Michael is 9to5Mac’s Associate Editor, leading all of our Apple news coverage on Saturday and Sunday, and contributing to reporting from Monday to Wednesday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and started the weekly Indie App Spotlight series, which has covered dozens of indie apps since it launched.
In the era of Apple Silicon, MacBooks are more affordable than ever. Nowadays, you can buy a MacBook Air with 512GB of storage and 16GB of memory for $1099 directly from Apple, when such a configuration would’ve cost $1599 just a few years ago. And on top of that, we have MacBook Neo bringing the entry-point down substantially.
Even with Apple’s prices coming down though, there’s still a number of deals to be found out there if you look just a little.
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When Apple initially rolled out Apple Intelligence, the company was pretty openly against the idea of creating a Siri chatbot. Now, things have changed a little – and the company is rumored to be deploying a Siri app in iOS 27, so users can chat with the next generation of Apple Foundation Models. While that’s a great starting point, I think theres a better idea to be tapped into here.
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Later this year, Apple is set to debut its first MacBook Pro redesign since 2021. With that redesign, we’re expecting OLED, touch displays, M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, a Dynamic Island cutout, and much more.
There’s another big detail about these new MacBook Pro models, and I’m much more excited for that change.
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According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple Stores are currently facing inventory shortages for three key products: HomePod, HomePod mini, and Apple TV 4K. This isn’t necessarily a sign of an imminent update, though it is worth noting the latter two products are due for a refresh.
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As part of Apple’s week of product announcements earlier this month, many were hoping to see an update to Apple’s cheapest iPad, alongside iPad Air, MacBook Neo, and the other MacBook refreshes. However, the whole week came and went – with no new base iPad.
Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has a launch update – and the product is still on track to launch relatively soon.
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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
Tasks, a very popular productivity app for the Apple ecosystem – just got a massive new update with support for loads of App Intents, an all new interface, as well as automations to help you manage your tasks. We covered Tasks when it initially launched back in 2020, and this week’s new update is a major one.
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As someone who bought my first Mac in 2019 as a young student without much money of my own, the MacBook Neo is incredibly inspiring. When the M4 Mac mini came out towards the end of 2024, I had already felt quite strongly about its potential for inspiring young creatives – and the MacBook Neo takes that much further.
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In just a few months, Apple is expected to unveil its latest round of operating systems: iOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and so on. Previous reports on iOS 27 have heavily focused on how this years operating systems should focus more on performance improvements and overall stability.
In today’s Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that we probably won’t see any serious changes to Liquid Glass, though there could still be some minor ones.
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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
iPhone cameras have come a long way over the years, but if you find yourself yearning for more of a classy, filmic look versus the computational photography of today, Kiosk 27 might be a fun fit for you.
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Ever since the announcement of the $599 MacBook Neo over a week ago, I’ve been wondering: does this destroy the value proposition of other non-Pro laptops in Apple’s lineup? It’s a rather interesting question, because even at its incredibly affordable price point, MacBook Neo still manages to feel quite premium.
After actually trying out the laptop after its launch on Wednesday, I find myself even more perplexed on how this thing fits in Apple’s lineup – but not in a bad way.
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Apple today held an impromptu 50th anniversary celebration at its Grand Central store, featuring renowned artist Alicia Keys. This is the first of many that’ll take place around the world, and Apple Grand Central was just the kickoff! I had the honor of getting to attend the performance, and I’ll be sharing all of my photos here.
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With the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple introduced a new 3D-printing manufacturing process for the titanium shell – allowing the company to save on raw materials, improve on cost, and use 100% recycled titanium powder. The company also uses 3D printing for the titanium version of the Apple Watch Series 11, as well as the USB-C port on iPhone Air.
Now, the company is looking to expand that process to aluminum – allowing most Apple Watch shells to be 3D printed. Further ahead, it may even come to the iPhone, per Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter.
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This week, Apple unveiled a plethora of new Macs with M5 chips – and it revealed an interesting new trend. More base storage, but at slightly higher prices. This impacted the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
At the moment, M4 versions of the Mac mini, Mac Studio, and iMac still remain with their old pricing lineup – but that’s likely to change with the M5 lineup.
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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
Weather mini is a nicely designed weather app for the entire Apple ecosystem that adds a couple key features that Apple Weather misses. You can plan out trips, chat with the on-device Apple Intelligence model for forecasts, and it even includes a fully featured Apple Watch app.
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Apple just wrapped up a very exciting week of announcements – starting off with iPhone 17e, and ending with MacBook Neo. While we did get 7 new products this week, theres still a fair bit in the pipeline for the near future. We’ll be delving into those.
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As early as tomorrow, Apple will be unveiling its highly anticipated low-cost MacBook. It’ll be powered by an A18 Pro chip, offer a slightly smaller display, but still hit on all of the core Mac features people know and love.
The biggest point of debate has been the price point. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple believes it’ll be an ‘incredible value,’ and may even convince a lot of Windows and Chromebook users to switch.
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As soon as next week, Apple is set to unveil its cheapest MacBook to date. It’ll be powered by an A18 Pro chip, offer a 12.9-inch display, and come in a plethora of colors. It’ll also have a couple key compromises to bring it down to a lower starting price. That raises the question: will it be worth it compared to the MacBook Air?
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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
If you’re someone who spends a lot of time on their Mac, you might often find yourself wanting to control one of your lights, thermostats, or just check on your camera. At the same time, you might not love Apple’s Home app.
Itsyhome adds all of the home controls you’ll need to your Mac’s menu bar – and it isn’t even HomeKit exclusive. It also supports Home Assistant, and has loads of useful features under the hood.
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One of the core Apple Intelligence features to date has been Visual Intelligence. It started off in a rather limited capacity through Camera Control, but with iOS 26, the company expanded it to screenshots. I’ve found those capabilities very useful thus far, and I’d love to see Apple take it even further.
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iPhone 18 Pro is still well over half a year away. Nonetheless, we have some interesting new color rumors for the upcoming new iPhone model, and Apple may finally be doing something users have wanted for ages – a red ‘Pro’ iPhone. iPhone Fold, on the other hand, might not have any flashy color choices.
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Last week, Apple announced a special Apple experience in various cities around the globe – taking place on March 4th. While this is unlikely to be a traditional Apple event, theres still ‘at least’ five new products set to launch at this event, per Bloomberg.
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First unveiled at CES 2025 over a year ago, MOFT’s beloved MagSafe wallet with kickstand now comes with a much needed feature: Find My integration. After loads of delays, the product is now finally available for purchase.
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Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.
If you’re a heavy investor, you might find yourself having accounts across various brokerages. Or, perhaps, you only invest with one brokerage but you find their app interface very ugly. Summit solves both of these problems, providing a clean all-in-one interface for tracking all of your investments across Apple devices.
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Once again, Apple has dropped a limited time Apple Card offer for new users who choose to sign up. Traditionally, the Apple Card does not offer a sign up bonus, so this is worth looking into.
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