There are plenty of stories published about Apple that I’m sure it would rather not floating around the internet. But when it is accused of having had its motherboards — along with those used by dozens of other companies — breached by Chinese spy chips, it springs into action.

That’s what Apple did over the weekend when it told Congress that there is absolutely no evidence that it has been the victim of a sophisticated attack on its supply chain. This is what had been alleged in a recent article by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

The Department of Homeland Security says that it believes Apple’s denial of claims that Chinese spies had inserted malicious chips into its computer system. Based on current evidence, at least.

This week we dim our Mojave screens down with a couple of Dark Mode utilities, we get a new Portrait HD mode in Darkroom, and learn how British English Siri pronounces “Fantastical.”

Learning to build apps offers all kinds of opportunities, both professional and creative. It’s a world of endless potential, with an endless amount to learn. So whether you’re a beginner or a pro, this bundle of 10 courses can help sharpen your skills.

After wrapping our “50 Essential iOS Apps” series, we sorted the winners to make it easier for you to download the best of the best. (Plus, we added Cult of Mac readers’ picks for must-have alternatives.)

You’ll find that list and much more in this week’s issue of our magazine. It’s free and it looks great on an iPad or iPhone. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes now. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

Arduino offers tools to build basically anything imaginable, from robots, to computers, games, weather stations, you name it. The possibilities are so vast, it can be hard to know where to start. So this bundle of Arduino lessons and materials offers a great resource.

Apple may have seriously undersold the processing power of the iPhone XS.

After deep diving into the new A12 chip, which is the world’s first 7nm manufactured processor, Anandtech found that the CPU features some big improvements that make it perform way better than just the 15% boost Apple is advertising. It’s nearly as good as a desktop CPU.

For the first time in 11 years, I did not get Apple’s latest iPhone delivered to my door on launch day. I’ve been using an iPhone X since last November and I was still happy with it; I certainly didn’t see the need to drop another $999 on what seemed like a slightly better device.

But then I got the chance to use an iPhone XS Max.

I had the handset for just over a week, and I loved every second I spent with it. I was wrong to not upgrade this year, and it killed me to return the device to its rightful owner.

Here’s why I’m sorely missing the iPhone XS Max.

Today we’re going to make an iPhone frame shortcut that takes your most-recent iPhone screenshot, and wraps it in a device beautiful frame. The frame will be the body of the iPhone, so it’ll look just like the iPhone pictures Apple uses on its site. This shortcut requires a little bit of setup (you have to copy some images into a folder in iCloud Drive), but after that it runs with a single tap.

Instagram is starting to integrate more closely with Facebook when it comes to your personal location data.

The app is reportedly testing a new feature that would allow Instagram to share all of your GPS coordinates with Facebook without ever opening up the Facebook app. This would allow Facebook to gather more information on you so it can serve up more targeted ads and content, but that might piss off some Instagram fans.

Tim Cook fought harder than any other Apple employee to make sure Donald Trump didn’t become president.

A study of all the political donations made by Apple employees found that Tim Cook contributed more than any other employee to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election campaign with a $236,100 payment to the Hillary Victory Fund fundraising committee. Tim’s favoritism towards Democrats isn’t surprising, and the study found that an overwhelming majority of Apple employees are following his lead.

Almost half of all iPhone and iPad users have already upgraded to iOS 12, according to new data.

It’s an impressive adoption rate for a major upgrade that’s only been officially available for just over two weeks. Its speedy uptake can likely be attributed to its new features and significant performance improvements — especially for older devices.

Today marks seven years since Steve Jobs passed away at the age of 56. Paying homage to his former boss, Apple CEO Tim Cook posted a message on Twitter in which he made clear how much Steve meant to him personally — and to Apple as a whole.

The U.K.’s national cyber security agency has chimed in with its assessment of the recent report claiming that multiple companies — including Apple — had malicious chips inserted by Chinese spies into their computer systems.

Both Amazon and Apple, two of the companies named, have so far denied the claims. Now Britain’s National Cyber Security Center has said there’s no reason to doubt them.

An iPhone gravestone spotted in Russia marks the final resting place of a young woman who reportedly worked in an Apple retail position.

