With tons of advanced features, Apple Maps competes quite handily with the likes of Google Maps and Waze. I put together a big list of the best eight features hidden in Apple Maps.
You can learn them all in this post — and see them in action in our video below.
Apple improved MagSafe wireless charging in the new iPhone 16 models by increasing the maximum charging capacity. It’s a considerable jump: the handsets can charge up to 66% faster.
Wireless charging is now as fast as plugging in a cable…with the right equipment.
With the iPhone 16 release date almost certainly mere days away at Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” September 9 event, rumors have already revealed quite a few details about the design, colors and more. There have been leaks about all four handsets in the iPhone 16 series, to the point where we already know most of what’s coming in the 2024 lineup.
Here’s what to expect: larger screens, better cameras, additional buttons and more.
A leaked photo supposedly shows Apple’s silicone cases for the iPhone 16 lineup without a cutout for the rumored capacitive Capture button. Instead, they sport an “integrated design,” which seemingly will not affect the new capacitive button’s functionality.
Fresh evidence points to iPhone SE 4 including an OLED display. If true, this would make it the first in Apple’s line of budget handsets to use this improved type of screen, while every other iPhone gave up traditional LCDs years ago.
The next iPhone SE model is supposedly on the docket for 2025.
Labor Day weekend is a great time to kick back, take a rest from work — and be thankful for the paycheck that lets you buy tons of Apple Labor Day sale items. The Cult of Mac Store marks the holiday this year by taking 20% off everything from SwitchEasy.
That’s 100 products to choose from! The company makes a wide variety of cool accessories for Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, iPhone, iPad, MacBook and more, like various chargers. So whatever Apple gear you have, check out these Labor Day deals on SwitchEasy Apple accessories.
Viral clips on TikTok show how to edit selfies for a more stunning, popping image on your iPhone. I live in a part of Ohio that’s perpetually overcast, but you would think I’m on my way to the beach, given the warm hues this method imparts upon your pictures.
Read on for detailed instructions on how to use TikTok’s winning selfie formula and how to apply the same filters in bulk on all the pictures from a photo shoot. Plus, I’ll tell you about my recommended selfie stick for taking great group shots and landscapes.
The new Vagabond Mobile Gaming Controller transforms iPhone, iPad mini and Android devices into full-fledged gaming consoles, Elo Gaming Limited said Tuesday. It called the device suitable for casual and pro gamers alike.
Market analysts expect Apple to reach a new milestone in 2024, with global revenues exceeding $400 billion for the first time, according to a new report Wednesday. It anticipates growth in Apple’s hardware and services businesses to drive that record-breaking revenue growth.
You’ve wanted to try iOS 18 since Apple showed it off in June but held off for fear of massive bugs. But the current iOS 18 beta is nearly the final one — and it’s really quite stable. Put it on your iPhone now and jump ahead of friends and co-workers by about a month.
And there are great new features to try, including a fully customizable Home Screen, an improved Control Center, a new Passwords app, and more.
Apple reportedly added support for JPEG XL to the iPhone Camera app in iOS 18. That’s left many iPhone users wondering, what the heck is JPEG XL?
It’s intended to be the replacement for the classic JPEG image format with new features for use on the web. And apparently, iPhone users soon can take pictures in this format, not simply view them.
European iPhone and iPad users will be able to kick Apple’s Phone and Messages apps to the curb if they wish. The same goes for an array of other applications that iOS currently makes the default options.
These join a long list of other changes being forced on Apple by the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
AirPods are the wireless earbuds that ordinary Bluetooth headphones want to be when they grow up. They’re seamlessly integrated with your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. They’re deceptively simple — but if you want to get more out of them, you need to dig through Settings. These AirPods tips will show you where to look to unlock maximum functionality.
I did some spelunking and found six super-handy hidden features you might not know about.
A multifunction button specifically to control the Camera app will be included in all four iPhone 16 version, not only the Pro models, according to an unconfirmed report published Thursday.
The same source details a range of improvements to the cameras built into these iOS handsets expected to launch in September.
The iPhone’s new Game Mode in iOS 18 will enhance graphics and reduce controller latency. It comes on automatically when you first launch a game.
Game Mode also reduces the background activities and services running on your phone. Luckily, if you don’t want that to happen, you can turn off Game Mode from your iPhone’s Control Center.
Here’s everything you need to know about how Game Mode works.
Want to make your iPhone crash? It’s easy. Type four simple characters into the App Library’s search field and the iOS SpringBoard will go down like a house of cards.
The good news is that a fix already seems to be on the way from Apple for this extremely minor bug.
Keeping up with the latest charging standards, Nomad released the third generation of its premium Stand One Max multi-device charger Wednesday. It features support for the new Qi2 wireless charging protocol, which enables up to 15-watt wireless charging speeds for compatible iPhones and Androids. And the luxe 3-in-1 stand keeps your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods going in style.
Apple introduced audio sharing to Beats Studio Pro over-ear headphones in a firmware update Tuesday, a feature already known to AirPods Max and AirPods users. So once your Beats Studio Pro update over the air to firmware version 2C301, up from version 2B68 installed at launch, you can easily share what you listen to with family and friends via a connected iPhone or iPad.
A supposedly leaked Apple invite for the iPhone 16 event looks like a well-executed hoax. The date, the event title and even the fake invite’s color palette seemed to confirm previous leaks about Apple’s upcoming iPhone lineup. However, a video editor who goes by Lore claims he created the invite as a prank.
“Fun fact: i made the ‘leaked’ Apple Event invite in less than 10 minutes using figma and an Ai generated texture and i sent it to the leaker just because i was bored,” Lore wrote Tuesday on X.
In a message to Cult of Mac, Lore confirmed that he created the bogus invite mainly because he was “sick and had nothing to do.” Read Cult of Mac’s interview with the 14-year-old Italian video editor who fooled the internet with his fake iPhone 16 invite.
xMEMS Labs, creators of all-silicon micro speakers for earbuds and headphones, plan to roll out the xMEMS XMC-2400 µCooling chip, the company said Tuesday. It noted the 1mm xMEMS fan on a chip is the first all-silicon, active micro-cooling fan for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.
“Our revolutionary µCooling ‘fan-on-a-chip’ design comes at a critical time in mobile computing,” said Joseph Jiang, xMEMS CEO and co-founder. “Thermal management in ultra-mobile devices, which are beginning to run even more processor-intensive AI applications, is a massive challenge for manufacturers and consumers. Until XMC-2400, there’s been no active-cooling solution because the devices are so small and thin.”
The company declined to comment on whether it’s in talks with Apple as a client or partner with the new innovation. See our Q&A with xMEMS Labs below.
The dual-camera system in the two basic iPhone models is an unnecessary complication. The iPhone’s secondary Ultra Wide camera simply doesn’t get used enough to justify building it into a handset.
Apple should focus entirely on the primary camera — the only one most people ever use. The iPhone’s Ultra Wide camera just adds unnecessary bulk and expense.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Who cranked up production in the Apple rumor mill? We talk through the latest ones on this week’s show, and some of them sound pretty wild. Fresh details about the iPhone 16 Pro’s new camera button make it sound very cool. A rumored bigger iMac sounds very exciting. And an Apple skunkworks project — a $1,000-plus device that puts an iPad on a rotating robotic arm — sounds absolutely bizarre.
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.
Among the casing color options for the two iPhone 16 Pro models will supposedly be bronze titanium. The first image apparently showing this colorway leaked Friday.
The picture reveals the other three upcoming color options, too.
The iPhone 15 Pro’s customizable Action button lets you pick from several presets, including Accessibility — which lets you choose from 25 different accessibility features that you can toggle on or off. These features aren’t limited to the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button, either. On any older iPhone, you can simply triple-click the side button to access those same 25 accessibility features.
Here are all 25 of the accessibility features you can assign to a button on your iPhone — and what they do.
The introduction of NFC and Secure Element (SE) APIs in iOS 18.1 unlocks new monetization opportunities for iOS app developers, Apple said Wednesday — though fees apply. But on the plus side, secure in-app near-field communication (NFC) transactions in iOS 18.1 will let devs integrate secure, contactless transactions directly within their apps on iPhone, independent of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.