Top stories - page 18

Apple just took the wraps off a lower-price version of its iPad stylus. The new Apple Pencil uses a USB-C port for charging so it’s a better fit for use with the budget iPad.

“Apple Pencil has revolutionized note taking, sketching, and illustrating, unleashing endless possibilities for productivity and creativity,” said Bob Borchers, Apple VP of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Combined with the versatility of iPad, the new Apple Pencil unlocks another great option to experience the magic of digital handwriting, annotation, marking up documents, and more.”

The new version is $50 less than Apple Pencil 2, the premium model. But it lacks some of the features of the top-of-the-line version.

DVDs may seem like a thing of the past as streaming options like Netflix and Apple TV+ continue to gain popularity, but there’s no reason those shiny discs need to sit around collecting dust. Discover new ways to enjoy old favorites by taking advantage of a discount on a highly rated and speedy DVD ripper.

Now, a lifetime license for MacX DVD Ripper Pro is available for only $29.99 (regularly $67). That’s a 55% discount on a product that supplies endless options for adding content to Apple or Android devices.

If you forget your new iPhone passcode, you can reset it with your old one for up to three days later. This can save you hours of trying to remember the new passcode, or worse, resetting your phone from a backup.

You just have to tap Forgot Passcode? on the Lock Screen after you enter it several incorrect times.

Keep reading for a detailed walkthrough. And don’t worry — if you change your passcode intentionally to keep someone out, you can instantly expire your old one.

October 16, 2003: Six months after opening the iTunes Music Store for Mac owners, Apple expands the service to cover Windows PCs as well.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs later quips that making iTunes available to Windows owners is akin to “giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell.”

Owning an array of iPhone charging accessories can make life go more smoothly. Luckily, we’ve got a bundle that combines a plethora of accessories in one.

For a limited time, this five-piece iPhone accessory bundle is on sale for only $49.99 (regularly $129).

Editing and customizing the widget stack in watchOS 10 on your Apple Watch is a great way to clean up your watch face. If you have a Tim Cook-esque watch face full of complications, you can use widgets to pare it down to a simple, classy design with the same quick access to your apps and activities.

Today, I’ll show you how to make the most of your smart stack of widgets.

October 15, 1993: John Sculley, the former CEO responsible for forcing Steve Jobs out of Apple, is forced to leave the company himself.

When Sculley resigns as Apple’s chairman, he takes $1 million in severance pay, a one-year consulting fee of $750,000, a commitment from Apple to buy his $4 million mansion and $2 million Lear jet, and $2.4 million in stock options. Total take: around $10 million.

In this week’s Awesome Apps roundup, we have a book-reading app that will help you make reading a habit; a free app that turns an iPad into an external monitor for game consoles or cameras; and a great travel app that puts critical flight information on your Apple Watch.

There’s no better time than now to get into the cybersecurity industry. There are more than three-quarters of a million cybersecurity job openings across the United States, and it’s projected that the cost of cybercrime could reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. As a result, cybersecurity professionals are extremely valuable.

One great way to start on the road to becoming qualified to work in this ever-growing field is by acquainting yourself with cybersecurity fundamentals with this CompTIA bundle. Now through October 15, you can get this lifetime bundle for only $49.97 (regularly $195)!

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: An iOS 17 update supposedly will stop the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button from triggering in your pocket, at least in certain circumstances. Is this really a problem that needs fixing?

Also on The CultCast:

• When it comes to upcoming Macs and Apple Watch, this week’s no news sounds like very bad news indeed.
• Apple’s Vision Pro headset seems to be straining the necks of some pencil-necked geeks.
• For this week’s Under Review segment, I’ve got a unique-looking charger and Erfon and Griffin bring very different sorts of cameras to the podcast’s version of show and tell.

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.

Don’t let your analog memories fade into the past. Instead of piling up photo albums, you can scan your film to view the images on digital displays, computers, TVs, phones and any other device you’d like.

You can preserve precious memories by digitizing them with the Kodak Slide N Scan Film and Slide Scanner, on sale for $169.97 (regularly $224) with code KODAK through October 15.

There are a lot of awesome features in iOS 17 — Contact Posters, StandBy, Safari profiles, shared passwords and much, much more. Here’s a simple to-do list on how to make the most of Cupertino’s latest and greatest iPhone operating system.

Macs might be the best computers, but they’re not the only computers. And if you own a Windows PC and haven’t yet upgraded to Microsoft’s latest operating system, you’re missing out on the full potential of your machine.

An upgrade to Windows 11 Pro can unlock a whole new world of PC power and capabilities. Fortunately, Cult of Mac readers can score an incredible deal on this innovative OS. Usually $199, you can now pick up the Windows 11 Pro for only $29.97, a savings of more than $160. No coupon is needed to secure this discount!

