines look the same as older Intel MacBooks inside, but there are a few highlights.

The removal of the fan is the biggest change to the ‌MacBook Air‌, with the fan having been replaced by an aluminum spreader located to the left of the logic board.

A thick cold plate over the M1 processor draws heat via conduction to its flatter, cooler end, where it can safely radiate away. Without a fan, this solution may take longer to cool off, and may cap out sooner, but by foregoing heatpipes or a vapor chamber, the sink also has more mass to saturate with thermal energy. There are no moving parts, and nothing to break.

Aside from a new logic board and cooler, the inside of the ‌MacBook Air‌ is identical to its predecessor, and iFixit says that repair procedures "will likely remain almost totally unchanged."

As for the ‌MacBook Pro‌, it's so similar to the prior model that iFixit had to double check to make sure an old ‌MacBook Pro‌ hadn't been accidentally purchased.

iFixit expected to see some consolidation of MacBook parts and design, but the cooling setup is similar to what's seen in Intel MacBook models. The fan, in fact, is identical to the fan in the 2020 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ released earlier this year.

While the internals of the ‌MacBook Air‌ and ‌MacBook Pro‌ are close to identical to their Intel counterparts, iFixit did take a look at the all-new M1 chip, which is the shiny silver bit with an Apple logo. Next to the chip, there are small silicon rectangles that are Apple's integrated memory chips.

iFixit says the integrated memory is "slightly devastating" because it makes repairs on the ‌M1‌ Macs much harder. Note that there's no Apple-designed T2 chip in the ‌M1‌ Mac models because the T2 security functionality is integrated right into the ‌M1‌ chip.

iFixit says that while these seem like superficial changes, they're an expression of "years of intense work" with "hints of a lot more to come in the future." Head over to iFixit to read the full teardown.

Verizon today announced the launch of the "5G Fleet Swap," a new program that's designed to allow enterprise customers to trade in their entire fleet of smartphones and upgrade to an iPhone 12 for zero upfront cost.

After the transition, the iPhones used by each business will have zero cost (for the iPhone 12 mini) or a low monthly cost.

Customers can choose to trade in smartphones from Verizon or any other carrier and upgrade to any ‌iPhone‌ in the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup. The program will make it easier for businesses to make the transition from 4G to 5G.

"The iPhone 12 lineup is the best for business, with an all-new design, advanced 5G experience, industry-leading security and A14 Bionic, the fastest chip ever in a smartphone," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Markets, Apps and Services. "Paired with Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband going indoors and 5G Fleet Swap, an all-new device offer for enterprise, it's now easier than ever for businesses to build transformational mobile apps that take advantage of the powerful iPhone 12 lineup and 5G."

Verizon highlighted some of the apps that businesses can better take advantage of over a 5G connection, such as IBM's Maximo Visual Inspection app for monitoring production line defects and JigSpace for accessing documents and manuals with detailed augmented reality experiences for building of technical equipment.

Verizon also announced two 5G ultra wideband rollouts for enterprise customers. General Motors and Honeywell are the first companies to get 5G ultra wideband service at their facilities.

Apple today released a revised version of macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur, which appears to be available for some Mac users who had not previously installed the macOS 11.0.1 update.

It's not clear why Apple has released a new version of macOS Big Sur 11.0.1, but 11.0.1 is the launch version of Big Sur on all Macs except for M1 Macs. Those who have already updated to macOS Big Sur will not see this update, but those who are coming from Catalina or an earlier version of macOS will get the new release.

Today's update comes a little over a week after Apple first released macOS 11.0.1 Big Sur. The new version has a build number of 20B50, while the prior version had a build number of 20B29.

The new software can be downloaded by opening up System Preferences and choosing the Software Update option.

‌macOS Big Sur‌ is a major update that brings a redesigned look to the Mac with Control Center, new widget options. Safari is faster and more battery efficient and there are new privacy protections and a translate option, plus it supports 4K YouTube playback.

Apple has also added updates and new options for Messages, Photos, and Maps, with a list of the major changes available in our features guide and a complete rundown of all the changes available in our roundup.

Apple in iOS 14 is planning to introduce a new App Tracking Transparency feature that will let users know when companies want to track them across apps and website. Following outcry from developers like Facebook and ad networks unprepared for the change, Apple delayed the implementation of the anti-tracking functionality until early 2021.

