Mobile menu toggle

iPad - page 7

How to run Linux and Windows on iPhone and iPad

By

Windows XP On Your Phone
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.

How to check iPad battery health

By

iPad Battery Health How To
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.

Parents will love locking and hiding apps in iOS 18

By

Lock apps in iOS and iPadOS
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.

The 8 weirdest unreleased Apple products

By

8 Craziest Apple Prototypes
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.

How to stop your AirPods from switching between devices

By

Stop Switching Around On Me
Apple’s “intelligent” switching can get annoying.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

If you’re trying to listen to podcasts or music on your phone, it can be annoying when your AirPods keep switching to other devices, like your Mac or iPad.

Personally, I don’t mind this behavior. If I’m sitting at my Mac, I want to use the Music and the Podcasts apps on the Mac. But a lot of people consider their phone to be their primary device and always want to play audio from their phone, no matter which other device they’re using.

If you want your iPhone to keep supreme control over your ears, here’s how to disable AirPods auto-switching.

How to leave a FaceTime voicemail

By

Leave A Message After The Beep
More like “videomail” or “videomessage.”
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

You can send a FaceTime voicemail to someone if they don’t answer when you need to video chat. It’s better than leaving a regular voicemail because it’s video — you can relay a message quickly or show something off on camera.

For instance, if your dog or your human child is doing something cute, or if you want to get a second opinion on an outfit, you might want to show someone. If they don’t answer your FaceTime call, you can record a video to send them to watch later.

Here’s how FaceTime voicemail works.

iPad dominates tablet market as Mac gains on PC

By

iPad and Mac sales report - M4 iPad Pro
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.

New version of Final Cut Pro for iPad and Mac now available [Updated]

By

Final Cut Pro for iPad and Mac
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.

The wait for them is now over.

Why Steve Jobs would love the Calculator app for iPad

By

iPadOS 18 includes a Math Notes calculator
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.

Here’s why it’s something Jobs would be proud of.

Hands-on with Smart Script in Notes in iPadOS 18

By

Hands-on with Smart Script in Notes in iPadOS 18
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.

Download new iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 wallpapers

By

new wallpapers for Apple devices
This macOS 15 wallpaper features retro icons.
Photo: Basic Apple Guy

Apple Let Loose Event: 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.

Apple’s Calculator app finally comes to iPad

By

iPadOS 18 includes a Math Notes calculator
iPadOS 18 sports a Calculator app worthy of an iPad.
Photo: Apple

Apple Let Loose Event: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.

Instantly share photos, videos, links and more with AirDrop

By

Drop It My Way
AirDrop is right up there with iMessage as a great Apple-exclusive feature. Learn how to use it.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

If you want to know the fastest and easiest way to send someone photos, videos, files and so, so much more, you should know how to AirDrop. There’s no need to send an iMessage — Apple’s slick AirDrop feature will immediately send and open the content on someone else’s iPhone (or other Apple device). There’s no middle step.

AirDrop works iPhone-to-iPhone, iPhone-to-Mac, iPhone-to-iPad, Vision Pro-to-Mac — any combination and permutation of two Apple devices. And if you’re both running iOS 17, there’s a convenient AirDrop superpower you should definitely know about. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about how to take advantage of AirDrop.

How and why to use an external webcam with your iPad

By

External webcam with iPad How To
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.

First Apple Store in Malaysia sports wild, tiered-pyramid roof

By

First Apple Store in Malaysia
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.

M2 iPad Pro vs. M2 iPad Air: Should you upgrade?

By

M2 iPad Pro vs. M2 iPAd Air comparison
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.

Save $155 on a Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad 10

By

Gift an Apple lover this Magic Keyboard Folio for only $99.
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.

Apple Magic Keyboard expands M4 iPad Pro to its full potential [Review] ★★★★

By

Apple Magic Keyboard for M4 iPad Pro★★★★
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.

Snag the best Memorial Day deals on Apple gear and accessories [Updated]

By

Memorial Day deals on Apple gear
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.

iPad mini with OLED screen on course for release

By

OLED iPad mini concept
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.

Take a deep dive into the best parts of M4 iPad Pro [Review] ★★★★★

By

M4 iPad Pro review★★★★★
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.

M4 iPad Pro teardown reveals smaller-capacity battery

By

An M4 iPad Pro teardown shows the two batteries
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.

Learn all these gestures and you’ll master your iPad

By

The Guide to iPad Gestures
No more mad swiping at the screen — learn the details of how your iPad works.
Image: Leander Kahney/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Gestures are a great way to become an iPad power user. They help you easily navigate through apps, switch between pages, access controls, and reduce multiple taps to a single swipe. iPad gestures prove especially useful for Stage Manager, the iPad’s alternative multitasking environment.

Apple designed these iPad gestures to mimic natural, real-world movements, making them intuitive to use and learn. Swiping, pinching, tapping and other moves feel familiar. You should find them easy to master.

If you use your iPad a lot, these gestures are well worth learning. Your fingers will thank you!

Should you buy a MacBook or iPad?

By

MacBook VS iPad
Which is the better choice these days?
Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Should your next computer be a MacBook or an iPad? Apple is making the iPad more powerful and capable every year — it might be good enough that you don’t need a traditional computer in your life.

While macOS is still more powerful and versatile, the iPad’s hardware offers unique capabilities that no Mac can match. The iPad is easier to pick up and use, more portable and more reliable. It’s worth considering over a laptop if you don’t do a lot of specialized work.

Here are the pros and cons, MacBook vs. iPad: Price, easy of use, portability and more. Keep reading below or watch our video.