Wall Street thinks Apple is about to announce weak results, but AI could bring a turnaround. Photo: Anna
Nekrashevich/Pexels
The first three months of 2024 were probably not good ones for Apple. When the company reveals the financial results from its March quarter on Thursday, analysts predict a 5% annual drop in revenue will be one of the announcements.
But part of the reason for weak sales is customers anticipating AI-powered iPhones and Macs later this year. CEO Tim Cook almost certainly will drop hints about what’s coming in a conference call also scheduled for Thursday.
This family scene looks cozy. But it might include a killer. Photo: Apple TV+
Jake Gyllenhaal is a lawyer in love in the teaser trailer for thriller series Presumed Innocent — and it looks like he might just be a murderer, too. Apple TV+ dropped the arresting trailer Wednesday.
Gyllenhaal stars in the eight-episode limited series from David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams, which debuts June 12 on Apple TV+.
The wireless charging case tells you its battery status. The buds feature spatial audio. Photo: Baseus
The affordable and popular Baseus Bowie MA10 wireless noise-canceling earbuds just got a big upgrade with spatial audio, alongside a more compact design and a digital display for battery life on the case, the company said Tuesday. The new ones are called Baseus Bowie MA10s.
Baseus called the previous version its best-selling product on Amazon last year and said the buds “have been recommended by Oscar-class composers to ensure a quality sound experience.” And you can get them for a lot less than buds like AirPods Pro 2 — just $40.
From left, Dezmond Blair, Elena Galluzzo and Jawaher Shaman are three of this year’s Swift Student Challenge winners. Photo: Apple
Apple showcased the family-inspired coding work of three Swift Student Challenge winners Wednesday. The iPhone giant changed up its annual coding competition this year by naming 50 students Distinguished Winners among 350 top coders overall. The 50 get to attend a special event at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC24).
“This year’s winning Swift Student Challenge submissions once again demonstrate the breadth and depth of what is possible when talented young people use coding to make their mark on the world,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations.
“We’re also incredibly proud to welcome more outstanding student developers than ever before to Apple Park to connect with our teams and each other as they continue to build apps that will no doubt transform our future for the better,” she added.
BenQ's ScreenBar monitor light isn't cheap, but it's a good investment. Photo: BenQ
You can buy a monitor light bar pretty cheap, even as low as about $20. But will it be a great piece of gear, illuminating your desk from atop your display, with a nice array of features? Probably not. Today’s M3 MacBook Pro and PC setup laid out a little more cash for a keeper — the BenQ Screenbar Monitor Light.
Apple TV+ promises epic adventure with WondLa. Image: Skydance Animation/Apple TV+
The first installment of the animated adventure trilogy WondLa will premiere on Apple TV+ in June. It’s the most ambitious children’s show the streamer has launched.
The series is adapted from a New York Times bestselling book series by Skydance Animation, and has a star-studded voice cast.
iOS 17.5 will introduce a handy 'Repair State' option. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
A new feature in iOS 17.5 will allow you to submit your iPhone for repair without turning off Find My and Activation Lock. Apple added a new Repair State mode in iOS 17.5 beta 4 for this.
Currently, you must turn off the security feature on your iPhone before submitting it for repair. Failure to do so could prevent Apple technicians from repairing your device.
iPhone wake-up alarms are failing. Photo: Cult of Mac/NEOSiAM 2024+
No, you didn’t deactivate the wake-up alarm in your sleep this morning. Apple is aware of a problem that sometimes causes the iPhone’s Clock app to fail to set off alarms.
With 15W of power, Pitaka's new car mount will make quick work of charging MagSafe iPhones on the road. Photo: Pitaka
On your next road trip, you can get fast charging for your MagSafe iPhone in a sleek design with the new Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 Qi2, the company said Tuesday.
The upgraded charging mount is certified to deliver 15W fast charging and NFC functionality for iPhone and Android handsets. And at 10%, it costs an affordable $54.
Apple’s Beats lineup is expanding with two new products: Beats Solo Buds and Beats Solo 4. They offer long battery lives and attractive price points.
Both offerings won’t rival Apple’s AirPods in any way but price, but if you frequently switch between Android and iPhone, you might like Beats’ new options.
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck will star in an Apple TV+ action comedy this summer. Photo: Apple TV+
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck are teaming up again for The Instigators. It’s a buddy action comedy with the two playing thieves stealing from a corrupt politician.
iPad goes into combat in Ukraine fighter jets. Photo: Ukraine Air Force
Ukraine’s Air Force needs to launch modern U.S.-made missiles from Soviet-era fighter jets in combat. The surprise solution to the disconnect? iPad.
