Cult of Mac

First off: There’s no direct way to update AirPods firmware. When Apple updates AirPods software — as it just did for AirPods Max — the update happens automatically, in the background.

However, there is a way to speed up the update process. Plus, it’s a good idea to manually check you’re running the latest version, which brings bug fixes and sometimes great new features.

As noted, Apple most recently released fresh firmware for AirPods Max, taking the over-the-ears headphones to 6A325. (You can find other current AirPods firmware versions below.)

Here’s how to check if your AirPods are running the latest firmware on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Plus what to do if they aren’t, and how to force AirPods firmware to update.

If you’re looking for a hardy velcro EDC watch band for your Apple Watch, Mifa has you covered. Mifa’s Nylon Sports Leather Apple Watch Band is sturdy, the velcro is strong and the stitched leather is high-quality.

It’s a nice band for daily wear.

It comes in five different styles. The gray-on-black NASA-inspired design is my favorite. Two other designs in brown and black emphasize “EDC-34 Essential Series” with the Mifa name. And two new versions (in green and orange) sport NASA’s classic “meatball” insignia.

Amazon bargain site Woot! is known for its bargain-basement sales on tech items, but Tuesday’s Best of Tech sale digs up some oddities, including an offbeat selection of Apple products. An international travel-adapter kit, for example. The much-maligned FineWoven iPhone cases (also silicone). And an AirTag keychain with a carabiner clip.

Not to mention gear from Belkin, Victrola and others — everything from chargers to solar panels.

The Best of Tech sale runs through April 9. See below for some of the most interesting items on sale.

After a wait that stretched out weeks longer than usual, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers Tuesday, along with the initial beta of macOS Sonoma 14.5.

And it’s going to be a very busy day for developers because iPadOS 17.5 beta 1, watchOS 10.5 beta 1, tvOS 17.5 beta 1 and visionOS 1.2 beta 1 also all went out.

Apple updated its iWork suite of productivity applications Tuesday with improvements related to shared documents, HEIC photos and iPad keyboards. The updated apps in iWork 14.0 — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — are all available free on Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Clever kids and adorable animals rush headlong into new adventures in the season 2 trailer Apple TV+ dropped Tuesday for Jane. The work of famed ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall inspired the TV series.

The mission-driven family show’s second season debuts April 19 on Apple TV+.

April 2, 1980: Microsoft releases its first hardware product, the Z80 SoftCard. A microprocessor card that plugs into the Apple II, it allows the computer to run programs designed for the CP/M operating system, a popular OS for business software.

Arriving several years before the first version of Windows, the Z80 SoftCard quickly becomes a big hit for Microsoft.

Apple will make Spatial Personas, a more lifelike enhancement of the Persona feature for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, available in the visionOS 1.1 update coming Tuesday.

In beta test versions of the software, Spatial Personas allow Vision Pro users to create and interact with customizable, free-floating 3D digital avatars in virtual spaces. They enhance collaboration via SharePlay while going beyond the limits of a little box on a FaceTime call.

Apple TV+ just added two dozen more classic movies to its limited-time collection, including three John Wick films, the original Ghostbusters, a pair of Transformers movies and more.

They join an existing selection of films available to the streaming service’s subscribers, as well as all the content Apple TV+ itself produces or buys.

Eating healthy would be easier if food manufacturers told us exactly what’s in their products. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that perfect world. But Fooducate, a clean eating app that can help you achieve your nutritional and fitness goals, is here to keep the grocery stores honest.

This easy-to-use food planning app makes every aspect of your diet easier, from the checkout counter to the doctor’s office. Better yet, Fooducate is designed to help users create a healthier relationship with food. Now, a lifetime subscription to the Fooducate Pro Plan costs only $49.99 (regularly $149). That’s the best price you’ll find anywhere online.

It’s almost time for spring cleaning — and that can and should include tidying up your Mac’s files. If you want to do the job right, try professional software like Mac Washing Machine X9 from Intego’s robust software suite.

Looking to go into a field that offers lots of job security? Check out The Ultimate Cybersecurity & IT Career Certification Pathway Training Bundle. These courses will prep you for a lucrative IT job. And for a limited time, the entire training bundle costs less than $28.

With this affordable course, you can get a head start on a bulletproof career path.

Google is reportedly required to delete the data it gathered while millions of users of its Chrome web bowser were in Incognito mode as part of settling a lawsuit.

Moving forward, the company will continue to track Chrome users in Incognito mode — while making it clearer that is what is happening.

