With the latest iPhones dropping the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, there was speculation (and hope) that Apple would release new versions of the Magic Mouse, Trackpad and Keyboard that also reject the Lightning port. Nope.
So charging these wireless devices still requires a Lightning cable.
Watch the event in just 5% of the time. Photo: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Yesterday’s “Scary Fast” Apple event, debuting the MacBook Pro and iMac with the M3 family of chips, was a short affair at just 30 minutes. But what if you only have, say, a minute and a half?
You can no longer buy a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar. Photo/Graphics: Apple/Rajesh
Following Monday’s launch of the M3-powered MacBook Pros, Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Pro. It was the last MacBook in the company’s lineup with a Touch Bar, a thin, customizable OLED strip at the top of the keyboard that replaced the usual row of function keys.
A cheaper 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 chip replaces the older Touch Bar model.
The top two new MacBook Pro models now come in a space black aluminum finish. Photo: Apple
In a first, Apple rolled out three new chips at once — the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max — during its Halloween-themed Scary Fast event Monday. The new Apple processors power updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
The company also utilized a cool-looking space black aluminum finish for the first time on M3 Pro and M3 Max models. The laptops promise to hit speedy new benchmarks.
“Tonight we’re doing something we haven’t done before, as we bring our latest technologies to a broader set of users more rapidly than ever,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies. “We’re launching the next generation of Apple silicon for the Mac by releasing three great new chips at the same time.”
“The world’s best all-in-one gets even more powerful and even more capable,” said CEO Tim Cook. “We’re giving the iMac a giant leap in performance while keeping the same, impossibly thin design,” said SVP of hardware engineering John Ternus.
iMac starts at the same price of $1,299. You can order it today and it will be available next week.
Apple unveiled the M3 and didn't make Mac users wait for the M3 Pro and M3 Max. Image: Apple
Apple broke with tradition and unveiled the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max processors all at once on Monday, rather than stringing the releases out. The performance cores in the new chips are up to 30% faster than M1, and the efficiency cores are up to 50% faster.
“Apple silicon has completely redefined the Mac experience. Every aspect of its architecture is designed for performance and power efficiency,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s SVP of Hardware Technologies. “With 3-nanometer technology, a next-generation GPU architecture, a higher-performance CPU, faster Neural Engine, and support for even more unified memory, M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max are the most advanced chips ever built for a personal computer.”
The online Apple store is down just before the start of the Scary Fast event. Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Apple’s online store has gone down ahead of its ‘Scary Fast’ event this evening. It is typical of Apple to take down its online store before major product launches, but this usually happens hours before. This time it was mere minutes.
This will likely be the company’s last product launch event for 2023.
See if you can get bingo tonight during Apple's Scary Fast event. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
If a big Apple event like Monday evening’s Scary Fast is happening, you can you’ll find a selection of bingo cards to play on social media. It could make the event go by quicker. And it’s fun just to check them out to see if the predictions align with your own and spot if anyone got a good joke or two in there.
We don't feature a ton of iPad-driven setups, but that's not actually the cool thing we're obsessed with in this photo. Photo: Fernando Silva
We love it when unfamiliar gear in a computer setup cropping up on social media makes us go, “what the hell is that thing?”
It happened with today’s featured setup, which is bit unusual because it centers on an iPad Pro rather than a desktop computer or laptop. But the unfamiliar item turned out to be a desk mat with a cool trick using metal pieces to tame cable clutter.
You don't need a console to play Resident Evil Village, just an iPhone 15 Pro or a recent high-end or mid-range iPad. Photo: Capcom
iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max owners can start playing the console-quality version of Resident Evil Village. The survival horror game hit the App Store just in time for Halloween.
It can also be played on iPads with high-end processors.
The Apple M3 series of processors will be scary fast. Photo: Apple
UPDATE: The “Scary Fast” event has come and gone, and it brought the fresh MacBook Pro models and the iMac — all powered with a new M3 processor — that leaks predicted. Check out Cult of Mac‘s full coverage for more details.
Apple fans are getting a treat this Halloween: an event that’ll bring the M3 processor and a range of new Macs to run it.
Here’s everything we’re expecting at Monday’s event, including an iMac and MacBooks, with some accessories thrown in.
Here are the best games with the unquiet dead available on Apple Arcade for your Halloween enjoyment. Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Halloween is almost here, making this a great weekend to play some spooky games. Apple Arcade has a nice selection of these to help you enjoy the creepy season.
