Apple iPhone 18 Pro and new Macs reach stores as Sonos launches Ace Ultra and Beam Ultra

Apple’s post-Labor Day hardware lineup is now available through retail and carrier channels, bringing the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch Series 12, two versions of the AirPods 5, and updated Mac mini and Mac Studio desktops to market. The releases come as major consumer technology manufacturers begin broad retail distribution of their latest hardware ahead of the fourth-quarter shopping season, with changes to devices, platform architecture and prices across mobile, wearable, computing and home audio products.

The iPhone 18 Pro series’ principal hardware revisions focus on its cameras. It occupies the top of Apple’s flagship mobile tier ahead of the anticipated iPhone Duo launch. Sonos, meanwhile, has introduced the Sonos 27 operating system as the software foundation for its newly launched Ace Ultra over-ear headphones and Beam Ultra compact soundbar.

Both versions of the new AirPods 5 have active noise cancellation (ANC), narrowing the functional gap between standard and premium models in Apple’s personal audio range. The Sonos Ace Ultra takes a different approach to audio connectivity: direct Wi-Fi integration lets the headphones operate as an independent, addressable playback endpoint in a wider multi-room Sonos setup rather than relying solely on Bluetooth switching. That feature is currently rolling out across regions under an early access framework.

For home theater use, the Beam Ultra adds dedicated upward-firing acoustic drivers to Sonos’s compact soundbar tier. They allow it to reproduce native overhead Dolby Atmos channels directly, instead of using the digital sound virtualization algorithms found in earlier generations.

Apple has moved the Mac mini and Mac Studio to next-generation silicon processors, increasing processing throughput and graphical efficiency for professional workloads. Both desktops also have higher base retail prices than their predecessors. The Apple Watch Series 12 adds upgraded biometric and health-monitoring sensors, along with newly developed audio tools scheduled for activation in later software updates.

The Apple and Sonos launches coincide with other autumn consumer electronics releases, including newly released hardware from Beats, DJI and peripheral accessory manufacturers entering distribution ahead of the holiday period.