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Which perks do — and don’t — come with an Amazon Prime subscription? What to know

If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can get everything from free grocery deliveries to discounts on prescription medicine.

The cost of convenience turns out to be $119 a year. That’s how much an Amazon Prime annual subscription costs. (Otherwise, you pay $13 a month. And students get a discount.) The benefits are definitely worth paying for. Of course, you’re probably familiar with Amazon’s free two-day shipping option. But depending on where you live, you can also get free one-day delivery, same-day delivery and even two-hour delivery. The delivery perks may alone be enough reason to become an Amazon Prime member, but the benefits don’t end there.

As an Amazon Prime member, you can get discounts at Whole Foods, lower prices on prescription medicine, free grocery deliveries and access Prime Video and Prime Music, where you can watch the latest movies or listen to new albums.

In the guide below, we’ll show you the best Prime membership benefits that you may not know about. And check out these Black Friday deals before the big shopping day.

Read more: Amazon Prime Video: The best movies to see this week

1. Exclusive Whole Foods discounts

Although Whole Foods deliveries now come with a $10 charge (they used to be free for members), there are other ways to save on organic fruits and vegetables. There are also free 1-hour pickup windows depending on your location — just remember to check in with the Amazon app to see if you need to enter the store.

Some other Whole Food perks for Prime members are still around. Blue tags indicate sales exclusive to Prime members, while yellow tags mean an extra 10% off of an item already on sale. This gets you discounts on weekly bestsellers, including produce, packaged goods and beauty products, but note that it excludes alcohol.

You can also use the Whole Foods Market app at checkout to get exclusive Prime discounts on select products. The few cents saved on items may seem insignificant individually, but savings do add up in the end. But there are other Amazon grocery delivery options if you don’t want to pay the extra fee.

2. Free Amazon Fresh delivery

Another grocery delivery option for Prime members is Amazon Fresh. You can restock your pantry directly from Amazon. But instead of paying $10 for Whole Foods grocery delivery later this month, you can get free delivery for orders that exceed a certain amount (depending on where you live).

You can also use the service to get discounts when you order more or when you set up automatic delivery subscriptions for certain items and save even more for future deliveries. Plus, some items, like fruit snacks and cookies, are SNAP-eligible.

3. Amazon Pharmacy’s two-day delivery and discounts

If you refill at least one prescription on a regular basis, Amazon’s Pharmacy may be a more convenient choice. Plus, Prime members may get lower prices on medicine. Amazon will transfer your prescriptions, and 24/7 pharmaceutical assistance is available. The pharmacy works with most insurance plans, but it is available in 45 states right now.

4. Try Amazon’s personal shopper program

Prime members can order clothes for their next outing with Prime Try Before You Buy (the name changed from Prime Wardrobe). Here’s how it works: Choose up to eight items — clothes, shoes or accessories. Keep them for up to seven days to see if you like them. Send back what you don’t like for free and only pay for what you keep.

And you can try the styling service for personalized help starting at $5 per month. If you’re not sure which clothing or shoes are eligible, look for the «Try Before You Buy» icon.

5. Amazon gift cards when you trade in used electronics

Amazon is boarding the train to the sustainability station, and it’s something you can directly benefit from. With Amazon Trade-In, you can send back your used electronics in exchange for Amazon gift cards. Make sure to check on the eligibility of each product — some trade-in options are only available for a limited time.

6. Discounts and guarantees on preowned products

Amazon Renewed gives you access to products that may have been opened but weren’t used by their original owners — or were refurbished. Amazon assures that these preowned items work and look like new, coming with the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. A variety of products and brands are available, even from Apple and Vitamix.

7. Amazon Warehouse savings on almost everything

Amazon Warehouse resells like-new or preowned items that have been returned by customers. Some of the products only had their boxes opened by original purchasers before they were sent back, unused, so they’re resold at a discount. While there’s no regular manufacturing warranty on these products, they are backed by Amazon’s 30-day return policy and 90-day renewed item return policy.

8. Amazon Outlet’s overstocked items

The Amazon Outlet features overstocked items and other products at discounted prices. Like at an outlet, you can find premium brands and items under $10 ranging from home furniture to clothing and pet supplies. Keep in mind that although the online shopping experience is convenient, just like an outlet, the best deals can take sifting to find. Luckily, you can do it from the couch.

