Apple's cheaper Vision Pro could make several compromises. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Apple’s cheaper, lower-end Vision headset might reportedly arrive as early as 2025. It will seemingly cost around $2,000 and make several compromises to reach the lower price tag.
The Cupertino company is also “considering” launching its own pair of smart glasses in 2027 alongside AirPods with cameras.
"Disclaimer" debuts on Apple TV+ with two episodes October 11. Photo: Apple TV+
A revered London journalist’s life seems picture-perfect at the start of the new trailer for Apple TV+ psychological thriller series Disclaimer. But by the end of the trailer, she stands on the precipice of ugly ruin.
Created and directed by five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, Disclaimer stars Cate Blanchett as the journalist, Sacha Baron Cohen as her supportive husband, and Kevin Kline as a man bent on destroying her by revealing “the truth.” The trailer for Disclaimer, released Tuesday, looks seriously enthralling. The show premieres October 11 on Apple TV+.
UPDATE: Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer series started streaming Friday on Apple TV+. Reviews seem mixed, to say the least. One reviewer called it “the best TV show of the year” while another damned it as a “flaccid, pretentious slog.” You better watch it and make up your own mind.
Plenty of Androids get chucked out. Not even given away. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
What to do with your old phone? If it’s an iPhone, there’s a good chance you can resell it. But a market analyst firm reports that a significant percentage of Androids get pitched out because they aren‘t worth anything. They apparently can’t even be given away.
One result is that not very many Androids are resold. The rate is about half that of iPhones.
Christopher Chung plays Slough House IT specialist Roddy Ho in "Slow Horses." He's kind of a big deal (in his own mind). Photo: Apple TV+
The trailer for Slow Horses season 5, coming to Apple TV+ in 2025, didn’t drop on YouTube or on the Apple website, per usual. Instead, the teaser for the darkly funny espionage thriller’s next season is tacked on to the end of the season 4 finale on Apple TV+, which aired Wednesday. But we found the trailer in standalone form on a magazine website, included below.
This time, Slough House IT guy and arrogant doofus Roddy Ho, played by Australian singer and actor Christopher Chung, is at the center of the action. And River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) share an awkward kiss for some reason.
This MacBook Pro setups rocks a NuPhy Air96 mechanical keyboard. Photo: [email protected]
Run by a software developer, today’s M1 Pro MacBook Pro setup doesn’t just rock two external displays. It also features a very cool input-device duo — the mouse we see more than any other in setups, which is the Logitech MX Master 3S wireless mouse, and the super-cool NuPhy Air96 V2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard.
Filmed on location in Prague, Brussels, and Malta, "Submerged" used Apple Immersive Video cameras, which feature two lenses to record 8K 3D video. Photo: Apple
Submerged, the first immersive scripted film for Vision Pro, is now out. But new show episodes, films, series and concerts captured in Apple Immersive Video will debut later this year and early next year, Apple said Thursday.
“AppleImmersive Video is a wonderful new medium that expands the horizon of storytelling,” said Berger, director of the Academy Award-winning All Quiet on the Western Front and upcoming Conclave. “Apple Vision Pro inspired me to tell a story in a way that just wasn’t possible before, and in the process, it changed the way my team and I think about creating a story. This immersive technology pioneered by Apple is going to change the future of filmmaking.”
“Vision Pro places you in the middle of the story — inside a densely packed submarine, shoulder to shoulder with its crew,” he added. “That deep sense of immersion just wasn’t possible before, and we can’t wait to see how it inspires filmmakers to push the boundaries of visual storytelling.”
When you need to connect on the go, inCharge XS is there. Photo: Rolling Square
The name for inCharge XS must stand for “extra small.” It packs multiple USB formats plus a Lightning connector into a cable tiny enough to fit on a keychain. But it can handle up to 240W of power.
The accessory from Rolling Square enables any iPhone or Mac to plug into a battery or wall charger wherever necessary. It can even handle data transfers.
Submerged can only be seen on Vision Pro. Image: Apple
Apple made a visual treat for owners of its Vision Pro headset: Submerged, a scripted short film recorded in Immersive Video. That means it’s in 3D and “You’re not watching a movie anymore, you are inside the story,” according to the director.
Watch the trailer for a first look at the action set on a WWII submarine under attack.
Update: Vision Pro users can watch Submerged now. Simply open the Apple TV app on the headset to find it.
Prime Day is over but the savings haven't stopped. Image: Tamanna Rumee/Unsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac
It’s that time of year again, Amazon Prime Day (the fall edition, October 8 and 9). So the early deals flowed starting over the weekend, with the full-on sale hitting with even better deals on Tuesday and Wednesday. We’ll show you the best Amazon Prime Day deals on Apple gear, from AirPods to iPads to MacBooks to Studio Display. And that includes Apple audio subsidiary Beats, too. Click on the links below, and return to this page often — deals are subject to change, often for the better, and we’ll add more as we find them.
Update: Though prices on some items continue to fluctuate, Amazon has extended most deals beyond Wednesday.
You can soon subscribe to Apple TV+ through Amazon Prime Video. Photo: Apple
Starting from late October, you can subscribe to Apple TV+ through Amazon Prime Video. This should expand Apple TV+’s reach and allow more users to subscribe easily.
Amazon allows other platforms to sell their subscriptions through Prime Video, expanding their reach.
