As first noted by The Verge, a number of popular paid App Store apps have been discounted to free for the first time in their histories today.
While no specific announcement regarding the sales has been given, Wednesday marks the App Store's fifth anniversary and it is possible that Apple will be rolling out a special promotion in honor of the occasion. With no additional information available, it is currently unknown how long these sales will last.
Last week, Apple sent out commemorative posters to members of the media in celebration of the App Store's fifth anniversary, and less than two months ago Apple celebrated 50 billion downloads since the store's opening.
Update: Apple has now officially launched its "5 Years of the App Store" promotion [App Store link] featuring the above apps.
From the 500 apps available at launch in 2008 to the more than 900,000 at your fingertips today, it's been a remarkably prolific five years for the App Store. To celebrate, we're giving everyone five landmark games and five groundbreaking apps for a limited time. Plus, look back at the key moments that have made the App Store the world's most innovative destination for apps.
The feature also includes a timeline of milestones similar to that seen on the promotional posters sent to members of the media last week.
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important.
Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped.
The new ...
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year.
Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device.
The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...
Can't complain about free stuff. But I bet you someone will..
Oh my God, free stuff? First Apple screw us over by releasing new products, rendering my OLD 2005 PowerBook G4 COMPLETELY obsolete :mad: Then they discount products that I paid for ages ago because I enjoyed them, and made them free? :mad: They should keep everything expensive for everybody else so I don't feel bad about my purchases. :mad:
Honestly, Apple's completely gone downhill since Steve died. Steve would never have allowed this. Tim Cook is a rubbish CEO. Apple should start innovating rather than spending their time in courtrooms. iOS 7 looks like it was designed by a child with crayons, whilst wearing oven gloves. Android rocks, Apple are just copying. Apple are doomed. /s
I think that's pretty much covered everything guys ;)
Just in case people are not aware, you can purchase the free app(s) on your iDevice and delete the app(s) while they are still downloading. This way you can just purchase the app for future use and not have it installed right away. Also by deleting while it's still downloading, you don't have to wait until it finishes (which is useful for larger apps). You just delete them like you normally do with any other app.
As first noted by The Verge, a number of popular paid App Store apps have been discounted to free for the first time in their histories today.
