Microsoft wants Apple to relax more App Store rules for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple relaxed the App Store rules earlier this year, paving the way for cloud gaming apps on the iPhone. However, Microsoft and Nvidia have not yet listed their cloud gaming services on the App Store. The former argues that Apple’s rules are still too restrictive for this.
Microsoft’s main issue revolves around the 30% commission that Apple wants for IAPs. It says the fee is “neither economically sustainable nor justifiable.”
Apple could close the door on LCD iPhones with the SE 4. Photo: Cult of Mac
Fresh evidence points to iPhone SE 4 including an OLED display. If true, this would make it the first in Apple’s line of budget handsets to use this improved type of screen, while every other iPhone gave up traditional LCDs years ago.
The next iPhone SE model is supposedly on the docket for 2025.
Turn your iPhone into a retro handheld game console with GameBaby. Image: Bitmo Lab
GameBaby from Bitmo Lab is both an iPhone case and a game controller. The innovative design allows users to play retro games on their phone with real buttons.
A slimmer Apple Watch Series 10 could be one of the wearables revealed September 9. Image: concept_central/Cult of Mac
Both Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch SE 3 could be among the many products on the agenda for Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9. The situation with Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a bit more murky, however.
And speaking of murky, we don’t know whether any of these will offer blood oxygen monitoring in units sold in the United States.
The budget iPad might get a version of the brilliant iPad Magic Keyboard. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iPad users can look forward to a less expensive version of Apple’s Magic Keyboard, according to information leaking out of Apple. The goal is apparently a variant more appealing to buyers of entry-level tablets.
iOS 18 will make your AirPods even better. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Like iPhones, Apple regularly updates AirPods with new features. iOS 18 will continue that trend by introducing several enhancements for Apple’s earbuds. They include interacting with Siri using head gestures, lowering audio latency while gaming, and more.
Read on to see what new AirPods features iOS 18 will bring to further improve the best earbuds for Apple fans.
AirPods 2 and AirPods 3 are on their way out. Here comes the fourth generation of Apple wireless earbuds. Image: Cult of Mac
AirPods 4 could launch in just a few days to replace two models of wireless earbuds now in Apple’s lineup. Rumors indicate the new version will borrow a feature from the Pro models: Active Noise Cancellation.
And AirPods Max 2 could be in for a revamp next Monday, too. Probably not so for AirPods Pro 3, though.
M4 Mac mini might not sport any USB-A ports. Photo: Apple
Apple could go all-in on USB-C with its upcoming M4 Mac mini. As a part of the machine’s major design revamp, the company might ditch USB-A ports for good.
The Cupertino company should unveil the M4 Mac mini later this year.
iPhone 16 is right around the corner. On this week's podcast, we discuss what we'll see at the "It's Glowtime event." Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We finally know exactly when Apple’s iPhone 16 event will happen. It’s “Glowtime” on September 9 … and now it’s time to talk about what’s in store.
Also on The CultCast:
iOS 18’s AI-powered Clean Up feature in the Photos app yields some freakish results that might give you nightmares.
The latest Mac rumors make us buzzy about the future.
If you think Apple is behind on AI — at least on a practical level — you’re wrong.
And Griffin wraps up the show with some cool Continuity features that everyone who owns multiple Apple devices should know.
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.
There are so many hidden features in iOS 18 to try out! Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
iOS 18 is packed full of great features Cult of Mac has covered at length — but the upcoming iPhone software update packs many more tiny features and small improvements that Apple did not mention or talk about. If you know to look out for these features, they’ll make the everyday interactions with your phone faster and easier.
Here’s a roundup of 18 little changes and useful features in iOS 18. Keep reading or watch our video.
There's gold in them there iPhones! Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
A new render shows the iPhone 16 Pro in a gold titanium finish. Rumors suggest the new color option will replace the blue titanium shade in Apple’s 2024 iPhone Pro lineup.
The mockup also shows a cutout in the iPhone 16 Pro’s case near the Power button, supposedly for the new Capture button.
K-Pop Idols docuseries streams globally on Apple TV+. Image: Apple TV+
An Apple TV+ documentary brings a whole lot of gritty reality to dreams of becoming a Korean pop star. K-Pop Idols features interviews with young singers that reveal the enormous amount of effort needed to make their performances look effortless.
The trailer for the series includes one of its young stars saying, “I thought being a K-pop idol was going to be all great and beautiful, but that’s not the reality.”
UPDATE: The new docuseries premiered on Apple TV+ on Friday. All six episodes are ready to stream now.
