News - page 128

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: After a quick spin through the news of the week, we get down to business with our second round of picks for the best and worst tech and entertainment of 2023.

Also on The CultCast:

• Would you pay 99 bucks for a USB-C case for AirPods Pro? I think the price is outrageous, but not everyone is so sure.
• Apple just raised the bar for authorities who might want to spy on your iPhone’s push notifications.
• A new iPhone security feature will soon make it harder for thieves to wreck your life.
• And the latest on how Apple might be forced to open up iPhone to appease regulators.

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.

Want to keep your beautiful iPhone 15 looking fresh? You need to enter this week’s giveaway. Two lucky winners will land an iPhone 15 bundle from MagEasy consisting of a shock-absorbent iPhone case and an ultra-tough screen protector.

Apple Watch Ultra 2’s generously large display, expected to switch from OLED to microLED, will come out later than previously estimated, grow by 10% in size and cost more, according to a research company.

Other recent estimates pushed back the launch time frame to 2025, but now it may actually be 2026.

If you had a gigantic 49-inch curved ultra-wide display, would you dream of adding more external monitors to it? If so, would you stack them, or add one or two displays in portrait mode (vertical) on either side of the big screen?

A MacBook Pro user with a giant Samsung display is pondering those very questions.

The Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Murderbot novels by Martha Wells are getting adapted into a series on Apple TV+. The sci-fi show will star Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård, perhaps best known for his role on Succession.

Wells’ action-packed bestsellers center on a robot that breaks the programming that forces it to kill. The move allows the android to go freelance as a security specialist. Fans eagerly awaiting the Murderbot TV series release date can find all the latest details about the adaptation.

While Best Buy offers great deals on MacBooks, iMacs, Macs mini and iPads in its Apple Sales Event for the holidays, you can also score good deals on iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods. See the selection below, or check out the whole sale here.

With gift-giving season at full-tilt, Best Buy offers its Apple Sales Event on a full range of fabulous products you can check out here. We’d thought we’d focus below on 10 great Mac and iPad deals you won’t want to miss. Click on the prices below to go straight to the products.

Did you know it took authorities 12 days to hunt down John Wilkes Booth after he shot President Abraham Lincoln in the head at Washington D.C.’s Ford’s Theatre in 1865? Apple TV+ gave a first look Thursday at Manhunt, the new conspiracy-thriller series depicting the frantic chase.

The seven-part series premieres March 15 with its first two episodes. A new episode follows on Fridays through April 19.

It’s a great time to be an AAPL investor, with the share price hitting an all-time high value on Wednesday. This drove Apple’s market capitalization back over $3 trillion.

For reference, Apple’s market cap was below $2 trillion at the beginning of 2023. If you’re interested in learning more about how Apple has historically performed in the grey apple market, take a look at this deep dive.

Governments will find push notification spying harder to do now that they no longer enjoy easy access to records of push notifications sent to iPhone users. Apple changed its policy so that law enforcement and other government agencies need a court order to obtain this data.

Previously, the data — which could be used to gain info about users’ activities — was available from Apple with just a subpoena.

You can replace the Lightning charging case for your AirPods Pro 2 with a USB-C one without also having to buy new wireless earbuds.

But the $99 price for the case is high enough to raise questions about the practicality of making the change.

Noble Audio’s new Falcon Max true wireless stereo earbuds are the company’s first to integrate advanced all-silicon solid-state MEMS-based drivers from xMEMS Labs, the company said Tuesday.

Release of the new earbuds with a hybrid-driver setup follows recent news that xMEMS plans to offer its first full-spectrum Cypress MEMS “ultrasonic” speaker in 2024. That should enable solid-state earbuds with remarkable full-spectrum audio quality.

The new Nexode 100W 20,000mAh Power Bank lets users fast-charge three devices at once on the go, the company said Tuesday.

And the portable charger’s 65W “rapid recharge” feature lets it fully power itself back up from an empty battery in just 2 hours.

Developer David Heinemeier Hansson, known for creating the Ruby on Rails web development framework, showcased his rather stunning Mac mini computer setup this week on X (formerly Twitter).

The extraordinary 6K graphics of his Studio Display XDR and the articulate sound of his highly recommended KEF speakers complement the ocean views through the glass walls of his California office.

The first beta of iOS 17.3 is now available. It comes a couple of days after Apple released the stable iOS 17.2 update with plenty of new features to the public.

iOS 17.3 beta 1 does not pack many changes but brings an important new security feature to iPhones. Below are all the changes we have spotted in iOS 17.3 beta 1.

Apple Self Service Repair program is expanding to include the iPhone 15 and additional M2 Macs. The company is also making its repair program available in 24 new European countries.

With the latest additions, Apple’s Service Service Repair now supports 35 products and is available in 33 countries.

The days of the iPhone’s NFC capabilities being limited to just Apple Pay could be coming to an end. Apple is reportedly open to allowing other systems to use the wireless payment system.

It’s the company’s solution to European Union objections to the iPhone’s NFC limitation.

The just-released iOS 17.3 beta 1 includes a surprise feature: Stolen Device Protection. The option makes it harder to reset the passcode on a stolen device if the thief already knows the current passcode. There are also new password protections.

Apple also seeded the initial betas of macOS 14.3, iPadOS 17.3, watchOS 10.3 and tvOS 17.3.

TSMC is preparing to supply Apple with 2nm processors in less than two years. These next-gen chips will give Mac, iPhone and iPad even better performance, without requiring more power to operate.

The 3nm chips in the latest Apple computers are cutting-edge, but what’s at the forefront of technology is constantly moving ahead.

Apple listed App Store’s most-popular free and paid apps and games of 2023, citing year-end charts in more than 35 countries and regions.

App Store’s Today hub lists all those popular choices (also below) as well as the 2023 App Store Award Winners.

The iTunes Store application in the just-released iOS 17.2 simply redirects users to the Apple TV app for accessing previously purchased films and TV series.

The iTunes app for iPhone and iPad is now exclusively for music. For video, go directly to the Apple TV app.

Got an Apple Watch? Currently, Carterjett offers 19 Apple Watch bands for sale in the Cult of Mac Store. You can find straps made of leather, silicone, nylon and carbon fiber in a variety of colors, designs and sizes. So whatever your preferences may be, you really can’t miss.

Epic Games convinced a federal jury that the Google Play store for Android applications is an illegal monopoly. The decision might have wide repercussions.

Apple won its court battle with the game-developer over the same issue, but Google’s loss could nevertheless eventually affect the iOS App Store.

Apple’s late 2023 MacBook Pro lineup has been frequently on discount since its debut. And while Black Friday is over, the deals continue.

Amazon is knocking $200 off the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 Pro chip, dropping its price to an attractive $1,800.