9to5Mac

It’s a big day for Apple, as the company marks 50 years since its founding. To celebrate, you can find a great set of wallpapers made by Basic Apple Guy featuring Apple’s 50th anniversary artwork.

Apple has added the plain M5 MacBook Pro to its refurbished store for a discounted price. However, the base storage change from last month means the value compared to new discounted hardware might not be as competitive as usual.

The long-awaited AirPods Max 2 are finally here. Below you’ll find a comparison of all the differences between AirPods Max 2 and the previous AirPods Max models with both USB-C and Lightning.

iOS 26.4 arrived last week, and with it Reminders got three improvements that make the app’s recently added urgent task feature easier to use. Here’s how.

This story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

Aluminum was once a cheap metal to consumers, primarily used in soda cans, kitchen foil, cookware, and window frames. It also lived a double life as an industrial material used in aerospace. It was simultaneously a disposable commodity in everyday products and an engineering marvel that helped get humans to the moon.

That is of course until Apple decided to make aluminum their signature material, in the blink of an eye aluminum became a consumer luxury the second Steve Jobs revealed the 12” and 17″ PowerBook G4s in 2003. What followed was 23 years of ultra premium aluminum devices that completely changed the way we live.

Apple’s 50th anniversary celebration continues, this time with a fascinating new video from The Wall Street Journal.

In the video, WSJ columnist Ben Cohen to takes a walk down memory lane alongside Tim Cook, including rare Apple prototypes and other archival material that even Cook himself had never seen before.

“A lot of this I’ve seen for the first time in preparing for the 50th anniversary,” Cook said.

Apple shipped new AirTag firmware yesterday, the first update since AirTag 2 launched earlier this year. And now thanks to official release notes, we know that the new firmware improves AirTag’s anti-stalking feature.

As promised, Apple has released a new version of iOS 18 for all iPhone users. The update comes in response to the growing proliferation of a new exploit chain known as DarkSword.

Today’s update comes in the form of a new build of iOS 18.7.7 with build number 22H340 for all iPhone models.

This story is part of 9to5mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

April 1, 1976: 50 years ago, Apple was founded. 40 years later, to the date, I was a 25-year-old embarking on a health and fitness journey, and Apple was right at the core.

April 1, 2016: I started an Apple Watch workout streak that helped guide me to running. I’d never run in my life at 25, but I started closing rings on my watch with a used elliptical at home. By fall, I was running, and by New Year’s Day, I had lost 50 pounds.

April 1, 2017: I ran my first-ever 5K race. It was the “2017 Superintendent’s 5K Challenge: A Race for Education” in Miami, Florida. My 3.1-mile run time clocked in at 26 minutes 46 seconds with an 8-minute, 36-seconds pace per mile. I ranked 151 out of 2231 participants.

CarPlay in iOS 26.4 unlocked access to a new category of apps: third-party AI assistants like ChatGPT, which just shipped its new CarPlay app yesterday. Here’s why these new apps offer a glimpse at what to expect from iOS 27 and the new Siri.

It makes sense that Apple TV 4K customers are vocal about the lack of new hardware. The current set-top box, introduced in 2022, runs the risk of breaking a record no one wants to see happen.

This story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

In 1994 Steve Jobs sat down with the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association for what I imagined they expected to be a simple interview. It was anything but. In a matter of a few minutes the Apple co-founder shared some of the most profound advice I have ever heard anyone in a position of power give.

As part of Apple’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Esquire for an in-depth conversation. In the interview, Cook discussed his memory of Steve Jobs, remarking that Apple is “definitely still his company.”

Cook also once again discussed his strategy for interacting with the Trump administration and politicians around the world.

The iPhone Fold is coming later this year, with all the obvious foldable design basics like a hinge, folding display, and more. But rumors indicate the iPhone Fold will also have several unique design features that are firsts for Apple beyond these basics. Here’s what’s coming.

This story is part of 9to5mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

On Apple’s 50th anniversary, it’s somewhat worrying that I’m old enough to have been an Apple guy almost from the very start. The above photo shows the OG me with the OG Macintosh in 1984. Oh, and a rotary-dial telephone just to complete the museum exhibit look.

I never used an Apple I, but I did use an Apple II fairly extensively – and I’ve been a Mac guy literally from day one. So of all the Apple products I’ve used over the years, which ones stand out for me … ?

Apple issued a rare price drop on an existing product with the VESA mount adapter version of the Studio Display XDR. It turns out customers who already spent the full original price will receive a refund.

iOS 27’s biggest changes are reportedly going to focus on overhauling Siri with new features and expanding Apple’s assistant in key ways. And though the wait for an all-new Siri has been long, the coming changes sound very exciting.

This story is part of 9to5Mac’s series celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary.

It’s hard to put into words what Apple means to me. I know it’s odd to hear anyone say that a corporation “means” anything to them. But Apple’s not just a company, it’s an idea cooked up by two crazy ones in a garage 50 years ago.

It’s been a driving force in my life since I was conscious enough to know what a computer was. Apple taught me from a very young age to be curious not just about technology, but about everything.

There are 100s of different docking stations and USB-C hubs for your Mac mini. They all tend to look and do roughly the same thing: they add a variety of additional ports to your Mac. So when I saw this retro Macintosh-inspired docking station that not only adds ports to your Mac mini but also a display and perfectly slides on top of it, I knew I had to check it out. Late last year, I reviewed the Kickstarter version and loved it, but now it’s officially available everywhere, and they added an even better and faster 80Gbps version. Here is what you need to know.

Apple’s 50th birthday is also the official release date for one new Apple product: AirPods Max 2. Apple announced the new headphones in March before opening pre-orders and quoting deliveries on April 1. AirPods Max 2 can be purchased at Apple Store locations starting today as well.