In February 2026, Apple opened Maximize Conversions to every App Store advertiser (Apple Ads, News, February 25, 2026). It's an auto-bidder that sets a bid for each search query from a target CPA and a daily budget. Apple also says CPA caps "will soon be unavailable." The stakes sit in search: almost 65% of App Store downloads happen directly after a search, per Apple's 2022 worldwide data (Apple Ads, App Store ads overview).
Most guides stop at what the feature does. They don't say which campaigns should move, what target CPA to set, or how to survive the learning period. Migrate everything and your brand budget funds cheap redownloads. Migrate nothing and capped campaigns lose their guardrail when caps go.
Below: a five-gate test, target CPA from break-even, the budget floor, a negatives wall and a 28-day protocol. It builds on our guide to Apple Search Ads costs and the break-even bid. (Apple renamed Apple Search Ads to Apple Ads on April 14, 2025, per 9to5Mac.)
Key Takeaways
- Maximize Conversions swaps keyword bids for a target CPA met on a weekly average, with Search Match always on (Apple Ads, 2026).
- Decide per campaign: move campaigns that can fund 5+ conversions a day; keep brand and low-volume ones manual.
- Set target CPA from break-even, never from your old CPA cap.
- Hands off for two weeks; decide at day 28 against a baseline.
What is Apple Ads Maximize Conversions, and what changed in 2026?
As of 2026, Maximize Conversions is Apple Ads' automated bid strategy for search results campaigns. You set a target CPA and a daily budget; an auto-bidder bids on each query Search Match finds. Apple aims to hit the target "on a weekly basis," so daily costs vary (Apple Ads, Maximize Conversions best practices, 2026).
You stop managing keyword bids: these campaigns "use an auto-bidder, so you don't have to add or adjust max CPT bids" (Apple Ads Help, Set and Adjust Bids, 2026). The automatic ad group "requires Search Match to be turned on" (Apple Ads Help, Create Campaigns, 2026). New to the channel? See Apple Ads (Apple Search Ads).
After a beta reported in December 2025, ppc.land reported general availability on February 26, 2026 (ppc.land, 2026). It covers search results only, not the Search tab, Today tab or product pages, and it's "for post-launch campaigns only" in Apple Ads Advanced. Apple calculates monthly spend as daily budget × 30.4 days, so $50 a day tops out near $1,520.
The CPA cap is on its way out. Apple says a cap "acts as a ceiling for each search query match and limits the number of impressions you can get." A target lets bids flex by query, and "your daily budget will always control your overall spend." As of September 24, 2026, Apple's best-practices page still says caps "will soon be unavailable," with no date. Here's how the CPA cap ceiling worked.
| Manage Bids (max CPT) | Maximize Conversions | CPA cap (legacy) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sets the bid | You, per keyword | Apple's auto-bidder, per query | You, under a cap-derived ceiling |
| Search Match | Optional | Required in the automatic ad group | Optional |
| What the cost number means | Most you'll pay per tap | Install cost Apple aims to average weekly | A ceiling on each query match |
| Status, Sep 24, 2026 | Active | Active, open to all since Feb 2026 | "Will soon be unavailable", no date |
Should you switch from manual CPT bids? The five-gate test
Decide campaign by campaign, never for the whole account. In 2026, Apple recommends a daily budget that "allows for at least five conversions per day" (Apple Ads, Maximize Conversions best practices, 2026). Move a campaign only if it passes all five gates:
- Eligible. It's a post-launch search results campaign in Apple Ads Advanced.
- Volume. It can fund five or more conversions a day at its target CPA.
- Job. Its goal is installs at a cost, not a position like your brand's top slot.
- Target. You have a target CPA derived from break-even.
- Visibility. You can see post-install quality in an MMP, because the bidder "cannot see trials, subscriptions, or retention" (Adapty, Apple Search Ads in 2026, July 2026).
Fail gate 1, 2 or 3 and the campaign stays on Manage Bids. Fail gate 4 or 5 and you fix that first, then migrate.
The five-gate switch test, per campaign
Which campaigns usually pass? Discovery and generic category campaigns, campaigns throttled by a CPA cap, and new storefronts with no keyword history. Toca Boca World used Maximize Conversions to enter new markets. Apple reports its acquisition efficiency "improved by as much as 88 percent for some new markets" (Apple Ads, Toca Boca World success story, May 2026). That's vendor-published, not a benchmark.
Manual campaigns already on target can wait; keep them tidy with rule-based automation for campaigns that stay manual.
Mind the calendar. Our rule: never start learning within about three weeks of your seasonal peak. In MobileAction's 2025 data, search results CPA rose from $2.53 in Q3 to $3.28 in Q4 (MobileAction, Apple Ads 2026 Benchmark Report). Reading this in October? Launch by mid-month so the 28-day protocol ends before the late-November auction, or wait for January.
When does manual CPT still win?
Manual CPT wins wherever the goal isn't "the most installs at an average cost." In 2026, Apple counts a tap-through install as "new downloads and redownloads from users who tapped on your ad within a 30-day window" (Apple Ads Help, Reporting Definitions). That's why brand stays manual, as do low-volume, pre-order, value-differentiated and conquesting campaigns.
