Your Apple Watch band could be a breeding ground for potentially dangerous pathogens, according to a new study.
Scientists found that 95% of the watchbands they tested were contaminated with “bacteria of public health importance.” This proved especially true for rubber and plastic bands.
But there’s good news. The scientists also found that cleaning an Apple Watch band (or any watch band) removes all the potentially dangerous bacteria.
Apple introduced watchOS 9.6.1 to remove a single bug affecting Apple Watch. The problem being taken care of relates to applications that track the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
The update is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later.
Apple is planning some big upgrades for the 2024 Apple Watch. Reportedly called the “Watch X,” it could debut with a slimmer chassis, a new watch band mechanism and other major changes.
With the Watch X launch, Apple plans to celebrate the Apple Watch’s 10th anniversary.
Nomad added a new limited-edition Sport Band for Apple Watch Tuesday, and this one glows in the dark. That’s why it’s called Glow.
By day the waterproof bands appears off-white, but in the dark in glows bright green. It will be tough to misplace it, even at night.
Makers of third-party Apple Watch chargers will reportedly no longer be able to build the old, slow Apple Watch charging puck into their products. The only one available will operate 33% faster than the original Apple Watch charger.
This means that, going forward, all new Apple Watch accessories will support Fast Charge.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Which gets you more excited, an AirTag with new AR capabilities, a pink Apple Watch or a black titanium Apple Watch Ultra? This week’s top Apple rumors fuel our imaginations …
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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.
You can expect a new color for Apple Watch Series 9 — pink — and a new black titanium case for the second-gen Apple Watch Ultra, according to a reliable leaker.
If Apple remains true to its usual scheduling, we should see both new items in September at an event unveiling the iPhone 15 lineup.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Not all iPhone rumors prove exciting. In fact, a big one this week — possible iPhone 15 price hikes — sounds downright depressing. But it’s not all bad news. The “normie” iPhone 15 might get some trickle-down camera tech that could make it easier not to go Pro this year.
Also on The CultCast:
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.
What will the Italians think of next? They’ve produced a leather with such a mirrorlike sheen that it actually looks metallic. And Laut is using it to create quite the statement-making Laut Metallic Leather Apple Watch Band.
Check out the flashy band in three cool colors in the Cult of Mac Store and read more below.
ESR just launched a Kickstarter campaign for an unprecedented, Apple-certified 100-watt 6-in-1 charging station with GaN technology to juice up all your devices.
The company called the device — which can charge iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously — the “world’s first” of its kind. You can preorder it now at a 20% discount. And it may serve all your charging needs.
Apple will reportedly use a cutting-edge production method to make some of the components for the 2023 Apple Watch Ultra: 3D printing.
And if the experiment goes well, the tech could be used in other Apple devices.
Juuk’s Qrono band for Apple Watch offers everything you could want from a metal bracelet without the nasty drawbacks. It looks terrific but won’t weigh you down. And, like all Juuk bands, it’s built to last.
Here’s why the Qrono is the only metal band I’ll wear with my Apple Watch.
This week we teamed up with Kuxiu to put an X40 3-in-1 foldable magnetic wireless charger and stand in the hands of one lucky winner.
This charger, which retails for $89.99, can juice up an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch all at once. And it’s perfect for travel, thanks to its light weight and compact size. It tips the scales at just 6.9 ounces, so you can take it anywhere and just pop it in your pocket for extra convenience.
A smartwatch like your trusty Apple Watch might be able to screen you for Parkinson’s disease up to 7 years before symptoms would show up if you have it, according to a fascinating new study.
Parkinson’s damages the brain slowly, so early detection via smartwatch could offer treatment advantages as new therapies develop.
SwitchEasy makes an array of cool bands for Apple Watch in different styles and with various materials, from stretchy nylon to stainless steel mesh. In the SwitchEasy Flash Sale, the Cult of Mac Store has four excellent choices on sale for 20% off the regular prices through July 3.
Check out all four SwitchEasy bands for Apple Watch below.
Apple just introduced a slew of operating system updates. That includes iOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, watchOS 9.5.2 and iPadOS 16.5.1, which fix bugs in the most recent versions.
But it also released bug-fix updates for older versions of the operating systems going back as far as 2020.
What hasn’t yet arrived on Wednesday are the much-anticipated second round of betas for iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
I always had a thing for mechanical watches’ intricate machinery. But I gave up my Swiss timepiece for Apple Watch’s amazingly smart functionality.
And now someone has gone to the trouble of marrying the two on video. He replaced a nearly defunct Apple Watch’s circuitry with watch-movement technology first established more than 200 years ago.
And the end result is a gorgeous watch, if you dare try this sort of recycling project yourself.
A high-level Apple exec recently answered a question that bugs many Apple Watch users: Why aren’t third-party watch faces allowed?
It comes down to the company not allowing the wearable’s all-important home screen to be replaced by a non-Apple alternative that might not prove as reliable.
At WWDC23, Apple said it’s adding a slew of new health features in iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and watchOS 10 that will help you take care of yourself physically and emotionally.
And while new mental health and vision features are coming across platforms, the more-general Health app finally arrives on iPad, as well.
Sharing your contact information and more with people will get easier with new AirDrop functionality in iOS 17. A new feature called NameDrop makes it about as simple as knocking iPhones together.
“Today, you either hand your phone to them, or one of you dictates your information while the other types it. Now there’s a better way,” said Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi during Monday’s WWDC23 keynote. “Now you can just bring your phones close together.”
watchOS 10 will introduce widgets and bring a new look for many built-in Apple Watch apps. But the biggest changes come to the Workout app, which adds features that serious cyclists have been demanding for years, including support for third-party Bluetooth power and cadence meters.
Update: Sorry, but this deal quickly sold out.
As more Apple gear becomes available, we all have a problem: How to keep it all charged? This 5-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger has room for just about everything — and more besides.
It even boasts an unusual design that makes it resemble a leafy plant!
The massive Memorial Day Sale is still going on in the Cult of Mac Store, running through the end of the day on Monday, May 29. You can get up to 30% off great accessories for Apple products from half a dozen leading brands: Elago, Rilee & Lo, SwitchEasy, Mifa, Laut, Bucardo and Nine Twenty Eight.
See some sale highlights below and check out the whole sale on hundreds of items before it’s too late!
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: iOS 17 might turn your iPhone into a dashboard for your smart home. Plus, Apple’s new journaling app seems like it will arrive soon as well. With WWDC23 just weeks away, we don’t have long to wait.
Also on The CultCast:
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.
A new power bank from Belkin includes a built-in wireless charger that can juice up the latest Apple Watch models in the minimum amount of time. The battery also can simultaneously replenish an iPhone through its USB-C port.
The BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K launched Thursday.