AirDrop is somehow conceptually related to balloons. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
AirDrop is a fantastic Apple feature. You can use it to share files of pretty much any size with anyone nearby, even in the middle of a desert with no Wi-Fi and no cellular. It Just Works, and once you get used to it, any other way of sharing files seems primitive.
Today, we’ll make AirDrop even easier to use on your Mac, by adding AirDrop shortcut to the Dock.
As ever, WWDC was a highlight of the Apple year. Image: Apple
WWDC 2018 is less than a week away and to prepare developers for the big event, Apple just updated its WWDC app for iPhone and iPad.
Developers and regular iOS users alike can all download the app to access information about sessions and other events that will be going down this week. The app comes with a new look too that makes videos more prominent than ever.
Are A-chips coming soon to a Mac near you? Photo: Apple
Apple manufacturer Pegatron has reportedly received orders from Apple to manufacture an ARM-based MacBook model, codenamed “Star” or “N84.” ARM processors are currently used for Apple’s iPads and iPhone, but not its Macs.
No more tangles with the Side Winder cable tidy. Photo: Fuse Reels
This is the Side Winder, a spinning reel for your MacBook’s power brick that coils and spools out both the mains and the DC cables from the brick in seconds. It adds a little bulk to the charger, and in return it promises to free you from tangles and knots, forever.
The Core X is $200 cheaper than the Core V2. Photo: Razer
Razer today updated its lineup of eGPU enclosures, adding a more affordable model that’s finally compatible with macOS. The Core X is $200 cheaper than its sibling, the Core V2 — and in some ways, it’s even better.
Apple takes accessibility very seriously. Photo: Apple
The Apple website has today been updated to highlight the accessibility features of iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. The change is in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, a yearly event that promotes digital access and inclusion for those with different disabilities.
On the Mac, you have long been able to tap on any word or phrase to look up a dictionary definition. Just click on the word using a three-finger tap on your trackpad, and the dictionary panel appears. But have you tried this recently? Today, in this simple popover panel, you can get full access to not just dictionary definitions, but news, Siri Knowledge, movie details, App Store listings, and lots more depending on what you’re looking up.
The Tweetbot you love, only better. Photo: Tapbots
Tweetbot has long been our favorite third-party Twitter client for a whole bunch of awesome reasons — and now there’s even more. Tweetbot 3 today landed on macOS, bringing night mode, GIF and video previews, timeline filters, and more.
iOS 11.4 is nearly ready. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
iOS 11.4 looks like it’s on track for a public release sometime around WWDC 2018.
Apple just released a big batch of betas for developers this morning, including the fifth build of iOS 11.4 which brings a number of new features and improvements to the iPhone and iPad.
Steam Link’s first big update is great for controller users. Photo: Valve
You can now play your PC game library anywhere around your home without being weighed down by a chunky gaming laptop. The official Steam Link app lets you enjoy your favorite Steam games on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.
You’ll be able to play with a Steam Controller, MFi controller, or a range of other gamepads supported by Steam.
The Abyssus Essential won’t break the bank. Photo: Razer
If you do a lot of gaming on your Mac or PC, a $10 mouse from Walmart isn’t going to cut it. But that doesn’t mean you have to break the bank on something super-fancy, either.
The Abyssus Essential, Razer’s newest mouse, has everything the average gamer needs — and it’s ideal for buyers on a budget.
This is how they did Split View on the olden days. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Split view on the iPad is amazing. Two apps, side-by-side, open up all kinds of neat shortcuts. You can drag text, links, and pictures from Safari into notes apps, emails, Pages documents and so on. The Mac is less in need of such a mode, because screens are bigger, and you can already place two windows side-by-side, but on a little MacBook, where every 1/64th inch counts, Split View is a great feature. Here’s how to use it.
Use your Pro Controller to play your favorite Mac and PC games. Photo: Valve
Steam has added official support for the Switch Pro Controller in its latest client beta.
Players no longer have to use fiddly third-party workarounds to enjoy Nintendo’s best controller in their favorite games. All of its buttons and even its motion controls are now fully supported.
Sometime, probably quite soon, your Mac will stop running 32-bit apps. All new Macs have 64-bit processors, and Apple wants to phase out older 32-bit apps in order to “enable faster system performance” for your Mac as a whole. What this means is that, in an as-yet-unspecified future version on macOS, 32-bit apps will stop running altogether.
If you’re running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, then you may already have seen a warning pop up onto the screen when you launch older apps. Today we’ll see how to view a list of all the 32-bit apps on your Mac, so you can either harass the developer to update them, look for a better-supported alternative, or just delete them.
No one likes autoplaying videos on the web. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Google has done us all a favor by asking Chrome to block autoplaying videos with sound. No longer will our ears be sodomized unexpectedly by obnoxious ads that we’ll never look at. There are some caveats, however.
Intel will task GPUs with antivirus scanning. Photo: Intel
Intel plans to offload virus scanning to improve the performance of its processors.
It will allow antivirus programs to use its integrated graphics chipsets when scanning for attacks, which will reduce processor and power consumption on some machines. It could mean that you’ll get more use out of your MacBook in between charges.
Apple seemingly has a new relationship with Tencent. Photo: Cult of Mac
Ever lost a tab in Safari? You have like a million of the things open, and you end up scrubbing a two-finger trackpad swirl over the entire tab bar, shifting those things around so that you can read their labels, and you still can’t track down the Cult of Mac website in there. Well here’s good news: you can just pin that tab to the edge of the tab bar, so you’ll never lose it again.
Turn your dusty old Mac into a fat stack of cash. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Professional Mac users holding out for the next Mac Pro are going to have to wait at least another year.
After revealing in 2017 that it was completely redesigning the Mac Pro, some fans held out hope that the new Mac Pro would come out by 2018. That’s not going to happen though. In a series of interviews, Apple executives revealed that the new Mac Pro will be a 2019 product.
Intel and Apple have formalized a deal that has the iPhone maker producing its own smartphone modem. Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr
The next Mac you buy may not have Intel inside.
Apple is pushing forward with plans to ditch Intel’s processors in favor of its own chips, according to a new report that claims the transition away from Intel CPUs will likely take multiple steps.
Apple’s chief design officer says secrecy is critical to creating great products. Photo: YouTube
Jony Ive designs all iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and he says in a new interview that he’s a hands-on part of the creation process all the way through, not just a guy who makes sketches. Apple’s top designer also talks about his relationship with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Mac owners can finally use an external GPU to boost their computing power now that Apple has released macOS 10.13.4 to the public.
The software update has been in beta testing with developers for months and is now available to everyone for the first time. macOS 10.13.4 brings a number of improvements to the Mac, including some updates to iMessages, Safari and more.
Wouldn't this look awesome in your study? Photo: Moonimal
So you’ve got your iMac, iPad and iPhone at the ready. Your bookshelves are heaving under the weight of all the Steve Jobs biographies, and you’ve got a cabinet containing various rare vintage Apple products, like the ill-fated Pippin games console and that weird vertical Mac display from back in the day.
Now all you’re searching for is a little Apple-themed something for the wall to say to visitors “I’m a little bit too into this Cupertino-based tech company.” Well, look no further — because we’ve got the poster for you!