Eight civil society organizations recently sent a letter [PDF] to Apple expressing disappointment over the feature's delay, and Apple today penned a strongly worded response confirming its commitment App Tracking Transparency.

Apple says that it too is concerned about users being tracked without their consent and having their data bundled and resold by advertising networks. Tracking across apps and websites owned by multiple companies and data sold by data brokers can be "invasive and "creepy," according to Apple.

Too often, information is collected about you on an app or website owned by one company and combined with information collected separately by other companies for targeted advertisements and advertising measurement. Sometimes your data is even aggregated and resold by data brokers, which are third parties you neither know nor interact with.

Facebook and other ad networks have complained that Apple's anti-tracking efforts are anticompetitive and will impact small businesses. Apple says it is not against the reasonable collection of user data, but wants to empower customers to make their own choices about what data is collected and how it is used.

In a statement that seems aimed directly at Facebook's complaint about the impact on small businesses, Apple says that advertising that respects privacy was the standard prior to the growth of the internet.

Advertising that respects privacy is not only possible, it was the standard until the growth of the Internet. Some companies that would prefer ATT is never implemented have said that this policy uniquely burdens small businesses by restricting advertising options, but in fact, the current data arms race primarily benefits big businesses with big data sets. Privacy-focused ad networks were the universal standard in advertising before the practice of unfettered data collection began over the last decade or so.

Apple directly calls out Facebook's advertising practices further in the letter after highlighting its own privacy-focused policies.

By contrast, Facebook and others have a very different approach to targeting. Not only do they allow the grouping of users into smaller segments, they use detailed data about online browsing activity to target ads. Facebook executives have made clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible across both first and third party products to develop and monetize detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products.

Apple's full letter is available to read below, and the missive concludes with a statement that Apple is looking forward to implementing the App Tracking Transparency feature. There is no timeline for when the functionality will be rolling out, however.

Update: In a statement provided to MacRumors, Facebook said that Apple's letter is a "distraction" away from Apple's own privacy issues. Facebook also said that Apple is using its dominant market position to self-preference data collection while making it nearly impossible for competitors to use the same data.

"Apple is being accused of monitoring and tracking people's private data from their personal computers without their customers' knowledge through its latest update to macOS - and today's letter is a distraction from that. They have a history of this. The same happened when it was revealed that Apple had violated people's privacy and allowed millions of people's private audio to be accessed without their knowledge through a vulnerability in FaceTime. In that instance, they enforced against our internal business apps to change the topic. Sadly, we're not perfect and it worked.

The truth is Apple has expanded its business into advertising and through its upcoming iOS14 changes is trying to move the free internet into paid apps and services where they profit. As a result, they are using their dominant market position to self-preference their own data collection while making it nearly impossible for their competitors to use the same data. They claim it's about privacy, but it's about profit. Don't take our word for it. Small business advocates are speaking up about the crushing effect this will have on small business's personalized advertising. As the Executive Vice President for Policy at the Interactive Advertising Bureau said today, 'Don't be fooled: the ad industry is still in a bind & Apple's chokehold on small business is still real...Sadly, for consumers & businesses, it'll change the rules of the game in its favor.' Indeed, we are not fooled. This is all part of a transformation of Apple's business away from innovative hardware products to data-driven software and media."

Apple today released iOS 14.2.1, a bug fix update that comes two weeks after the launch of iOS 14.2 and is available for Apple's new iPhone 12 models.

The iOS 14.2.1 update can be downloaded for free and it is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the new software, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 14.2.1 addresses several serious bugs that were found in the new ‌iPhone‌ 12 devices. It fixes a bug that caused some MMS text messages not to be received in both single person and group chats, and it fixes a bug that caused the Lock Screen of the iPhone 12 mini to become unresponsive.

It also includes a fix for Made for ‌iPhone‌ hearing devices that were experiencing sound quality issues. Apple's release notes are below.

iOS 14.2.1 addresses the following issues for your iPhone:
- Some MMS messages may not be received
- Made for iPhone hearing devices could have sound quality issues when listening to audio from iPhone
- Lock Screen could become unresponsive on iPhone 12 mini

There have been multiple complaints about all of these issues. For the ‌iPhone 12 mini‌, users were seeing problems when swiping up from the bottom of the Lock Screen or when pressing the flashlight or camera buttons.

The missing text messages primarily affected ‌iPhone‌ users who were in group chats with Android users, with the bug causing some Android text messages to fail to show up in the chat.

