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Security updates for macOS Sonoma and Sequoia patch 138 vulnerabilities

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A picture of macOS running on a Mac used in a story about macOS Sonoma and Sequoia security updates.
Apple keeps backporting fixes to older macOS versions even as macOS 27 Golden Gate nears its public debut.
Image: Apple

If your Mac is still running macOS Sonoma or macOS Sequoia, the latest security updates aren’t optional. Apple released macOS Sonoma 14.8.8 and macOS Sequoia 15.7.8 on Monday, and together they patch nearly 140 security vulnerabilities.

Your Mac won’t gain any new features. But these maintenance updates are still important for anyone who has yet to update to macOS Tahoe. Apple fixed several WebKit flaws that could expose your data when browsing the web.

John Ternus says Apple TV stays a priority once he becomes CEO

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Future Apple CEO John Ternus praises Apple TV
Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus is a fan of Apple TV.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple TV isn’t going anywhere once John Ternus takes over as CEO. This week, he praised the streaming service’s momentum and promised to keep building on it.

Ternus takes the reins from current Apple CEO Tim Cook on September 1. His comments suggest Apple’s entertainment push will remain a priority, even though the streaming service reportedly loses money each year.

Apple faces lawsuit after fake Sparrow Wallet app drains $1.8 million in Bitcoin

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A picture of the Sparrow Wallet app logo used in a story about fake Sparrow Wallet app for the iPhone.
A fake Sparrow Wallet app allegedly slipped past Apple’s App Store review process.
Image: Sparrow Wallet

Three iPhone owners sued Apple last week over a fake Sparrow Wallet app they say they downloaded from the App Store. The plaintiffs say using the bogus app led to the theft of their Bitcoin, resulting in losses of roughly $1.8 million.

The lawsuit, Ramirez et al v. Apple, Inc., accuses Cupertino of failing to catch the scam app despite years of marketing the App Store as a safe place to download software.

Apple Upgrade lets you subscribe to your next iPhone, Mac, iPad or Apple Watch

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Apple Upgrade turns hardware into a monthly subscription
Apple Upgrade is a subscription-style leasing program for the latest Apple devices.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple just made it easier to stay on the latest hardware with the launch of Apple Upgrade, a new subscription-style leasing program that lets U.S. customers pay a monthly fee for an iPhone, Mac, iPad or Apple Watch.

The new service builds on the company’s old iPhone Upgrade Program by expanding to almost its entire product lineup, giving customers many more options when it’s time to move to a newer device.

“At Apple, we put the customer at the center of everything we do,” said Karen Rasmussen, Apple’s vice president of the Apple Store online in a press release Tuesday, “and we’re thrilled that Apple Upgrade offers our customers, both online and in-store, a more flexible way to pay for the products they love.”

Apple earns back title as world’s most valuable company

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Apple dethrones Nvidia to become world's most valuable company again
Investors are once again bullish on Apple. Here's why.
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

After months of playing second fiddle to AI chipmaker Nvidia, Apple reclaimed the title of the world’s most valuable publicly traded company on Monday. A rally in Apple’s stock price over the last month resulted in the Mac maker sailing past Nvidia and all other rivals back to the top of the list. And if that wasn’t enough, Cupertino’s market capitalization is closing in on an astonishing $5 trillion!

AAPL is up about 30% in 2026 on investors’ changing attitudes about AI. Here’s what’s going on down on Wall Street, and why there is renewed confidence in Apple.

iOS 26.6 is a bore, but you should upgrade anyway

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iOS 26.6 is here!
iOS 26.6 is here for your iPhone.
Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac

Following a few weeks of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.6, iPadOS 26.6 and macOS 26.6 to the public on Monday. While the updates do not introduce any major new features or changes, iOS 26.6 is more important than it might initially appear.

According to Apple, iOS 26.6 includes more than 70 security updates. It also starts a process that proves very helpful if you plan to upgrade to iOS 27.

iOS 27’s Call Context feature makes customer service calls less of a pain

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A picture of iOS 27 Call Context feature used in a story about how it works.
iOS 27 Call Context displays flight and reservation details right on the call screen.
Photo: Apple

iOS 27’s Call Context feature is shaping up to be one of the most useful additions in Apple’s fall software update. The Phone app will automatically show confirmation codes, reservation details and other relevant info whenever you call a business.

