2024 iPad Pro helped turn around a long slowdown in Apple tablet shipments. Photo: Apple
The number of iPads shipped during Q2 2024 grew sharply when compared to the same quarter of last year, according to market analysts. It’s the first year-over-year increase in Apple’s tablet shipments since 2022.
The long-awaited launch of powerful new iPad models is credited for the improvement.
Think of it as an extra $50 you can spend on snacks. Photo: Apple
It’s that time of year again — back to school time. So the person who spends all your money — you and/or your beloved child — needs expensive new gadgets. Good thing Amazon offers its typical iPad 10 back-to-school deal — $299 ($50 off). And you can pick any model of Apple’s basic tablet, actually, with or without cellular coverage and up to 256GB of storage. They’re all $50 off. Click on the links below to snag these deals.
Apple sets a new June quarter revenue record of $85.8 billion. AI photo: Midjourney/Cult of Mac
Apple broke a string a weak quarters by announcing a 5% year-over-year increase in revenue for the June quarter Thursday, setting a new record for the quarter. iPad sales experienced an especially strong quarter, up 24%, and the company’s services sector also grew by double digits.
Apple surpassed Wall Street analysts’ revenue expectations, though iPhone sales dropped slightly when compared to the same quarter a year ago.
SEC and ACC college football teams will use iPads on the sidelines during games. Photo: SEC
Are you ready for some football … with iPads? This upcoming college football season should see plenty of Apple tablets teaming up with coaches and players on the sidelines. Two powerhouse NCAA Division I conferences — Southeastern (SEC) and Atlantic Coast (ACC) — recently struck deals with Apple to use iPads in college football games.
iPad’s “unique capabilities and versatility make it the ideal solution to support coaches and student-athletes,” said Scott Brodrick, a manager in Apple’s worldwide iPad product marketing group. “With an unrivaled combination of advanced displays, powerful performance, portability, fast connectivity, all day battery life and versatile accessories, iPad will let coaches and players make in-game adjustments and empower athletes to compete at the highest level.”
Prime Day is over but the savings haven't stopped. Image: Tamanna Rumee/Unsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac
Amazon Prime Day officially ran July 16 and 17, but it’s not over yet, as Amazon extended many big bargains on Apple products. Tons of goods from Apple and others are discounted. See our selection of the best deals on AirPods (and Apple subsidiary Beats), AirTags, Apple Watch, iPads, MacBooks, Mac mini and more below. Return to this page for updates (and beware that deals can change suddenly with supply fluctuations, so you may click through to find updated pricing or sold-out items in some cases).
UPDATE: Amazon extended a host of Prime Day deals on Apple products into Thursday and Friday and even into Saturday, so you can still shop many of the items below! Items with full strikethroughs represent deals no longer available.
Now, the iPad is a real computer. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
With the recently-released PC emulator UTM SE, you can now emulate Windows on iPad directly. You can revisit old PC games, just like how you can use Delta to play old Nintendo games. You can also install Mac OS 9 or Linux. With Ubuntu, Debian or other versions of Linux, you can run all kinds of open-source software for getting real work or programming projects done.
But bad news: You can’t use it to run macOS Sonoma on your iPad. There’s some confusion about this, but unfortunately the long-held dream of turning your iPad into a Mac will have to wait for another day.
Setting it up is a little finicky — but the reward of seeing that classic Windows XP desktop on your iPad can make it all worth it. Keep reading to see how it works.
Knowing your iPad battery health helps you decide when it's time for a new tablet. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Checking the health and maximum capacity of the battery in older iPad models isn’t as easy as it should be, but we can walk you through the process. Finding out how worn out the tablet’s battery is can help you decide if it’s time for a new model.
But for those who already upgraded to the latest iPad Pro or iPad Air, checking battery health is a snap.
Don't want your child to watch Netflix on your iPhone? Just lock the app. Screenshot: Apple
It won’t be long before parents can hand their iPhone or iPad to a small child and be sure they don’t go on the web or accidentally make a phone call. The ability to lock apps so that they require Face ID to open is coming in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Apple has consistently introduced new features to enhance privacy and security, as seen in updates covered by apple.news.
I tested the new feature, and while it isn’t as useful as being able to make separate accounts for different users would be, it’s still a welcome change.
These unfinished concepts go back 40 years. Image: Apple/Jim Abeles/Canoo/DongleBookPro/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Apple only shows off its finished products, which makes the company’s secret prototypes and early concepts all the more fascinating. Details of these first-draft designs usually don’t come out until years after Apple dreams them up and discards them. Even if you’re well-versed in Apple history, these alternate-history unreleased Apple products will intrigue and confuse.
The wild and crazy ideas go back more than 40 years. If anything, it proves that Apple continuously skates toward the next hit. The quest for innovation continues, no matter whether the company is in dire straits or cruising on success. Keep reading or watch our video to see the wildest Apple products that might have been.
iPad sales declined overall, but Apple's tablet pretty much owns the market. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Consumer and business computer spending data for 2024’s first quarter shows iPad maintaining dominance in tablet sales, while Mac shipments show significant growth in the PC sector, according to a new report.
And in even better news, the analysts expect to see computer market growth through 2025.
The Files app has some new tricks. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 let users reformat external drives as well as keep a copy of a file on iCloud permanently stored locally.
Both features were found by developers tinkering with the first betas of these operating systems, and should make the Files app on iPhone and iPad more useful.
Big updates to Final Cut Pro will boost mobile production capabilities. Image: Apple
UPDATE: The new versions of Final Cut Pro for iPad and Mac — and the new Final Cut Camera app — launched Thursday on the App Store.
Apple updated its video editing application Final Cut Pro with live multi-camera recording on iPad and powerful new AI color correction on Mac. Plus, Final Cut Camera, a free new app for iPad and iPhone, allows for professional video capture in multicam mode or on its own. These updates “take creativity to the next level,” said Will Hui, project manager for creative applications at Apple when they were announced in May.
iPadOS 18 includes the Calculator app that iPad deserves. Photo: Apple
iPad never before included a built-in Calculator app because there wasn’t one Steve Jobs felt was worthy of a tablet. That all changes with iPadOS 18, which boasts a new Apple Calculator app that you can write into with Apple Pencil.
Smart Script can make your handwriting easier to read, while staying your handwriting. Photo: Apple
Apple’s Notes app in iPadOS 18 includes a new feature called Smart Script that allows users to handwrite text and then have it smoothed and straightened in real time. It promises to make text scrawled on the tablet with an Apple Pencil more readable and aesthetically pleasing.
I tested Smart Script on my iPad Pro with Apple Pencil. It’s not doing exactly what you might think — let me explain.
This macOS 15 wallpaper features retro icons. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
We found more precious nuggets in new software releases from WWDC24: new wallpapers for Apple devices. They include Mac versions that reference old-school icons, iPad landscape and portrait wallpapers in various colors, and similar pretty images for iPhone.
“This new dynamic wallpaper floats over old Macintosh iconography, Control Panel, and applications like the Calculator and MacWrite, Apple’s early word processor,” Basic Apple Guy said of the new-old Mac wallpaper he found.
iPadOS 18 sports a Calculator app worthy of an iPad. Photo: Apple
Pigs must be flying and hell has frozen over because the official Apple Calculator application is headed for iPad. It’s a feature missing from the tablet since its launch in 2010 but iPadOS 18 will include one.
It goes beyond simply an expanded version of the iPhone app. Apple built in a Math Notes calculator that allows users to write equations with a stylus and have the iPad solve them.
There are good reasons to use an external webcam with your iPad. Here's why and how. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
A trick you might have missed with the release of iPadOS 17 is support for external USB-C webcams. As good as the tablet’s front-facing camera is, it’s now possible to use a webcam with an iPad.
Here’s why you might be interested, and how to connect a webcam to your iPad with a USB-C port.
This rendering shows the unusual tiered-pyramid roof design of the new store. Photo: Apple
Apple continues its retail expansion in Southeast Asia with its first store in Malaysia — Apple The Exchange TRX. It’s set to open June 22 in Kuala Lumpur at The Exchange TRX mall. And you should check out the roof on this thing. It looks like a tiered pyramid.
Apple The Exchange TRX will be Apple’s sixth store in Southeast Asia. And it already has wallpapers for your device screens.
Should you ditch your Pro for the newest Air? Image: Apple/Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Apple’s recently released M2 iPad Air packs modest upgrades over its predecessor and the same processor as 2022’s M2 iPad Pro. How do the two Apple tablets with identical M2 chips compare? Find out in our M2 iPad Pro vs. M2 iPad Air comparison.
While the new midrange tablet seems tempting, an iPad Air is still an Air, not a Pro.
Accessorize your iPad 10 with this hot open-box deal on Apple's Magic Keyboard Folio. Photo: Apple
iPads are great for many things, but there’s one obvious drawback to using a tablet — the lack of a keyboard for typing out notes and performing similar tasks. Fortunately, if you need an iPad 10 accessory to maximize productivity, we’ve get one in this Apple Magic Keyboard Folio sale.
Apple’s outstanding iPad keyboard is perfect as a treat for yourself, but it’s not cheap. It retails for $249. But Cult of Mac Deals customers don’t need to pay full price to get the ultimate iPad 10 accessory. This open-box Magic Keyboard Folio for the 10th-gen iPad is on sale for only $94.97 with free shipping.
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Every M4 iPad Pro buyer should at least consider getting the Apple Magic Keyboard. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
With its cool cantilever design, Apple Magic Keyboard was a standout iPad Pro accessory even before its recent upgrade. Now that Apple fixed some of the original’s problems by adding a glass trackpad, a row of function keys and an aluminum palm rest, it’s even better. Especially with an improved USB-C port.
But does the functionality (and sheer coolness) justify the epic price of the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro? Read on to find out.
Memorial Day weekend is a great time to bag bargains on Apple gear, peripherals and accessories. Photo: Apple
Memorial Day weekend has arrived in the United States, and you know what that means — widespread sales on Apple gear and accessories (and pretty much everything else you can buy). Memorial Day deals on Apple gear can be irresistible.
We’re building a list, below, of solid deals at major retailers for Apple deals on gear, peripherals and accessories. Check back, because you might find something new.
Add iPad mini to the list of Apple devices getting an OLED screen. Image: Cult of Mac/Apple/Paul Inkles
An OLED screen intended for iPad mini is active development, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia. Apple’s smallest tablet will get the improved display in a couple of years.
The news comes on the heels of the launch of the M4 iPad Pro, the first in this line of tablets with an OLED screen.
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I explain why iPad Pro M4 is so brilliant. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
You already know the latest iPad Pro looks pretty and runs fast. Rather than an M4 iPad Pro review that simply goes over those points again, I talked to experts on why the tablet’s new tandem OLED display looks so beautiful. And I also explain why an iPad needs a high-end processor.
Plus, this M4 iPad Pro review serves up the results of my real-world battery life tests, plus my thoughts on The iPadOS Question.
An M4 iPad Pro teardown shows the two batteries and other internal components Photo: iFixit
A teardown of the new M4 iPad Pro shows that achieving its super-slim redesign required trimming the battery capacity. But there’s good news about replacing that battery.
Disassembling an iPad isn’t for the faint of heart, but iFixit did the honors. Now we can all what’s inside the shiny new iPad Pro.