Mobile menu toggle

News - page 18

Apple’s Hide My Email has been leaking real addresses for a year

By •

A photo of Apple's Hide My Email feature used in a story about a security exploit affecting the service for almost more than a year.
Hide My Email is supposed to keep your real address off signup forms — but a year-old bug means it may not be doing that.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s Hide My Email has one job — to keep your real inbox out of other people’s hands. But it isn’t doing that job, and Apple reportedly knew this for more than a year.

If you’ve ever used Hide My Email to sign up for a sketchy app or website, you’ll want to pay attention. A security researcher says he managed to unmask the real email address behind virtually every Hide My Email alias. And Apple hasn’t fixed it yet.

Apple’s App Store fight with Epic just got a lot more serious

By •

A picture of the Apple logo used in a story about the Apple vs Epic Games fight heading to the Supreme Court.
Apple and Epic Games' App Store fee battle now heads to the Supreme Court.
Photo: Unsplash

Apple’s years-long App Store fight with Fortnite maker Epic Games is now headed to the Supreme Court. The justices agreed on Tuesday to hear Apple’s appeal of a contempt ruling that has already forced it to change how it handles payments outside the App Store. And the stakes just got a lot higher.

If you’ve purchased anything through an iPhone app recently, this affects you more than you’d think. At stake is whether Apple can keep charging app developers a commission on payments made outside the App Store, and that fee trickles down to what you pay for subscriptions and in-app purchases.

Apple Creator Studio updates sharpen editing tools and tighten app integration

By •

Apple Creator Studio updates
The Apple Creator Studio app bundle got a series of updates.
Photo: Apple

Apple rolled out a fresh batch of updates to Apple Creator Studio Tuesday, sharpening AI features inside its flagship video and music apps while weaving Pixelmator Pro’s editing tools directly into Final Cut Pro, Keynote, Pages and Numbers.

The updates expand on the role Mac, iPad and iPhone already play for creative work. They layer in new AI capabilities across editing, photo and music workflows.

AirDrop vulnerability lets anyone nearby knock it offline, no tap required

By •

An image of Apple's AirDrop feature used in a story about recently discovered exploits.
AirDrop's convenience comes from processes that respond before you even see a prompt, which is exactly the problem.
Photo: Apple

A newly discovered AirDrop vulnerability means someone sitting in the same café as you can silently break AirDrop on your iPhone or Mac, no tap or pairing required. They just send a stream of junk data to your iPhone and AirDrop — alongside AirPlay, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Continuity Camera — all go dark for as long as they keep it up.

That’s the core finding from new security research into Apple’s AirDrop protocol. The exploit does not steal any data, but instead lets an attacker shut down AirDrop and Continuity features. For Apple users who use AirDrop regularly, that could be a real annoyance hiding in a real-life vulnerability.

Supreme Court says police can’t access iPhone location data without warrant

By •

A picture of the US Supreme Court used in a story about a major landmark ruling.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that accessing someone's phone location history is a Fourth Amendment search, regardless of which company stores the data.
Photo: Pexels CC

Because it’s connected to a wireless carrier, your iPhone can be used to locate you. Until this week, police could access this data on little more than a hunch — no Supreme Court location data ruling stood in their way. That changed on Monday.

The Supreme Court ruled that pulling your phone’s location history now counts as a Fourth Amendment search — no matter how short the window or whose server it sits on. Cops now need a real, individualized warrant before being able to dig through where your iPhone has been.

Tons of new features in Photos help sort your massive library in iOS 27

By •

Photos app graphic
Loads of new features come in Apple’s upcoming software update.
Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The new Photos app in iOS 27 clearly did not get the memo that this was a small year of bug fixes and performance improvements. While it is faster and more stable, there are tons of excellent new features top to bottom. Sorting through the largest photo libraries will be easier than ever in iOS 27.

Here are all the new features you can look forward to — or, if you’re daring, try out now.