Here are the best options in Apple’s gaming service to find ghosts, ghouls and goblins.
iPhone 13 runs longer on iOS 17.1 than other recent versions. Photo: ChargerLAB
The most-recent iOS update increases the battery life of several older iPhone models, according to tests on a range of devices. And it’s a jump for almost every model tested over the first iOS 17 version.
Certain new MacBook Pro models powered by the M3 chip may appear Monday at Apple's Scary Fast event, while others are still in development. Photo: Apple
UPDATE: The “Scary Fast” event has come and gone, and it brought the fresh MacBook Pro models and the iMac — all powered with a new M3 processor — that leaks predicted. Check out Cult of Mac‘s full coverage for more details.
As Apple’s Monday-evening Scary Fast event fast approaches, the latest rumors Friday say new M3-powered 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are likely to appear, while a new 13-inch M3 model likely remains in development.
The user said his $180 monitor light bar is absolutely worth it. Photo: [email protected]
A good external monitor like Apple’s Studio Display is an important part of a computer setup. But what about the monitor light bar that sits on top of it? They’re not all the same and they can hugely impact your workspace.
Today’s MacBook Pro setup boasts a Studio Display, and on top sits a fairly pricey BenQ monitor light. Read on the find out why the user says it’s worth every penny.
This limited-time deal gets you a year-long Costco membership plus a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card* for $60. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Editor’s note: Apologies, but this deal is not yet live. We accidentally published this post too early. The deal will go live at midnight on October 30th. Again, we’re sorry for the mistake.
Sticking to a household budget is a challenging task, especially if you have to bounce from store to store to get all your errands done. That’s a waste of gas, time and money. With the holidays so close, it might be worth it to start shopping at Costco and turn any savings you find into gifts for your friends and family. Plus, this is your chance to get a One-Year Gold Star Membership and a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card* for the price of a normal membership.
Add a 13-inch touchscreen, keyboard and trackpad to your iPhone with NexDock. Photo: Nex
NexDock and the infiniteX2P app are designed to turn an iPhone 15 into a laptop. Connect Apple’s latest to the touchscreen/keyboard/mouse and run the app to start multitasking on a 13-inch display.
The USB-C port in the iPhone 15 makes this combination possible.
Apple may simplify its TV app for users by the end of the year. Photo: Apple
Finding what to watch with the Apple TV app is about to get easier. The newly released developer beta for tvOS 17.2 gives a preview of the new navigation users will soon see.
Apple TV+ and other content sources will surface in a sidebar list on the left side of app pages.
Journal can help you create personalized entries, with content from multiple apps, to help you preserve life’s memories. Screenshots: Apple
Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.2 to developers on Thursday. The major new feature seems to be the AI-enhanced Journal app that Apple previously promised. macOS 14.2 beta 1, iPadOS 17.2 beta 1, watchOS 10.2 beta 1 and tvOS 17.2 beta 1 are also available to devs.
These come just a day after the previous versions of all these operating system went out to the public.
Mark David Chapman confessed to murdering John Lennon. Photo: New York State Department of Corrections
A new documentary claiming to be the “definitive” look at the murder of John Lennon — the former Beatle and enduring cultural icon — is coming to Apple TV+. Unfortunately, though, the streaming service hasn’t yet said when the exhaustively researched, three-part series will arrive.
But we do know the narrator of John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial. It’s Emmy Award-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland, the streaming service said.
We want to be warned if our AirTag starts to move away on its own. Photo: Mark Chan/Unsplash
Apple sells millions of AirTags because people want to track the location of their stuff. But the tracker does only part of the job — it only warns the user when their iPhone moves too far away from the tag. Making it also set off an alarm when the tag moves away while the user is sitting still would be a welcome improvement.
This could be done with a changes to the Find My application. No new hardware is required.
Double tap lets users select the primary action in a variety of watchOS apps and notifications. Photo: Apple
One of the more exciting updates to Apple Watch lately is the new double-tap gesture now available in the watchOS 10.1 update. It allows Series 9 and Ultra 2 users to tap their finger and thumb together twice to launch a function without touching the wearable.
After appearing in the watchOS 10.1 beta — but in nonfunctional form — now it’s out for real with the public release.
NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition is a serious game for serious fans. Screenshot: 2K Games/Apple Arcade
NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition, the latest addition to the long-running esports games franchise, launched a bit earlier than expected. The feature-packed basketball game is now on Apple Arcade for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.
This is the definitive basketball game for Apple devices, and each new version adds even more features.