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This month’s top deal: A sleek MacBook storage upgrade [Deals]

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Instantly and seamlessly add up to 200GB of storage without a bulky external drive.
Instantly and seamlessly add up to 200GB of storage without a bulky external drive.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Coming up short on storage is frustrating and all too common, and the solutions often come with their own drawbacks. Upping drive space usually means adding a bulky external drive to your computer bag, or having an SD card sticking out the side of your laptop. Nifty’s MiniDrive Air offers a much less irritating solution, with a MicroSD adapter that disappears into the contour of the computer while adding serious storage. No wonder it’s been one of our hottest deals this month — right now you can get a MiniDrive for $33.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple’s giant tax bill has potential to bring down the Irish government

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Irish flag
Shockwaves will be felt for a long time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The shockwaves from yesterday’s massive announcement that Apple must pay 13 billion euros ($14.52 billion) in back taxes in Europe are still rippling — but nowhere are they being felt more keenly than in Ireland.

Although the Irish government wasted no time in saying it planned to appeal the EC decision, a new report notes that internal disagreements on this issue could have the potential to have an enormous impact. Like, tearing-the-government-apart enormous!

Curved glass 2017 iPhone is already keeping suppliers busy

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Galaxy Note 7 S Pen
Apple could be borrowing one of Samsung's big design features for next year's iPhone.
Photo: Samsung

The iPhone 7’s not even been officially unveiled yet, and already suppliers are prepping for next year’s tenth-birthday iPhone refresh, according to a new report.

Specifically, an equipment maker called Mirle Automation has reportedly been working on the necessary technology to replicate the 3D curved glass chassis seen on devices like the the Galaxy S7 edge and the new Galaxy Note 7. And it’s paying off.

Logitech’s new Silent Mice might stop you from strangling your co-worker

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These new Silent Mice from Logitech take the fight to mouse-induced misophonia.
These new Silent Mice from Logitech take the fight to mouse-induced misophonia.
Photos: Logitech

SAN FRANCISCO — You might call Logitech’s latest peripherals the mice that didn’t roar. Or rather the mice that don’t click or swoosh or make that annoying ratcheting sound that triggers you to fantasize about strangling your fidgety-fingered co-worker.

This new breed of pointing device is as quiet as the proverbial church mouse, without sacrificing precision or tactile “click” — and apparently that’s a bigger deal than you might imagine.

Griffin’s new adapter fixes iPhone 7’s most hated feature

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Griffin iTrip Clip adapter
Get ready to see more adapters like this.
Photo: Griffin

Apple is set to kill the century old headphone jack when it unveils the iPhone 7 during an event on September 7th, which is bad news for your favorite pair of wired headphones, but great news for accessory makers like Griffin.

The popular iPhone accessory maker is already prepared to cure your headphone jack woes this fall with the introduction of its newest adapter that gives your old headphones new Bluetooth 4.1 powers.

How to join the ‘Touch IC Disease’ class-action lawsuit against Apple

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iPhone 6S
A legal battle is brewing over 'Touch IC Disease'
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units afflicted by the alleged design defect dubbed “Touch IC Disease” won’t get much aid from the Genius Bar, but a U.S. law firm is looking to help users take Apple to court.

After filing a class-action lawsuit against Apple on Saturday for not fixing iPhones with Touch IC Disease, McCuneWright LLP says it’s searching for more iPhone 6 owners who have suffered from the defect.

How much does in-house app development really cost?

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How much does in-house app development really cost?
Putting a price tag on in-house app development can be tricky.
Photo: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

If you’re developing a Mac app, you’re faced with a major either/or decision: whether to distribute inside or outside of the Mac App Store (MAS). Sticking to the MAS means you’ve got access to tools for licensing, hosting, crash reporting and other necessary tasks. However, Apple’s tools may not be what’s best for your app.

Why Tim Cook’s open letter about taxes struggles to paint Apple as the underdog

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A still from the classic Apple
Who is Big Brother and who's the rebel freedom fighter?
Photo: Apple

With his open letter defending Apple’s Irish tax strategy, Tim Cook positions his company as a sledgehammer-tossing freedom fighter at battle with Big Brother-style EU bureaucracy.

But unlike Cook’s previous missives on LGBT rights and the importance of privacy, this open letter seems unlikely to be met with near-unanimous support. While railing against the EU’s massive assessment of €13 billion euros in back taxes owed by Apple, Cook ignores the facts of the matter — and seems tone-deaf about painting the world’s biggest company as an underdog.

Snapchat just made it super-easy to create your own geofilter

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Snapchat
Snapchat got some smart new features this week.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Creating your own Snapchat geofilter for parties and other special occasions just got a whole lot easier thanks to a new web-based tool Snapchat unleashed on the world today.

With competition intensifying from Instagram’s new Stories feature, Snapchat is expanding the revenue it gets from geofilters by charging a small fee to create your own for a short period of time. The tool lets users either upload their own art or modify existing templates, setting up custom filters to be the next big thing.

This bundle of Mac apps is like a cybersecurity utility belt [Deals]

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This bundle of 7 cyber security apps will bring you to Fort Knox levels of protection.
This bundle of seven cybersecurity apps will bring your Mac to Fort Knox levels of protection.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s hard to know if we’re doing enough to protect our online identities and data these days. Got an email password with a dozen alternating numbers, letters and an upside-down question mark but somehow your email still gets hacked? This bundle of seven cybersecurity apps will cover the vulnerabilities in your Mac. And right now the whole shebang is going for just $52 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Tim Cook: Apple’s tax bill will have a ‘harmful’ effect on investment in EU

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Tim Cook
It didn't take Tim Cook long to hit back!
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook has written an open letter addressing Apple’s enormous tax bill, arguing that the European Union’s demand for €13 billion ($14.52 billion) in unpaid back taxes will have a “profound and harmful effect” on “investment and job creation in Europe.”

