Cult of Mac

You’ve got friends who love Minecraft, but play on consoles or phones, while others stay immersed in their modded PC setups. Instead of choosing between different versions of the game, Minecraft: Java and Bedrock Edition for PC gives you access to both versions from one convenient launcher.

This dual-edition Minecraft bundle is great for anyone who wants to stay connected with friends and explore every aspect of the game without being restricted to just one platform or community. And you can download it for the best price you’ll find anywhere online. Get a digital download of Minecraft: Java & Bedrock Edition for PC for only $24.99 (regularly $29.99).

The iPhone’s new Game Mode in iOS 18 will enhance graphics and reduce controller latency. It comes on automatically when you first launch a game.

Game Mode also reduces the background activities and services running on your phone. Luckily, if you don’t want that to happen, you can turn off Game Mode from your iPhone’s Control Center.

Here’s everything you need to know about how Game Mode works.

Apple has supposedly hit a major setback and significantly delayed the mass production of its MacBook with a super-size, folding screen. The company has run into technical issues with the display and other mechanicals.

Apparently, these problems will force Apple to delay mass production until as late as the end of 2027 or 2028.

Matt Fischer, the vice president in charge of the App Store since 2010, will leave Apple in October of this year. His departure will follow a major reorganization that splits the App Store team in two as Apple seeks to avoid further regulatory scrutiny.

One part of the team will oversee Apple’s App Store, while the other will manage third-party app marketplaces.

Want to make your iPhone crash? It’s easy. Type four simple characters into the App Library’s search field and the iOS SpringBoard will go down like a house of cards.

The good news is that a fix already seems to be on the way from Apple for this extremely minor bug.

A talented Mexico City medical student studies hard by day and saves lives by night, hurtling around the sprawling metropolis in her family’s private ambulance. But it looks like something’s got to give under the strain of it all in the trailer Apple TV+ dropped Tuesday for the upcoming Spanish-language drama series Midnight Family.

Sure, you might need subtitles, but it looks like a rewarding ride. The 10-episode series, based on a documentary, debuts on Apple TV+ September 25.

iCloud+ is Apple’s most successful service by a wide margin, according to an analysts’ report released Monday. Seems plenty of iPhone and Mac users are willing to pay for more than the 5GB of free storage available.

Adoption rates for the Mac-maker’s other services might surprise some people: A third of all Apple users subscribe to Apple TV+, for example.

Keeping up with the latest charging standards, Nomad released the third generation of its premium Stand One Max multi-device charger Wednesday. It features support for the new Qi2 wireless charging protocol, which enables up to 15-watt wireless charging speeds for compatible iPhones and Androids. And the luxe 3-in-1 stand keeps your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods going in style.

Apple introduced audio sharing to Beats Studio Pro over-ear headphones in a firmware update Tuesday, a feature already known to AirPods Max and AirPods users. So once your Beats Studio Pro update over the air to firmware version 2C301, up from version 2B68 installed at launch, you can easily share what you listen to with family and friends via a connected iPhone or iPad.

In the battle of 5K resolution displays, it’s Studio Display against a small-but-growing army of foes (at least for Mac fans). Today’s M1 MacBook Pro user looks to replace a 1440K gaming display with either a Samsung ViewFinity S9 curved 5K monitor or with Apple’s well-liked but somewhat-pricey Studio Display. The advice she got leaned heavily toward Apple.

If your family owns several devices, it is important to own a good charging solution to ensure you can quickly and simultaneously top up everything. I typically relied on power bricks — despite them not being the best for the job. But then I switched to the Acefast Z4 218W power station, a sleek-looking, four-in-one charging station that pumps out plenty of power.

Read my Acefast Z4 218W power station review to learn why this capable accessory deserves a spot on your desk, thanks to an ideal mix of style and substance.

The CEO of Sonos threw cold water on hopes that the speaker-maker would replace its much-maligned new application with the previous version. Turns out that would make the problem worse.

Sonos users will instead have to wait for the new app to be improved — a process the company promises it’s working on as quickly as it can.

Going nine rounds with your snooze button every morning? If you aren’t waking well, you might not be sleeping well, either. The Go2sleep 3 sleep-tracking ring provides a comfortable and inexpensive way to learn about what’s going on with your body while you’re off in dreamland.

The AI-powered sleep tracker identifies patterns in your sleep and gives you insights into what you can do to rest easier. You can get one of these advanced sleep-tracking rings for just $98.99.

You can get rich topographical hiking maps of local trails and U.S. national parks on your iPhone, right in Apple Maps. New in iOS 18, you can build custom routes connecting walking paths and save them to your device for offline access.