A video posted online shows the iPhone-inspired grave marker. The unique monument boasts an Apple logo, side buttons and an image of the deceased 25-year-old on the screen. It’s the ultimate tribute to an Apple fan!

Nintendo could be developing a whole new way to enjoy its mobile games on the go.

The Japanese company has patented a case that could turn your iPhone into a classic Game Boy. It features physical controls but would not require a battery or Bluetooth connection.

If you’ve got a MacBook, you’ve got a productivity powerhouse. But you can up the ante with the right accessories, so we’ve rounded up a few of the best. We’ve got a USB-C laptop stand, a breakaway USB-C charging cable, and a multiport hub that vastly expands your MacBook’s connective possibilities.

Plus, each of them is available at a fat discount!

Apple has revealed that it will shutter its Apple Carrousel du Louvre retail store in Paris later this month.

The Apple Store, which has been open for nine years, is located beneath the pyramid in front of the world-famous, iconic Louvre museum. Don’t fret, however: If you live in the area, Apple is about to open new, better retail store in the area.

Despite Apple’s denials, it’s “highly plausible” that secret spy chips could have been planted on the company’s servers, said a former Apple hardware engineer.

Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, who spent nearly six years at Apple helping build several generations of iPod, iPhone and Apple Watch, said spy chips could have been slipped into the design of servers used for Apple’s iCloud services, as alleged in a Bloomberg Businessweek story.

“With my knowledge of hardware design, it’s entirely plausible to me,” she said. “It’s very highly plausible to me, and that’s scary if you think about it.”

Samsung is expecting to rake in record operating profits for the three months ending in September — and it owes Apple a debt of gratitude for helping.

The South Korean tech giant said on Friday that it’s expecting to pull in $15.6 billion in operating profits for the most recent quarter. This would be a jump of more than 20 percent compared to the same quarter in 2017, and Samsung’s highest ever quarterly earnings. They should send Tim Cook a bottle of champagne to thank him!

In the event that your 2018 MacBook Pro or iMac Pro runs into problems outside warranty, would you try and save money by going to third-party repair shop? If so, Apple seemingly has some bad news for you.

According to a new report, Apple has introduced new software locks that will brick these machines if they’re operated on by anyone not using Apple’s proprietary diagnostic software. Failing to do so will, “result in an inoperative system and an incomplete repair.”

Update: Apple and Amazon both issued lengthy statements Thursday concerning the Chinese spy chip allegations. We updated this post to include those statements.

Apple denies that Chinese spy chips infiltrated its iCloud server hardware after claims that motherboards used by Apple, Amazon and dozens of other tech companies contained microchips used for surveillance purposes.

Cupertino insists the story is “wrong and misinformed.” Apple also says Chinese spying had nothing to do with the company’s decision to cut ties with a supplier.

You almost certainly know the shortcuts for snapping quick screenshots on your Mac. It’s ⇧⌘3 to capture the entire screen, and ⇧⌘4 to get a crosshairs cursor to select a section of the screen.

Now, there’s a new screenshot shortcut in town: ⇧⌘5. And boy is this fella fancy. If this were a western movie, ⇧⌘5 would be the young upstart blowing into town with a couple of Uzis and a pair of Kevlar chaps¹. Let’s check out Mojave screenshots.

Android users can pat themselves on the back for paying less for a smartphone. Apple fans can rest easy knowing the steeper price they paid for their iPhones came with better data privacy.

This was a point Roger McNamee, an Apple investor and co-founder of the private equity firm Elevation Partners, delivered Wednesday during a discussion on CNBC about where the big tech companies stand on privacy.

Giving Donald Trump the power to send a text to every person in the U.S. is a horrible idea, but as Jimmy Kimmel has shown, it could make for a great movie.

Everyone was talking about the first-ever nationwide Presidential alert. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Trump’s tweets. However, during Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night, the late night comedian showed what type of mayhem could ensue if Trump could text whatever he wanted. From cops shooting their iPhones to a man chopping his arm off to get away from Apple Watch alerts, the entire movie concept is truly phenomenal.

Watch the craziness unfold: