Sure, Apple’s Podcasts app is free. But it’s also kind of basic. If you’re a total podcast freak, you’ll surely enjoy an alternative podcast app like Player FM. It offers advanced features like customization, organization and personalized search. It can even automatically compress downloaded episodes to save space on your devices, without compromising audio quality.

The app works on iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay, with easy syncing across all Apple’s platforms. And for a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to Player FM’s premium plan for just $39.99 (regularly $120).

May 19, 1980: Apple introduces the Apple III at the National Computer Conference in Anaheim, California. After two years of development, the business-oriented computer arrives to follow the enormously successful Apple II. However, for a variety of reasons, the Apple III launch turns out to be the company’s first major misstep.

Gestures are a great way to become an iPad power user. They help you easily navigate through apps, switch between pages, access controls, and reduce multiple taps to a single swipe. iPad gestures prove especially useful for Stage Manager, the iPad’s alternative multitasking environment.

Apple designed these iPad gestures to mimic natural, real-world movements, making them intuitive to use and learn. Swiping, pinching, tapping and other moves feel familiar. You should find them easy to master.

If you use your iPad a lot, these gestures are well worth learning. Your fingers will thank you!

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: With the many AI-powered features reportedly coming in iOS 18, a Siri revamp sounds possible — and promising! We talk about OpenAI’s startlingly good GPT-4o demos and wonder if Siri will ever amaze us like that.

Also on The CultCast:

• Who will be Apple’s next CEO? Cupertino reportedly has a couple familiar faces on its short list.
• New features in iOS 17.5 are … OK. However, some of the accessibility features coming later this year — including Vision Pro-style eye tracking for iPhone — look pretty incredible.
• Those rumors of future folding iPhones just won’t stop.

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.

Should your next computer be a MacBook or an iPad? Apple is making the iPad more powerful and capable every year — it might be good enough that you don’t need a traditional computer in your life.

While macOS is still more powerful and versatile, the iPad’s hardware offers unique capabilities that no Mac can match. The iPad is easier to pick up and use, more portable and more reliable. It’s worth considering over a laptop if you don’t do a lot of specialized work.

Here are the pros and cons, MacBook vs. iPad: Price, easy of use, portability and more. Keep reading below or watch our video.

Apple reportedly found ways to “significantly” slim down the iPhone. The result will reportedly be part of the iPhone 17 series when it reaches customers next year.

The news comes hot on the heels of the M4 iPad Pro, the “thinnest Apple product ever,” according to the iPhone-maker.

The CdkeySales May Super Sale just started. It brings you excellent deals on Microsoft software, and it’s a great chance to nab remarkably low prices on productivity software like Windows and Microsoft Office. That includes a Windows 10 Pro deal for just $17.05. And a free upgrade comes with it!

You can find surprisingly 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 software keys. And when you buy Windows 10, you get a free upgrade to Windows 11!

iOS 17 allows Apple Maps users to download maps for offline use and generate turn-by-turn directions with them. This can be a lifesaver when traveling in remote areas without a cellular connection.

It’s not complicated, but there are several steps to go through if you want to download Apple Maps of certain cities or regions. Here’s how to do it.

This week someone paid about $1,000 on eBay for an allegedly fake Apple employee badge masquerading as the 1977 ID of employee number 10.

The employee badge is a convincing phony, according the an intrepid blogger and the longtime Apple employee (number 8) he contacted to confirm the forgery. And the proof of provenance the blogger sought from the seller appeard to be fake, too, according to several sources.

KRK Rokit 5 speakers are the crown jewel among the audio gear in today’s M1 Max MacBook Pro setup. The rig belongs to an iOS and macOS developer who only counts music production as a hobby. But we’ll take his vote of confidence in a fine audio product.

We’ve seen the Rokit 5 boxes in setups a few times, not often, but we have no doubt they sound great and look good doing it.

M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air users are justifiably excited by Apple Pencil Pro’s fantastic and highly functional new features. But now they’re discovering a delightful feature Apple didn’t highlight at its recent “Let Loose” event. The stylus casts a shadow of the selected tool in use on the screen.

That feature may not equal the functional importance of the new squeeze gesture or haptic feedback, but judging by user reactions in the videos below, it’s pretty much the coolest thing ever.

The first trailer for Apple TV+’s The Big Cigar, below, looks like so much fun I almost don’t want to know how true the “incredible true story” about Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton actually is. And as of Friday, the show’s on with its first two episodes.

The upcoming drama series tells the tale of Newton enlisting a Hollywood producer to fake out the FBI, providing cover for the political activist’s escape to Cuba in 1974. That came after Newton jumped bail on murder and assault charges he called false.

UPDATE: The Big Cigar now airs on Apple TV+. The first two episodes came out Friday. The third episode airs May 24.

