Cult of Mac

Although we’ve been skeptical of the idea of ARM-based Macs in the past, rumors have been heating up that Apple will switch to ARM processors for all Macs this year due to massive performance gains. But as great as Apple’s A-series chips are, are they really ready to power Macs?

The answer isn’t entirely clear-cut, but a new series of benchmarks suggest that Apple’s ARM chips are starting to compete with Intel’s Core M chips, which power the 12-inch Retina MacBook. If this pace keeps up, iPads might be faster than Macs in just a few generations.

Somehow the weekend’s already halfway over, but to help you make the most of what’s left, we’ve combed through the week’s best apps to help you sort the wheat from the chaff.

Whether it’s a card game built around detonating felines (seriously, it’s better than it sounds!) or an amazing live podcasting app, we’re confident we’ve got what you’re looking for.

Check out our list below.

When going online, especially while using public Wi-Fi, it’s well worth keeping your guard up. Keeping your data secure and your browsing private is what NordVPN was built to do, applying double SSL-based 2048-bit encryption to every bit that passes through it, on as many as 6 devices and with unlimited bandwidth. And right now, you can get two years of access to a NordVPN tunnel for just $39.

We’ve heard a lot about the Samsung Galaxy S7 in the past few months. We know it will look like the Galaxy S6, but have big spec bumps , a better camera and battery. It’ll probably rip-off some of the new iPhone’s best features, and arrive in March.

But when in March? We now have an exact date, from reputable leaker of Android smartphone news. Expect the Samsung Galaxy S7 to land in the ides of March, roughly around the same time as Apple is expected to unveil its latest iPhone, the iPhone 5se.

Former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, one of the key individuals responsible for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is now an iPhone game developer.

His first app, though, doesn’t boast his name, but British prime minister Winston Churchill’s. Even weirder? It’s a solitaire game.

Okay, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen Siri do: multiply one trillion to the tenth power to lay down a hypnotic background beat for a bunch of cool kids to rap to.

Apple VP Steve Zadesky was personally tapped by Tim Cook to lead Project Titan. But it looks like the so-called Apple Car will need to come to market under a new leader, as Zadesky is planning on leaving the company after 16 years.

This week on The CultCast: our legs are blown off by hover boards; our favorite ways to manage iOS photos; the new Music Memos and Garageband apps get our enthusiastic thumbs up; Bob Mansfeld is back to massage us; and we remember the hard, cruel, miserable realities of life before iPhone.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to build a website that looks beautiful on any device that visits at Squarespace.com. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off.

If ‘Arduino’ doesn’t translate to ‘awesome’ in another language, it should. The simple, accessible, open-source, DIY technology platform has made it possible for almost anybody to build basically anything their imagination can whip up — robots, musical instruments, home augmentations, the list is endless. Now it’s easier than ever to get your projects off the page and into existence, with this complete bundle that includes the necessary hardware and more than 25 hours of training. And right now you can get the whole shebang for just $62.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Here’s some of what’s included.

Will Apple’s wireless EarPods change the way we hear? Why should you upgrade to the latest iOS version? How can you create a musical masterpiece with just a guitar and your iPhone?

You’ll find answers to these and other burning questions in this week’s edition of Cult of Mac Magazine. Grab the latest issue today and get the week’s best Apple news, all wrapped up in a shiny package that’s perfect for your iPad or iPhone.

Here are this week’s top stories.

A dating app has what sounds like a noble and magnanimous purpose, but some members of the LGBTQ community aren’t seeing it that way.

Hanky is for gay men who want to avoid “creeps, time­wasters, and fake profiles.” And to that end, it’s really tough to get in. You either need an invite code or three recommendations from existing members. You also have to validate your phone number or sign up with your Facebook account to make sure you’re real.

But all of those membership hoops are causing a fuss.

Here’s another great deal on Apple gear, with $229 off a 16, 64, or 128 gigabyte iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. You can still buy the last-generation handset over at Apple, but only in the 16 or 64 gigabyte configurations, so if you’re looking for a high-capacity iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, this is your day.