9. Limited-time Lightning Deals year-round

Amazon’s Lightning Deals are a promotion where a product or service is on sale for a short period of time or until it’s sold out. You can find them all throughout the site, but especially on Prime Day and in Today’s Deals. On Prime Day, Lightning Deals are only for Prime members.

There is one lightning deal per customer until the promotion ends or all the deals are claimed by other shoppers. You can join a waitlist for a deal, but keep in mind that these discounts are extremely time-sensitive, so grab them fast. Unless refreshing the page over and over is your thing, these deals aren’t necessarily the way to find something specific because of their fleeting nature and limited availability.

10. 5GB of storage with Amazon Photos

Amazon’s online shoebox for photos and videos offers secure and unlimited full-resolution photo storage plus 5GB of video for Prime members. To use this feature, you can choose to manually or automatically upload media in the Amazon Photos app. You can personalize the displays on Amazon devices like Fire TV, Echo Show and Fire tablets as long as you have the app.

Plus, with the Family Vault perk, up to five family members can share the same plan. If you want more, there are paid plans available. If you choose to switch — which can be done anytime — there is a 100GB option for $2 per month and 1TB plan for $7 per month.

For more, here are the latest on the new Amazon Fire tablet, the Amazon Glow for kids and the new Halo View fitness tracker.

Technologies

Level Up Your Pokemon Legends: Z-A Adventure With These Active Free Gifts

Get ready for a new adventure. These free mystery gift codes and rewards are available for you to grab today.

After 12 years, it’s finally time for Pokemon players to head back to the Kalos region in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the newest game in the popular monster-catching franchise. If you’ve missed the worldwide capital of Mega Pokemon, fairy-type Pokemon and a whole bunch of baked bread, now’s the time to jump back into the world of pocket monsters.

The Switch 2’s first Pokemon game seems a bit scarier this time around. Though the beautiful Lumiose City projects safety and security, recent unexplained rampages from wild Mega Pokemon threaten the peace.


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Between unearthing the cause of this phenomenon and taking down competitors in the Z-A Royale Pokemon battle ladder, there’s a lot of work to do in the Kalos region. You’ll need special partners to get the job done — and there are some special Mystery Gifts that have just the powerful pals you’re looking for.

There are already multiple Mystery Gift codes you can use right now in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, unlocking rare Pokemon and tons of items to help you get started on a new Pokemon journey.

All active Mystery Gifts for Pokemon Legends: Z-A

While some Pokemon Legends: Z-A promo codes are uniquely tied to Nintendo purchases, we’ve gathered every free code and redemption requirement in one place for you here.

Below is a chart that contains every active Mystery Gift code for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, what it unlocks and its expiration date:

Active Pokemon Legends: Z-A Mystery Gifts

Reward Code or alternative redemption requirements Expiration date
Ralts holding Gardevoirite No associated code. Select «Get via internet» in the Mystery Gift menu. Feb. 28, 2026
100x Poke Balls Every code is unique. You can unlock the code for this Mystery Gift by purchasing the digital version of Pokemon Legends: Z-A. The code will be sent to the email associated with your Nintendo account. March 10, 2026
3x Fast Balls, 3x Lure Balls, 3x Heavy Balls, 3x Level Balls Every code is unique. You can unlock the code for this Mystery Gift by purchasing the Mega Dimension DLC. The code will be sent to the email associated with your Nintendo account. March 10, 2026

How to redeem Mystery Gifts in Pokemon Legends: Z-A

If you have Mystery Gift codes to redeem in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, you’re likely eager to grab those rewards as soon as possible. But you need to do a little bit of legwork before unlocking the code redemption menu.

To unlock Mystery Gift functionality, you need to progress through the main story until you reach the third main mission, called A New Life in Lumiose City.

During this mission, you’ll meet Mable, the acting director of the Pokemon Research Lab in Kalos. Once you unlock Mable’s research, a new «Link Play» tab becomes accessible in the pause menu.

Within the Link Play tab, you can redeem Mystery Gift codes — as long as you’re connected to the internet.

What are Mystery Gifts?

Mystery Gifts are a long-running way to reward Pokemon players with extra goodies. The official gift distributions have existed since Pokemon Gold and Silver was released in 1999.

Back then, players needed to have special hardware — like a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adaptor — in order to acquire Mystery Gifts. Newer games make the process much easier, since you need only connect to Wi-Fi in order to access gifts for the Pokemon games on the Nintendo Switch.

