Apple is in its affordability era

Side by side photos of Apple's iPhone 17e and the MacBook Neo.

Brenda Stolyar/NYT Wirecutter

Today, Apple announced the cheapest MacBook ever and a $600 entry-level iPhone. All week, Apple has rolled out a slew of new products, and the marquee devices are the most inexpensive ones yet. It may be a nod toward attempting to combat what’s ahead: Tech, thanks to AI, getting more and more expensive.

To get an early sense of whether these products actually work (or if Apple cut too many corners to get these prices) our experts got their hands on the new cheap(ish) phones, laptops, tablets, and more.

Our first impressions→

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What’s new at Wirecutter

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Protect your giftee’s hands through life’s tougher moments→

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Perfect, monogrammed pillowcases

And, more great gifts→

Your daily deal: A darling berry charm

Posh Tech

This leather strawberry charm is a cute way to store a (famously ugly) Apple AirTag. Just tuck the tracker within, and clip it to your purse, keys, or whatever else you want to keep tabs on. It’d make a great, just-because gift for the person in your life who tends to misplace things.

We found it for $18 today→

One last thing: “I Bricked my phone for 2 weeks. My brain feels much better.”

A composite image shows two screens from the "Brick" app. On the left, text reads, "You've turned Instagram off"; on the right, a hand holds a phone with the app's timer.

Source photos by NYT Wirecutter, Brick

For one Wirecutter writer, whose screentime was once nearly eight hours a day, this app-blocking device freed her up to start new hobbies, rediscover old TV, declutter her coat closet, and more.

“After just two weeks, I feel my attention span regenerating”→

Thanks for reading.

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