Apple reportedly will make us wait until next year for the smarter Siri the company showcased during June’s WWDC24 keynote. According to a new report, the updated voice assistant won’t enter developer beta testing until January, with a public release slated for next spring in iOS 18.4.
Talk to drone enthusiasts, and you’ll hear enough technical jargon to make an actual pilot’s head spin. And while it’s true that drone technology has come a long way in the last 10 years, let’s not forget that these things are just plain fun to fly. Anyone can fly — and capture stunning aerial images — with this beginner drone with 4K cameras.
If you or a loved one ever wanted to experience drone flying firsthand, this 4K beauty with dual cameras, obstacle avoidance and other beginner-friendly features is a perfect starting point. And it’s only $64.97 (regularly $119) for a limited time!
The upcoming Apple Watch Series 10 could sport a thinner design with a bigger display, but it sounds like new health sensors won’t arrive this year. Apple also plans to use a faster processor on its next-gen wearable, possibly laying the groundwork for new AI features.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: AirPods … with cameras?!? The latest AirPods rumor sounds a little nuts, but Apple wowed us with weird features before. Plus, we discuss the latest on the Vision Pro — and how Apple might cut costs to produce a cheaper “Vision Air” headset.
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.
If you’ve never tried making your own Siri Shortcuts, I’ve compiled a short list of the best shortcuts for iPhone to introduce you. Shortcuts can quickly run automated actions on your phone (and on your iPad or Mac). They’re made using Apple’s Shortcuts app, where you can visually piece together actions offered by the apps installed on your device.
You can run a shortcut by asking Siri or by putting a widget on your iPhone’s Home Screen. Not a lot of people know this powerful feature exists — or what it can do for them. For eight examples of what you can do with shortcuts, keep reading or watch our video.
A new report details that Google wants to reduce its reliance on Apple for search revenue. Despite being the leader in search, Google pays Apple billions of dollars yearly to remain the iPhone’s default search engine.
iPhone searchers comprise about 36% of Google’s total search revenue.
With the CdkeySales Summer Holiday Sale offering sizzling discounts on Microsoft software, it’s a fine time to take a break from the heat and grab some great deals. It’s your chance to nab surprisingly low prices on productivity software like Windows and Microsoft Office. That includes Windows 10 Pro for just $17.05 — and a free upgrade comes with it! Or you can cut straight to the chase and get Windows 11 Pro for only $22.71.
You can find remarkably low prices at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com now and throughout the year. To get the most savings, enter promo code CULT. That cuts an additional 30% off the site’s low prices on genuine software keys. And don’t forget: When you buy Windows 10, you get a free upgrade to Windows 11!
Sugar, Colin Farrell’s homage to classic film noir detective movies on Apple TV+, is well worth watching for anyone who enjoys top-notch acting, a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and a really huge twist.
But go in knowing that the drama series gets darker and darker as it goes along.
Customizing the widgets Smart Stack on your Apple Watch is a great way provide easy access to the apps you use most. If you have a Tim Cook-esque Apple Watch face full of complications, you can rely on widgets instead. You just need to edit the widgets in your Apple Watch’s Smart Stack to provide the same quick access to your most-used apps and activities.
Today, I’ll show you how to make the most of your Smart Stack of widgets on Apple Watch.
Outlanders 2: Second Nature, a town-building strategy game, offers new players new tropical and wintery environments to build in, much more resources to work with, and more challenges.
It’s one of three games to launch on Apple Arcade on Wednesday, along with Punch Kick Duck+ and Zen Koi Pro+.
For a MacBook Air or any other laptop, you need a minimum amount of power for a quick and efficient charge. The Apple 67W USB-C Power Adapter is a fast, compact complement that works with modern MacBook Airs and 14-inch MacBook Pros, and it’s compatible with a range of older devices as well.
For a limited time, you can get an Apple 67W USB-C Power Adapter for just $39.99. That’s a pretty spectacular 32% savings off the normal price of $59.
DVDs may seem like a thing of the past as streaming options like Netflix and Apple TV+ continue to gain popularity, but there’s no reason those shiny discs need to sit around collecting dust. Discover new ways to enjoy old favorites by taking advantage of a discount on a highly rated and speedy Mac DVD ripper.
For a limited time, you can grab a lifetime license to MacX DVD Ripper Pro for just $24.97 (regularly $67.95). That’s a 63% discount on a product that supplies endless options for adding content to Apple or Android devices.
