News - page 142

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We always expect Apple silicon to make our smartphones faster, but iPhone 15 could be a speed demon in unsuspected ways. Like, it might deliver 80 times faster data transfers through the port that replaces Lightning. Anyone who moves large files around should be thrilled with the latest iPhone 15 rumor. And that’s not all …

Also on The CultCast:

• iPhone 15 might charge at extreme speeds, too.
• Why is iPhone 14 taking a beating over its battery life?
• Next year’s Apple Watch X could bring the major redesign we’ve all been waiting for.
• Erfon does a surprise live unboxing of a great gift sent in by a CultCast listener.

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.

Kingdoms: Merge & Build is a merge-2 game that’s also a story-rich adventure. Players rebuild a ruined kingdom by solving puzzles.

The game is now on Apple Arcade, and is available for iPhone, Mac and more.

Your Apple Watch band could be a breeding ground for potentially dangerous pathogens, according to a new study.

Scientists found that 95% of the watchbands they tested were contaminated with “bacteria of public health importance.” This proved especially true for rubber and plastic bands.

But there’s good news. The scientists also found that cleaning an Apple Watch band (or any watch band) removes all the potentially dangerous bacteria.

Looking to buy a new keyboard for your Mac? Look no further than Apple’s own Magic Keyboard, which is down to its lowest price ever.

While the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad retails for $199 in black, Amazon has currently discounted it to $149.99.

Amazon bargain website Woot! is offering a sale on factory-reconditioned and refurbished MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models — with prices as low as $280!

That low price is for a 2017 MacBook Air, but you can also score hot deals on 2022 M2 models. See below. The sale ends Tuesday, August 22, at 10 p.m. Pacific.

Today’s featured setup sports a powerful M2 Ultra Mac Studio desktop computer and four screens, three of them with sparkling 4K resolution. But until recently it was an M2 Max MacBook Pro setup upgraded from an M1 MacBook Pro.

Why the switch to Mac Studio? Hey, sometimes you just need a more badass computer. Especially when you work in 3D rendering and you rarely take the laptop off its dock anyway.

For the third year in a row, Apple Card has been named the Best Co-Branded Credit Card for Customer Satisfaction with No Annual Fee in J.D. Power’s study of U.S. credit cards.

Accessories maker Nomad offered a new entrant in the multiport-gallium-nitride (GaN)-charger derby Thursday, unveiling its Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter.

It comes with three USB-C ports and 130 watts of charging power for MacBook, iPad and iPhone.

Apple could finally give the iPhone charging speed a much-needed speed boost this year. A report based on industry sources claims the iPhone 15 will support peak charging speeds of 35W.

The rumored switch from Lightning to USB-C on 2023 iPhones might have a role to play in this upgrade.

The Location Services bug that has been bothering Mac users since the end of July has been taken care of with the release of macOS 13.5.1.

It is the only change in the update, but the problem being fixed is fairly serious.

Sabrent’s new portable Rocket Nano XTRM External SSD features blazing-fast data-transfer speeds via Thunderbolt 3, the company said Thursday.

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Satechi’s Dual Dock Stand packs in an unusual number of features. It’s a nine-port USB-C hub, and also an NVMe SSD enclosure. And it’s designed to prop up a MacBook for easier typing.

The multifunction MacBook accessory launched Thursday.

The Opera browser for iOS now features an artificially intelligent assistant created in collaboration with OpenAI. Opera calls it Aria, and says it “offers you a cutting-edge generative AI service for free.”

Similarly to other such tools, Opera integrated its AI into the browser and makes it free to use once you opt in.

Apple TV+ just gave its first look at Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, an upcoming series set in the MonsterVerse that contains Godzilla and other classic kaiju.

The sci-fi series will star Kurt Russell, and will feature a family searching for their link to the secretive Monarch organization.

Upgraded, a MacBook upgrade program that offers month-to-month subscription for new laptops, launched in the United States on Thursday.

Subscribers pay for their MacBook with a monthly fee, and can trade up to a new model every two years at no additional cost.

Moment said Wednesday its whole lineup of popular smartphone cameras lenses is getting bigger and bolder to suit growing handset cameras like iPhone’s, including the upcoming iPhone 15 series.

The new T-Series comprises eight lenses that are new versions of the company’s M-Series, which came out to widespread acclaim in 2017.

A new leak adds weight to a previous report that the iPhone 15 series will support Thunderbolt. If true, this will allow their USB-C ports to transfer files, updates and other data at up to 40 Gbps.

A tremendously faster data transmission speed would especially benefit those recording high-resolution video on Apple handsets.

Apple TV+ is adapting Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel The Buccaneers into a drama series set to debut in fall 2023. It follows a group of American heiresses setting out to marry British aristocrats.

On Wednesday, the streaming service released the first images from the upcoming eight-part series.

Amazon is currently offering great discounts on Magic Keyboards for iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch models) and 10.9-inch iPad Air.

While there are many alternative keyboards and cases for iPad models out there, the time to pay Apple prices is now, when Apple prices are slashed!

Social media is a great place to get ideas for gear to include in your computer setup — or to skip in favor of doing things another way. There are usually other ways to do things, as today’s M2 MacBook Pro user found out regarding password entry and any “need” for a keyboard with Touch ID.

And if you’re into video editing, check out the user’s cool gear — a PlusTek AI film scanner and a Loupedeck+ photo and video editing console with massive programmability.

Apparently responding to online criticism, Apple returned the End Call button to a central location in iOS 17. Previously, Apple moved the button to the right side of the Phone application.

That change proved controversial, and Apple reversed it in the sixth iOS 17 beta recently seeded to developers.

If you’re a content creator and you have an XLR microphone, you don’t necessarily need to buy a USB microphone to interface with your computer for uses like streaming and podcasting. Shure’s got you covered with its new Digital Audio Interface. It converts any XLR mic to USB for easy use directly with a computer.

Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn reportedly already started assembling the upcoming iPhone 15 in India. This marks the first time a yet-to-launch iPhone is being produced outside of China.

Last year, iPhone 14 production started in India within a month of the phone going on sale.

Apple introduced watchOS 9.6.1 to remove a single bug affecting Apple Watch. The problem being taken care of relates to applications that track the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

The update is available for Apple Watch Series 4 and later.

Twenty-six years ago, everyone knew personal computers were important, but the machines were too intimidating for non-technical people. Then, 25 years ago today, the original iMac changed that forever.

The first time I encountered an iMac was totally transformative. My core beliefs of what was possible on a computer were deeply shaken. It instilled in me a lifelong love for the Mac.