Criminals can't yet steal an Apple car, but they can steal secrets of its technology. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
An Apple employee who tried to head for China with stolen secrets about Apple’s self-driving car was sentenced to four months in prison and a $147,000 fine.
He’s one of two people caught attempting industrial espionage on technical details of the upcoming autonomous vehicle.
Belkin's new combo power bank and wall charger can cover plenty of your charging needs. Photo: Belkin
Belkin rolled out a new portable 2-in-1 charger Thursday that should suit people who travel a lot or work in different places, like hybrid employees, because it’s both a wall charger and a power bank. It’s the Belkin BoostCharge Hybrid Wall Charger 25W + Power Bank 5K, great for keeping devices like iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch going.
It’s set to start shipping on Valentine’s Day, February 14. And no, we’re not saying it’s a romantic gift idea.
Today's user relies on Loupedeck Live for photo and video editing tasks. Photo: Loupedeck
The other day we featured an M1 Ultra Mac Studio setup. We wanted to loop back to call out a couple of cool components in it — namely, a Loupedeck streaming media console and a Keychron Q1 Pro Mechanical Keyboard. It turns out Loupedeck Live is great for video editing (photos, too!).
"Foundation" is known for epic visuals but not a huge budget. Photo: Apple TV+
Despite the sci-fi epic Foundation being a huge hit for Apple TV+, the restart of filming for season three has reportedly been postponed as producers look for ways to trim the budget.
The news is somewhat surprising, as leaks indicated that the series was costing less than many might expect.
The update across Apple device OS software fixes a problem with overlapping text. Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Apple made an unexpected software update available Thursday with a bug fix across devices, releasing macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, iOS 17.3.1, iPadOS 17.3.1 and watchOS 10.3.1 for users to install.
The fix relates to text that automatically duplicates or overlaps in various apps, like Safari, Mail and Messages.
WaterField's new Vision Pro carrying case is more compact than Apple's Travel Case, and it comes in more design choices. Photo: WaterField Designs
Apple offers a $199 Travel Case as an accessory for its new Vision Pro spatial computing headset, but Waterfield Designs just came out with a much smaller and more portable one — the Vision Pro Shield Case.
The first production run of WaterField’s cool new case is already sold out, but you can order it now and it will ship on February 29, the company said.
It's another sign Cupertino is very serious about competing in artificial intelligence. Photo: Cult of Mac
When it comes to deploying artificial intelligence in products, companies like Google might seem quicker on the draw than Apple. But no major tech company bought more AI startups than the iPhone-maker in 2023, according to a new report.
That suggests Apple might soon become a leader in generative AI rather than playing catch-up.
Windows users with an iPhone, grab the Apple Music app today. Screenshot: Apple
Windows users can now download full versions of the Apple Music and Apple TV applications, as well as a new Apple Devices app. They make the venerable iTunes app almost obsolete.
The software combination is the new way to manage an iPhone or iPad on a Windows PC.
M3 MacBook Pro hits Apple's refurbished store. Photo: Apple
You can now buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip from Apple’s Certified Refurbished store. The machine launched less than four months ago, in late October 2023.
While the M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pros also debuted in October, they are not listed for sale on Apple’s refurbished store.
Ugreen's new Revodock 213 Max hub suits all sorts of power users. Photo: Ugreen
Ugreen rolled out three new series of Revdock hubs Tuesday compatible with Macs, including the Revodok Max 213 Thunderbolt 4 dock with 40Gbps transfer speeds, support for dual 4K displays and a staggering 13 ports.
“The Max 213 [is] the premier product specifically tailored for professionals in fields such as media, data/financial analysis, photography, audio/video production and more,” the company said. “With ultra-high speed and ultra-high efficiency, it facilitates seamless collaboration and productivity.”
Apple won't release a folding iPhone until it can make a good one. Concept: Ran Avni
One of the design goals of a folding iPhone is a unit no thicker than one of Apple’s current handsets when folded closed, according to information leaking out of the company. In fact, a pair of incredibly thin folding iPhone prototypes already exist, according to a new report.
Cupertino’s efforts in this area have supposedly been going on since 2018, but available components haven’t been up to making the device the company wants to build.
EasyPencil 3 and 4 both feature magnetic stylus attachment to an iPad (but charging requires USB-C). Photo: SwitchEasy
If you recently got an iPad, you probably want a stylus so you can write and draw on it more precisely than you can with your fingertips. But Apple Pencil 2 might set you back $129. So how about something similar for less than half the price?
A good option is the SwitchEasy EasyPencil Pro. You can get the fourth-gen version of it in the Cult of Mac Store for just $47.99. Plus you can get 20% off tips for different uses. Or you can nab the third-gen EasyPencil for only $43.99. Sale ends today.
In this demo, MGIE transforms a cottage into a mansion. Photo: Apple/[email protected]
Apple researchers released an open-source artificial intelligence model called MGIE that responds to a user typing natural language — simply saying what they want — to alter an image. Apple’s new AI image editing tool could wind up making it easy for iPhone or Mac owners to tweak photos.
