Apple Celebrates U.S. National Parks With Apple Pay Donations, Apple Watch Challenge, and More

Apple today announced that it is celebrating 106 years of the U.S. National Park Service with donations for purchases and ways to learn about and support America's parks.

Apple national parks 2022 Mesa Verde Conservation
Starting today, Apple is donating $10 to the National Park Foundation for every Apple Pay purchase on apple.com, the Apple Store app, or at an ‌Apple Store‌ in the U.S. Last year, Apple's support for the National Park Foundation helped young people participate in a service corps program at national parks.

As part of the celebration, Apple is showcasing relevant content and educational resources across its services, such as a curated Native American history guide in Apple Maps and collections of episodes centering on Indigenous voices in the Podcasts app.

Apple Watch users can earn a limited edition National Parks Activity Challenge award later this week. On August 27, users can earn the award by completing a hike, walk, run, or wheelchair workout of a mile or more.

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
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 ...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
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 ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
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...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
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...
Apple Foldable Thumb

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far. Ove...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
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...
iOS 26

Apple This November: iOS 26.2 Beta, Rumored New Products, and More

Thursday October 30, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
Tomorrow is Halloween, and then November is upon us. Below, we outline what to expect from Apple next month, as the slower holiday season approaches. Apple is expected to kick off November by releasing iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, tvOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1. With beta testing now wrapped up, the updates will likely be released this Monday, November 3 or Tuesday,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
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...

Top Rated Comments

BWhaler Avatar
42 months ago
Wonderful.

National Parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst. — Wallace Stegner
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ILoveCalvinCool Avatar
42 months ago

....I don't know what to tell you. It is so slimy.
Brother, there are slimier things out there than a large donation to national parks. All charitable contributions are tax-deductible. This doesn't make charitable giving suspect in and of itself. Apple could have donated to a lot of things. Find something else to complain about.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheColtr Avatar
42 months ago

Go find another way to defend Apple blindly. Tell me how they have donated to a cause that wasn't a PR move or a tax write off. I'm waiting....
Just because Apple, or anyone, benefits from a donation doesn’t make the donation a net bad. The reason for tax deductions is to encourage people and companies to donate to causes that are for the public good.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Channan Avatar
42 months ago

All the dislikes lol. If you can't see that this is them trying to push sales for the store AND Apple Pay and at the same time claim a tax write off at your expense.....I don't know what to tell you. It is so slimy. They get to triple dip:

1) Sales of products
2) Apple Pay transaction fees
2a) Potential Apple Card fees
3) Tax write off

I am all for the national parks....but let's not pretend this is Apple doing a nice thing.
Tax write off at our expense? Money back on write offs is never more than the amount donated. So even if it means Apple pays less in taxes, it doesn’t mean they’re coming out with more money in the end.

Plus, it’s far better than a lot of these other businesses that just ask their customers to donate money when they make a purchase. Now that’s slimy.

Also, sure it gives them good PR, but how many people do you think are going to make a purchase now that weren’t already going to before this?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svish Avatar
42 months ago
The Apple watch challenge on 27th might be available only in the US!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
42 months ago

.....I don't know what to tell you. It is so slimy.
...
I am all for the national parks....but let's not pretend this is Apple doing a nice thing.
So, I presume you will be donating a larger amount of money to National Parks than Apple does?

Find some other way to complain about Apple.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)