Brand defense. A brand campaign's job is the top slot, not CPA. Maximize Conversions can't turn off Search Match, so a "brand" campaign built on it drifts into generic queries. Keep branded keywords on exact-match Manage Bids. Apple also announced a second ad further down search results in December 2025; we cover that in defending your brand in the second ad slot.
Brand queries are the bidder's cheapest "conversions." Redownloads count as installs, and many people searching your exact name would have found you organically. A Search Match campaign without brand negatives will find that term and flatter its own CPA with installs you'd largely have had anyway. This is our reading of Apple's definitions, not Apple's claim.
Low volume. Below five conversions a day, learning drags. Neo Ads, a practitioner newsletter, estimates that "a campaign getting 50 installs/day learns in 2 weeks what a campaign getting 5 installs/day takes 10 weeks to learn" (Neo Ads, February 2026). One practitioner's estimate, not Apple's, but the direction holds.
Value-differentiated keywords. If one keyword's installs convert to paid at several times another's, an install-optimizing bidder still treats them as equal. Bid those manually.
Pre-orders and conquesting. Pre-order campaigns aren't eligible. Competitor auctions are relevance-gated and expensive, so precise max CPT bids and a dedicated Custom Product Page beat an average-CPA bidder.
How do you set target CPA from break-even?
Target CPA = revenue per install over your payback window ÷ target ROAS. In 2025 the average search results CPA was $2.51 (MobileAction, Apple Ads 2026 Benchmark Report), but your ceiling comes from revenue. It's the Max CPA on the Break-even bid card of our Apple Search Ads Calculator: $6.00 of D90 revenue per install at 150% ROAS gives $4.00.
Start at the lower of that break-even maximum and the trailing 28-day CPA of the non-brand campaigns you're replacing. If trailing CPA already exceeds break-even, the campaign loses money today, and automating it won't help. First raise your product page conversion rate and fix the keyword mix.
A CPA cap is a ceiling, so your actual CPA under it ran below the cap. A target is an average Apple aims to meet each week. Port a $4 cap as a $4 target and you've told the bidder your old worst case is fine on average, so expect CPA to drift up. MobileAction gives the same warning (August 2026); the ceiling-versus-average reasoning is ours.
Apple suggests a target CPA at setup; treat it as a market check, since it doesn't know your revenue. Setting it too low backfires: MobileAction warns a target "significantly lower than what auctions in a given country or region realistically support" can stall scaling (MobileAction, March 2026).
Match your denominators. Apple's installs include redownloads, so compute revenue per install as MMP revenue ÷ Apple tap-through installs. Dividing by new installs only overstates each install's value and pushes the target too high.
How does Q4 seasonality change your target CPA?
Seasonality moves the market under your target. In MobileAction's 2025 data, Q4 search results CPA ran about 31% above the full-year average and 55% above Q2 (our arithmetic on the reported averages). Decide now whether you'll accept lower December volume or raise the target, and never past break-even. The cost guide has the full break-even bid derivation.
Apple Ads search results CPA by quarter, 2025
How much daily budget does Maximize Conversions need?
At least five times your target CPA per day, per campaign. In 2026, Apple recommends a daily budget that "allows for at least five conversions per day" (Apple Ads, 2026). At 2025 category-average CPAs, that floor runs from about $5 a day in Photo & Video to about $72 in Sports, with Games near $31 and Finance near $25 (MobileAction, 2026).
What five conversions a day costs: daily budget floor by category
The floor is per campaign: three campaigns at a $6 target need about $30 a day each. Monthly, it's roughly $157 for Photo & Video, $432 for Productivity, $774 for Finance, $933 for Games and $2,181 for Sports.
Neo Ads suggests nearer 10× target CPA for smoother learning (practitioner guidance, not Apple's). Apple's warning is plainer: "if your daily budget is too low, it can limit the success of your campaign."
Can't reach the floor in one storefront? Group comparable storefronts into one campaign and accept mixed CPAs, or keep that market manual. The Budget planner card in the calculator shows the spend an install goal needs.
How do you stop Search Match overlapping your exact-match campaigns?
Build a negatives wall. In 2026, Apple's help pages say the automatic ad group "requires Search Match to be turned on" (Apple Ads Help, Create Campaigns). So it will reach for queries your brand, category and competitor campaigns already own. Add every exact-match keyword from your Manage Bids campaigns as an exact-match negative in the Maximize Conversions campaign.
That's the rule Apple gives for Discovery campaigns: "add all the keywords from your brand, category, and competitor campaigns as exact match negative keywords" (Apple Ads, Campaign Structure best practices, 2026). Apple's Maximize Conversions page doesn't repeat it, but the logic transfers.
Three manual lanes, one automated lane
Why does overlap hurt? Two of your campaigns become eligible for one query, and Apple doesn't publicly document which one serves. Data splits, and brand redownloads flatter the automated campaign's CPA.
Don't overdo it early. MobileAction, citing Apple, warns against "overly aggressive negative keyword usage early in the campaign," since it limits discovery (MobileAction, March 2026). Negate what you already own and what's clearly irrelevant.