These iPhone models are still fantastic, and this deal is kind of amazing, especially if you pay up front for your iPhones these days to save a bit of money in the long run.

Speculation regarding a new 4-inch iPhone coming out of Cupertino has run rampant the past few months with rumors claiming the device will look like an tiny iPhone 6, but a new report claims the device will actually look more like a special edition iPhone 5s.

You don’t have to visit select Apple Stores to get your wrists on Hermès’ special Apple Watch bands anymore.

After debuting this Fall as limited edition pieces only available at Hermès’ and Apple retail stores, the stylish leather straps can now be purchased via the online Apple Store by any unhip nerd with a credit card.

Speculation surrounding a “budget” iPhone died out when Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller promised it would never happen. But with iPhone 6s demand allegedly falling and the global smartphone market becoming increasingly saturated, could a more affordable phone give Apple a security net? Could it prevent the iPhone business from stagnating in the same way the iPad business has?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we bicker like children over these questions and more!

WhatsApp made millions of smartphone users happy with week when it announced it will be ditching its annual subscription fee, but its next move might not be so popular.

According to a hidden option found in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android, the service is planning to share user data with Facebook “to improve [your] Facebook experiences.”

You aren’t just any agent. You’re a rogue agent. And you’re trying to escape before the enemy agents find you. That’s the plot behind — you guessed it — Rogue Agent, a thrilling new puzzle game on iOS.

With 52 different worlds, several mini-games and a few power-ups, the spy game makes you constantly try to escape without getting caught. Don’t worry about whether there’s a concrete reason for that because, trust me, you’ll get hooked anyway.

Your Mac was born to perform, but for the rest of its life it’s up to you to make sure it stays in shape. This bundle of a dozen — count em — apps are like taking your computer to a full service health spa. Give your Mac’s hard drive a deep clean, enhance its audio performance, keep track of its activity and eliminate distractions, among a bunch of other uber useful enhancements.

The best part though? You can pay whatever you’re willing to pay for the whole shebang, and a portion of every dollar you spend goes toward the critical work of Save the Children.

For the photographer still in love with film, the romance is about to get more expensive.

Fujifilm announced it will implement a worldwide price increase for film starting sometime this month. Exact prices were not announced but in announcing the increases, Fujifilm characterized them as “substantial” and “double digit.”

Picture in Picture mode is one of the best features of iOS 9. On iPads, it lets you continue to watch a video from one app (say, Netflix) in the corner of your screen, even while you’re browsing a webpage, reading your email, and so on.

A lot of cool video apps already support Picture in Picture mode, but curiously, Google’s YouTube app isn’t one of them. But if you want to watch YouTube in PiP mode, there’s another app you can try.

Apple is a fierce defender of its customers’ privacy, which is why every iPhone and iPad has its data encrypted by default. But according to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Apple and CEO Tim Cook should show their bellies and let Congress decide whether encrypted data should be accessible through backdoors by government agencies.

Tim Cook met with Pope Francis today. The 15-minute appointment reportedly took place from 11:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. local time, as can be seen from viewing the pope’s daily schedule, which describes a meeting between the Holy Father and “Signor Timothy Donald Cook, Amministratore Delegato di Apple.”

Find my iPhone is a fantastic way to recover your iPhone when it is lost or stolen. Most of the time. If you’re Christina Lee and Michael Saba, though, you hate Find my iPhone, because it has ruined your life.

For some reason, Apple constantly reports stolen or lost iPhones as coming from Saba and Lee’s small suburban Atlanta house… even though they are nowhere near by.

If you’re willing to buy refurbished, you can now score a killer deal on Apple’s Retina MacBook knocking as much as $240 off the price of the newest member of the MacBook family.

Samsung has long subscribed to the “If you can’t beat ’em, release a load of ads making fun of them” strategy when it comes to smartphone rival Apple.

In its latest ad, the South Korean tech company keeps this trend alive by recruiting comedian Hannibal Buress to show off Samsung Pay’s big advantage over Apple Pay.

And — you know what — as far as petty ads taking shots at your rivals go, this one actually isn’t bad.