Some new data-gathering vehicles are roaming the streets of San Francisco. They’re unmarked, but are suspected to be Apple’s. They are laden with sensors, but what kind of data are they gathering, and what for?

Experts contacted by Cult of Mac say the mystery vans are next-generation mapping vehicles capable of capturing VR-style, 360-degree street photos. Plus, the vans use Lidar to create extraordinarily precise “point clouds,” a prerequisite for self-driving cars. Mesh those two databases together and you’ve laid the groundwork for an autonomous vehicle’s navigation system.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren took shots at Apple, Google and Amazon during a speech in Washington today, claiming Silicon Valley’s big fish are making it impossible for the small fry to compete.

“The opportunity to compete must remain open for new entrants and smaller competitors,” said Warren. During her rant against Apple, the senator specifically mentioned the unfair advantages Apple Music enjoys against its competitors.

After the speech, Spotify rallied behind Warren with some Apple bashing of its own.

If you haven’t already ditched Evernote for Apple Notes, now is the time. Changes to the company’s subscription plans mean the basic Evernote account is now next to useless for the vasty majority of users who don’t want to pay up.

Transitioning to a future when iPhones no longer come with 3.5mm headphone port is going to be a lot easier thanks to one Apple supplier that is ready to make Lightning headphones a thing.

Cirrus Logic, which makes analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, revealed that it has created a new headset development kit that will allow accessory makers to quickly develop Lightning-headphones that are made for iPhone and iPad.

This week’s best Apple deals include some amazing offers on hardware, from refurbs to open-box devices to brand-new MacBook Airs. Read on to see these savings and more.

New photos of what are claimed to be Apple’s next-generation EarPods all but confirm that its iPhone 7 series will ship without the beloved headphone jack.

The new EarPods, which surfaced on Chinese micro-blogging website Weibo, swap the 3.5mm jack we’ve been using for decades for a Lightning connector.

iOS 10 and macOS Sierra are getting all the attention after their grand unveiling at WWDC, but Apple continues to fine-tune its current software before unleashing the next-gen goodies later this fall.

Apple dropped four new beta updates on developers today, bringing a huge batch of bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements to iOS 9, OS X El Capitan and tvOS.

It looks like Siri was one of the record 8.9 million people glued to Game of Thrones’ Season 6 finale last Sunday. Now that the season is over, fans are left with one question: Who is Jon Snow’s real father?

Siri knows the answer.

Warning: Game of Thrones spoilers below.

Updated: Check out two new battery cases for the iPhone 6/6s, the Moshi iGlaze Ion and the Spyder PowerShadow.

Protect your iPhone investment with the perfect case. Whether you’ve chosen the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s or 6s Plus, and 7 or 7 Plus. Cult of Mac has your phone safely covered. We receive and review a massive number of cases and bring only the best to you here in our review roundup, with new cases to be added each week.

Each case is tried and tested, with iPhone protection being the top priority. If you need something rugged and extra-durable, a minimalist case with sleek lines, or one in which to slip your credit cards and cash, browse our evolving list of featured iPhone 6 cases.

Check back often for our latest picks!

The photographers were assembled with all their heavy camera equipment, about to walk 18 holes under the hot Florida sun to cover The Players Championship in Ponte Verde Beach when in strolled their colleague, Brad Mangin.

“Where’s your gear?” Mangin was asked. He pulled out his iPhone 6s to a chorus of groans and curses.

Tired of hunching over your laptop and typing like a T-rex? Feeling limited by having a single screen? Boy have we got a deal for you. This is your chance to win a high resolution 27″ Apple Thunderbolt display, along with an Apple wireless keyboard and mouse, all set upon an adjustable 30 x 48” standing desk by Evodesk that’ll keep your posture proper.

Facebook is updating its news feed to bring the focus back to your friends. Users will begin to see more posts from the people they care about, rather than a flood of articles and videos from media publishers.

The iPhone went on sale nine years ago today, and to mark the momentous occasion a Florida man is suing Apple for a whopping $10 billion and 1.5 percent of all future Apple earnings — because he claims to have come up with the idea for Apple’s breakthrough mobile device all way back in 1992.

The iPhone 7 may not be the major refresh that Apple’s full-number iPhone releases usually are, but it could feature an intriguing new addition in the form of a “Force Touch Home button,” according to analysts at Cowen and Company.

Cold hard cash, and a surprising amount of creative input from top Apple executives, are key to Cupertino’s plan for making Apple Music a hit, according to a new behind-the-scenes report about the streaming service.

Unlike its rivals at Facebok, Twitter has shown little interest in virtual reality, but it appears that the company is finally ready to make a play and an ex-Apple designer is leading the charge.

Twitter has hired Alessandro Sabatelli as its first Director of VR and AR where he has been charged to “empower us all in the spatial computing revolution.”

After going all in on football, Apple’s Shot on iPhone ad campaign is taking a new direction with a series of colorful new ads across the globe.

The new Shot on iPhone campaign called “Colors” has some of the most artsy billboards ever that focus on big bright colors. Only instead of featuring images from photographers around the world, the new ads highlight local photography shot near where the ads have been posted.

Take a look:

The price of Apple shares have been in a slump all of 2016, but 2017 is shaping up to be an explosive year for AAPL.

Thanks to pent up demand from iPhone users for a big upgrade that probably won’t come this year, Apple is poised to have its biggest year ever when it launches the iPhone 7s, according to Cowen & Co’s financial analyst Timothy Arcuri who claims it pays to get in right now and wait out the iPhone 7 slump.

Nothing is worse at concerts than having some dude block your view of the band for 45 minutes to take crappy iPhone pics. But those days may be coming to an end soon thanks to Apple.

The company was recently granted a patent that would allow concerts and other private events to block iPhone users from taking photos and videos of the event by using infrared signals.

U.S House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took shots at Apple CEO Tim Cook for participating in a GOP fundraiser in Silicon Valley this week.

Pelosi, who represents the nearby 12th district of California, called Cook “naive” for helping House Speaker Paul Ryan raise money for her rivals in the GOP, especially after the company just broke off its support for the GOP convention.

They don’t call them “headphones” for nothing.

Slipping on a pair of quality closed-back headphones puts you in a rarefied headspace where sound envelopes you completely and nothing matters but the music. Just close your eyes, cue up the perfect tracks to suit your mood, and drift away.

The Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones, which use a Lightning connector to plug into your Apple device, will take you to that special place. But you’ll pay a steep price for your trip to aural bliss.

Sometimes you don’t need to click on Google links to get the information you’re looking for; it’s just presented to you instantly right inside your search results. Now the same can finally be said for song lyrics — if you live in the U.S.

Accomplished photographers tend to bristle when asked to talk about equipment. It’s not the camera that makes the picture, it’s the photographer.

Acclaimed photographer Richard Koci Hernandez would tend to agree, but he’s likely to gush about his camera anyway. That’s because some of the most interesting and satisfying work of his career has come from shooting with his iPhone.

The kind of gear that once helped Hernandez garner Pulitzer Prize nominations now rests idly in a camera bag.

Apple has scheduled its next earnings call for Tuesday, July 26, at 2 p.m. Pacific. The call, which will be broadcast live, will cover the company’s third fiscal quarter results following the first-ever decline in iPhone sales last quarter.

The grand unveiling of the iPhone 7 is still a couple months away, but if you can’t wait to get your hands on an iPhone with a dual-lens camera it’s actually incredibly easy to make one at home.

All you need is two iPhone 6s units, some special tools and a little attention to detail to create your own version of what will likely be the most boring iPhone update ever.

Here’s how to do it: