AAPL options strategies, priced on the real chain
The most liquid single-name options market in the US. Tight spreads at every strike, weeklies out for months, and a realized vol that spends most of the year in the low-to-mid 20s — which is exactly why Apple is the default covered-call underlying for people who actually hold the shares.
Every page below prices its structure against the August 28, 2026 expiry — 27% at-the-money implied vol, #16 of the 20 underlyings on this site. What moves AAPL: quarterly earnings, September product events, and its dividend cycle.
The August 28, 2026expiry this analysis was built on has passed, so the contracts quoted below no longer trade. The structure and the strike-selection logic still hold; the prices do not. Open the builder for today’s strikes on the real chain.
10 strategies on AAPL
One contract (or one 100-share lot) per structure, at-the-money template strikes on the August 28, 2026expiry. Breakevens and probability of profit come from OptionTracker’s engine.
Start here
- AAPL covered callSell upside on shares you already own and get paid for the cap. · breakeven $303.96 (−1.6%)
- AAPL cash-secured putGet paid to place a limit order below the market. · breakeven $291.2 (−5.7%)
- AAPL iron condorSell a range, buy the wings, collect if the stock stays put. · breakeven $283.53 (−8.2%)
- AAPL bull call spreadBuy a call, sell a higher one — cheaper upside with a ceiling. · breakeven $313.95 (+1.6%)
- AAPL bull put spreadSell a put spread below the market: credit now, defined risk. · breakeven $293.9 (−4.9%)
- AAPL long straddleBuy the call and the put — pay for a move in either direction. · breakeven $286.09 (−7.4%)
Related reading
- Covered call assignment: getting called awayGetting called away is not a glitch. You sold 100 shares at the strike the day you wrote the call. Here is that sale on a real AAPL chain, with the premium still attached.
- Early assignment and the ex-dividend dateEx-dividend week, short calls, panic. On a real KO chain the remaining extrinsic is larger than the dividend the engine implies over the whole window. Here is that comparison, and when early assignment actually shows up.
- Covered call vs selling the shares: real mathEvery covered-call seller has been asked why they don't just sell the stock. Fair question. One ticker, one chain, both exits priced — including the Friday the call does exactly what you sold it to do.