The Treblab HD-360 portable speaker measures just 6.5 inches long, but that doesn’t mean it’s quiet. This waterproof Bluetooth speaker puts 90W into delivering some real volume. And its stylish design will definitely turn heads.

Instead of paying $159, you can get one of these Treblab HD-360 for just $99.99, a price point that even Amazon can’t beat.

Apple could use higher-density cells for the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery. This would allow the company to improve battery life without increasing the battery size. Or it could reduce battery capacity without negatively affecting the phone’s runtime.

Also, for the first time, Apple might use a stainless steel battery case on the upcoming iPhone.

Western Digital expanded its WD, WD_BLACK and SanDisk Professional product lineups with 2.5-inch portable HHDs that, for the first time, can hold 6TB of data.

Despite what some might expect, pricing is not through the roof. The new high-capacity hard drives (not SSDs) are available for under $200,and all cost less than $230.

It’s easy to get lost in all the hype around artificial intelligence when really, all we want from AI is all we ever wanted from technology: to get our drudge work done faster and better. That’s precisely what Taskio — a versatile AI productivity tool that can write, generate images and more — can do for entrepreneurs or anyone else who works online.

For a limited time, you can grab lifetime access to the Taskio AI productivity tool for only $16.97 (regularly $540).

Backbone One USB-C game controller adds real buttons, sticks and triggers to the newest iPhone models, and Androids too.

This is  second-generation version of the wrap-around gaming accessory that’s beenupdated, to better fit handsets in protective cases.

I really enjoyed testing the controller out with the iPhone 15 Plus. It lived up to my high expectations.

Belkin is such a favored maker of MagSafe chargers and other Apple accessories that the iPhone giant sells many of them directly on its site. But for bagging bargains in the Memorial Day Sale Belkin launched this week ahead of the holiday, you’re better off hitting the links to its site, below.

You can get 20% off site wide, plus an additional 50% off refurbished products! The sale started Tuesday and runs through May 27.

Three new videos test just how “bend-but-don’t-break” Apple’s new super-thin M4 iPad Pro is, and the answer is “very.” Reviewers came away impressed by how well even the ultra-thin 13-inch M4 iPad Pro performed. And the 11-inch model did well, too.

JerryRigEverything performed bend tests as part of a teardown of the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro. AppleTrack stuck with comparing bends of 11- and 13-inch 2024 iPad Pro models against the 2022 versions. And MobileReviewsEh showed new models held up under massive pressure about as well as older models despite being about 20% thinner.

Those who want to play classic retro games on iPhone or iPad have a couple of new options. RetroArch can emulate a wide variety of consoles, while PPSSPP is a PlayStation Portable emulator.

There’s been something of a flood of these since Apple dropped its ban on them.

Samsung’s new “UnCrush” ad aims to capitalize on the backlash to Apple’s “Crush!” ad for the M4 iPad Pro. The South Korean company’s ad, released Wednesday, is a clear response to Apple’s controversial video, which showed a hydraulic press crushing musical instruments, toys and art supplies.

Samsung’s ad shows a woman playing a song on a battered guitar — using a Samsung Galaxy tablet to display the sheet music, naturally. You can see both ads below.

When Ubisoft launches Assassin’s Creed Shadows this November, Mac will be on the list of platforms supported by the action-packed role-playing game.

The adventure is set in medieval Japan, and players can choose either a samurai or a shinobi for very different gaming experiences. For more details on the game’s setting and storyline, check out the latest updates on Assassin’s Creed Japan.

The iPad buying cycle has slowed because iPad owners increasingly hold onto their old tablets for longer periods than in the past, a new analysis showed Wednesday.

However, the just-ended wait for the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air could be a big reason why. It was a long one. The previous generations both came out in 2022.

A change in the location of magnets built into the M4 iPad Pro breaks compatibility with a wide array of accessories designed for earlier models. That includes many folio cases, clip-on keyboards, and styli. Many of Apple’s own previous offerings are on the incompatible list, too.

Apple had already warned of this, but Wednesday’s launch of the tablet allows real-world tests to confirm the full extent of the affect.

Apple showcased some remarkable new accessibility features for people with disabilities Wednesday, including Eye Tracking, Music Haptics and Vocal Shortcuts.

The new features, coming later this year to Apple devices, harness Apple silicon, artificial intelligence and machine learning. They will come mainly to iPhone and iPad, though some new ones will appear in Vision Pro’s visionOS, too.

“We believe deeply in the transformative power of innovation to enrich lives,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release. “That’s why for nearly 40 years, Apple has championed inclusive design by embedding accessibility at the core of our hardware and software. We’re continuously pushing the boundaries of technology, and these new features reflect our long-standing commitment to delivering the best possible experience to all of our users.”