Maybe Lego Star Wars Battles will have a way to kill Jar Jar over and over and over.
Get ready for Chewbacca to take on Boba Fett. Or maybe an Ewok fighting with a Tusken Raider. Have Yoda fight Darth Vader. All this will be possible in Lego Star Wars Battles, coming soon to Apple Arcade.
It’ll offer tower defense strategic combat in real time.
The high-speed Kingston DataTraveler flash drive comes in sizes up to 1TB. Photo: Kingston
Kingston Digital, the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology, is rolling out its new DataTraveler Max. The company said the USB-C 3.2 flash drive “delivers record-breaking speeds up to 1,000MB/s read and 900MB/s write to make it one of the fastest USB drives on the market and the first of its kind.”
Apple Music's classical offering will get a big boost from Primephonic. Photo: Samuel Sianipar/Unsplash
Apple Music’s purchase of classical music service Primephonic will give fans of the genre a richer experience, Cupertino said Monday.
Apple said it will work to incorporated the service’s features into a standalone classical app that will launch next year. The company promised high-quality audio, expert recommendations and playlists, exclusive audio content, “extensive contextual details on repertoire and recordings” and other advanced features for classical fans.
Spot the old iBook on the shelf to the right and The Cult of Mac hardcover under the display. Photo: [email protected]
We last saw Redditor 17parkc after they took delivery of their lovely new blue 24-inch iMac in May. Now it looks like they moved to a new studio apartment with a few new toys. Actually, in one case, an old toy — an iBook from back in the day, sometime around the turn of this century.
Apple said it will help fund Hurricane Ida relief efforts. Photo: NASA-GSFC
In the wake of Hurricane Ida’s category 4 landfall in Louisiana on Sunday, officials and aid workers are assessing damage and needed relief efforts. Today Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed the company will donate money in support of those efforts.
Tim Cook wants to stick around for one more big Apple product hitting the market. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook has been Apple CEO for 10 years and he’s considering his exit strategy. But it won’t be soon because the executive will wait until the launch of “one more major new product category,” according to a new report.
The new HyperDrive hubs attach to your iMac, allowing easy port access. Photo: Hyper
Accessories maker Hyper rolled out new HyperDrive 6-in-1 and 5-in-1 USB-C hubs today to expand what you can do with your 2021 24-inch iMac. And they look pretty good doing it, too.
The two new hubs don’t just add connectivity options with a variety of ports. They also clamp right onto the bottom of your iMac and feature faceplates in seven colors to match your machine.
Apple's new service program covers iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro with 'no sound' issues. Photo: Apple
Apple says a new service program will address sound problems some iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro users experience when placing or receiving calls. It’s the first service program for the iPhone 12 series.
Jon Stewart returns to TV a month from today Photo: Apple TV+
The Problem with Jon Stewart — the late-night talk show host’s much-anticipated return to TV — is now scheduled to debut September 30. It’ll be exclusively on Apple TV+, though the show also has a YouTube channel. And there’ll be a companion podcast.
The announcement came in a video in which Stewart jokes about not looking quite as young as he used to. Watch it now:
iPhone 13 will reportedly be able to use satellites to exchange calls and texts. Photo: Globalstar
The iPhone 13 will offer two-way communication with low Earth orbit satellites, according to a report from a reliable Apple analyst. If the prediction proves correct, making phone calls and exchanging texts via satellite connection will be possible with Apple’s next handset.
YouTube finally gets a much requested feature, Clips can make you a short-form video star, and another email app is a contender. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
Maybe it’s the impending iOS, iPadOS and macOS updates, but in checking out the App Store this past week, everything seemed to be “bug fixes and stability improvements.” Those are great things to have, but they aren’t as cool or exciting as fresh features or hot new apps!
Fortunately, a long-awaited feature is finally coming to the YouTube masses. Plus, I found another email app worth checking out. And, if you’re hoping to become an influencer, we’ve got an app to help you level up your videos in this week’s Awesome Apps of the Week.
Feeling brave? You can try the latest betas for iOS 15 or iPadOS 15. But stay away from testing macOS Monterey. Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
It’s been a very weird summer for Apple’s beta program, with major changes happening months after the initial unveiling of the operating system upgrades. But iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 have finally reached the point where they’re stable enough for average users to try them out. The same goes for watchOS 8.