Now's the time to nab that M3 MacBook Air you've been wanting. Photo: Apple
With the fall edition of Amazon Prime Day falling on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, it’s a great time to nab yourself a coveted M3 MacBook Air. Discounts abound on both 15-inch and 13-inch models, with an array of specification choices. See the deal links below. Most of the deals cover all four colors — midnight, silver, space gray and starlight. And don’t miss our full guide to Apple deals for Prime Day.
UPDATE: On Wednesday we updated fluctuations in prices and color availability for various models, below. And though prices on some items fluctuate, Amazon has extended many deals beyond Wednesday.
It seems much of the excitement over the M3 MacBook Air waned by Q3 2024. Photo: Apple
While the third quarter of 2024 brought weak Mac shipments, Apple did well earlier in the year, and a return to growth is expected soon, according to a market-research firm.
Overall, the July-through-September period was anemic for the whole PC market, not just Apple.
The iPod music player, a product that was once the definition of tech coolness, rode off into the sunset on Tuesday. The last iPod nano and iPod shuffle models went on Apple’s list of obsolete products, which means the classic iPod lineup officially obsolete.
The music player that transformed Apple and the worldwide music culture will no longer be supported or serviced by Apple. It’s the end of an era.
How will a major court ruling against Google Play affect Apple? Image: Google/Apple
A U.S. federal judge ordered sweeping changes to Google Play, the default source for Android applications. Rival Android software marketplaces will get a big boost as a result.
While the iPhone App Store is similar, Apple’s and Google’s situations are different enough that iPhone users shouldn’t expect similar changes anytime soon. Long term? That’s a different story.
Apple Intelligence is finally here! Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Apple continues beta testing iOS 18.1 ahead of its potential public release on October 28. Besides Apple Intelligence, iOS 18.1 will pack several other changes and improvements.
Below is everything new in the latest iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 beta 6.
The Apple Watch Series 10 does not rank high in iFixit's teardown. Photo: iFixit
Apple made huge strides towards improving repairability with the iPhone 16. Sadly, despite getting a big internal redesign, the Apple Watch Series 10 is not as repair-friendly as the new iPhones.
A teardown from iFixit details the wearable’s innards and all the changes Apple made to slim down its design.
Watch the M4 MacBook Pro getting unboxed weeks before its official unveiling. Maybe. Photo: Wylsacom
An alleged unboxing video of the M4 MacBook Pro went live on YouTube over the weekend. The early hands-on, if real, shows that Apple’s next MacBook will pack impressive performance improvements over the M3 version.
The video supposedly reveals the M4 MacBook Pro’s specs, featuring a 10-core CPU, 16GB RAM, and an unchanged design but with a color twist.
After a big announcement in June, Apple Intelligence is right around the corner. Screenshot: Apple
Apple’s big step into artificial intelligence is scheduled for this month, and a prediction from a generally reliable source may have just named the release date: October 28. This will reportedly be when new iOS, macOS and iPadOS versions usher in Apple Intelligence.
These AI capabilities were unveiled in June at the company’s developers conference and have been in public beta testing for weeks, so it’s now a waiting game for the full launch.
M4 MacBook Pros could debut before the end of 2024. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple’s next-gen M4 Macs will reportedly arrive November 1, rather than in October as is generally expected. A few days before that, the company supposedly plans to release iOS 18.1 with Apple Intelligence support.
The new Macs that will debut include M4 MacBook Pros, Mac mini, and an iMac.
Sounds like new Macs will pop out of Tim Cook's magic pipeline in the very near future. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: If Apple does host a big October event, M4 Macs and iPads likely will steal the show. We talk about what to expect from the upcoming Apple products.
Also on The CultCast:
Other Apple gear is on a longer timeline, including iPhone SE 4, upgraded iPad Airs and a next-gen Vision Pro.
There’s also a rumored low-end smart display running a mysterious new operating system called “homeOS.”
And finally, Erfon gives us an in-depth, ears-on review of one week with AirPods 4. He’s not crazy about the fit, and the active noise cancellation is a mixed bag.
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.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt star in “Wolfs,” now drawing a crowd on Apple TV+. Image: Apple TV+
The Apple TV+ team-up between George Clooney and Brad Pitt hit number one on a ratings company’s popularity chart the first week the film is available to stream.
It’s not surprising: the two superstars could probably take the leads in Uncle Wiggly and the Runaway Cheese and it would be a hit.
Whether you shot the video or not, sometimes it's just in the wrong file format. Image: Movavi
When you need to convert a video to a different file format, what’s a quick, easy way to do it? Movavi’s free Online Video Converter. This incredibly intuitive tool makes the tedious task simple.
And if you need to convert really big video files, or edit them, Movavi’s desktop converter software can help. More than 70 million users in more than 190 countries enjoy software from Movavi, which turned 20 years old in 2024.
Find out how to use the free online video converter below.
Introduced at CES in January, the new Aqara Smart Lock 300 is now on sale at a 20% discount. Photo: Aqara
The new lever-based Smart Lock U300 brings Apple Home Key functionality to a wider range of doors you might want to unlock with your iPhone or Apple Watch, including those without traditional deadbolts, Aqara said Thursday. It previewed the lock back at CES in January. Now it’s finally on sale — with a nice launch discount (see below).