This is The Stepback , a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on the collapse and the resurgence of the portable media player, follow Terrence O’Brien. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes…

Amazon’s October Prime Day has effectively chopped off Apple’s June price increases. Usually $1,299, the 13-inch MacBook Air with the M5 chip and 512GB of storage is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon . That’s a more palatable price for…