Apple News 3d Briefing
×Last updated: August 22, 2026, 12:46 AM ET
Walmart Finally Waves the White Flag on Apple Pay
After resisting contactless payments for more than a decade, Walmart 9to5mac.com has announced that it will begin rolling out Apple Pay support next week. The retailer made the shift official on Thursday, confirming that tap-to-pay macrumors.com goes live in U.S. stores starting August 24, with Sam's Club locations following the same timeline. Apple Insider notes the reversal ends years of checkout-lane exclusions for services like Apple Pay appleinsider.com and Google Pay. Shoppers who want to know when their local store flips the switch can consult the full state-by-state schedule 9to5Mac published for Apple Pay 9to5mac.com.
A $10 Thank You for the National Parks
To mark the payments milestone, Apple is tying transactions to philanthropy through August 28. The company will donate $10 to the National Park Foundation macrumors.com for every purchase made with Apple Pay on Apple.com, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple retail locations. The promotion hands early adopters a civic bonus for tapping to pay at partner retailers nationwide.
Ireland Cashes Apple's $17 Billion Check
New tax disclosures show Apple 9to5mac.com paid Ireland $17 billion in corporate income taxes in 2025, according to Financial Times reporting. Apple Insider frames the payment as the finale of a scrutiny saga that ran more than a decade and produced one of the largest corporate tax recoveries ever ordered by the European Union appleinsider.com. Mac Rumors quantifies the concentration: the Irish bill represented 40% of Apple's