Apple tablets reportedly give the vintage aircraft the ability to control a variety of weapons systems supplied by Western countries after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
iPhone 16 Pro Max could be the largest Apple handset ever. Leaked image: Sonny Dickson
Apple reportedly will increase the screen size in the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Two tipsters recently revealed mockups of the 6.9-inch version alongside the smaller models in the iPhone 16 series.
If the rumor of a larger iPhone 16 Pro Max proves true, it’ll be among the more significant changes to the iPhone design in years.
This IT manager has a heck of a nice M3 MacBook Pro setup. And note the big gaming PC on the right. Photo: [email protected]
Today’s beautiful MacBook Pro and PC setup lets the two “frenemy” computers work easily in the same setup through a 4K external display’s built-in KVM switch. That means no messing around with cables, and no swapping out or re-pairing peripherals.
iPad has been designated a gatekeeper by the EU, and Apple has to open those gates. Image: Cult of Mac
The iPad joined the European Union’s list of “gatekeeper” platforms Monday. The designation requires Apple to make the same sorts of sweeping changes to iPadOS that the company already made to iPhone, including allowing sideloading of applications.
Apple has six months to implement the modifications.
Apple TV+ took four prizes in the TV craft awards, and may win more in the broader BAFTA Television Awards. Photo: Apple TV+
The BAFTA Television Craft Awards — a branch of the BAFTAs, often thought of as the British Oscars — awarded wins to Apple TV+ hit series Slow Horses and Silo, the iPhone giant said Sunday.
The acerbic espionage drama Slow Horses won for best editing and best sound. Sci-fi series Silo landed wins for best production design and best original music.
In addition, Apple TV+ received further nominations in the upcoming BAFTA Television Awards.
You can soon play classic Pokémon and Mario games on your iPad. Screenshot: Testut Tech
Delta, the all-in-one retro game emulator for iPhone, will soon be available on the iPad. Riley Testut, the game emulator’s developer, confirmed its imminent launch on the App Store.
Could Apple's upcoming OLED iPad Pro sport an M4 chip? Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple’s upcoming OLED iPad Pro reportedly will begin the company’s shift into AI hardware. The new tablets could sport the next-gen M4 chip to power all the AI features.
If this report proves accurate, Apple will skip bringing its existing M3 SoC to its flagship tablet lineup.
Lower cost Beats earbuds and headphone are supposedly on the way. Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple is reportedly mere days away from launching Beats Solo Buds truly wireless earbuds. And Beats Solo 4 over-the-ears headphones will also premiere on Tuesday, April 30, according to an unconfirmed report.
Both will supposedly cost significantly less than similar AirPods models, though without all the same features.
Your wireless carrier won't be able to throttle streaming video for much longer. Image: Fox/Cult of Mac
There’s a good chance watching video on your iPhone is about to get better. Net neutrality rules passed by the FCC this week reportedly forbid U.S. wireless carriers from lowering the quality of streaming video to throttle the amount of data its consumes.
So if you watch Apple TV+, Netflix, etc. on your iPhone, your carrier is no longer allowed to reduce the video quality.
We've got an iPad event coming in hot! Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The surprise Apple event on May 7 looks like an iPad and Apple Pencil extravaganza. What’s on Cupertino’s agenda? We discuss all the latest iPad rumors.
Also on The CultCast:
Apple might finally fix one of the iPad’s most glaring omissions. Can you say iPad calculator app?
iOS 18’s big push into artificial intelligence leaves some of us hopeful and others of us skeptical. Same goes for the iPhone 16’s rumored move away from physical buttons.
Some new Apple Watch Series X concept art gets our hearts pounding. (Better check that ECG!)
Plus, an instant tangent where we hear all about Erfon’s failed attempt at buying his dream camera.
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.
Suddenly got logged out of your Apple account? You're not alone. Image: Cult of Mac
Many Apple users report suddenly being locked out of their Apple ID account on their devices. Worse, they could not log back into their account with their password, forcing them to reset their login credentials.
Apple has not yet acknowledged this issue, and it does not appear linked to any iCloud server outages.
Apple might partner with both Google and OpenAI for iOS 18's AI features. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple has reportedly resumed talks with OpenAI about using its technology to power iOS 18’s AI features. The company will use OpenAI’s LLM model to seemingly power an AI-based chatbot.
OpenAI and Apple are also discussing how they can integrate OpenAI features into iOS 18.