Apple did not acknowledge these problems, but there was a support document on the third issue, which was causing some people with Made for ‌iPhone‌ hearing aids and devices to experience unexpected noises like loud static or intermittent audio.

Apple is also testing iOS 14.3, and has seeded two betas of that update to developers so far. iOS 14.3 brings ProRAW functionality to the new iPhones and it also will introduce the Fitness+ service.

Google today announced that Stadia, its cloud gaming service, will be coming to iPhone and iPad in the near future through an upcoming web app. Since launch, Google has not been able to bring Stadia to iOS devices because of Apple's restrictions on cloud gaming services.

Apple in August said that cloud gaming services were allowed on the App Store, but that each individual game must be submitted to be reviewed by Apple's ‌App Store‌ team. Submitting hundreds of games to the ‌App Store‌ is so far not something any cloud gaming service has wanted to do, and those services are instead opting for web access.

Google is working on a progressive web version of Stadia that will run on Safari, and a public beta test will be available in the coming weeks.

Microsoft is also developing a web-based version of its xCloud gaming service, and Amazon's Luna game service works on iOS devices using the web browser. Just today, NVIDIA announced browser support for its streaming gaming service GeForce NOW, with plans to bring Fortnite back to iOS devices.

Google launched Stadia one year ago today, allowing subscribers to play cloud-based games on compatible laptops, PCs, Macs, phones, and tablets. Stadia requires an internet connection of 10Mb/s or more, and while it's free to use, games must be purchased. Google also offers Stadia Pro for $10 per month with access to some free games and higher resolution streaming rates.

According to Google, more than 80 games have been added to Stadia over the last year, and starting soon, Google will be offering free-to-play content even for non subscribers.

In a new interview for CNBC, The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern and Daring Fireball's John Gruber discussed their thoughts about Apple's transition to Apple Silicon with the M1 and showed a real-world comparison of the new MacBook Pro's 720p camera.

During the course of the interview, it became apparent that Gruber was using the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌'s built-in webcam, while Stern actively chose to use an external camera connected to the ‌M1‌ ‌MacBook Pro‌. The result is a clear comparison between the ‌MacBook Pro‌'s 720p camera and an external camera in a realistic video-call use-case.

Though it is clear that the cameras are different, the quality of the ‌MacBook Pro‌'s camera does seem to be a surprising step up from previous generations. This is likely because the ‌M1‌ chip's Image Signal Processor enables sharper images, as well as more detail in shadows and highlights on video calls.

In August, Apple upgraded the 27-inch iMac's camera from 720p to 1080p, but the new MacBook Air and ‌MacBook Pro‌ remained at 720p resolution.

Amid glowing reviews for the M1-powered Macs, the 720p camera was the most heavily maligned aspect of the new ‌MacBook Air‌ and ‌MacBook Pro‌. For example, The Verge's Nilay Patel said, "We really considered giving these machines 10 out of 10 review scores, but this camera is bad enough to keep that from happening, especially on a pro laptop that costs more than the Air."

Hyundai continues to expand wireless CarPlay and Android Auto to more of its vehicle models, including the 2021 Elantra, which began arriving to dealerships in the United States and Canada earlier this month. The new Elantra is available with up to two 10.25-inch displays — one for the digital cluster and one for infotainment options like wireless CarPlay.

Hyundai is also offering wireless CarPlay in 2021 models of the Tucson, Santa Fe, Venue, and Palisade, while Cadillac has introduced wireless CarPlay across virtually its entire 2021 vehicle lineup, as noted by Cadillac Society.

Wireless CarPlay works over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for the iPhone to be connected to the infotainment system with a Lightning cable. The wireless connectivity will soon become more important, as reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously claimed that Apple will introduce at least one high-end iPhone without a Lightning connector in 2021, resulting in the device being completely portless.

Apple has already started transitioning to a wireless ecosystem by removing the headphone jack on iPhones and subsequently releasing AirPods, introducing MagSafe wireless charging and accessories on iPhone 12 models, and so forth.

At this point, it's still unclear if or how a portless iPhone would work with vehicles that use wired CarPlay, beyond the use of aftermarket adapters that seem somewhat hacky and don't work in all vehicles. Apple may offer a solution when a portless iPhone becomes official, or it might come down to waiting for more automakers to adopt wireless CarPlay.

We've been tracking early Black Friday deals in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup, and in an effort to prepare our readers for the big shopping event we're highlighting sales store-by-store in the lead-up to November 27.

