AirPods Max have a lot to offer, but not the upcoming Apple Music lossless option. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
Apple Music fans who are super-excited about the just-announced lossless audio option should be aware that it won’t work with AirPods or HomePod. Not even the $549AirPods Max.
But Apple’s headphones and smart speaker do support Spatial Audio for songs mixed in Dolby Atmos, another new feature of Apple Music.
This artfully executed setup is supposedly in someone's home, not a design museum. Photo: diotav@Reddit
It’s only Monday, but Dutch videographer, designer and web production artist Dion Tavenier probably wins this week’s award for setup design. Cool, spare, architectural — get the Museum of Modern Setups on the phone!
If only there was such a museum. Or such an award.
Higher-def music is coming soon to an Apple device near you. Photo: Apple
Apple Music is going lossless — at no extra cost to subscribers. Apple revealed the free upgrade Monday, a day ahead of its rumored launch. The company said Apple Music will bring lossless audio to more than 75 million tracks starting in June so listeners can hear songs “the way the artists created them in the studio.”
In addition, Apple Music will add Spatial Audio support for songs mixed in Dolby Atmos. That means customers who own AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and Beats headphones featuring an H1 or W1 chip — or using the built-in speakers in the newest iPhone, iPad and Mac — will be able to hear certain songs in the immersive format.
Aunt Lucretia (played by Ofelia Medina) and Enrique (Bruno Bicher) heat things up in this week's episode. Photo: Apple TV+
Thanks to a last-minute call to a new ally, things seem to be looking up for the Foxes in this week’s episode of The Mosquito Coast. Or have they left the frying pan and stepped into the fire?
Time will tell, but it seems likely that Allie Fox will find some way to slip out of the noose if that’s what waiting for him. Director Rupert Wyatt is back behind the camera for an exciting new episode of Apple TV+ drama.
What would you add to this setup? Photo: jondajaba@Reddit
Redditor jondajaba recently finished putting together a computer setup and asked in a post for recommendations on what’s missing that he might add. Naturally, setup mavens far and wide who live and breathe this stuff replied with plenty of advice.
Are you fed up with the iPhone notch? Artists concept: Cult of Mac
Apple could shrink this year’s iPhone “notch” thanks to a 40% to 50% smaller VCSEL chip in the Face ID sensor, Digitimes reported Friday. According to the report, the smaller die size could show up as soon as the “new iPhone and iPad devices to be rolled out later in 2021.”
Coming soon to an ear (or even two) near you. Graphic: Cult of Mac
New AirPods could be on their way next Tuesday, a sketchy rumor shared by AppleTrack suggests. The rumor comes from a YouTuber named Luke Miani, who doesn’t have a record when it comes to Apple rumors.
AppleTrack, which tracks the validity of Apple rumors, says it has heard “privately” that Apple is set to release new AirPods in the coming weeks. According to the report, Apple will make the announcement on May 18 in a press release.
Daisychain RapidX Modula units to build a custom wireless charging station. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Many homes and offices have a collection of iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods that need charging every night. Rather than a collection of these cluttered together, the RapidX Modula5 system offers wireless chargers that magnetically snap together and run off a single cable.
I used Modula5 in my multi-device home. Here’s why I like it.
Doing so would be a mistake so severe it would damage sales of both iPad and Mac. It would take years to clean up the mess.
No matter that Macs and iPads run on the same chip. macOS isn’t designed for a touchscreen. Apple would need to redesign the operating system to run on a tablet, and devs would need to alter third-party applications, too. And that would anger people using non-touchscreen laptops and desktops.
Plus, people happy with the iPad now wouldn’t like the change either.
Get immediate access to supported streaming apps. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
iOS, iPadOS and tvOS give users the ability to link their TV provider for instant access to video apps included with their TV subscription. Here’s how to get set up on your iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.
Lots of Apple users say they’re interested in getting an AirTag. Photo: Apple
The Apple AirTag tracker will be a huge hit, if a new survey of iPhone and iPad users is correct. More than 60% of respondents said they planned to buy the accessory.
Most people in the survey said they were satisfied with AirTag’s $29.99 price. But they were mostly drawn to the item tracker because it’s tied into Apple’s global Find My network.
People sure like their fingerprint sensing. Concept image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple customers are seemingly always on the lookout for the next big thing when it comes to new products. That may not be quite true for the iPhone 13, though.
According to a survey by SellCell.com, the feature most Apple customers look forward to is actually the return of Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor Apple has been phasing out in favor of Face ID.
Woolnut's leather iPhone 12 case takes blue to the max. Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac
Woolnut’s slim leather cases look fantastic enough that you might not mourn covering up your beautiful iPhone. And when I put a blue one on my ridiculously huge iPhone 12 Pro Max, it did more than provide an acceptably luxurious layer of protection.
A new concept design thinks outside of the box on removing the iPhone notch. Screenshot: ADRStudio/ConceptsiPhone
The screen notch isn’t anyone’s favorite iPhone feature, and an iPhone concept makes a radical suggestion for repositioning it: the artist suggests stretching the top of the handset to make room for the front-facing camera and other sensors.
Don't let songs take up all your space. Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
If you like to store music locally on your iPhone so you don’t need a data connection to listen to your favorite tracks while you’re on the go, you may find that, over time, your music takes up too much space.
You can prevent that from happening by optimizing music storage on your device so the songs you don’t listen to anymore are automatically deleted to make room for other content. We’ll show you how.
Ian Zelbo's previous monitor shows a render of a leaked MacBook Air concept he worked on with Jon Prosser. Photo: Ian Zelbo
It’s not every day you come across a high school student running a successful tech-based business – never mind one whose 3D renderings are routinely seen by thousands of people. But that’s the case with 17-year-old New Yorker Ian Zelbo and his RendersbyIan.
His detailed and realistic renders of leaked tech products, including Macs, get loads of exposure on social media from his clients, the likes of Jon Prosser of @FrontPageTech and Sam Kohl of iupdate.
Press any of the three buttons on Belkin’s Wemo Stage Scene Controller to activate HomeKit accessories. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
You can activate up to six preprogrammed HomeKit scenes or accessories with the push of a button on Belkin’s Wemo Stage Scene Controller. The palm-size remote sits on a table or hangs on a wall, and lets you easily control HomeKit accessories all over your home. No wiring involved.
I’m fully committed to Apple’s home-automation system, and Belkin’s latest HomeKit gadget fit neatly into my setup. Here’s why.
It’s finally possible to print a list from the Reminders app if you’re running Apple’s latest software updates on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. There’s no need to copy and paste your tasks somewhere else — just hit the print button.
iPad users would be pleased if all these proposed features make it into iPadOS 15. Photo: The Hacker 34
A pair of concept artists want Apple to bring dramatic improvements in iPadOS 15. They separately created videos with specific suggestions on how iPad could become a more useful computer with the operating system update expected this autumn.
Both agree that the iPad should gain better support for external screens — though they came up with different ways to implement the feature.
Sort by due date, creation date, title, and more. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple’s newest software updates give us the ability to quickly sort Reminders by date, priority or title. We’ll show you how you can use the feature to easily organize your to-do lists on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
There's no need to say "Hey Siri" first anymore. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
iOS 14.5 lets you answer or reject incoming calls with your voice on iPhone — without the need to say “Hey Siri.” In this tutorial, we’ll cover which headphones are compatible and how to get the feature set up.
Apple reportedly plans to release new laptops in colors that match the iMac lineup. Concept: Ian Zelbo
Apple plans to release a surprisingly thin MacBook Air in the same colors as the current iMacs, according to leaker Jon Prosser.
The redesign, as shown in renders produced by Ian Zelbo in collaboration with Prosser, abandons the MacBook Air’s classic tapered design. Prosser said the renders are based on images shared with him by a reliable source.
What good is a monitor light bar? Time to shed some light on the matter. Photo: Strigga@Reddit
When you look at lots of computer setups people pimp out on social media, you see the same questions cropping up among the comments. One common query: What good are monitor light bars? And what are they for, exactly?
It came up again the other day when Redditor Strigga posted about their MacBook Pro-based setup. Almost at the same time, we saw it again in Maize-Calm’s post about finishing up a setup with, guess what, a light bar.
It works while driving, biking and walking. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
When you’re traveling home from work or on your way to meet someone, you can use Apple Maps on iPhone or inside CarPlay to quickly share your estimated time of arrival (ETA). We’ll show you how.