At present, Apple employs close to 6,000 people in Ireland, as well as “sustaining” 1.5 million jobs across Europe — including those at Apple and other manufacturers, developers and suppliers who rely on it.

25-year-old deal led to Apple’s tax bill from hell

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Irish flag
Apple has been one of the biggest employers in Cork since the 1980s.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple landing Europe’s biggest tax bill in history may be hot news today, but the tax arrangement behind it dates back 25 years.

In 1991, eleven years after Apple first opened its Ireland office, it came to a favorable arrangement with the Irish government — at a time when Apple’s market share had collapsed, but it was still one of the biggest employers in Ireland.

Apple gets an unexpected €13 billion tax bill

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money
Apple just got landed with the tax bill from hell.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The verdict’s in on Apple’s European tax investigation, and the company has been handed a massive 13 billion euros ($14.52 billion) bill for unpaid back taxes in the Republic of Ireland.

The order was made by European Union competition officials, who ruled that Apple was taking advantage of illegal state aid that allowed the company to route profits through Ireland.

Big iPad update will make Apple Pencil more powerful

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9.7-inch iPad Pro
iPad Pro is about to become an even better PC replacement.
Photo: Apple

Apple is planning to make some huge improvements to the software on the iPad, but owners will have to wait until next year to try it out.

One of the biggest new features could involve the Apple Pencil, according to a new report that claims Apple’s big update will bring a powerful annotation feature to the device aimed at professional users.

macOS Sierra gets new beta for devs and public testers

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macOS Sierra is here!
macOS Sierra is here!
Photo: Apple

Apple developers continue to hammer out bugs in macOS Sierra at an incredible pace with yet new beta build of the upcoming software for Macs.

Developers and public beta testers can now download macOS Sierra beta 8, just one week after Apple released the previous beta build of the new software that brings new features like Siri for Mac, auto-unlock with Apple Watch, Apple Pay, improved iCloud integration and much more.

After ruling, Apple could owe billions in EU taxes

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Mo money, mo problems.
Apple faces a steep tax bill in Ireland.
Photo: Milo Kahney/Cult of Mac

The European Commission has finally finished its investigation into Apple’s tax breaks with Ireland and it appears that the company will be slapped with a fine for more than $1 billion in back taxes. 

The commission’s final ruling is expected to come tomorrow, according to a new report that claims Ireland will be expected to calculate exactly how much Apple owes. 

Wall mount turns old cameras into new art

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This wall mount by LaudWorks pulls a retired camera from the closet to the light of day.
This wall mount by LaudWorks pulls a retired camera from the closet to the light of day.
Photo: LaudWorks via Shapeways

The iPhone turned your old cameras into relics. Why not turn a relic into a piece of art for your wall?

Outdated but still pretty, those old cameras can again see the light of day with Hangie, a discreet metal wall mount that gives something classic its rightful resting place.

Working with Windows files on a Mac has never been easier

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NTFS for Mac
Why is it so difficult to work with Windows files on a Mac? It doesn't have to be!
Photo: Paragon Software Group

This post is brought to you by Paragon Software Group, maker of Paragon NTFS for Mac.

Mac and PC are like yin and yang, or oil and water — essentially similar yet significantly distinct. It’s not just a difference in personal computing preference: The two platforms are literally built not to communicate with one another.

Apple and Microsoft coded their operating systems using completely different languages for writing files to drives, HFS+ and NTFS respectively. OS X offers only limited support for files written to a Windows-formatted drive, whether an external hard drive, SSD or USB stick, which can mean major headaches if you’re living or working in a cross-platform world.

Budding startup uses iPhone to keep cannabis biz legit

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iPhone scanners are helping legal cannabis growers track product and stay compliant with state regulations.
iPhone scanners are helping legal cannabis growers track product and stay compliant with state regulations.
Photo: Flowhub

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugBefore corporate shine and the smell of success, there was a counterculture aura and a whiff of weed. Pot and the dreams of some industrious guys shared a garage where the personal computing revolution incubated under the Apple brand.

So what would the late Steve Jobs think if he could see Apple’s iPhone used to keep the growing and selling of cannabis legal? Jobs, who said he smoked it early on because it made him feel more creative, might smile and say, cool!

iPhone’s Touch IC Disease pandemic triggers lawsuit

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3D Touch app switching
An insidious defect is effecting iPhone 6 owners.
Photo: Ste Smitch

Touch IC Disease, a glitch with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus that results in gray, flickering bars at the top of the devices’ screens and a loss of touch sensitivity, has earned Apple its latest class-action lawsuit.

Caused by an apparent design flaw in the iPhone 6 series, Touch IC Disease is more prevalent among the larger iPhone 6 Plus devices. While the problem made headlines for the first time last week, a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Saturday claims Apple has long been aware of the defect, which can render devices useless.

Which new Apple product gets you most excited? [Poll]

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Apple gadgets
All of Apple's gadgets are about to get updated.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is set to deliver its biggest keynote of the year on September 7, when the company will unveil its most important new product of 2016: the iPhone 7.

Apple Watch 2, new MacBook Pros and updated iPads are likely on the horizon as well, so we wanted to know if this is the year you’re looking forward to something other than a new iPhone?

Tell us which Apple product you’re most excited about in our reader poll.