Apple Watch - page 3

You can get the time without even looking at your Apple Watch using a little-known feature called Taptic Time. Simply hold two fingers on the device’s screen, and the watch will tap out the time on your wrist.
This is handy if you’re in a meeting and need to know the time, but you don’t want to look rude checking your watch. Or maybe you’re in the middle of a presidential debate.
Whatever the situation, turning on this little-known Apple Watch feature — and familiarizing yourself with how it works –can come in handy.

January 21, 2015: Months before the first Apple Watch goes on sale, users get a glimpse at what playing games might look like on the smartwatch. Thanks to Apple making the WatchKit API available to third parties, game developer NimbleBit releases a mockup of Letterpad, its simple, work-in-progress word game.
Suddenly, we get a peculiar desire to play games on our wrist that we haven’t had since the days of the Nintendo Game & Watch three decades earlier.

What do the buttons on the Apple Watch do? The Apple Watch borrows a lot from the iPhone, but the biggest difference between the two devices comes down to the way their buttons work. Each individual button does different things, depending on whether you click, double-click or hold them down.

Apple changed a lot of these features a few years ago with watchOS 10. The software update added a new Widgets view, reassigned Control Center to the side button, and changed what double-clicking the Digital Crown does. (For older devices, see our article about what Apple Watch buttons do in watchOS 9.)

Here’s a guide to the buttons on the Apple Watch.

A cool, colorful Apple Watch concept that borrows the design language of the original iMac is drawing raves on Instagram.

The instantly recognizable design features translucent plastic in the bright shades of the nonconformist computers that saved Apple’s bacon in the late 1990s.

Apple has spent years and millions of dollars trying to crack one of wearable technology’s biggest health challenges: noninvasive blood glucose monitoring for Apple Watch. Now, a promising new gadget at CES 2026 — the PreEvnt Isaac Non-Invasive Glucose Monitor — might offer a roadmap for how this long-awaited feature could finally arrive.

New research from the Apple Heart and Movement Study reveals that Apple Watch wearers tend to buck the trend of abandoned fitness goals, Apple said Friday.

Data shows Apple Watch users consistently maintain elevated exercise levels well past the notorious “Quitter’s Day” in mid-January. To build on that in 2026, Apple now offers more ways to keep Apple Watch users motivated so they can nail their New Year’s fitness resolutions.

Reps & Sets 26 is a brand-new strength training app designed exclusively for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. It was developed by a long-time Cult of Mac contributor: me, Graham Bower.

Reps & Sets 26 isn’t just another generic cross-platform fitness app. I made it Apple-exclusive, to take full advantage of the latest OS 26 technologies like CloudKit, SwiftUI and HealthKit, to deliver a truly native experience. And right now, it’s a free download. Perfect timing for your New Year’s resolutions. Get Reps & Sets 26 now, and get ripped in 2026.

Set your Apple Watch time a few minutes ahead of the actual time and you might trick yourself out of running late every day. This is an officially supported feature, not a hack that will produce cascading, annoying side effects. And it doesn’t require you to set your smartwatch out of sync with internet time.

What will you gain? By running your Apple Watch a few minutes fast, you might nudge yourself to rush out the door a little earlier. And that might be enough to get you somewhere on time rather than late. If tardiness is a frequent problem for you, this little change could save your skin.

With more than a dozen new Apple products in the pipeline, 2026 is shaping up to be a busy and important year for the company. Among a plethora of high-profile device launches, we should see the first folding iPhone next year

If all the rumors prove true, Apple’s 2026 product road map looks bold, exciting and ambitious. Check out all the new products Apple likely will launch in 2026.

It’s not too late to give your Christmas tree a holiday makeover that any Apple fan would be proud of. Grab some string, download Cult of Mac’s awesome decorations inspired by iconic Apple devices, and get hanging!

How do you set up a new Apple Watch? Whether you got the surprisingly capable Apple Watch SE 3, the battery-boosted Apple Watch Series 11 or the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 3, you might be wondering how to get started. After all, the Watch is unlike any other Apple device, both in its dependence on an iPhone and in the way it works.

The good thing is, Apple has made it really, really easy to get things up and running. Let’s take a look.

When it comes to charging an Apple Watch, you typically have two choices: Use a wired charger that plugs into a power source or go with some sort of battery pack. This portable Apple Watch charger is different — it can do both. It comes with built-in USB-A and USB-C and USB-A cables so you can plug it into a computer or wall wart, and a 1,200mAh battery so you can use it to charge wirelessly wherever you go.

It’s ideal for anyone who’s always on the go and wants to keep their Apple Watch powered up without needing an outlet. At just $29.99, it’s a surprisingly capable Apple Watch charger. And it makes a great stocking stuffer for anyone who wears an Apple Watch!

2025 was a big year for Apple. In this end-of-year roundup, we gathered up the most consequential news, groundbreaking rumors and biggest surprises of the last 12 months. 

There were plenty of leaks — in fact, the entire iPhone 17 lineup was exhaustively shown off in the months leading up to September. We also knew most of the other product releases, from the MacBook Air and iPad Air to MacBook Pro and Vision Pro, would consist of simple spec bumps.