For better or worse, California leads the way on reigning in the potential dangers of powerful AI models. Photo: Pexels-cottonbro
California’s legislature passed a hotly contested AI safety bill Thursday — the groundbreaking Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047).
The controversial bill, which awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature before it can become law, introduces the first major AI regulations in the United States. It could have far-reaching implications for tech companies and users alike.
Apple doesn't sell many Mac minis. But the small desktop computer appeals to a big, important group of buyers. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Guess what percentage of Mac buyers choose the Mac mini. Whatever your estimate is, the real number is probably lower. Much lower.
Despite selling so very few of them, it seems likely Apple keeps making and updating the tiny macOS desktop because many of them go to young buyers just starting on a lifetime of buying Apple products.
Controlling the volume of Spotify Connect devices from your iPhone is getting difficult. Photo: Cult of Mac
Spotify users can no longer control the volume of Spotify Connect devices using their iPhone’s volume button. Instead, they must use the workaround: an in-app volume slider.
The company is making this change because Apple discontinued the technology behind this feature.
The new AI-powered Clean Up feature in the Apple Photos app got people raving about the magical ability to “fix” pictures — and posting examples of when things go horribly wrong. The positive experiences sound great, but the negative ones look like pure nightmare fuel.
Apple added the Clean Up feature in iOS 18.1 beta 3, released Wednesday, and users put the new photo touch-up tool to the test immediately. The results, posted on X, show a wide range of outcomes, including some hilarious misfires.
Napoleon: The Director’s Cut takes a longer look at history's greatest general. Photo: Apple TV+
Before Napoleon hit theaters in late 2023, director Ridley Scott promised a longer, more complete cut would follow on Apple TV+. The streaming service fulfilled that promise on Thursday.
The original lasts 2 hours and 38 minutes, while Napoleon: The Director’s Cut brings nearly an hour more of Joaquin Phoenix as the infamous French emperor and conqueror of much of Europe.
Now you can see where to ball is on the field at a glance. Photo: Apple
Sports fans can enjoy new features in the free Apple Sports iPhone app, some in time for football season and others coming soon, Apple said Thursday. The app launched earlier this year with an emphasis on simplicity to help fans easily track scores and stats.
Bot crawlers scraping website content for training AI is more controversial than other uses, like improving search functionality. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Many prominent news outlets and social media platforms have opted out of Apple’s AI training data collection via website scraping, according to a new report Thursday.
Apple does it through a new tool called Applebot-Extended, which the iPhone giant introduced less than three months ago. If major content websites opt out of Apple AI scraping, that could have implications for the continuing development of Apple Intelligence.
The Vagabond mobile controller from Elo Gaming kicks iPhone and iPad mini gaming up a notch. Photo: Elo Gaming Limited
The new Vagabond Mobile Gaming Controller transforms iPhone, iPad mini and Android devices into full-fledged gaming consoles, Elo Gaming Limited said Tuesday. It called the device suitable for casual and pro gamers alike.
Apple Intelligence is a powerful LLM that runs both in the cloud and on-device. Image: Apple
Contrary to popular opinion, Apple appears to be ahead in AI — and in some cases seems far in front of the competition. The revelation comes from an Apple white paper that hasn’t gotten much attention, but should.
A white paper on Apple’s Foundation Model, the company’s homegrown LLM (large-language model) that powers Apple Intelligence, reveals two important facts: it’s the safest in design and highly competitive with both Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s GPT-4. This seems to debunk a big myth about Apple’s AI efforts: that the company’s privacy-first philosophy would hold it back.
The Apple Foundation Model is just as capable in tests of writing and summarization compared to the top LLMs by OpenAI, Meta, Mistral AI and others. And thanks to Apple’s strict guidelines for expunging harmful content, human-evaluated tests repeatedly rank its foundation model as the safest above all the rest — by a wide margin.
It looks like Apple Intelligence could be off to a good start.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max might pack some key upgrades over its other siblings. Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Apple will seemingly continue offering enhanced specs on its Pro Max iPhone to differentiate it from other models. As a part of the strategy, the company might only equip the iPhone 17 Pro Max with 12GB RAM in 2025.
Additionally, the phone will feature an upgraded cooling system. This system will use a combination of a vapor chamber and graphite sheets for better thermal efficiency.
Apple Music to YouTube Music playlist gets easier. Photo/Graphics: Apple/YouTube/Rajesh Pandey
In a surprising move, Apple is making it easier to transfer your playlists from Apple Music to YouTube Music. This is the first time the Cupertino company is offering a tool like this for Apple Music users.
If you are an Apple Music subscriber, the tool makes transferring your playlists to YouTube Music easy.