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Are you wasting time applying for tech industry ‘ghost jobs?’

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Ghost jobs
Boo! Try not to apply for a job that doesn't exist.
Photo: OpenAI/ChatGPT

“Ghost jobs,” or job postings for positions that aren’t actually open, have become a widespread concern in today’s job market, particularly for recently laid-off workers in industries like technology, according to a scary new report (that just happens to fall on Halloween, bwah ha ha). And, no joke, it likens the phenomenon of ghost listings to “psychological warfare.”

4 reasons why another 27-inch iMac is unlikely

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Another 27-inch iMac is unlikely
Apple isn’t likely to make another 27-inch iMac. Sorry.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Monday’s launch of a 24-inch iMac renewed calls for a 27-inch version. While this is a product Apple made before, there are multiple reasons why it hasn’t come back and almost certainly isn’t going to.

I’m not arguing that an extra-large all-in-one desktop is a bad device, but it does have at least one serious drawback. And it’s also apparently weak in a critical area. Plus there’s one more reason that’s hard to argue with.

Hacks and jokes ‘fix’ M4 Mac mini’s odd power-button placement

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A photo of the back of an M4 Mac mini, with the words,
The weird placement of the M4 Mac mini's power button is fueling "Buttongate."
Image: Cult of Mac

Right after Apple unveiled the redesigned M4 Mac mini on Tuesday, people noticed the power button’s odd placement — on the bottom of the tiny but potent machine! The design provides precious little room for a fleshy finger to reach without tipping the whole computer to get at it. Since then, a variety of “fixes” have poked fun at this perceived error, which is most likely a very intentional Apple design choice.

Check out some of the best “Buttongate” fixes below.

Wall Street thinks Apple is doing great

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Apple Financial Results predictions
Analysts predict Apple had another quarter of solid revenue growth.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Wall Street analysts think the financial results Apple will announce Thursday will include record revenue for the quarter. They also expect year-over-year growth in iPhone revenue.

Their optimism helps explain the AAPL share price, which is high enough to make the Mac-maker the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

Host your WordPress site for life with one low payment

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Man running the HostVerge affordable WordPress hosting app on his computer.
Get a lifetime subscription to Hostverge WPHoster on sale for just $39.99.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Running a WordPress site comes with a lot to manage — security, performance and subscription fees that can pile up fast. An affordable WordPress hosting deal like this lifetime Hostverge WPHoster package means you make a single payment, freeing you from the constant cycle of monthly fees.

It’s a setup designed for people who want their site to run smoothly without all the extra hassle. Plus, it’s on sale for just $39.99 (regularly $99).

Apple Vision Pro to launch in South Korea and UAE this November

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Image of a white man in a black button-down shirt and a tall plume of hair wearing a Vision Pro with the ANNAPRO Comfort Strap
Vision Pro availability will soon expand to a dozen countries.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple is expanding Vision Pro’s availability to more countries. The company announced on Thursday that its spatial computing headset will launch in South Korea and the United Arab Emirates on November 15.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s SVP of marketing, said in a post on X, “Apple Vision Pro is coming to South Korea and the United Arab Emirates on November 15! We’re excited that customers in a dozen countries and regions will get to immerse themselves in the world of spatial computing!”

Clever videos personify powerful new M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini

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M4 promotional videos
The video suggest the new M4 chips will wow us in many ways.
Photo: Apple

With the release this week of new M4 Mac mini and M4 MacBook Pro computers comes a return to form for Apple advertising, with delightful M4 promotional videos that give the new hardware relatable human characteristics. They’re fun to watch, and you can do so below.

Tuesday’s animated video turns Mac mini into an affable yet capable and hyper-productive guy you might want to get a beer with. Wednesday’s MacBook Pro video depicts a power lifter-turned-showman flaunting effortless feats of strength, not to mention acrobatic prowess and grace.

Shocker! Apple doubles RAM in M2 and M3 MacBook Air

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MacBook Air Price
Twice as much RAM, same price.
Image: Apple

Apple on Wednesday increased the RAM in the base model M2 and M3 MacBook Air from 8GB to 16GB. And the enhancement comes without a price increase.

Seems like Apple’s days of being stingy with RAM are over. The Apple store no longer sells a Mac with only 8GB.

M4 MacBook Pros deliver big performance and battery life gains

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The new MacBook Pro is transformed with Apple Intelligence, the blazing performance of the M4 family, an advanced 12MP Center Stage camera, an all-new nano-texture display option, and more.
Aside from powerful M4-series chips, the new MacBook Pros feature a 12MP Center Stage camera, a nano-texture display option and other upgrades.
Photo: Apple

Apple took the wraps off M4-powered MacBook Pros on Wednesday. While the new laptops sport the same design as their predecessors, they deliver faster performance and a staggering 24 hours of battery life, the company said in a press release announcing the M4 MacBook Pro launch.

“MacBook Pro is an incredibly powerful tool that millions of people use to do their life’s best work, and today we’re making it even better,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering.

M4 Pro and Max chips supercharge new MacBook Pro models

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M4 Pro and M4 Max chips
Apple's supercharged M4 Pro and M4 Max chips will power new MacBook Pro laptops and more.
Image: Apple

The new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips Apple unveiled Wednesday for new, higher-end MacBook Pro models will bring more than enough power to handle Apple Intelligence and plenty of other complex computing tasks, Apple said. M4 Pro actually made its debut Tuesday with the redesigned M4 Pro Mac mini. The new chips may find their way into other machines, like Mac Studio, next year.

“Apple silicon has taken the Mac to unprecedented heights, and the rapid pace of innovation continues with M4 Pro and M4 Max,” said Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies. “With the world’s fastest CPU core, immensely more powerful GPUs, and the fastest Neural Engine ever, the power-efficient performance and capabilities of the M4 family extend its lead as the most advanced lineup of chips in the industry.”

Mac mini smackdown: M4 vs. M2 vs. M1

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M4 Mac mini vs. M2 vs M1 comparison
How does the M4 Mac mini compare to its M2 and M1 predecessor?
Photo/Graphics: Apple/Rajesh Pandey

Apple gave the Mac mini a long-overdue redesign Tuesday, making the pint-size desktop computer smaller than ever. The M4 chip and the new M4 Pro processor also bring a massive bump in performance. And perhaps surprisingly, the new Mac mini packs almost all the ports you can ask for.

Given these improvements, should you upgrade to the M4 Mac mini from the M2 or even the M1 Mac mini? Find out in this comparison.

Stuffed penguin rocks to Edifier powered speakers [Setups]

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Edifier powered speakers
That penguin doesn't just use an Edifier speaker as a chair, according to this MacBook Air user.
Photo: [email protected]

As we’ve pointed out in product news coverage and reviews, Edifier is one of those smaller companies that always seem to come across with great value. Its audio gear is solid and sounds great, but it’s on the inexpensive side of things. And that’s the case for the Edifier powered speakers in today’s MacBook Air setup. The workstation features a penguin plush toy that doesn’t just use an Edifier box as a chair, according to the user. The stuffed animal apparently rocks out, too.

How to make almost anything Bluetooth-compatible

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Man using his gaming device with the BlueSnap Bluetooth.
Get a BlueSnap wireless transmitter and receiver for just $16.99.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Not every piece of hardware is Bluetooth-compatible. Older gear like TVs, gaming consoles and some in-flight entertainment systems just can’t connect on their own. But a Bluetooth adapter can easily change that. The BlueSnap wireless transmitter and receiver can transform any device with a 3.5mm audio jack into a Bluetooth-ready one.

Whether you’re trying to connect wireless headphones to your aging TV or stream music from your laptop to a speaker, BlueSnap makes the switch seamless, and it’s on sale for just $16.99 (regularly $31.99).

HDR photos from Android and iPhone will now work better across platforms

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iPhone 15 Pro Max
You can now share HDR photos across Android and iOS without compatibility issues.
Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac

Apple added the ability to capture HDR photos with the iPhone 13 Pro back in 2021. Google introduced its own take, Ultra HDR, starting with Android 14 in 2023. Despite this, HDR photos from iPhones typically open as SDR images on Android phones and vice versa.

Thankfully, Apple and Google are working to resolve this issue by supporting a common standard for HDR gain map metadata.

Google Chrome starts shaming resource-hogging tabs

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The Chrome browser may soon become a more efficient MacBook battery user.
Google Chrome takes another step to tackle heavy tabs.
Photo: Google/Apple

Google Chrome is famous for slowing Macs down, but new performance controls aim to deliver a better browsing experience. The changes include a new “Performance issue alert” and improvements to the Memory Saver mode.

These enhancements should allow users to quickly free resources from heavy tabs that bog down overall system performance.

Apple TV+ hit Presumed Innocent replaces star and story for season 2

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Jake Gyllenhaal in Presumed Innocent, now streaming on Apple TV+.
Jake Gyllenhaal won't star in “Presumed Innocent” in season 2, but he remains an executive producer.
Photo: Apple TV+

In a surprising development, Presumed Innocent — Apple TV+’s most-watched drama — will return with a fresh narrative unrelated to Scott Turow’s novel as well as a new female lead replacing star Jake Gyllenhaal for its second season, according to a report Tuesday. These Presumed Innocent season 2 changes spring the adoption of a first-time novelist’s upcoming legal thriller as source material.