The feature works by pulling information straight from your Mail app, saving you the hassle of digging through your inbox in the middle of a customer service call. And Apple processes all of this locally, without sending anything to the cloud or a third party.

usbliter8 lawsuit forces ‘unpatchable’ iPhone hack offline

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An AI generated image showing the iPhone usbliter8 exploit taken down by a court order.
The usbliter8 lawsuit has already forced Paradigm Shift to pull the blog post detailing its once public iPhone exploit.
AI image: Google Gemini/Cult of Mac

Remember usbliter8, the unpatchable iPhone exploit we told you about last month? Now, a lawsuit has gotten the whole thing offline, thanks to a court order.

Digital forensics firm Magnet Forensics says a former engineer stole its confidential iPhone-hacking research and gave it away to a rival company. That rival company — Paradigm Shift — then published the research as an original discovery. 

Micron fights to kill Apple’s Chinese memory chip plan

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An AI generated picture illustrating Apple's fight with Micron for sourcing memory chips from China.
Apple’s Chinese memory chip plan has triggered a lobbying war with Micron.
AI image: Google Gemini/Cult of Mac

Apple’s plan to source memory chips from China could be running into serious trouble. Micron, the only major memory chip maker in the United States, is lobbying the White House to shut it down.

The clash pits Apple’s push for cheaper memory against fears of hollowing out America’s chip industry. And now, it’s up to the Trump administration to pick a side.

Apple brings AppleCare One to more countries

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AppleCare One streamlines AppleCare+ coverage for all your devices.
AppleCare One subscription is no longer a US exclusive.
Photo: Apple

A year after debuting in the US, Apple is expanding AppleCare One to four more countries. This includes the UK, France, Germany and Australia.

With AppleCare One, you can protect multiple Apple devices through a single monthly subscription.

Apple smart glasses might skip the feature I want most

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Apple smart glasses face familiar privacy concerns
Apple needs to protect people's privacy without hobbling its smart glasses too much.
Photo: Gemini/Cult of Mac

Apple will reportedly enter the smart glasses market in 2027, but the company is apparently worried the wearable will tarnish its reputation for protecting privacy. The cameras built into rival devices face criticism, and a new report describes Apple’s efforts to avoid the controversy.

Unfortunately, many of its options would block the feature that makes smart glasses most interesting to me.

Why Apple’s touchscreen MacBook will be worth the wait

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Touchscreen MacBook slowly moves from rumors toward reality
The touchscreen MacBook could pack so many new features it's a potential game changer for Apple.
Image: Cult of Mac/Apple/ChatGPT

Persistent rumors leave little room for doubt that Apple will finally build a touchscreen into a MacBook, burt that’s only one of the significant changes we can look forward to. It could launch as early as this fall as the biggest revamp to macOS notebooks since 2020.

It’s important enough that there’s speculation the device could be the first MacBook Ultra, not simply another MacBook Pro version.

Here’s what the latest rumors say about the touchscreen MacBook.

Apple wants a 20% price cut on iPhone 18 Pro Max OLED panels

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A picture of the iPhone 17 Pro Max used in a story about the display price of the rumored iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Apple wants to pay less for the iPhone 18 Pro Max's OLED panels.
Photo: Apple

Apple seems to be squeezing its display suppliers hard this year. The company is reportedly asking for approximately a 20% price cut on iPhone 18 Pro Max OLED panels, even though the screens are getting harder to make.

Apple’s per-panel costs usually go down with each new iPhone generation, but that’s a steeper drop than usual.

Art director’s post reveals Lil’ Finder Guy’s origin story — and then disappears

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A picture of Apple's Lil' Finder Guy used in a story about his origins.
Apple art director Sofia Coelho offered a brief peek at the early history of Apple mascot Lil’ Finder Guy.
Photo: Basic Apple Guy

Lil’ Finder Guy stands “barely an apple tall,” but the Apple mascot started as something even smaller: a sketch.

Offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at Cupertino’s creative process, an Apple art director revealed early sketches and a prototype behind Lil’ Finder Guy in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. Although the post quickly disappeared, the images showed just how much craft went into a character built to sell a budget Mac.

Geekbench 7 makes Mac and iPhone benchmarking even more accurate

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Geekbench 7 arrives with improved benchmarking tests
Geekbench 7 offers an updated scoring system for benchmarking Apple devices, plus Windows and Android, too.
Photo: Primate Labs

Primate Labs released Geekbench 7, the first major update to its widely used cross-platform benchmarking suite in three years. The new version introduces redesigned CPU and GPU workloads intended to better reflect how modern applications use today’s hardware, with a greater emphasis on handling video and playing games.

