President Donald Trump’s recent threat to cancel the CHIPS and Science Act, which offers tax credits to companies that produce processors in the United States, could throw a monkey wrench into plans to boost U.S. chip production. Trump argues that tariffs would do the job better.
That raises questions about the future of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plants being built in Arizona thanks to the CHIPS Act. TSMC’s Arizona chip fabs already make processors for iPhone and Apple Watch.
Fed up with gigantic smartphones? If even the iPhone mini seemed oversized to you, maybe you’ll appreciate an incredibly small smartphone like the NanoPhone. Smaller than a credit card, this mini smartphone proves ideal for those moments when you need something extraordinarily compact, featherweight and fuss-free.
Whether you’re traveling light, hitting the gym or just getting tired of lugging around a bulky device, the NanoPhone is your streamlined solution to staying connected without the extra weight. And you can get this teensy smartphone for a small price: just $99.97 (marked down from $199.99).
iOS 18.3.1, iPadOS 18.3.1 and more updates went out Monday. These bring bug fixes, while a security update makes them highly recommended for anyone with a compatible iPhone or iPad.
In addition, you can download macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, watchOS 11.3.1 and visionOS 2.3.1 — each with their own fixes — now as well.
Apple’s Vehicle Motion Cues feature will help you use your iPhone in the car by reducing feelings of motion sickness. With the feature turned on, dots along the edge of your iPhone screen will animate in sync with the motion of the plane, train or automobile you’re riding in.
According to Apple, “Motion sickness is commonly caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel.” Apple says these animations “reduce sensory conflict.”
It may sound weird, but the feature evidently works really well. Here’s how you can enable it.
Everybody loves a big, beautiful external display in a computer setup — and this LG OLED TV monitor is a great way to go. Today’s setup is built around a 42-inch LG OLED TV plugged into a MacBook Pro.
Also: See if you can guess what the cool-looking desktop wallpaper showing on the display pictures. Answer below.
As a longtime Mac power user, I’ve come to rely on a handful of essential apps that supercharge my workflow. These Mac productivity apps not only streamline my daily tasks but also simplify complex jobs, making my work faster and more efficient.
Check out my favorite Mac apps that I can’t recommend enough as a power user.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Our first glimpse at Apple’s AI-powered robotic lamp makes us giddy with hope for the secret iPad-on-a-stick project we’ve been skeptical about in the past. The surprisingly lifelike Apple robo-lamp looks just like Pixar’s Luxo Jr. How cute is that?!?
Join us for the conversation about the future of Apple robotics. (We really want the lamp.)
Also on The CultCast:
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.
The iPhone SE 4 could launch this week, bringing a significant redesign to Apple’s budget handset. It’ll reportedly mean the end of features that were iPhone hallmarks for many years, like the Home button. Plus, it’ll support Cupertino’s new collection of AI-powered features. Stay updated with the latest iOS news and what this means for iPhone SE owners by checking out this article.
Read on to learn everything that already leaked out describing the revamped fourth-generation SE.
Apple could launch its first foldable iPhone as early as 2026. With iPhone sales slowing down and smartphone competition increasing, Apple “intends” to launch the foldable iPhone next year, according to a new report.
Android foldables have yet to go mainstream, but they have improved leaps and bounds in the last few years. Apple risks falling behind its competitors if it does not launch a foldable device soon. Given the premium pricing of Apple’s devices, many are curious about the mac cost, especially for this first-generation foldable model.
To tackle your party planning, the new Apple Invites app can help you get organized with RSVPs and keep everybody up to date. It can even handle a shared music playlist and photo album that anyone can contribute to.
And yes, you can invite people who don’t have the app installed yet, don’t have an Apple Account or don’t have an Apple device at all. You can invite people via email; they can RSVP on the web and get follow-up notifications in their inbox.
Keep reading or watch our video guide — and download the app here.
Apple offers end-to-end encryption for many more types of iCloud data than it once did. Advanced Data Protection encrypts iCloud Photos, Notes, iCloud Backup and more. But you have to activate the feature to take advantage of the data protection. It is easy … once you find the switch buried in Settings.
We can save you some time. Here’s how and why you should activate it.
It’s never too cold to play golf on your Mac or iPhone, and PGA Tour Pro Golf features iconic locations like Pebble Beach Golf Links and Harbour Town Golf Links.
The game just launched on Apple Arcade.
Even folks who don’t pay for access to TV channels can stream the Super Bowl live — and for free — on any Apple device or on the web. For Super Bowl LIX this Sunday, Fox Sports plans to stage a “takeover” of the Tubi streaming app. The free live Super Bowl stream will include a pregame run-up and the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar. And it requires no viewer sign-in.
So now what’s your excuse to blow off the year’s biggest sporting event? Oh, you probably hate football, not to mention all the commercialist hoopla that comes with America’s modern-day gladiatorial bloodsport. Oh well. For tens of millions of others, Super Bowl Sunday is like a national holiday.
The government of the United Kingdom reportedly wants a backdoor into Apple accounts so it can spy on any iPhone or Mac user anywhere. It allegedly ordered Apple to allow it to access everything from any iCloud account globally, breaking the encryption protection on the files.
Apple is fighting the order.
If you don’t have big bucks to spend on high-end, audiophile-worthy speakers and headphones to use in your computer setup, you can’t really go wrong with uber-affordable Edifier audio gear. Today’s featured M2 MacBook Pro setup — an exotic entry from Nepal, no less — keeps the tunes flowing through a nice set of Edifier bookshelf speakers and a comfortable pair of over-ear noise-canceling headphones. They simply get the job done well — without breaking the bank.
Sonos has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, but that doesn’t mean its audio gear isn’t great. Sonos Ace headphones made a big splash when they came out as an AirPods Max rival, and right now you can grab Ace headphones for $100 off on Amazon. That’s a great deal on great cans.
In the updated Notes app in iOS 18, you can transcribe audio to text for free: Your iPhone will automatically transcribe voice notes for later.
This is a great feature to use in a college class, if you want to record audio of a lecture alongside your notes. You can use it in meetings — the irritating in-person kind — for recording what people actually said alongside your notes. It’s also great for generating podcast transcripts or any kind of writing. It’s a quick and easy way to get a first draft.
Read more or watch our video guide.
★★★★☆
In our Severance season 2 episode 4 recap, we follow our friends from Lumon Industries’ Macradata Refinement (MDR) department into a wintry wilderness central to Kier Eagan’s lore. In the most bizarre corporate team-building event ever, two of them find forbidden love and one may never return. And it’s the first episode to take place completely outside of Lumon’s halls without visiting outies’ lives.
Last week’s episode 3 went further down innie rabbit holes in amusingly confounding ways. Ultimately, an improved-yet-still-dangerous outlaw reintegration procedure seemed like it might be outie Mark S’s path to returning to his beginnings at Lumon, cracking the sinister company’s mysteries and finding his wife. It made likely plot trajectories a little more clear. But episode 4 actually unravels some mysteries, and gives Irving B. (John Turturro) center stage for the first time.
Sonos planned to launch a MagSafe speaker for iPhones. The device would attach to the back of iPhones, delivering louder, richer sound quality than the built-in speakers.
However, technical limitations eventually forced the company to shelve its plans.
Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone SE, with an iPhone 14-like design, could debut “as early as next week.” It will reportedly go on sale later in the month. If you’re wondering when does the new iPhone come out, reports suggest this could be one of the first major releases of the year.
Multiple rumors suggested Apple would launch the iPhone SE 4 in early 2025.
Everybody loves Pixar’s beloved toy-lamp mascot, Luxo Jr., right? Apple just made a new lamp-like robot prototype that looks super similar. The iPhone giant’s machine learning research team developed an expressively social robotic prototype in desk-lamp form, according to a recent paper, blog post and video.
The new robot could figure into rumored plans for a robotic home hub — and it could reshape how we interact with smart home devices.
Attach the Leica Lux Grip to your iPhone to add a shutter release. Plus, the magnetic accessory adds other buttons and a dial that can be customized. And a grip, naturally.
All this is a design intended to recreate the feel of using a classic Leica camera.
Two killer portable power station deals just came online at Amazon for your recreational charging needs and beyond — Anker Solix C1000 Portable Power Station and a version of it that comes with a 200-watt solar panel to keep the juice flowing. You can get them both on Amazon at up to 57% off.
Do you harbor terrible secrets that must never get out? Zugu’s new In Case of Death Case for iPad Pro is for you. It’s always ready to automatically brick the tablet if you stop a bullet or get crushed in an “accident.”
Whether you’re a covert agent for British intelligence or just know things about the homeowners association that must never be revealed, Zugu Case has your back.
So we know beloved hit Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso will return for a fourth season. Though sources now say its production start will hit a delay of a few months. But perhaps more interesting than that: When it comes together, it will center on the formation of the AFC Richmond women’s soccer team. That departure from the show’s previous focus on the men’s squad is a major Ted Lasso season 4 shift.
Rumors have noted Coach Lasso himself (Jason Sudeikis) may be less involved this season, if at all. Maybe that’s reflected in the plot pivot. The fictional Premier League team AFC Richmond tapped a low-level American college football coach to manage the club — a ludicrously unrealistic premise, yet a charming and funny show — but for the new women’s squad he’ll merely consult, perhaps, and maybe only by SMS.