Music-recognition service Shazam now features Popular Segments, a data-driven feature that reveals exactly which part of a song resonates most with listeners all over the world, according to an Apple website update Thursday.
With the holiday season in full swing and gift-giving deadlines approaching, Aqara has a fantastic sale with huge discounts on a bunch of the company’s smart home devices. These devices work with Apple HomeKit and the Home app, so you can easily integrate them into your existing setup (or start a whole new thing).
It’s the perfect time for last-minute shoppers looking to spruce up their living spaces before the holidays or surprise tech-savvy friends with a cool gift.
The sale runs through December 22 and offers savings of up to 48% on everything from smart locks to security cameras. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to upgrade your smart home for less.
If you’re hunting for a portable Bluetooth speaker that delivers exceptional sound without breaking the bank — maybe as a holiday gift — now’s the time to pounce. The Soundcore Motion X600 — my all-time favorite of its kind — is currently on sale for $139.99 at both Amazon and Soundcore, marking a $60 discount off its regular $199.99 price tag.
Apple TV has emerged as the streaming platform to beat this awards season, capturing half of the Best Drama series nominations at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards unveiled Monday — a remarkable achievement that signals the tech giant’s arrival as a major force in prestige television.
Three of the six nominations in the coveted Best Drama TV series category belong to Apple — the mind-bending workplace thriller Severance, the darkly humorous espionage drama Slow Horses and the breakout new sci-fi series Pluribus. That puts Apple ahead of streaming rivals Netflix and HBO Max, which each landed only one drama series nomination in the category.
Whether you’re shopping for an Apple aficionado who still treasures their original iPod or the productivity ninja who lives and breathes the latest iOS updates, finding the perfect geeky gift can feel like searching for a needle in a digital haystack. Fear not! We gather some of the most ingenious, innovative and downright cool gadgets that’ll make any Apple user’s heart skip a beat.
From retro-inspired accessories that pay homage to Apple’s legendary design heritage to cutting-edge smart home integrations that would make even Tim Cook jealous, these gifts bridge the gap between nostalgia and innovation. Each selection celebrates the unique blend of form, function, and pure geek appeal that defines the Apple ecosystem. And return to this post, because we’ll keep adding to it.
The M4 MacBook Air is the best mobile computer for most people, and a sweet new deal drops both the 13-inch and 15-inch models to low, low prices. You can snag the 13-incher for only $799 or the 15-incher for only $999.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over, but you can still find wickedly good deals for a beautiful and powerful Apple laptop.
The first trailer for Apple TV’s upcoming documentary series Born to be Wild means well, offering hope in the face of species extinction. But it leans so hard on baby-animal cuteness and human hero worship that I found it cloying. Nowhere does it acknowledge humans as a major cause of animal extinctions. The series itself most likely does, but we’ll have to see when it airs.
The emotional six-part documentary series debuts December 19.
Apple’s efforts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery to bolster the Apple TV streaming service ended in disappointment Friday, with Netflix emerging victorious in one of Hollywood’s most competitive bidding wars in recent years.
Netflix said Friday it will purchase Warner Bros. Discovery’s entertainment assets for $72 billion, outbidding Apple and other tech giants to secure one of the industry’s most valuable content libraries. The deal, far larger than any Netflix (or Apple, for that matter) has attempted to date, includes Warner Bros. studios, HBO and the HBO Max streaming service. Those assets would have dramatically transformed Apple TV’s positioning in the streaming wars.
Apple Podcasts awarded its prestigious Show of the Year honor to The Rest Is History Thursday, marking the first time a UK-based podcast has received the recognition. With the award, the streamer celebrates the show’s exceptional quality and cultural impact in the podcasting landscape. And the hosts obliged with insights into how they do what they do.
Apple honored 17 apps and games that stood out for their innovation and cultural impact in 2025, as the iPhone giant unveiled the winners of its annual App Store Awards Thursday.
In 2025 an unprecedented talent exodus decimated Apple’s leadership ranks, with Meta Platforms emerging as the primary beneficiary of the iPhone maker’s retention struggles. The social media giant has successfully lured away four high-profile executives from Apple’s artificial intelligence and design divisions, raising serious questions about the Cupertino company’s competitive position in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Find out more about the top executives left Apple for Meta below.
Whether you’re commuting, working out or just enjoying your favorite music, there’s a pair of earbuds on our list of best budget earbuds for less than $100 that can meet your needs without (much) compromise.
Today’s budget-friendly earbuds offer impressive features once reserved for premium models — excellent sound quality, active noise cancellation, long battery life and companion apps for customization.
And can you believe it? Even an Apple product made our list of best budget earbuds (when it’s on sale).
Apple’s set to lose yet another top executive as Alan Dye, the company’s head of user-interface design, departs for Meta Platforms, according to a new report Wednesday. While some view this as a coup for Meta, others seem tickled pink to see Dye head for the exit.
This major news instantly inspired Liquid Glass-fueled snark over whether Dye’s departure is really such a big loss for the iPhone giant.
