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Hands on reviews with iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air, and AirPods Pro 3

Chance got review units of all the new phones, so we take the opportunity to talk about his hands-on experiences with iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air and the new AirPods Pro 3. Just how good is Apple’s new lineup? Also, Benjamin has eSIM woes in preparation of his iPhone Air delivery. 

And in Happy Hour Plus, we react to the initial impressions of iOS 26 now that the redesigned OS is available to a wider audience for the first time. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join.

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Deals: 32GB M4 MacBook Air, 24GB MacBook Pro, iPhone 15 Pro $330 off, Apple Qi2 MagSafe Charger 29% off, more

While we have already rounded up a giant collection of price drops live on Apple gear this week, alongside pre-order offers on the new AirPods Pro 3, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 3, there are some other more rare standout offers to discuss in today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break. Firstly let’s start off with MacBook – we spotted a very rare deal on the 12-/16-Core 24GB model (the most affordable 24GB/1TB M4 Pro you can buy) at $300 off as well as another option for a 32GB M4 MacBook Air at $200 off the list price. Those offers also join a now even lower price Apple’s new 2025 model 25W Qi2 MagSafe Charger at nearly 30% off and a Amazon Renewed Premium discount on the most most affordable iPhone 15 Pro at $430 less than iPhone 17. All of that sits alongside ongoing offers on Beats USB-C cables, Mac mini, and more down below. 

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Apple iPhone 17 pre-order deals-Apple Watch

Massive collection of Apple gear on sale this week: M4 MacBooks, Mac mini, iPad Air/mini, accessories, more

Pre-orders for iPhone 17 are about to come to a close ahead of delivery day tomorrow, alongside pre-sale listings on the new AirPods Pro 3, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and Apple Watch Series 11, but there are a ton of notable deals live right now across the Apple lineup. From M4 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models through to M4 Mac mini, we are also tracking solid price drops across the M3 iPad Air and iPad mini lineups, not to mention some notable accessory offers – Apple’s new 2025 model 25W Qi2 MagSafe Charger, and more. Everything has been collected for you down below.

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iOS 26 has a new full-screen UI when you take a screenshot on your iPhone, here’s how to change it back

The new iOS 26 software update for iPhone introduces a new full-screen preview experience when taking a screenshot. This includes some new visual lookup functionality, but it also can be a bit annoying if you just want to capture something for later and get on with what are you doing.

iOS 18 and earlier would simply show a small unobtrusive thumbnail of the screenshot in the corner of the screen. Thankfully, this behavior is still possible on iOS 26 as well. Here’s how to change it back.

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A rare look inside Apple’s AirPods testing and refinement labs

A rare look inside the Apple audio lab used to test and refine AirPods | Fantasia Studio shown

Apple runs literally thousands of tests while validating, tuning, and refining AirPods in a facility which includes mini recording studios with real instruments.

One tech writer got a rare tour of the facility, which is even home to a large vintage hi-fi setup donated to an earlier generation of Apple audio engineers by Steve Jobs

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iOS 26 can notify you when your AirPods case is running out of battery

Your AirPods and AirPods Pro are getting even better with iOS 26. As well as new features like camera remote and sleep detection to pause media, Apple is also improving the charging experience.

With the new update, your iPhone can automatically remind you when your AirPods are running out of juice. These alerts can show even when your AirPods are not currently in your ears, but stored in their case, that is running low on battery. This is perhaps relevant for the new AirPods Pro 3, which have a smaller case battery size than the previous generation.

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