How to share an iCloud Photo Library

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Apple Learned How To Share
Sharing a photo library with your family is super easy.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Skip the hassle of manually sending your family all the vacation photos — enable a shared iCloud Photo library instead. Everyone in your family automatically gets all the family photos as if the images were in their own camera roll — in full quality.

Your iPhone will identify faces in photos (securely and privately), and any pictures of people who are in the family will be added to the shared library. If all of your phones are in the same place while you’re taking a lot of pictures, even if you aren’t in them (like at an aquarium or a museum), those pictures will be added automatically, too. As you’re shooting in the camera, you can easily toggle between the shared library for everyone and the private photo library on your own devices.

Starting a Shared Photo Library with your family is the best way to organize family photos. Continue reading to see how to turn it on.

Extra small 4-in-1 iPhone/Mac charging cable fits on a keychain [Review] ★★★★☆

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inCharge XS review: 4-in-1 iPhone/Mac charging cable★★★★☆
Believe it or not, this gizmo expands to be a multi-connector iPhone/Mac charging cable.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Rolling Square’s inCharge XS is a finger-size iPhone or Mac charging cable that squeezes in enough connectors and built-in adapters to ensure you can juice up virtually any Apple device.

Despite its diminutive size, the cable handles up to 240W of power. And it provides fairly quick data transfers, too.

I attached the inCharge XS to my keychain so I could put it to the test.

Apple’s first Thunderbolt 5 cable: Blazing fast and great for hi-res displays

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Apple Thunderbolt 5 cable
For now Apple offers just a 1-meter Thunderbolt 5 cable, but it may add a longer one like it did with Thunderbolt 4.
Photo: Apple

 You can find blazing-fast, high-bandwidth, high-wattage Thunderbolt 5 cables on the market, but as of Tuesday you also buy one straight from Apple. (And you’ll probably pay more, but hey, at least you know it’s high quality.) The iPhone giant unveiled a fancy new Thunderbolt 5 cable, its first one, to go along with its first Thunderbolt 5-capable computer, the top M4 Pro Mac mini. If you’re looking for a seamless wired network solution, an ethernet usb c adapter can help—don’t miss this deal on the Plugable USBC-E5000.

M4 iMac vs. M3 iMac comparison: What’s changed?

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M4 vs. M3 iMac comparison
M4 iMac - Should you upgrade?
Photo/Graphics: Apple/Rajesh Pandey

The M4 iMac that Apple launched Monday looks the same as its predecessor but brings some big changes internally. So, how does the M4 iMac compare to the M3 iMac, which arrived less than a year ago? Our M4 iMac versus M3 iMac comparison will show you  how the 2024 model ups the ante on performance.

Mac mini radically redesigned with M4 and M4 Pro chip

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Hand holding the tiny new Mac mini with two ports on the front
The new Mac mini with M4.
Photo: Apple

Apple unveiled the radically redesigned Mac mini on Tuesday, with versions powered by the M4 chip and a new M4 Pro chip. The smaller-than-ever desktop computer features a new design with convenient ports on the front and back, faster processing speeds and, for the first time, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity and a carbon neutral guarantee.

“The new Mac mini delivers gigantic performance in an unbelievably small design thanks to the power efficiency of Apple silicon and an innovative new thermal architecture,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, in a press release.

The faster Mac mini is available for preorder now, with a release date of November 8.

How to use the (somewhat) new and improved Siri

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What Can The New Siri Do?
Learn what powers the upgraded Siri has (and doesn’t yet have) with Apple Intelligence.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Intelligence brings the long-awaited new Siri … but not quite yet. The Siri improvements so far include extensive knowledge of Apple products, integration with ChatGPT, a brand-new design and the ability to text Siri your questions rather than speaking them aloud.

The even-more-powerful Siri that will be able to see your screen and take actions on your behalf inside apps has been delayed to iOS 19 — with a fully conversational LLM-powered Siri likely another year further.

But there are quite a few neat things you can try out now, if you’re willing to board the Apple Intelligence train. Here’s what the new Siri can do.

M4 Mac mini leaks on Amazon, hours before expected launch [Updated]

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Top-down image of a Mac mini with a bunch of stuff plugged into the back
The new M4 Mac mini should be much smaller than the current model pictured here.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

A product-comparison chart published Monday on Amazon.com accidentally leaked the redesigned Mac mini, which will feature an all-new design and Apple’s M4 chip. After the M4 Mac mini leak, the machine could go official as early as Tuesday.

According to an image in the chart, the new Mac mini looks like a smaller Mac Studio and sports two USB-C ports on the front.

UDATED: M4 Mac mini is out!