Hundreds of enthusiastic customers formed long queues at Apple’s flagship store in Beijing on Friday, a strong visual signal that the new iPhone 17 series is off to a promising start in the critically important Chinese market. The launch day crowds, mirrored in other major cities globally, suggest the device’s first major redesign in years has successfully captured consumer attention and could help reverse Apple’s recent slump in the region.

Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 17 launch day has been clouded by a growing number of reports from early buyers and journalists noting cosmetic damage on brand-new devices. The deep blue variant of the iPhone 17 Pro and the black version of the iPhone 17 Air are reportedly showing scuffs and scratches with surprising ease, in some cases straight out of the box or after only a few hours on display at Apple Stores.

Apple increases iPhone 17 production after strong pre-orders, as consumer demand shifts toward the base model over Pro and Air.

A site called “Coupon Boomer” has been circulating dramatic claims like “iPhone 17 student 95% off.” Security researchers say the site’s “codes” are bogus and are used to funnel people through tasks and “verifications” that make money for the operators, not to unlock Apple discounts. Avoid entering emails, payment details, or ID info.

On the 17 Pro line, Apple uses the space freed up by removing the SIM tray to fit a slightly larger battery in eSIM-only units. The gain is around 5–7% capacity, which can translate into a modest bump in runtime. Earlier iPhones (14–16) didn’t get bigger batteries in the U.S.; this appears to be new with the 17 Pro generation.

With the release of iOS 26, Apple has unlocked a powerful new set of features for Powerbeats Pro 2 owners, transforming the popular earbuds into a capable, standalone fitness tracker. A companion firmware update rolling out now allows the earbuds to send live workout data directly to the Apple Fitness app, removing the need for an Apple Watch to track key health metrics during exercise.

Apple updates Final Cut Pro, Compressor, and Motion with ProRes RAW controls and performance improvements for Mac and iPad.

Apple releases Final Cut Camera 2.0 with ProRes RAW, genlock, Apple Log 2, and expanded iPhone 17 Pro filmmaking features.