“Engineered for optimal haptic feedback to deliver the satisfying feeling of… click.” Screenshot: Google
A new video for the Google Pixel 5a pokes fun at the ones Jony Ive used to make gushing about the smallest details in designs of Apple products.
While an homage, the video also exhibits a cutting edge. It highlights the new Android smartphone’s headphone jack, a feature Ive removed from iPhones. Still, Apple fans shouldn’t miss this well-made parody:
The M1 MacBook Pro is all work and the M1 Mac mini is all play. Photo: [email protected]
Redditor jackwong343 knows how to keep his work computing and his personal use separate — even within a clean, spare and capable computer setup. It all starts with an M1 MacBook Pro for work and an M1 Mac mini for play, and never the twain shall meet.
We’re still weeks away from Apple Watch Series 7’s official debut, but that hasn’t stopped Chinese manufacturers from churning out their clones. The knockoffs feature flatter designs that could closely match the real thing.
Baldo: The Guardian Owls is an adventure game with a lot of influence from Studio Ghibli movies like Spirited Away. Photo: NAPS team
Fans of Zelda can now try Baldo: The Guardian Owls, a puzzle adventure that debuted Friday on Apple Arcade. The look is inspired by the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibili.
Plus Asphalt 8: Airborne+, a classic racing game, also zoomed onto Apple’s gaming service.
And that figure could rise to $20 billion in 2022. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Google could pay a whopping $15 billion to remain the default search provider on iPhone and iPad, according to one analyst. The figure could rise even higher, to as much as $20 billion, in 2022.
It is believed Google is willing to pay so much to ensure Microsoft and Yahoo, which may also be interesting in striking a deal with Apple, cannot break up the partnership Google has enjoyed for more than a decade.
Get great deals from CdkeySales.com with checkout code CULT. Photo: CdkeySales
This software keys post is presented by CdkeySales.com.
As with previous sales events, Cult of Mac readers can now grab a special 20% discount on the already-low-priced software product activation keys available at CdkeySales.com.
Apple will make several changes to its App Store policies to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by developers, the company said Thursday. Cupertino also will cough up $100 million to create a “fund” for small app-makers.
As part of the deal, Apple will allow developers to inform customers about alternative payment methods outside of their iOS apps. But they won’t be able to mention those payment methods inside the apps themselves.
Apple Watch Series 6 is the best selling smartwatch in the world. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch recently passed an important milestone. There are now 100 million of them in active use according to a market analysis firm. And more than 50 million Americans have one.
The user base is one of the most important measurements of a product’s success. It shows how many people are actively using a device, as opposed to buying one, disliking it, then dumping it in a drawer.
Picture-in-picture YouTube videos ... coming sometime to iPad. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
YouTube repeated an earlier promise to allow all iPhone users in the U.S. to watch video from its application in a small window while another app is open. And it expanded on the commitment by promising iPad will be included too.
But exactly when this will happen is a bit up the air.
It’ll cost publishers a bit less to participate in Apple News. Photo: Apple
A new Apple News Partner Program allows subscription news publications to provide their content to the Apple News app while paying a lower than usual share of the revenue coming from customers. Companies that choose to participate will have to give Apple 15% of subscription fees in the first year — half the usual amount.
This move is apparently in response to complaints from big publications about Apple’s cut.
Apple donations through August 29 plus content collections help celebrate 105 years of America's national parks. Photo: Austin Mann Photography/Apple
With the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) turning 105 years old, Apple said today it will donate $10 for purchases of its products from official sales points to the National Park Foundation (NPF) through August 29. The Cupertino tech giant will also share new ways for customers to learn about and celebrate America’s parks.
The new bands fit 41mm and 45mm Apple Watch models. Photo: DuanRui/Majin Bu
New bands for a larger Apple Watch models have appeared in leaked photos ahead of this year’s Series 7 upgrade.
The images, from two different sources and of two different band variants, hint at new 41mm and 45mm size options. They’ve surfaced just days after a tipster claimed Apple’s next Watch refresh will pack larger screen sizes.
We were right all along? Photo: EverythingApplePro
We’ve all been referring to Apple’s next-generation iPhone lineup as “iPhone 13” for months now. And according to a spy shot published by one leaker this week, we’ve been right on the money.
Despite suggestions Apple might change its naming convention for iPhone this fall due to superstition around the number 13, it looks like Cupertino isn’t (fortunately!) going to take any notice of that.