Into a market filled with standard iPhone cases, Apple accessories designer Sodi brings a sensory innovation — or maybe overload — that promises to transform how iPhone users interact with their devices. The Sodi Aroma Scent Phone Case, designed exclusively for iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models, launched Thursday on Kickstarter. It infuses fragrance technology with everyday smartphone use.
In other words, the cases make your iPhone smell … in a nice way, and very much on purpose.
Apple may soon release a lighter, thinner version of its Vision Pro headset that may go by the name of “Vision Air,” according to multiple leaks Wednesday and Thursday from a semi-reliable source. The new device would represent a significant redesign focused on weight reduction while potentially offering a more affordable alternative to the $3,500 Vision Pro. And it might come in a bluish-black color rather than Vision Pro’s silver.
Despite its flaws, Apple Intelligence packs some useful features. Among them, Writing Tools lets you rewrite, summarize, and proofread text using AI.
Sadly, you cannot use Writing Tools to draft your Facebook posts or WhatsApp chats, as Meta blocks the use of this feature in its apps.
British actor David Oyelowo stars in the new “surrealist family comedy” Government Cheese, coming to Apple TV+ in spring 2025.
Oyelowo is always good — he also features in Apple’s very popular sci-fi series Silo — so it may be worth checking this one out.
Update: The comedy series is now streaming on Apple TV+. The review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes says, “Peculiar and peppy, Government Cheese has some holes but gets by on the strength of its nutty writing and a collection of tangy performances.”
Wednesday brought system software patches to an array of Apple devices, all intended to fix bugs. This includes the release of iOS 18.4.1 to remove a bug that prevented some iPhone users from accessing CarPlay over a wireless connection. There are two important security fixes, too.
Plus, Apple also made macOS Sequoia 15.4.1, iPadOS 18.4.1, tvOS 18.4.1 and visionOS 2.4.1 available at the same time. But no equivalent watchOS update appeared.
Apple reduced its global greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% compared to 2015 levels, the company said Wednesday. It marks substantial progress toward the company’s Apple 2030 initiative goal of carbon neutrality.
And, as part of its Earth Day run-up, the company also confirmed rumors of an Apple in-store recycling deal that offers 10% off accessories when you turn in an Apple device through May 16.
“We’re incredibly proud of the progress we’re making toward Apple 2030, which touches every part of our business,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, in a press release. “Today, we’re using more clean energy and recycled materials to make our products than ever before, we’re preserving water and preventing waste around the world, and we’re investing big in nature.”
Four talented Indian filmmakers push creative boundaries, showing how iPhone 16 Pro Max does movies right and demonstrating how Apple’s latest technology democratizes high-quality filmmaking, Apple said Tuesday in a feature story. The emerging auteurs’ work is part of the 2025 MAMI Select: Filmed on iPhone program.
The 2018 Intel-based Mac mini has officially entered Apple’s vintage list. Alongside this, the 2015 iPhone 6s also joins the list.
This means that these products will only receive limited repair support from Apple.
With Tuesday’s Beats Cables launch, Apple subsidiary Beats officially entered the charging accessories market with its first-ever collection of reinforced charging cables. They bring the brand’s signature style to an often overlooked but essential product category. Available at apple.com, new Beats Cables feature a tangle-free woven design specifically engineered to prevent fraying and increase durability.
Unlike rival item trackers, the Chipolo Pop doesn’t force you to choose between iPhone and Android. You can find your misplaced keys or cat with either Apple’s Find My network or Google’s Find My Device.
Plus, the Bluetooth tracker tag comes in a range of colors.
Apple chose Samsung Display as the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for its first foldable iPhone, expected to launch in 2026, according to a new report. The decision marks a departure from Apple’s typical multi-supplier strategy. It could help ensure high quality and reinvigorate the foldable OLED market.
Apple’s AI efforts don’t have to be hampered by its commitment to user privacy. A blog post published Monday explains how the company can generate the data needed to train its large language models without the privacy violations caused by Apple itself reading people’s emails or messages.
It’s an indirect, opt-in system that takes advantage of the small AIs the Apple builds into millions of users’ devices.
Ubisoft released Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Monday for iPhone, iPad and Android. The award-winning action-adventure platformer challenges players to use Time Powers to defeat time-corrupted enemies and save the land.
The game runs at 60 FPS on recent generations of mobile devices.