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

Next up on the list is Walmart, which has been holding numerous pre-Black Friday sales but as of yet had not shared its full plans for next week. Now, however, we have a clearer picture of all the deals you'll see if you choose to shop Walmart on November 27 (and 25 and 26).

Walmart's Black Friday Schedule

Just like Best Buy, all Walmart stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Walmart is encouraging shoppers to head to its online store on November 26 instead, with online sales officially kicking off November 25 at 7 p.m. ET. You can check out the Walmart Black Friday newspaper ad for more details.

• Wednesday, November 25 - Online sales start 7 p.m. ET
• Thursday, November 26 - Stores closed, online sales continue
• Friday, November 27 - Black Friday sales begin online at 12 a.m. ET, and in stores at 5 a.m. local time

Covid-19 Safety Efforts: Walmart will ask customers to form a single-file line for anyone who appears at a location before 5 a.m. on November 27. Associates and Walmart's "Health Ambassadors" will offer sanitized shopping carts and encourage social distancing practices, while also reminding customers to wear masks.

During any in-store Black Friday event, Walmart will meter customers into the store to help reduce congestion and promote social distancing once the store begins to fill up. There will also be specific traffic for shopping down the right-hand side of aisles to reduce clustering.

Walmart has been spreading out Black Friday deals all month among three major "Deals for Days" sales, and in this effort the retailer has hoped that its in-store shopping experience will be safer and more manageable this year. If you choose to order online, you can opt for delivery to your home or contactless curbside pickup as well.

Walmart Black Friday - Online shopping begins November 25

There are quite a few solid Apple-related deals that will appear at Walmart this year, including the lowest price we've ever seen on a new pair of AirPods Pro at $169. You should also keep an eye out for deals on Apple Watch Series 3 and Beats headphones.

Of course, it's not just Apple products being discounted at Walmart. You can also save on Vizio and Samsung 4K TV sets, video games, Fitbit products, Shark vacuums, Google Nest branded products, Roku streaming media players, and more.

Apple

• AirPods Pro - $169, down from $249
• Apple Watch Series 3 38mm GPS - $119, down from $179
• Apple Watch Series 3 42mm GPS - $149, down from $209
• Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones - $119, down from $179
• Powerbeats - $99, down from $149

TVs

• Vizio 70-inch 4K UHD SmartCast TV - $478, down from $660
• Samsung 58-inch 4K UHD Smart TV - $398, down from $450
• Samsung 65-inch 7000 4K Smart TV - $478, down from $528

Miscellaneous

• Fitbit Versa 2 - $129, down from $179
• Fitbit Inspire 2 - $69, ,down from $99
• Shark Self-Empty Navigation Robot Vacuum - $329, down from $399
• Google Nest Mini - $18.98, down from $30
• Google Nest Hub - $49.98, down from $89.98
• Roku SE - $17
• Honeywell Thermostat - $99, down from $149

Video Games

Walmart's Black Friday ad confirms that it will have stock for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on its website beginning Wednesday, November 25. These aren't being discounted, but it's worth noting when stock will return for the new generation of consoles if you haven't been able to secure an order yet this year.

Other video game offers include the popular Nintendo Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle that we're seeing at multiple retailers in 2020. This set includes the Nintendo Switch, a digital download of Mario Kart 8, and three months of Nintendo Switch Online at $299. Check out more video game deals below:

Game Subscriptions

• PlayStation Plus (12 Months) - $44.96, down from $60
• Xbox Ultimate Game Pass (3 Months) - $22.88, down from $45

$15 Games

• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Plants Vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville
• Borderlands 3
• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• God of War
• The Outer Worlds
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Destroy All Humans!
• Far Cry 5

$20 Games

• Days Gone
• Marvel's Spider-Man GOTY Edition
• Death Stranding
• Gears 5
• Team Sonic Racing
• Kingdom Hearts All-in-one Package
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy

$25 Games

• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Need For Speed: Heat
• Doom Eternal
• Mafia Definitive Edition
• Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
• Star Wars: Squadrons

$30 Games

• Luigi's Mansion 3
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
• New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe
• Yoshi's Crafted World
• Mario Tennis Aces
• Super Mario Maker 2
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
• Marvel's Avengers
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
• The Last of Us Part II
• Watch Dogs: Legion

To keep track of these Black Friday sales and more, head to our full Black Friday Roundup as well as our separate Deals Roundup.