You can use this feature to plan a hike as a day trip. Planning your route in advance could save you the hassle of getting lost without a signal — or keep you from starting an overly ambitious hike.

According to Apple, the update comes with data for “all 63 U.S. national parks.” In my testing, Apple Maps showed a thorough knowledge of the trails in northeastern and Appalachian Ohio, too. It could contain detailed trail data about your local park as well.

Here’s how to make the most out of the new hiking maps in iOS 18.

Apple is now giving customers an additional 15 days to renew AppleCare+ coverage for their Apple devices after the plan initially expires. The company silently increased the timeframe from 30 days to 45 days.

However, the change only applies to selected EU countries, the US, the UK, and select other markets.

Whether for flowcharts, floor plans or org charts, diagrams prove incredibly useful for illustrating how data fits together. Microsoft Visio Professional 2021 helps you build polished visualizations faster.

An incredible limited-time deal means you can grab lifetime access to this Windows app for only $19.97 (regularly $249.99).

Beware, Apple leakers: The hoaxer who created a fake Apple invite for the iPhone 16 event says he’ll probably try to pull off a similar prank in the future. Lorenzo, a 14-year-old video editor from Italy, says he created the bogus invite in about 10 minutes out of boredom when he was sick. Then he sent the image to a known leaker — and watched as the fake document whipped up a frenzy in the Apple rumor mill.

“I feel like leaks can be boring sometimes so I want to spice it up,” he told Cult of Mac in a direct message. “Maybe by putting more effort into making a good concept next time.”

Right now you can take your pick on great deals on M2 and M3 MacBook Air models at Amazon — including up to $250 off some choices. Select from the deals below to get your dream machine, each powered with an M2 or M3 chip.

A supposedly leaked Apple invite for the iPhone 16 event looks like a well-executed hoax. The date, the event title and even the fake invite’s color palette seemed to confirm previous leaks about Apple’s upcoming iPhone lineup. However, a video editor who goes by Lore claims he created the invite as a prank.

“Fun fact: i made the ‘leaked’ Apple Event invite in less than 10 minutes using figma and an Ai generated texture and i sent it to the leaker just because i was bored,” Lore wrote Tuesday on X.

In a message to Cult of Mac, Lore confirmed that he created the bogus invite mainly because he was “sick and had nothing to do.” Read Cult of Mac’s interview with the 14-year-old Italian video editor who fooled the internet with his fake iPhone 16 invite.

If you work on a Mac, these six useful apps can help you get that work done faster. And you don’t need to take time to download them or figure out if they’re worth the price — you already have these apps on your computer.

These come with every Mac, and you can locate them in the Applications and Utilities folders. If you’re in the Finder, just hit Shift-Command-A (⇧⌘A) or Shift-Command-U (⇧⌘U) to find them.

I’ll walk you through a few of the more useful Mac apps hiding there that you probably haven’t heard of.

xMEMS Labs, creators of all-silicon micro speakers for earbuds and headphones, plan to roll out the xMEMS XMC-2400 µCooling chip, the company said Tuesday. It noted the 1mm xMEMS fan on a chip is the first all-silicon, active micro-cooling fan for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

“Our revolutionary µCooling ‘fan-on-a-chip’ design comes at a critical time in mobile computing,” said Joseph Jiang, xMEMS CEO and co-founder. “Thermal management in ultra-mobile devices, which are beginning to run even more processor-intensive AI applications, is a massive challenge for manufacturers and consumers. Until XMC-2400, there’s been no active-cooling solution because the devices are so small and thin.”

The company declined to comment on whether it’s in talks with Apple as a client or partner with the new innovation. See our Q&A with xMEMS Labs below.

After years of waiting, there’s finally a travel hub that can handle a USB-C external display. And the EZQuest USB-C Slim Gen 2 Hub Adapter 6-in-1 can charge a computer while connecting it to up to four other accessories. Plus it’s small enough to go anywhere.

I tested the hub and am really quite pleased, though it does get a bit warmer than I like.

The Thetis FIDO2 Security Key works as a two-factor authenticator, password manager and more, and you can get three of these cybersecurity devices for just $64.99.

Apple will reportedly manufacture the iPhone 16 Pro within weeks of its global launch at its manufacturing facilities in India. This will give the company’s manufacturing efforts a major push in the country.

So far, the Cupertino giant has only manufactured non-Pro iPhones in India.

Apple released watchOS 10.6.1 and tvOS 17.6.1 on Monday, a pair of “bug fix” patches for Apple Watch and Apple TV that offer no new features.

New versions of iOS 17.6.1 and iPadOS 17.6.1 from two weeks ago went out at the same time, but don’t appear to be available for most models.