For the first time ever, Apple has claimed the global smartphone crown in the opening quarter of the year, thanks largely to the success of its iPhone 16e, according to data released Monday by a market analysis firm. With a strategic push into emerging markets and a rare off-cycle product launch, the tech giant surged past Samsung in Q1 2025 — a shift in the high-stakes battle for mobile dominance.
Apple sales grew during the period, while those of its chief rival Samsung dropped.
After the U.S. government seemed to exempt iPhones, Macs and other electronics from hefty tariffs Friday, a clarification issued Sunday by President Donald Trump revealed that’s not the case.
Trump said on Truth Social that his administration did not announce a tariff exemption Friday. Instead, the “existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs” will still apply to electronics — with higher tariffs possibly coming soon.
The Vision Pro 2 might pack more upgrades than previously rumored. Instead of a minor spec bump, Apple could make the headset lighter and cheaper.
This would address two of the biggest complaints with Apple’s first mixed-reality headset.
The next big iPadOS overhaul will make the OS more like macOS. That’s what a new report claims, indicating Apple will focus on “productivity, multitasking and app window management.”
All these changes will make iPadOS behave closer to macOS than iOS.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest video from Front Page Tech leaker in chief Jon Prosser gives us a closer look at what iOS 19 might look like. Its glossy UI elements and rounder “squircles” for app icons get us pondering the future. And the feud between Prosser and Bloomberg scoop machine Mark Gurman gets us laughing!
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.
In a tremendous turnaround, President Donald Trump removed the hefty tariffs he’d imposed on phone, computers and many other electronics being imported into the United States. The change, which came late Friday, should prevent price hikes that Apple, HP, Dell, etc. would likely have had to charge customers to pay for the import taxes.
There will reportedly also be no tariffs on processors, TVs, solar panels, flash drives and removable memory cards — no matter what country they are made in.
Update: The Trump administration said Sunday that it only provided electronics with temporary tariff relief.
In a harrowing incident off the coast of Australia, an experienced swimmer’s routine morning body surfing session turned potentially deadly after riptides took him out to sea. Fortunately, 49-year-old Rick Shearman remembered the SOS feature on his Apple Watch Ultra. Using it led to a dramatic helicopter rescue that saved his life on July 13, 2024.
Update: Apple Australia’s YouTube channel posted a new video Thursday, below, dramatizing Shearman’s rescue. It recreates his desperate SOS call, his struggles amid huge swells and the dramatic relief when the rescue helicopter appears overhead. The video only lasts a minute, but by the end, with music swelling, it might bring you to tears.
A handsome and charming hedge fund manager gets fired and turns to a life of crime, stealing from his well-heeled neighbors by night — inadvertently uncovering their surprisingly dangerous secrets. That’s the gist of the entertaining trailer Apple TV+ dropped recently for drama Your Friends & Neighbors. Starring Jon Hamm, Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet, it debuts April 11.
And get this — Apple has so much confidence in the new show, it green-lighted the second season before the first one even aired.
Update: Your Friends & Neighbors started streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday (actually Thursday evening, per the streamer’s usual practice). Reviews so far are good. The Daily Beast said Hamm aand Peet “are at the top of their game” in the show. For NPR, the drama brought to mind John Cheever’s classic novels about the soullessness of American suburbs. And Deadline said the series “combines social commentary, dark humor, twisty relationships and a murder mystery.” And the already planned season two might be darker in tone.
Apple’s release date for a much smarter version of Siri will reportedly come in the fall, according to sources inside the company. While that’s many months later than Apple originally hoped, it’s still far sooner than some people feared.
Perhaps a recent shakeup of the Siri management team is bearing fruit.
New details emerged Thursday about Apple’s mad scramble to import millions of iPhones ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company reportedly rushed 600 tons of iPhones into the United States from India last week. And, while there has been no word of a similar pre-tariff rush of iPhone imports from China, it seems unlikely Apple would overlook such an obvious move.
All this means there are surely even more iPhones, Macs, etc., stockpiled to meet U.S. consumer demand without price hikes — at least in the short term.
We hear plenty of stories about Apple Watch saving lives, but they rarely if ever involve cancer — until now. According to news from down under, Apple Watch’s persistent alerts about an elevated heart rate helped save a New Zealand psychiatrist’s life, leading to a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia just hours before potential organ failure.
Apple now sells iPhone 16e repair parts for DIYers and enthusiasts. You can purchase replacement parts through Apple’s online Self Service Repair Store in the US and Europe.
The spare parts go on sale within 1.5 months of the iPhone 16e hitting retail stores.