The world’s most unlikely highwayman will be back — Apple TV+ reportedly renewed The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin for season two on Wednesday.
The comedy-adventure series stars British comedian Noel Fielding as a ludicrously impossible version of the legendary British criminal.
Want to kick off your July 4 holiday weekend with a bang? Bag a 14- or 16-inch M3 MacBook Pro for up to $500 off at Amazon or Best Buy. You’ll have it by the time the smoke clears from the fireworks. And compared to whatever machine you have now, your computing power will more-or-less explode.
The difference between a good webcam and a mediocre one can be revealing — you either look and sound good or you look and sound like crap. So if you’d rather take the professional road to quality videoconferencing and self-made videos, a good device like the Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam in today’s M1 MacBook Air is a great way to get there.
Apple TV+’s share of the U.S. streaming market grew in the second quarter of 2024. It’s now ahead of Paramount+ and just behind Hulu.
The streaming service has increased significantly in popularity — three years ago, it had a third of the market share it does now.
★★★☆☆
When you move around a lot with your devices, a portable power source like the CukTech 10 Power Bank can be a lifesaver. Keep the 10,000mAh device charged and throw it in a bag with USB-C and USB-A cables, and you needn’t fear gadgets with dead batteries under routine circumstances (but if you throw in a major power outage, your mileage may vary).
So if you’re in the market for a portable power bank, act fast — for a limited time, you can nab the CukTech 10 for just under $30. That’s a great price on a good-enough charger.
The Apple Watch can detect a leading cause of heart attacks — an unadvertised capability that could have big implications for health monitoring — according to a Dutch doctor.
After using the Apple Watch’s electrocardiogram feature, Dr. Ruud Koster, a cardiologist from Amsterdam, accidentally discovered that he had a potentially fatal heart blockage that caused myocardial ischemia. The doctor wrote a paper about his experience and now recommends that the Apple Watch be studied for its ability to alert wearers about potentially deadly heart blockages.
Apple TV+ gave a series order on Tuesday to The Dispatcher, a crime thriller starring Patrick Brammall.
The upcoming series will follow an Australian police detective hunting for his missing daughter.
A whole gaggle of once-popular emoji seem to be falling out of favor among texters and others, according to a new report from creative subscription service Superside. So now you can see if your faves made the list of the world’s most unpopular emoji.
“When conducting our study, it was shocking to see some once-popular emoji among the most endangered globally,” a Superside spokesperson told Cult of Mac. “As new emoji continue to emerge, it will be quite interesting to see if these rankings might change as the years go on and trends change.”
And what happens to deeply unpopular emoji, anyway? In a word, nothing.
Resident Evil 7 biohazard by Capcom launched Tuesday on iPhone 15 Pro, top-tier iPad models and M-series Macs. The horror title is the latest AAA game to hit these Apple devices.
Two other games in the series are already available for premium Apple devices, and Resident Evil 2 Remake is in the process of being ported, too.
Apple has increased its order of next-generation A18 chips from TSMC to between 90 million and 100 million units, according to a new report. That suggests it may anticipate increasing demand for its upcoming Apple Intelligence-boosted iPhone 16 series. An increase of roughly 10 million units over last year is nothing to sneeze at.
Cloud storage is great, but like any technology, it has a time and place. When you want guaranteed storage that doesn’t require an internet connection to access, what you really need is an external drive. This 2TB portable SSD keeps your data close and your devices unclogged. And for a limited time, it costs just $44.97.
This SSD quickly sold out the last few times we offered it. Now it’s back in stock, and it’s available again as a Cult of Mac Deals exclusive … while supplies last!
Using the powerful online Voice Cleaner tool with Lalal.ai, you can remove background audio from any voice memo or video to get clear, crisp vocals free of other noise. It’s a great way to recover professional sounding audio out of a botched recording. The vocal and instrumental features can also help you isolate or separate a variety of instruments from a song to use in resampling or editing.
Here’s how it works.
★★★★☆
Pitaka MagEZ Folio 2 case both protects your iPad when you’re carrying it around and offers an origami kickstand when it’s time to use the tablet. It can be configured to hold the tablet at a variety of angles, in both portrait and landscape modes. Plus there’s a strap to hold an Apple Pencil in place.
I tested the version with my new M4 iPad Pro, and I like the sleek, lightweight design. Read on for more of my thoughts on this case.