MGIE — short for MMLM-Guided Image Editing — can handle Photoshop-style tweaks, global photo optimization and local editing. But output quality remains limited for now. And only Apple knows what it plans to do with its AI image editor.
Mac Studio has one of the nicest accessories of its kind a user has ever seen. Photo: [email protected]
The M1 Ultra Mac Studio set a new benchmark for computing power in a package smaller than Mac Pro when it came out in spring 2022. Today’s setup sparked discussion about the relative merits of the powerful desktop machine, with one user citing a surprising point of praise — the Mac Pro braided power cord!
The centerpiece of Vision Pro are its amazing display screens. Photo: iFixit
iFixit’s Apple Vision Pro teardown continues, now with a focus on the headset’s incredibly high-resolution displays. As the experts point out, “You can fit ~54 Vision Pro pixels into a single iPhone pixel.”
However, the screen looks to the viewer like it’s a lower resolution than an iPhone.
Apparently this is what film editing looks like now. Photo: Jon M. Cho
A filmmaker stuck at home during LA’s recent epic rainfall, unable to go to his editing room, said he used Evercast on an Apple Vision Pro to edit an entire feature film with another remote editor. He said he found the experience of Vision Pro video editing revelatory.
“I need to repeat this out loud,” director Jon M. Chu wrote Monday on X. “I was in it for HOURS editing on a virtual giant screen (the size of a real movie screen) a major motion picture from the comfort of my house. With no headache. I can’t tell you what a revelation this was.”
His post on X got 252,000 views and garnered a reply from a co-founder of collaborative video editing platform Evercast.
Noel Fielding leads the cast of the action-comedy The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin. Screenshot: Apple/Cult of Mac
The world got its first look at The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, which will star British comedian Noel Fielding as the legendary British highwayman. The first hilarious trailer for the upcoming comedy-adventure series dropped Monday.
The true-crime limited series Manhunt debuts on Apple TV+ March 15. Photo: Apple TV+
Stage actor John Wilkes Booth went on the run for 12 days after he shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford’s Theatre in 1865. And the new trailer for Apple TV+ true-crimes series Manhunt brings to light this little-known historical fact.
Based on the bestselling nonfiction book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, the seven-part series premieres March 15.
The Apple Watch SE 2 is irresistible after a big $60 discount. Photo: Apple
Want an Apple Watch but not looking to spend a lot? Amazon’s fantastic deal will save you $60 on the Apple Watch SE (2nd gen), bringing the price down to $189. This makes the Cupertino company’s budget smartwatch even more affordable.
You can get a similar $60 off the 44mm Apple Watch SE variant, which means you can grab it for as low as $219.
Apple isn't about to price the OLED iPad Pro out of the reach of most consumers. Photo: Cult of Mac
Early reports may have overstated the cost increase resulting from adding an OLED display to the first iPad Pro. New information indicates the price jump will be less than half of what had been previously rumored.
The high-end tablet is expected to launch in March/April.
If you didn't already know all about Usher, you will now. Photo: Apple
Before Usher plays the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show on Sunday in Las Vegas, Apple made sure everyone knows all about the R&B superstar Monday with word of a press conference coming on Thursday and a host of Usher tunes and information available now on Apple Music, including the artists “My Road to Halftime” playlist.
This might be a very early image of iPhone 16 in green Image: Majin Bu
The iPhone 16 camera bump will shrink considerably, according to new CAD renders that supposedly show the future device. The customizable Action button from the iPhone 15 Pro models will appear on entry-level iPhones as well.
In addition, simulated images based on the renders show possible color options for the upcoming handset.
This setup produces many YouTube videos and occasional conference calls. Photo: [email protected]
One of the interesting gadgets we see more and more of in computer setups is the Elgato Stream Deck and its various interations. Today’s MacBook Pro user relies on one to make YouTube videos, and the company’s key light helps with pro-level lighting, too.
iPad shipments plummeted in 2023, but it's not hard to figure out why. And the fix is on the way. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
2023 wasn’t a good year for iPad. Shipments dropped 19.8% versus 2022, and Q4 was even worse, according to a market-research firm. This comes after Apple went over a year without releasing any iPad models.
But leaks point to multiple new iPadOS tablets coming soon.
Made from sturdy aluminum that keeps iPhone safe. Photo: SwitchEasy
Use your iPhone for turn-by-turn navigation while you’re on the road? Keep it secure and easy to see with a MagSafe car mount like the handy and affordable MagMount from SwitchEasy — available now from the Cult of Mac Store.
Available in two variants, the magnetic car mount attaches to your windshield or your car’s air vents. Then, it uses strong magnets to safely hold onto your iPhone. Thanks to MagSafe compatibility, it works with iPhone 12 and newer. But even if you don’t own a MagSafe model, MagMount can work for you. Just grab an affordable MagDoka disc to get in on the magnetic fun.