Nintendo’s enduring mascot character Mario will make his mobile debut next month when Super Mario Run launches for the iPhone and iPad via the iTunes App Store on December 15.
While players will be able to sample Super Mario Run free of charge at launch, the full version can be unlocked via a one-time $10 purchase, granting access to three distinct gameplay modes.
Revealed earlier this year, Super Mario Run is an autoscrolling 2D platformer featuring characters, enemies, and settings from Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. series. The upcoming release marks the first-ever officially licensed appearance of Mario in a mobile app, and represents a major shift in Nintendo’s market strategy.
Nintendo previously made inroads into the mobile marketplace with Miitomo, a social networking app that allowed users to build and interact with customizable Mii characters. In addition to the upcoming Super Mario Run, Nintendo revealed that it also has new Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem games in the works for mobile platforms.
“The wait is almost over for a Super Mario game that can be played on mobile devices,” said Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, Doug Bowser. “Developed under the direction of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario Run brings a new take on the series’ beloved action-platforming gameplay to iPhone and iPad for the first time.”
Super Mario Run features side-scrolling platformer gameplay in which players control the timing and height of Mario’s jumps. Action scrolls to the right automatically, and players must dodge enemies and hazards in Mario’s path by tapping their device’s touchscreen.
In addition to a single-player campaign in the vein of Mario’s previous 2D adventures, Super Mario Run includes a “Kingdom Builder” mode that allows players to craft their own unique version of the Mushroom Kingdom using cosmetic items unlocked during gameplay.
The game also features a unique “Toad Rally” mode that pits players against their friends in a series of time trial races. After picking a friend to challenge, players race against an on-screen character representing their buddy’s best run through an individual level. Upon emerging victorious, players are rewarded with bonus coins and other unlockables.
Super Mario Run launches across 151 countries and regions on December 15. The game requires an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device running iOS 8.0 or later. An Android version is also in the works, though a Google Play release date has not been announced.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage