Cult of Mac

The first meeting of President Donald Trump’s American Technology Council is set to convene at the White House later this month with Apple CEO Tim Cook expected to be among the attendees.

With an aim of modernizing government services, the group is being led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Some of the biggest names in tech are among the roster of advisers, many of whom publicly denounced Trump’s recent decision to leave the Paris climate agreement, which could make the meeting pretty interesting.

macOS High Sierra doesn’t pack as many updates as iOS 11, but Apple’s latest desktop software delivers plenty of new features worth drooling over.

After using the first High Sierra beta for the last few days, I’ve been blown away. Check out what’s new in the macOS High Sierra hands-on video below:

The lucky few who have heard the audio from Apple’s new HomePod say it’s spectacular. Does it sound as good as the Hi-Fi stereo boombox Apple made for the iPod?

One way to find out is to buy one currently on eBay – for $2,999.99.

When Apple unveiled its spec bump for the 4K iMac at WWDC 2017 this week it didn’t seem like a major update. However, a teardown of the new 4K iMac reveals that the new machine is the most upgrade-friendly iMac Apple has released in years.

The new Macs that Apple unveiled Monday bring welcome upgrades to Intel’s latest Kaby Lake processors. However, if you want to use the latest Apple computers for virtual reality, you’ll need to add an external graphics card in a pricey Thunderbolt 3 enclosure.

It’s yet another problem “solved” by Thunderbolt connectivity, but the do-it-all USB-C connector Apple is forcing down our throats isn’t the answer to everything.

Using Siri in public places can be a drag. Either it’s too noisy for Apple’s AI assistant to understand your query, or it’s too quiet and it’s embarrassing (or even risky) to ask Siri for help.

Luckily, iOS 11 brings a Siri upgrade that changes all that: The new Type to Siri feature lets you silently send all your questions and commands. This feature comes disabled by default, but enabling it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.

It’s a lot easier to create a reading list than it is to make progress on one. For many people, the time and energy to get through a book is harder and harder to find. Luckily, you don’t always need to read every word of a book to catch its meaning.

Instaread has rolled this principle into a popular app. It provides summaries of more than 500 New York Times Bestseller books, condensing them into digestible overviews with key takeaways that can be consumed in just minutes, by reading or listening. And for the last time, you can get a lifetime subscription to Instaread for $49.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple distributors in a coastal province in China have been arrested for allegedly trying to sell iPhone user data, according to reports.

Police in Zhejiang rounded up 22, accusing the distributors of searching an internal Apple database for Apple IDS and phone numbers. Prices for the data were cheap, ranging from a U.S. dollar equivalent of $1.50 to $26.

Apple’s new 4K 21.5-inch iMac is slightly more repairable than its predecessor, a new teardown by iFixit reveals. But there’s one big surprise buried in the computer’s guts: Both the CPU and the RAM can be swapped out when it’s time to upgrade.

While it’s still not an easily repairable computer, that’s still a change of direction for a company whose products regularly get dinged for lack of upgradeability.

June 8, 2009: Apple promotes its 13-inch MacBook to join the MacBook Pro family, adding a speed bump, new FireWire 800 port, the first SD card slot on a MacBook, improved LED-backlit screen, and backlit keyboard across all models.

Coming the year after Apple radically upgraded its MacBooks with a new aluminum unibody design, the update is more about evolution than revolution. But it still makes for a pretty darn great laptop!

Apple has updated ResearchKit, adding a number of useful functions aimed at improving medical researchers’ ability to use iPhones around the world as mobile health gathering devices.

ResearchKit 1.5 includes three new “active tasks” researchers can incorporate into their studies, along with the added ability to display rich video content to users within apps.

Apple has debuted a great new ad from its “Shot on iPhone” campaign, showing off some stunning videos of the world shot by everyday users. The ad is titled simply “Earth.”

It comes days after Apple reconfirmed its commitment to environmental causes after President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Check it out below.

It’s been less than 48 hours since we heard all the exciting news from Tim Cook & Co. during the big WWDC 2017 keynote, and we’re already seeing the first deals on preorders of the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Not to be outdone, Apple itself is providing some impressive discounts on refurbished MacBooks and iMacs. You’ll find those surprising discounts and more in this week’s best Apple deals.

When Apple unveiled the new iMac Pro at WWDC this week, not only was it the most powerful Mac ever made, it was also one of the most pricey ever.

At $5,000 for the baseline model, the iMac Pro is aimed at the most professional of Pro users, but according to a new price analysis on competing super-powered PC, the iMac Pro might actually be a killer deal.

In watchOS 4, you can use an image from your Photos library on your iPhone as a custom Apple Watch face. It’s an easy way to add a touch of personalization to your wearable.

Here’s how to do it.

Despite removing its annual Design Awards show from the WWDC 2017 schedule last month, Apple still handed out awards for the best apps of the year at its developer conference and games were the biggest winners.

iOS 11 brings brilliant new features and enough design tweaks to make everything feel fresh. The first developer beta landed this week, and we’re loving what we see – especially when it comes to the great new options for iPad users.

See for yourself in our iOS 11 hands-on video.

The WWDC 2017 Platforms State of the Union, during which Apple laid out what’s new for developers, brimmed with updates. The session at Apple’s annual developer conference focused on fundamentals of and refinements to iOS 11, Swift and Xcode, delivering vital details for coders.

Relive the session’s highlights with these sketchnotes, which should give Apple developers and Apple users alike much to be excited about.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Coding is intimidating. It seems preposterously hard. So technical. You need degrees and training and a certain kind of brain.

But Jessica Dennis, a programmer working in upstate New York, says that’s not true.

To become a programmer, you just need to know how to Google.

Apple’s most affordable 13-inch MacBook Pro has been discontinued.

The 2015 model has held onto its place on the Apple online store as a more affordable alternative to more recent MacBook Pros, but you’ll have to buy one of the company’s latest notebooks if you want to stick with a 13-inch display.

Apple is planning to cut down on its reliance of Samsung displays with future models of the Apple Watch by adopting microLED screens. According to a new report out of Asia, the switch could come as soon as next year.

When Apple revealed the name of its next macOS update this week, Jonathan Mann — like a lot of Apple watchers — found himself somewhat amused by the “High Sierra” moniker.

If you don’t know Mann by name, you may well be familiar with his work. A YouTube musician and Apple fan, he has composed more than 40 songs about his favorite tech company over the years — including one that once made Steve Jobs dance.

Check out his appropriately smoky macOS High Sierra song below.

That line, the best camera is the one that’s always with you, gets associated with the iPhone. SANDMARC says its newest product is the camera accessory you will always want with your iPhone.

It’s vying for that place with a claim of adding “cinematic drama” to your iPhone photos with a set of clip-on polarizer and neutral density filters that will improve dynamic range, reduce glare and reflections, enhance color and add motion blur.

Apple brought drag and drop to the iPad with iOS 11, making it easier than ever to transfer content between multiple apps. It turns out the feature will also be available on the iPhone — but it won’t be anywhere near as good.

Rather than completely overhauling the Home screen in iOS 11, Apple settled for a few neat tweaks that will make using your iPhone easier. One of the coolest new features makes the previously clunky process of organizing your Home screen a lot less annoying.

Rather than painstakingly dragging individual app icons across the pages of your Home screen, iOS 11 lets you move multiple icons simultaneously with this hidden trick.