While some Mystery Gifts are accessible for free, others are unlocked by promo codes that you’ll have to hunt down through specific means. Mystery Gifts are good ways to gather precious items, add mythical Pokemon to the Pokedex and capture rare shiny Pokemon.

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Technologies

Will Tim Cook Step Down? Apple CEO’s Impending 65th Birthday Sparks Succession Talk

Apple is likely in the process of choosing someone to fill the chief executive role once Tim Cook decides to retire. Here are a few potential candidates that reports say are being considered.

Tim Cook‘s 65th birthday is next week, on Nov. 1. And with the Apple CEO’s special day almost here, talks have been growing as to who could be his successor should he choose to retire. Cook has made no official public mention of stepping down yet, but according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant is working behind the scenes to ensure a seamless transition when the time comes.

Cook replaced Steve Jobs in 2011, and after a period of uncertainty, Cook ushered Apple into its most profitable era. Stock-watching website Stocktwits reports that the company’s stock has increased by around 1,800% since Cook took over leading the company.


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Jobs may have introduced devices like the iPhone into everyday use that changed how we interact with technology, but Cook expanded on the Apple experience. Under his guidance, the company built upon Apple’s smartphone by introducing subscription services and more mobile products, including earbuds and wearables.

He introduced Apple Pay, Beats headphones became part of the company’s ecosystem, the Apple Watch launched 10 years ago, and Apple even entered the entertainment business, producing original Oscar-winning movies and Emmy-winning TV shows through Apple TV Plus.

Read more: Best iPhone in 2025: Here’s Which Apple Phone You Should Buy

We should reiterate that the notion of Cook stepping down is pure speculation at this point. We don’t know what Apple’s CEO is currently planning or what his thoughts about retirement may be. That said, there are a handful of contenders who have reportedly been part of the succession conversation. 

Potential Apple CEO contenders

Apple likely has «a solid bench of successors» that the company’s board has been developing, says Bryan Ma, VP of Devices Research at IDC.

«But the anxiety gets amplified when there isn’t clear visibility for such a valuable and iconic company,» Ma says. «Compounding the challenge is the fact that the bar has been set by big rock stars like Steve Jobs and Tim Cook. The next generation of leaders have very big shoes to fill.»

John Ternus, Apple’s current vice president of Hardware Engineering, was top of Gurman’s list. Ternus has been with the tech giant for more than two decades, so he has the knowledge and experience for a chief executive upgrade. There would be value in having an engineer behind the wheel. 

Ternus appeared during the September Apple event to introduce the iPhone Air. At 50, he’s the same age Cook was when he took over as Apple CEO.

Other potential contenders are also being considered, including Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering; Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing; and Jeff Williams, the company’s former chief operating officer, according to a report by Apple Insider. On Oct. 10, Bloomberg reported that Federighi also will soon be overseeing the Apple Watch operating system watchOS, while Ternus will be overseeing Apple Watch hardware engineering once Williams departs at the end of the year.

Federighi has been with Apple for a long time and has the public speaking experience — frequently speaking during Apple Events — that would be vital if he replaced Cook as CEO. Considering his current role, Joswiak has a more marketing perspective and a broader overview of the company and may not be as hands-on with the tech as Ternus and Federighi. And according to Gurman, Williams was viewed as a shoo-in to be Cook’s replacement until his role as COO was announced to be ending. (He’s now Apple’s senior vice president of design, watch and health.) Cook held the position of chief operating officer before he replaced Jobs as CEO in 2011. Sabih Khan will be stepping into that COO role, which also puts his name in the running.

When Cook steps down, Apple will undoubtedly have a pool of qualified talent to choose from to take up the leadership mantle. Who exactly will take the mantle remains to be seen.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Technologies

Meta Will Close Down Its Messenger Apps on Mac and Windows

You’ve got two more months until the apps are gone.

Meta is discontinuing its desktop Messenger apps for Windows and Mac. Starting Dec. 15, you’ll need to head to Facebook to continue chatting through the app on your computer.

Once the sundowning process begins, you’ll receive an in-app notification. You’ll have a 60-day window to continue using Messenger before the app is permanently shut down. (But don’t worry — the mobile app for Messenger will remain.)


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If you want to save your chat history, Meta suggests activating secure storage before the app is gone forever. Otherwise, your chat history will be gone forever, as well.

The Messenger desktop app is no longer available on the Apple App Store. After Dec. 15, Meta users who try to access Messenger on desktop will be redirected to Facebook.com. Users without a Facebook account will be redirected to Messenger.com.

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