Apple Discounts Products in China Amid Fierce Competition
Apple has announced rare direct discounts on its flagship iPhone models and other products in China, signaling an effort to counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand in one of its largest markets.
Between January 4 and January 7, Apple will provide discounts of up to 500 yuan (approximately $68) on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models through its website and Apple Stores in mainland China. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models will be discounted by 400 yuan, while iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models will receive markdowns of up to 300 yuan. Other products, including the MacBook Air, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Pencil, will also see price reductions, with the MacBook Air eligible for a discount of up to 800 yuan. The promotional items are available in limited quantities, with only 29,300 iPhones included in the sale. The promotion is tied to specific payment methods, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.
Apple rarely offers direct discounts on its latest products, particularly its flagship iPhone models. Such promotions are usually handled by third-party retailers in China, especially during major shopping events like Singles Day, when platforms like Alibaba's Tmall and Pinduoduo slash prices to drive sales. For instance, during the last Singles Day shopping festival in November, iPhone 16 models were discounted by as much as 1,600 yuan on Tmall. The timing of the latest promotion comes as Apple faces heightened competition from Huawei and other Chinese brands, although the company did offer a similar promotion last year.
Popular Stories
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
In his Powe...
Apple today confirmed to Reuters that it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup that is working on artificial intelligence technology for audio.
Apple paid close to $2 billion for Q.ai, according to sources cited by the Financial Times. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone and audio brand Beats in 2014.
Q.ai has...
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models.
"All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
Apple recently updated its online store with a new ordering process for Macs, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
There used to be a handful of standard configurations available for each Mac, but now you must configure a Mac entirely from scratch on a feature-by-feature basis. In other words, ordering a new Mac now works much like ordering an...
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today.
"I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