Although I go for almost daily bike rides for exercise, I used to always forget to record the rides on my Apple Watch. I’d always record the rides on my bike computer. But when it came to the watch, I’d never remember until halfway through the workout, if at all.

That’s until I got the Apple Watch Ultra, which boasts a bright orange Action button that I set to start an Outdoor Cycle workout.

Now, I remember every time, and it’s because of the button. It’s the strangest thing, and I have no explanation. But the act of hitting a physical button makes me remember.

The versatile Action button — which you can set to turn on the watch’s flashlight, start the stopwatch or run a shortcut, among other things — is reason enough to get the Apple Watch Ultra, which I’ve been wearing since its launch last year. But there’s another great reason. Actually, two.

Some computer setups look “clean” and “minimal” because they’re, well, empty. Under-equipped. Not all there. But today’s featured M2 MacBook Air setup with Studio Display actually brings enough gear, it just does so in a beautifully clean way that has the rest of us slobs drooling with envy.

Hell, our setup is practically a waste dump half the time, compared to this thing.

October 13, 2006: Apple launches its limited-edition iPod nano (Product) Red Special Edition music player, with 10% of profits going to fight AIDS in Africa.

Created in association with U2 lead singer Bono and activist/attorney Bobby Shriver, it’s the first of many Apple philanthropic products. “We’re ecstatic that Apple is giving their customers the choice to buy a red iPod nano and help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa,” Bono says in a statement.

Want to learn to play piano? Skoove is an interactive app that can be used with literally any kind of musical keyboard (even an old-school piano). And it’s now available for a price you won’t find anywhere else on the web.

Get Skoove, and you can master the piano thanks to a lifetime of lessons for one low price.

In theory, we’d all love to learn a new language. There are tons of benefits to being multilingual, some obvious (better communication skills, the chance to meet new friends) and some less so (heightened mental health, a resume upgrade).

The problem is finding the right time and the right teacher. And no matter what kind of time you have in your day, Rosetta Stone is designed to help you learn, one word at a time. Now anyone can get lifetime access to this popular language learning system for an extra $30 off with a special fall promo code.

October 12, 2011: Apple launches iCloud, a service that lets users automatically and wirelessly store content and push it to their various devices.

iCloud’s arrival marks the end of Apple’s Mac-centric “digital hub” strategy — and ushers in an age of inter-device communication and non-localized files.

Feeling jealous that iPhone 15 users can plug a thumb drive directly into their phone? Then you need the PNY Duo Link iOS USB 3.2 Dual Flash Drive. It has both a Lightning connector and USB-A connector, which makes it compatible with iPhone, iPad and Mac. Windows, too.

With it, you can copy images or other files between devices. Or backup your iPhone when you’re on the go.

I put PNY’s drive through its paces. Here’s what I found out.

In a pinch, your iPhone 15 can recharge your Apple Watch or AirPods, and even juice up another iPhone It’s a new feature that’s very convenient if you know how to use it.

Here’s how to take advantage of this feature.

Whether you’re going on vacation or working from anywhere, you need to protect your gear before using networks you don’t know. Instead of yet another software subscription, the Deeper Connect Pico offers hard-wired protection that fits in your pocket.

Right now, you can get this travel-ready cybersecurity protection device and Wi-Fi adapter for just $148.99. That’s $99 off the $248 MSRP.

Globetrotters may think they already know all the best travel hacks, but they might not know this secret: With Travel Buyers Club, you can gain access to member-exclusive prices on airfare, hotels, rental cars, theme parks and more.

Since you’re a Cult of Mac reader, you can save 60% on your first year of membership and get it for just $39.99 (regularly $99).

Reading Time for iPhone and iPad lets you build a library of books, then tracks your progress as you read. It encourages reading by making everything easier and more fun.

You can easily scan books by their barcodes to add them to your library. When you start a reading session, a Live Activity will show up on your Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island or in StandBy.

The Reading Time app keeps track of your progress with detailed stats — like your reading speed, and estimated time until you’re finished — in an organized dashboard of books.

How can you stop Siri from randomly turning on? As if Siri’s unhelpful answers were not irritating enough when you actually want them, Siri often interrupts a conversation, meeting or TV show when you haven’t asked for anything at all.

Yes, Siri can be helpful — we previously covered six surprisingly useful things Siri can do — but it can oftentimes be an unwelcome guest, activating when you want it to zip it. And now in iOS 17, it’s going to activate every time it hears “Siri,” not just “Hey Siri.”

How do you stop Siri from activating all the time?