Because the latest version uses a new scoring system, benchmark scores made with the new app can’t be compared with one made with Geekbench 6. So every device needs to be retested.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 raves are great news for folding iPhone

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Photo of a person using a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 to take a photo.
The new Galaxy Z Fold8 gives a glimpse of the foldable iPhone's rumored form factor.
Photo: Samsung

Overwhelmingly positive first impressions of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 bode extremely well for Apple, which is prepping to launch a folding iPhone with a similar design.

People who went hands-on with the Z Fold8 after its Wednesday launch praise the device’s wide, compact form factor, which makes it easy to carry and improves the content consumption experience.

That’s great news for the upcoming folding iPhone, possibly called the iPhone Fold or the iPhone Ultra, which reportedly will arrive later this year.

One app is all Apple needs to make iPad damn near perfect

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Bring Xcode to iPad!
iPad can handle Xcode. Developers want it. It's time for Apple to deliver.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A recent poll of Cult of Mac readers found very broad support for iPadOS, but a small group remains deeply dissatisfied with the iPad’s software. And while Apple certainly can’t make everyone happy, it could significantly shrink the number of complaints by adding one app. One very long-overdue app.

It’s time for Apple to finally do what developers have wanted for so many years: Bring Xcode to iPad.

Apple Store app might soon get an AI shopping assistant

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A logo of Apple's App Store used in a story about the company working on a new AI powered shopping assistant.
Apple App Store app could soon feature an AI shopping assistant to help guide your next purchase.
Photo: Apple

Shopping for a new iPhone or Mac will apparently soon come with built-in AI help. Apple is working on a new shopping assistant for the Apple Store app that will use artificial intelligence to answer questions and guide purchases.

The question now is, are shoppers ready for that?

iOS 27’s new paste shortcut kills the copy-and-paste menu for good

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iOS 27 keyboard's paste option
The iOS 27 paste shortcut appears right above the keyboard the moment you copy something.
Image: Apple

Copy something, and the iOS 27 paste shortcut now pops up right above your keyboard, ready in a single tap.

The new shortcut shows a live preview of your clipboard, meaning you’ll always know exactly what you’re about to paste, whether it’s text, a link, or a photo.

WhatsApp supercharges its iPad and CarPlay apps

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WhatsApp-new-features
You can now sign up for a WhatsApp account from your iPad.
Photo: WhatsApp

After years of delay, Meta launched a native WhatsApp app for iPad in 2025. A year later, it is adding the ability to sign up for a new WhatsApp account right from the iPad.

WhatsApp will also deliver a superior CarPlay experience, allowing you to hear and respond to messages, see your call history and more.

Apple fixes Hide My Email vulnerability that exposed real addresses for a year

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An AI-generated image of an iPhone using the Hide My Email feature used in a story about Apple fixing a security exploit.
Apple finally fixes the Hide My Email flaw that allowed others to see the real email address behind an alias.
AI image: Google Gemini/Cult of Mac

Apple finally fixed the Hide My Email vulnerability that allowed outsiders to unmask a user’s real address behind an alias. The patch went live on July 3, closing a loophole that Apple knew about for more than a year.

The fix landed only after the bug became public — and a class-action lawsuit followed close behind. But the bigger question is: Why did it take outside pressure to get Apple to fix it?

Claude Code iOS Simulator lets you watch AI build apps in real time

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An AI-generated image showing Claude running on a laptop with an iPhone connected in a story about Claude Code Desktop Simulator.
The Claude Code iOS Simulator lets you watch the AI work on your app in real time.
AI image: Google Gemini/Cult of Mac

Anthropic’s AI-powered coding assistant Claude Code just got a lot more visual for iPhone developers. The new Claude Code iOS Simulator streams your app’s screen live while talking to it, as Claude does the heavy lifting for you.

Available as a public beta for Claude Code Desktop on macOS, it requires Apple’s free coding suite Xcode to work. But you can tap through the simulator anytime while Claude keeps working.

Apple Upgrade leasing program could lock iPhone over late payments

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A photo of the iPhone used in a story about Apple said to be working on a new upgrade leasing program.
The Apple Upgrade leasing program could let you pay for an iPhone like a subscription, but there’s a catch.
Photo: Apple

Apple apparently wants you to stop buying iPhones outright, with the rumored Apple Upgrade leasing program the clearest sign of that shift. But code hidden in the iOS 27 beta hints at what happens if you fall behind on an Apple Upgrade payment — and it isn’t pretty.

According to information that leaked Tuesday, Apple Upgrade will enable consumers to pay monthly for an iPhone, Mac, iPad or Apple Watch. To go with that, Apple appears to be working on a system that could restrict a financed iPhone if payments lapse.