But there were tons of curveballs, too. Tariffs rattled Apple’s international supply chain. The Blood Oxygen app for Apple Watch made a sudden return. And no one was expecting a UI redesign quite like Liquid Glass. 

Here’s our look back at 2025.

Just days after pushing iOS 26.2 to the public, Apple seeded the iOS 26.3 beta 1 to developers on Monday. The next major point release of the iPhone operating system does not include radical new features, but it promises to bring some notable changes to the platform.

Below are all the changes we’ve discovered in iOS 26.3 beta 1.

Our guide to the best Cyber Monday 2025 deals on Apple products and accessories showcases some prices that are even lower than Black Friday’s blowout sales. We’ll update this post throughout the day, but the clock is ticking. These Cyber Monday deals should end at midnight!

Our favorite earbuds — AirPods Pro 3 — remain at an all-time low price. The iPad mini just hit a new low of $349. And somehow, an amazing deal on the latest M4 MacBook Air got even more amazing as Cyber Monday approaches.

Find our absolute favorite Apple Cyber Monday picks, and our other favorite deals sorted by product category, below.

We put together the ultimate guide to the best Black Friday 2025 deals on Apple gear — and all the accessories you could want. We’ll be updating this post throughout the week as deals come and go. 

Our favorite earbuds — AirPods Pro 3 — remain at an all-time low price. And somehow, an amazing deal on the latest M4 MacBook Air got even more amazing as Cyber Monday approaches.

Find our absolute top five picks, and our other favorite deals sorted by product category, below. 

Apple Watch Cyber Monday 2025 deals are live, featuring significant price drops on entry-level models and premium variations.

The best deal so far is the newest Apple Watch Series 11, which has dropped to its lowest price to date — just $339 (regularly $399). Another great buy is the entry-level Apple Watch SE 3, on sale from just $199 (save $50 or 20% off). This is a superb starter watch and perfect for kids (and you can use it to track the little darlings). And even the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on sale (although not by much).

Plus, if you want to save even more, you might be able to grab a previous year’s model before the clearance sales in effect decimate the inventory forever.

Have you noticed clean, comfortable air is getting harder to find? Among the reasons I finally left California after many years were the increasingly common and unhealthy “smoke seasons” caused by western wildfires. So I moved back east only to discover Canadian wildfires wafting choking drafts into New England, as well as my old nemesis — humidity. So I finally got myself a serious appliance to deal with indoor air quality. This Turonic PH950 Air Purifier and Humidifier review finds it quite the beast for the tasks, with just a few caveats (no HomeKit!?). But control via app for iOS and watchOS makes it especially convenient. 

Love the convenience of 3-in-1 wireless chargers for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods — but wish they were faster? Well, Ugreen joined the early wave of Qi2.2 chargers with it MagFlow 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger. And that means it leaps from 15 watts (Qi2) to 25W (Qi2.2) of charging power for late-model iPhones, which makes a big difference in charging speed. And with this Ugreen MagFlow charger deal, you can get $40 off right now on Amazon. 

Apple has achieved what many thought impossible: manufacturing millions of Apple Watch cases using 3D-printing technology with 100% recycled titanium — while cutting raw material usage in half. The breakthrough marks a significant milestone in both sustainable manufacturing and production efficiency, with the company estimating the process will save more than 400 metric tons of raw titanium this year alone.

“It wasn’t just an idea — it was an idea that wanted to become a reality,” said Kate Bergeron, Apple’s vice president of product design, in a press release Tuesday. “Once we asked the question, we immediately started testing it. We had to prove, with continuous prototyping, process optimization, and a tremendous amount of data gathering, that this technology was capable of meeting the high standard of quality we demand.”

While many people know the new Apple Watch Series 11 tracks your steps, heart rate and possible high blood pressure, the latest iteration also offers unexpected advantages that go beyond basic fitness monitoring. We put together 10 surprising benefits of Apple Watch Series 11 for you below.
Whether you’re a longtime Apple Watch user or considering your first purchase, these surprising benefits might just change how you think about what a smartwatch can do.

If you’re an Apple user who’s been eyeing Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem, you might be wondering how well it plays with Siri and your other Apple devices. The good news? SmartThings has robust HomeKit support, meaning you can control a wide range of smart home devices using Siri voice commands, the Home app and Apple’s automation features. Here are five impressive ways to integrate SmartThings into your Apple-powered smart home.

Nomad launched updated versions of its Stand One and Stand One Max wireless chargers Tuesday, bringing support for the new Qi2.2 standard. It enables 25W fast charging for compatible iPhones. The upgrade matches the charging speeds of Apple’s latest MagSafe chargers and represents a significant improvement over the 15W charging supported by previous Qi2 models.

A decade after Apple Watch launched, WhatsApp finally launched a dedicated app for the smartwatch Tuesday — ending years of frustration for users who could only respond to notifications from their wrist. The messaging service brings full chat functionality to your wrist with support for messages, voice notes and calls, Meta said. 

The iPhone App Store is now accessible on a Mac. And iPad users can research what macOS applications are available. Anyone can see what Apple Watch apps are available. All of these are possible now that Apple finally put the App Store on the web Monday.

It’s long overdue, and still missing a feature many users would like.