New iPhone and Mac updates offer dozens of security fixes

By •

iOS 26.5.2 is packed with security patches.
There are just so, so many security patches in iOS 26.5.2.
Image: Cult of Mac

Apple released iOS 26.5.2, macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 and iPadOS 26.5.2 on Monday with no additional features but lots of security fixes. There are no fewer than 29 of them listed in Apple’s documentation.

Clearly, even though they lack fun new features, you should install these updates ASAP.

Apple acquires Play, award-winning SwiftUI prototyping tool

By •

Apple acquires maker of Play SwiftUI app
Apple snapped up the maker of the SwiftUI app Play.
Photo: Apple

Apple just acquired assets from Rabbit 3 Times, the New York-based company behind Play, an iOS and macOS app that let developers design, prototype and generate SwiftUI code in real time. The deal surfaced this week when the European Commission published the filing on its Digital Markets Act acquisitions page. Play won an Apple Design Award for innovation in 2025.

Apple’s Vision Pro VP could jump ship to OpenAI’s hardware team

By •

A photo of the Vision Pro, launched under Paul Meade by Apple in 2024.
Apple Vision Pro launched in early 2024 under Paul Meade's hardware leadership. He's now bringing that product expertise to OpenAI.
Photo: Apple

Apple doesn’t often lose vice presidents, but something unexpected happened this week: Paul Meade, who spent about seven years building the Vision Pro and shaping Apple’s smart glasses plan, is reportedly leaving for OpenAI.

If you own a Vision Pro or are waiting for Apple’s smart glasses, this is the executive exit that should concern you. Meade doesn’t just hold a title — he shipped the headset and was also planning what comes next.

Why Apple’s Preview is no longer enough for modern PDF workflows

By •

Graphic showing the all-new Wondershare PDFelement.
Wondershare PDFelement is an all-new PDF editor powered by AI. It's an affordable alternative to Adobe's PDF tools..
Photo: Wondershare.

For basic PDF viewing, annotations, and document signing, Apple’s Preview remains one of the most convenient tools available on macOS.

However, modern PDF workflows often require more advanced capabilities, including PDF editing, OCR, file conversion, document organization, security controls, and AI-powered productivity tools. Wondershare PDFelement provides these features within a single platform, making it a practical choice for users who regularly work with PDFs beyond simple viewing and markup.

Apple could buy banned Chinese memory chips to keep your iPhone’s price down

By •

An AI generated photo depicting the White House and Chinese RAM maker CXMT used in a story about Apple.
Apple just raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by as much as 20%, and now its reportedly lobbying for a controversial fix.
Photo: Google Gemini/Cult of Mac

RAM has gotten so expensive that Apple is reportedly willing to stir up a political storm just to secure its supply. The solution may involve buying RAM from a Chinese chipmaker that the Pentagon says has ties to the Chinese military.

It wouldn’t be illegal. But that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be consequences for the Mac maker.

Why you should expect much richer Apple OLED display colors soon

By •

Apple OLED panels target wider color gamut
If you think Apple displays are amazing now, just wait a few years. Color will really pop.
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

Future MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and iMac models look set to gain OLED displays with dramatically richer color, according to a new report Monday. That’s because upcoming Apple OLED panels target a wider color gamut, a new industry standard that makes today’s screens look narrow by comparison.

Here’s when Apple could unveil its first foldable iPhone

By •

Apple's new iPhones could be unveiled on these dates.
Apple's new iPhones could be unveiled on these dates.
AI image: ChatGPT

Apple could unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and foldable iPhone on September 8 or September 9, 2026. That’s what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman estimates based on Apple’s previous release timeline.

If accurate, the new iPhones could go up for preorder later in the week and hit retail stores on September 18.

Why Apple silicon Macs aren’t immune to RAM price hikes

By •

Image of an Apple M-series processor, used to illustrate a story on Mac price hikes result from rising memory costs
Every Mac's Apple silicon processor includes RAM and storage outsourced from memory chipmakers.
Photo: iFixit

Can’t understand why the rising cost of memory chips forces a hike in Mac prices? Apple silicon processors include Unified Memory, so Apple has no need to buy RAM chips, right?

