GoKawiil
Tech News
Amazon has cut the price of Apple's AirPods Pro 3 to $199, a $50 discount off the $249 list price, as part of its Labor Day sale event. The retailer is also running an all-time-low deal on AirTag 2 at $20 each, restocking refurbished M5 MacBook Air units, and offering pre-order discounts on the new M6 Mac mini alongside cheap Apple accessories starting at $5.50.
Acer has introduced the Swift Blade 14, a 799-gram, carbon-fiber-bodied laptop measuring as thin as 12.95mm, positioning it as a lighter alternative to Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air. The device will ship with Intel's Wildcat Lake processors ranging from a five-core Core 3 to a six-core Core 7, paired with 12GB of RAM, along with either a basic LCD or optional OLED display. Acer also announced the Swift Air 16, a larger companion to the budget-friendly Swift Air 14, though pricing for both new models won't be revealed until closer to their December launch.
Best Buy's Labor Day sale is offering unlocked iPhone Air models at $150 off, with open-box units discounted up to $359. Meanwhile, Amazon has cut iPhone 17 Pro prices by up to $285, and Apple's refurb store is briefly offering a 16GB/1TB M5 MacBook Air configuration for $240 off before stock likely runs out.
Apple advises keeping Mac laptops in ambient temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, warning explicitly against leaving them in parked cars. That ambient limit refers to surrounding air, not the surface temperature a MacBook can reach when sitting in direct sunlight, which Apple doesn't separately quantify. Prolonged exposure above 95 degrees can permanently shrink battery capacity, with charging in such heat causing further damage.
Following the M6 Mac mini launch, Apple is reportedly planning to bring the M6 chip to the base 14-inch MacBook Pro and iMac this fall, with the M6 iPad Pro and MacBook Air expected in spring 2027. Pro and Max chip variants will skip M6 entirely, jumping straight to M7 Pro and M7 Max in 2027, while a rumored MacBook Ultra will instead use M5 Pro and M5 Max silicon.
Apple has rolled out 11 new hardware products through 2026, starting with a second-generation AirTag in January and continuing through a dense March launch that included the iPhone 17e, M4 iPad Air, updated MacBook Air and Pro, new Studio Displays, the budget MacBook Neo, and AirPods Max 2. In August, Apple added updated Mac mini and Mac Studio models built around its new M6 chip, with faster storage, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.
Apple recently raised MacBook prices industry-wide due to a memory shortage, making its laptops less of a bargain than they were weeks ago. Still, retailers continue offering discounts on both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models, while the budget-friendly MacBook Neo remains at its $699 price with no retail discounts, though Apple's refurbished store offers $100-120 off with a full warranty.
WIRED's laptop docking station roundup adds several alternative picks beyond its main recommendations, including the $200 Baseus Spacemate Air 12-in-1, the $300 Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock, and the $200 Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Slim Pro Hub. Each option targets a different need, from dual 4K display support on older MacBooks to a minimalist three-port Thunderbolt 4 setup for decluttered desks.