Deals: iPhone 17 series on sale, OLED-packing iPad mini and touch-enabled MacBook Pro launch

Taking a look at the non-folding smartphone segment, the current market features the standard Apple iPhone 17 as a solid middle ground for consumers. With the vanilla iPhone 18 still several months away from hitting shelves, the iPhone 17 remains the primary baseline offering for those who prefer a traditional slab form factor. Discounts on Apple’s core products are historically rare, making a noticeable €180 price cut on the base 256GB variant a welcome surprise for buyers. However, consumers stepping up to the 512GB storage tier will still find the capacity upgrade to carry a hefty price tag, keeping storage tier calculations a critical part of the purchasing decision.

Occupying the same hardware generation as the baseline 17 is the Apple iPhone Air, a device that carves out a distinct niche through its deliberate physical compromises. The Air steps up to a larger 6.5-inch display compared to the 6.3-inch panel found on the standard iPhone 17, yet it manages to feel smaller in hand thanks to an impressively thin 5.6mm profile versus the 8mm thickness of the vanilla model. It is also lighter, tipping the scales at 165 grams compared to 177 grams. On the other hand, the Air is roughly 3mm wider at 74.7mm against 71.5mm, leaving it up to individual user preference whether extra screen estate or easier one-handed handling takes priority.

Battery endurance is another point of divergence. Driven by a relatively compact 3,149mAh battery, the iPhone Air trails behind the standard model in longevity, registering an Active Use Score of 12 hours and 44 minutes compared to the vanilla phone’s 14 hours and 59 minutes. Under the hood, the Air relies on a specialized variant of the Apple A19 Pro chipset that yields a slight performance advantage in select benchmark tests. Photography enthusiasts will also note a major hardware distinction: the Air features only a single 48MP wide module utilizing a 1/1.56-inch sensor, whereas the vanilla iPhone 17 includes both the main sensor and an additional 48MP 120-degree ultra-wide camera. Because the Air commands a lower price point than the vanilla model—particularly when factoring in storage requirements—comparing the two remains an essential exercise for prospective buyers.

Stepping further up the ladder, the iPhone 17 Pro introduces multiple substantial upgrades over the baseline configuration. It houses a fully-fledged A19 Pro chipset complete with a 6-core GPU, bypassing the 5-core variant found in the Air, alongside increased RAM and a dedicated 48MP telephoto camera equipped with a 4x 100mm optical lens and professional-grade video tools. Interestingly, the newly released iPhone 18 Pro offers a relatively modest array of upgrades over its 17 Pro predecessor, with the inclusion of the immensely powerful A20 Pro chipset standing out as the marquee improvement.

For users prioritizing maximum screen real estate, the iPhone 17 Pro Max remains a viable alternative to the standard 6.3-inch Pro models, offering a sprawling 6.9-inch display. At the same time, market analysts note that the newer iPhone 18 Pro Max delivers a significantly more comprehensive generational leap over the 2025 model, a factor that may make the extra financial investment in the latest Pro Max easier for consumers to justify. Meanwhile, pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max largely holds firm at MSRP, save for a modest €70 discount currently applied to the 512GB storage configuration of the Pro.

Beyond the smartphone market, Apple has turned its attention to refreshing its compact tablet lineup with a heavily anticipated overhaul of the iPad mini. Arriving two years after its predecessor, the latest iPad mini marks a historic milestone for the product line by introducing an OLED display for the first time. The new model expands the panel slightly to 8.5 inches, up from the 8.3-inch LCD screen found on the older generation. Adding to the display’s appeal, Apple is offering an optional nano-texture glass coating for the 256GB and 512GB storage variants, though this finish commands an additional €130 charge.

Early Geekbench benchmark results indicate that the new device, powered by the Apple A20 Pro chipset paired with 12GB of RAM, edges out the larger iPad Pro models in single-threaded processing tasks by roughly 8 percent. However, due to having a fewer number of overall cores, the M5-powered iPad Pros maintain a commanding 53 percent lead in multi-threaded workloads. By comparison, Apple’s M4-powered iPad Air tablets trail behind the new mini in both single-threaded and multi-threaded performance metrics.

Consumers weighing their options can still purchase the previous iPad mini from 2024 at a lower price point, though the actual cost savings may not fully compensate for the generational hardware gap. The 2026 iteration is noticeably sleeker, measuring 5.4mm in thickness compared to 6.3mm, and lighter at 255 grams versus 293 grams. This reduction in physical dimensions is achieved despite a negligible drop in battery capacity, moving from 5,078mAh down to 4,900mAh.

Performance-wise, the architectural leap of the A20 Pro—manufactured on an advanced 2-nanometer process—is expected to easily eclipse the capabilities of the 2024 model’s 3-nanometer A17 Pro chip. Prospective buyers should note that both generations share a 60Hz refresh rate ceiling for their displays, meaning neither model offers high refresh rate technology. However, durability sees a meaningful upgrade in the newest revision, with the 2026 iPad mini securing an official IP67 water and dust resistance rating, a specification entirely absent from its 2024 predecessor. For those considering alternative tablet form factors, the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air models from earlier in the year remain available, offering traditional IPS LCD panels capped at a standard 60Hz refresh rate while frequently undercutting the new OLED mini in baseline pricing.

Rounding out the week’s hardware announcements, Apple has officially unveiled its new MacBook Pro models featuring an advanced PROLED XDR display. This release marks a monumental technological shift for the laptop line, introducing not only the first OLED screen to a MacBook—utilizing a high-performance 120Hz Tandem OLED panel—but also the first touch-enabled display interface in the company’s portable computer history. Visually, the traditional display notch has been eliminated and replaced by a Dynamic Island interface, though it houses only a camera module rather than hardware-based Face ID authentication. Most impressively, these M5 Pro and M5 Max driven machines manage to shed between 200 and 300 grams compared to their non-touch predecessors, depending on the specific model configurations being compared, though these engineering feats come paired with a substantial bump in pricing.