No, that is not how it works. Mac processors include RAM that Apple must purchase from outside suppliers.

Still confused? Here’s what’s going on.

Your iPhone could soon be spotted by license plate cameras

By •

A photo of Leonardo's SignalTrace used in a story about how it affects iPhone users.
Leonardo's iPhone license plate camera tech can read Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RFID signals from devices passing by.
Photo: Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions

The camera mounted on the streetlight has done one job for years: photograph your license plate. That could soon change. A new sensor upgrade is reportedly underway to detect Bluetooth signals coming from your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods — turning routine plate scans into a record of which devices, and which person, just drove by.

If you’ve always treated your iPhone’s Bluetooth signal as harmless background noise, it’s time to rethink that. Every time you pass these cameras, they could pull a wireless fingerprint of your devices and link it to your license plate. This builds a trail far richer than a single photo ever could. It also stitches your phone into a database that has nothing to do with Apple.

Still using an Intel Mac? Here are 6 reasons it’s time to upgrade.

By •

Time to ditch your Intel Mac?
Time to ditch your Intel Mac?
AI image: ChatGPT

macOS 27 Golden Gate marks the end of the road for Intel Macs. If you’re still using one, this is the strongest reason yet to consider upgrading to an Apple silicon Mac.

While your Intel Mac will continue receiving security updates for a while, it has effectively reached the end of its journey. And that’s not a disaster, considering the newer Apple silicon Macs are not only faster and more efficient, but they’re also the ones getting access to all the new AI features. Here are eight reasons it’s finally time to upgrade.

WhatsApp finally lets iPhone users search Channel posts

By •

A WhatsApp logo used in a story about WhatsApp bringing search feature to Channels on the iPhone.
WhatsApp's latest iPhone update adds keyword search for Channels, making old posts much easier to find.
Photo: WhatsApp/Cult of Mac

WhatsApp is fixing one of its most annoying iPhone quirks: endless scrolling through channels just to find a post. WhatsApp is now rolling out in-channel search to iPhone, which means you can type a keyword and jump straight to the update instead of hunting for it manually.

If you follow a channel that posts often, you already know the pain. Updates pile up fast, and until now, finding an old one on your iPhone meant scrolling back post by post. Now, your iPhone can search channels just the way it goes through your regular chats.

Why first touchscreen MacBook won’t use Apple M6 Pro or M6 Max chips

By •

Touchscreen MacBook Ultra won't pack Apple M6 processors
There's apparently a very good reason why the touchscreen MacBook Ultra won't pack high-end Apple M6 processors.
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

The touchscreen MacBook rumored for the fall won’t launch with Apple’s high-end M6 processors, according to a reliable source. The notebook — possibly dubbed the MacBook Ultra — will reportedly use the same M5 chips in the current MacBook Pro variants.

This surprise move will apparently be part of the shakeup in Apple’s processor plans that made news earlier this week. The M6 chips that might have gone into the MacBook Ultra have supposedly been nixed.

Apple raises Mac, iPad prices — over a shortage it may have caused

By •

Micron exec hints Apple helped create the chip shortage
There's a global shortage of memory chips. But whose fault is that?
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

Macs and iPads just got a lot more expensive overnight, with prices jumping 15% to 20%. Apple says a global memory chip shortage forced its hand, but a top executive at one of its own memory chip suppliers hinted Apple may have helped create that shortage in the first place.

What makes this interesting is the timing: a Micron executive’s pushback on memory prices lands right as Apple blames the memory shortage for its price hikes. So who is really to blame? Here’s what’s going on.

What does Siri AI mean for your old HomePod?

By •

Why HomePod and HomePod mini miss out on Siri AI
Will the conversational Siri AI come to your current HomePod?
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Siri AI, Apple’s next-generation version of its voice assistant, might push everyone’s HomePods toward obsolescence. Technology is moving on, apparently leaving these smart speakers behind.

Still, the devices aren’t about to become rubbish. They’ll just miss out on some of the new Apple Intelligence features. Here’s what’s going on.