The new Apple TV+ trailer for LA-noir detective series Sugar asks an important question: Who is John Sugar? Well, apparently, the gumshoe played by Colin Farrell is a tough dude who “does one thing and one thing only: Find the missing.”

A legendary film producer played by veteran actor James Cromwell utters the line in the trailer, which Apple TV+ dropped Sunday. Having cast members like Cromwell adds some serious gravitas to a moody and engrossing-looking series (as if Farrell wasn’t enough).

You can see the new Sugar trailer, and the previous one, below. They should whet your appetite for some good ol’ fashioned-yet-contemporary LA crime noir. It comes up from time to time to great acclaim (see LA Confidential among others).

With storms and flash floods becoming more prevalent, it’s more important than ever to stay up to date with the weather in your area. And a weather radar app like Weather Hi-Def Radar lets you do just that.

This isn’t just an upgraded version of the bare-bones Weather app on your iPhone. It’s an alert system and interactive map that allows you to plan your day and stay ahead of tornadoes, wildfires and more. And now, the Weather Hi-Def Radar Storm Watch Plus plan is priced at only $39.99 for life.

The new Elgato Facecam Mk.2, successor to the company’s popular Facecam webcam for creators and streamers, just came out. Improved picture quality, a new privacy shutter and other enhancements appear to make it a worthy upgrade. And that’s especially true because it carries a lower price than Facecam did at its launch.

We see many, many dual-display computer setups in our coverage, with the vast majority being two screens of the same size, whether they’re oriented differently or not. But that’s not always the case. Today’s M1 Pro MacBook Pro and Windows laptop rig sports different-size dual displays that even have different resolutions. But it works for the user, a systems engineer who works for a software developer.

April 1, 1976: The Apple Computer Company is founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The trio sets out to sell the $666 Apple-1 computer.

Apple will not officially become a corporation until January 3 the following year. By that time, Wayne is no longer a part of the business.

Apple is investigating whether its wearable can prevent some of 4,000 drowning deaths every year in the United States. An engineer proposed a system for an Apple Watch to detect if the swimmer wearing it is in distress and send an alert to nearby iPhones.

The plan fits with Apple’s goal to bring more health-related features to Apple Watch.

Getting just the right shot is exciting, but any professional photographer will tell you that post-production work separates decent vacation snapshots from magazine-worthy images. That requires powerful photo editing software. And photo apps don’t come much more highly recommended than Luminar Neo, which lets you utilize AI to make your images look amazing.

Now there’s a great opportunity for new users to get this versatile software (for Mac or PC), along with hundreds of dollars worth of add-ons and training. You can get the Award-Winning Luminar Neo Lifetime Bundle for just $159.99 with code GET20. That’s a tremendous discount off the retail price of $752.)

March 31, 2010: The world gets its first sense of how Apple’s tablet measures up, as the first iPad reviews hit the internet.

The consensus? That there’s no Flash, no USB, no multitasking — but Apple’s tablet offers an exciting new computing experience all the same. As USA Today writes, “The first iPad is a winner.”

Adding high-speed plug-in storage capacity to your computer is so easy it’s something every Mac user should consider. Here are some of the best consumer-oriented external SSDs that are designed for portability.

Today is World Backup Day, which seems a good opportunity to explore external storage options. Especially as there are deals on some of the best SSDs available.

Apple offers iCloud plans for iPhone and Mac users who need a bit of extra storage capacity, and other plans for those who want a huge amount. But there’s a noticeable gap in the middle the company should really fill.

The lack of a 1TB iCloud+ storage plan is painfully evident. Adding it would be a boon to many users, and to Apple, too.

Today is World Backup Day — a fine opportunity to lobby for the additional tier.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Now that Apple set a date for WWDC24, it’s time for the speculation to begin. Artificial intelligence undoubtedly will be on the agenda. But what will Apple’s AI push look like?

Join us for a whirlwind discussion.

Also on The CultCast:

• Sounds like iOS 18 will give iPhone owners even more control over their Home Screens.
• A flaw in Apple’s M-series processors sounds downright disturbing.
• Apple’s got a trick up its sleeve to keep you from annoying iPhone upgrades.
• And the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple makes some truly ludicrous claims.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

PDFs are arguably one of the most-used document formats by professionals, students and casual users alike. However, while they might be the best way to transmit documents, they’re not entirely easy to work with unless you own an excellent PDF editor for Mac like PDF Expert.

Fortunately, this app makes handling, organizing, annotating, merging and editing PDFs effortless. And for a limited time, you can get a lifetime license to this award-winning Mac app for just $109.99 (regularly $139).