Then run a weekly loop: export the automated campaign's search terms, graduate proven ones into exact-match Manage Bids campaigns, and negate them in the automated campaign. Our discovery-to-exact keyword pipeline sets the promotion rules; validate graduated search terms against organic research first. Neo Ads recommends the same shape, and the winners are worth a second use: feed graduated search terms back into your metadata. Maximize Conversions is a discovery engine with a CPA governor, not a replacement for your account structure.
How do you run the learning period, and know if it worked?
Run it as a 28-day protocol: a baseline first, two weeks hands off, then a decision against rollback triggers you agreed in advance. Apple says to let these campaigns "run for at least two weeks before assessing their impact" (Apple Ads, 2026). In March 2026, MobileAction put stabilization at two to three weeks (MobileAction, Apple Ads introduces Maximize Conversions). Here's ours.
- Day −7 to 0: baseline. Per non-brand campaign, record trailing 28-day CPA, installs, spend, conversion and tap-through rates, and impression share, plus trial rate and D7 ROAS from your MMP. Export your keyword bids too; MobileAction says a switch archives them, but Apple doesn't document that.
- Day 0: launch. Break-even target, a budget of 5× target or more, negatives wall in place. Pause the manual campaign it replaces, and freeze creative, Custom Product Page and major app changes to isolate the bidding effect.
- Days 1–14: hands off. No target or budget changes. Neo Ads reports that changing target CPA restarts learning; Apple doesn't say so, but we treat any change as restarting the clock. Read weekly averages, not days.
- Days 14–21: first read. Compare weekly CPA with target, and installs and post-install quality with baseline at equal spend. The share of installs from brand queries should be near zero.
- Days 21–28: decide. Keep and tune, or roll back. Tune in target CPA steps of about 15% or less, then wait two weeks (our house rule, not Apple's).
Roll back to Manage Bids if, in weeks 3–4, CPA runs more than 20% above target, installs fall below baseline at equal spend, or trial rate or D7 ROAS sits below baseline beyond normal weekly variance. Apple publishes no rollback criteria, so agree yours in writing before day 0.
What does success look like?
Treat published results as possibilities, not forecasts: their publishers chose them. Songwriter's Pad + Lyrics AI founder Danté Moore reported "over 30 percent more installs with the same budget" (Apple Ads, Maximize Conversions best practices, 2026). MobileAction shared one campaign with 26% more installs, a 6% lower CPA and 18% more spend, noting it "should not be treated as a benchmark" (MobileAction, August 2026).
You'll need an MMP before day 0; see our comparison of MMPs and Apple Ads management platforms. Running this protocol account-wide is the core of our Apple Search Ads management.
Frequently asked questions
What is Maximize Conversions in Apple Ads?
Apple Ads' automated bid strategy for search results campaigns. You set a target CPA and a daily budget, and Apple's auto-bidder sets a bid for each query Search Match finds. It opened to all advertisers in February 2026, after a beta reported in December 2025.
Is the Apple Ads target CPA a hard limit?
No. Apple aims to meet it on average over a week, so daily costs run above or below it. The daily budget controls total spend: Apple calculates monthly spend as daily budget × 30.4. The hard per-query ceiling was the CPA cap, which Apple is retiring.
How long is the Maximize Conversions learning period?
Apple recommends at least two weeks before assessing results, and MobileAction observes two to three weeks to stabilize. Low-volume campaigns take longer, which is why Apple recommends a budget for at least five conversions a day. We judge a migration at day 28, against a baseline.
Can you turn off Search Match in Maximize Conversions?
No. Apple's help documentation says the automatic ad group requires Search Match. You steer with negative keywords instead: add every exact-match keyword from your manual brand, category and competitor campaigns as an exact-match negative, plus clearly irrelevant terms as they appear.
Are Apple Search Ads CPA caps going away?
Yes, but without a date. Apple says CPA caps "will soon be unavailable," and as of September 24, 2026 it has published no date, as MobileAction also noted in August. Apple hasn't announced changes to manual CPT bidding, so plan the move for capped campaigns now.
Should brand keywords go into Maximize Conversions?
Usually not. Brand campaigns defend position, and Apple counts redownloads within 30 days as installs, so brand queries flatter an automated campaign's CPA. Keep brand on exact-match manual bids and negate it elsewhere. Our guide to defending your brand in the second ad slot covers the rest.
The bottom line
Maximize Conversions is a good tool with a narrow job. Pointed at the right campaigns, it finds queries you'd never have bid on. Pointed at everything, it buys your own brand back.
- Per campaign: run the five-gate test.
- Budget: at least 5 × target CPA per day, per campaign.
- Target: the lower of break-even and trailing CPA, never your old cap.
- Stay manual: brand, low-volume, pre-order, conquesting.
- Protect: a negatives wall around your exact-match terms.
- Judge: two weeks hands off, then decide at day 28.
Run your break-even in the free Apple Search Ads Calculator, then book a free 30-minute call. We'll run the five-gate test on your account and manage the migration; the fixed-price ASO audit is the usual starting point.
