Apple is planning to offer some kind of holiday App Store promotion that may see the company giving away free apps and games.
In Australia, where it is December 24, App Store users are waking up to an App Store story that mentions a "surprise" for Tuesday and explains that users can expect a treat every day from December 24 to December 29.
Tuesday's surprise isn't live yet, but it will be shortly! Make sure you come back soon to check it out.
Have you seen today's goodies? Look for the unwrapped presents on the App Store's Today, Games, and Apps tabs.
From December 24 to 29, you'll find a new surprise every day on the App Store. Come back daily to discover which treat we have waiting for you!
The wording of the story suggests that Apple is planning to give away free apps and games in a promotion similar to the 12 Days of Christmas promotion that the company used to run several years back.
We don't know yet what app or game Apple plans to give away on December 24, but we should find out soon from Australian users. App Store users in other countries like the United States can expect to see the same promotions when December 24 rolls around.
Update 10:39 a.m.: The surprises have gone live in New Zealand, and MacRumors readers tonyduffe and @Ldeverell report that the deals include a special in-app purchase bundle Looney Tunes World of Mayhem and a three-month subscription for the price of one month in Canva. We'll have to see if offers are the same around the world.
Update 2: Based on reader reports, the daily surprises appear to only be available in Australia and New Zealand, with a subset of them also seen in India.
Apple today announced it will be permanently closing three retail stores in the U.S. in June, including Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut, Apple North County in Escondido, California, and Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland.
Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland
Apple issued the following statement to MacRumors:At Apple, we are constantly striving to deliver exceptional service...
The all-new MacBook Neo has been such a hit that Apple is facing a "massive dilemma," according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan.
In the iPhone 16 Pro models, the A18 Pro chip has a 6-core GPU. During the chip manufacturing process, however, sometimes a CPU or GPU core can turn out to be faulty. Rather than discarding the leftover A18 Pro chips with...
Wednesday April 8, 2026 7:17 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today released a minor iOS 26.4.1 update for the iPhone 11 and newer. While the release notes for the update only mention unspecified "bug fixes," we have since learned about two specific changes that are included in it.
First, 9to5Mac spotted an Apple Developer Forums thread suggesting that iOS 26.4.1 fixes an iOS 26.4 bug that affected iCloud syncing in some apps.
Second, an...
Apple appears to be quietly updating some apps, based on curious new update notes that have appeared on the App Store.
Over the last week, some app updates have included notes that suggest the update is coming from Apple rather than an app developer. "This update from Apple will improve the functionality of this app. No new features are included," reads the description.
Some of the apps...
Apple plans to ask the United States Supreme Court to weigh in on the App Store fee restrictions and contempt of court ruling levied against it in the ongoing Epic Games vs. Apple legal battle.
In a filing on April 3 (via TechCrunch), Apple asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to hold off on a plan that would see the U.S. Northern District of California decide on a reasonable commission...
As of April 1, payment processing is no longer available for purchases made across the App Store and other Apple services in Russia, according to Apple.
In a new support document, Apple said new purchases, in-app purchases, and subscription renewals are no longer available in Russia unless a user already has funds in their Apple Account balance, which can continue to be used.
This change...