Some people accept that many computers and external displays have pretty good speakers in them and leave their computer setup audio at that, plus maybe a pair of headphones or earbuds. Others accept no such thing and insist on cranking up the volume and ripping the knob off with killer audio gear. My roundup of cool setups below focuses on stellar workstation audio and those who, like me, take it as seriously as living room audio.
iPhone 17 Pro Max is Apple’s most advanced smartphone to date, featuring the powerful A19 Pro chip, an innovative vapor chamber cooling system and the best battery life ever in an iPhone. With its stunning 6.9-inch Super Retina XDR display protected by Ceramic Shield 2 and revolutionary camera capabilities, this device is engineered for excellence. However, even the most sophisticated technology benefits from the right accessories to unlock its full potential — so check out our 10 must-have iPhone 17 Pro Max accessories below.
Whether you’re a creative professional pushing the boundaries of mobile photography, a power user who demands all-day productivity, or simply someone who wants to protect and enhance their significant investment, the right accessories can transform your iPhone 17 Pro Max experience. From tough-as-nails screen protectors to wireless chargers that deliver blazing-fast 25W speeds, and from professional-grade camera lenses to ultra-slim power banks that slip into your pocket, today’s accessory ecosystem offers unprecedented versatility.
Plenty of Apple fans miss red iPhones, if responses to an X.com post Monday from Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak is anything to go by.
He talked about the company’s donations on World AIDS Day through customer purchases. Joswiak didn’t even mention hardware, but the commenters sure did.
★★★★☆
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.
If you’re using macOS 26 and mourning the loss of Launchpad, you need an alternative like BuhoLaunchpad. The newly released Mac app delivers practically the same experience that Launchpad did, effortlessly re-creating the classic app launching and organizational tool for Mac.
It’s a simple and effective solution to the Mac’s missing Launchpad in macOS Tahoe. And Cult of Mac readers can get BuhoLaunchpad at up to 70% off with the exclusive code CLMA25BL58 during Dr.Buho’s Black Friday sale.
We’ll explain how Dr.Buho’s BuhoLaunchpad stands out from other Launchpad alternatives below. And don’t miss your chance to get that Black Friday deal.
Apple’s smallest tablet may be getting a significant upgrade soon, with iPad mini 8 expected to adopt OLED display technology by late 2026, according to Chinese leaker Instant Digital. The third quarter of next year at the earliest, they said.
For Black Friday 2025, Apple unleashed a promotion giving new and returning Apple TV subscribers a six-month subscription for $5.99 per month.
This Apple TV Black Friday deal slashes more than 50% off the regular price of $12.99 per month!
Additionally, Apple is offering a bundle deal with Peacock Premium/Premium Plus at a discounted rate. See all the details below.
★★★☆☆
After spending a few weeks with the new SoundPeats Air5 Pro+ earbuds as my daily audio drivers, I’ve come to appreciate what this Chinese audio brand accomplishes at the budget end of the wireless earbud market. These earbuds, released Tuesday, pack an xMEMS Labs’ silicon-based micro tweeter in addition to a more traditional dynamic driver. With a Black Friday sale price of just over $100, they deliver features and performance that can cost twice as much with more established brands.
But do the buds outshine pricier competitors? Not exactly. My experience with their sound quality and adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) — “adaptive” being one of the new features that puts the “+” in the name — fell a little flat. I would not be tempted to choose these over AirPods Pro 3 for any reason other than cost.
A Black Friday deal makes this the best time to buy the iPad 11, the latest version of Apple’s entry-level tablet. You can take advantage of a sweet discount that takes $75 off the tablet’s usual price of $349. The 21%-off sale drops the entry-level tablet with an A16 processor to just $274, in (almost) any color you like.
The budget iPad, which launched this year, offers solid performance for tasks like surfing the web, streaming videos and handling email. Plus, it comes with a welcome boost over the iPad 10’s base level of storage.
It’s a great iPad for everyday users. Don’t hit snooze on this deal, though — this limited-time iPad deal could end at any time.
Retired secret assassin Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg) and his now-the-wiser wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) lead the Morgan family to Europe for the holidays, only to find a gun-toting Irish villain from the past — played by English actor Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) — haunting them. And by “haunting” we mean trying very, very hard to rip off and probably kill Dan. It’s Apple Original Films’ first sequel, The Family Plan 2, and it’s now streaming November 21 on Apple TV, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Reviews so far suggest it could be perfect for that holiday down time. The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “dumb-fun sequel that clears a low bar.” The New York Times says it’s a “better executed, equally goofball sequel about a family’s tangles with organized crime.” But some reviews get a little more Grinch-y, with Collider calling the film “lackluster” and Screen Rant fuming that it’s “mind-numbingly boring and unfunny.” But still, gathering in front of the screen could be better than talking to certain relatives, right?
In a rare AirPods Max deal, both Amazon and Best Buy offer a $120 discount on multiple colors of Apple’s premium over-ear, noise-canceling headphones with USB-C charging.
This is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen — you can’t knock picking up a pair of AirPods Max for just $429.99. Especially considering we don’t see discounts on them all that often.
Apple Music crowned rapper Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year on Thursday, honoring the hip-hop innovator’s remarkable creative output and cultural influence over the past 12 months. With streaming minutes numbering in the billions, the guy gives new meaning to “off the charts.”
This year has been Tyler’s most successful to date across Apple Music’s platform. Between November 2024 and October 2025, fans worldwide streamed his music for more than 4.5 billion minutes, marking career highs in plays, listeners and total listening hours on the service.