Cult of Mac

You can share passwords on iPhone automatically with your entire family, so you don’t have to reuse the same password everywhere or let everyone in your family know when a shared password is changed.

Setting up this feature is easy and saves the hassle of being texted “hey I can’t get into Amazon, what’s that password again?” and “I need you to send me the code.” When you set up shared passwords, two-factor authentication and passkeys are shared, too.

It’s a huge time-saver, and highly recommended.

Here’s how to set it up.

Following a lull of a few weeks, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers Tuesday. While iOS 17.4 was a big release, iOS 17.5 beta 1 packs relatively minor (albeit important) changes.

Below are all the changes we have spotted in the first iOS 17.5 beta.

Amazon bargain site Woot! keeps the Apple savings coming. On Wednesday it surfaced an Apple Watches and More! sale with a handful of great deals on different models of the wearable, plus an accessories bundle. And the sale page doesn’t even include all the discounted Apple Watches on the site. We added a few below.

“Look like a Silicon Valley tech mogul,” Woot wrote. “And if smart watches aren’t your thing, we’ve also got a wide array of ‘More!'”

A systems engineer who works for a software developer showed off today’s M1 Pro MacBook Pro setup, which features unusual audio. Razer Nommo Chroma gaming speakers rarely come up in setups despite their high coolness factor. They look a bit like highway patrol speed guns. And the noise-canceling wireless earbuds are a favorite — Soundcore Space A40. 

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan on Wednesday — the worst in 25 years — killed at least nine people, injured more than 900 and toppled buildings. It also reportedly forced Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to stop chip production, at least temporarily.

TSMC makes the processors that go into iPhone, Mac and other Apple products.

Recent clues in iOS beta software plus a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing by Apple suggest new Beats Solo 4 headphones may ship as soon as early May, according to reports.

Given that Beats Solo 3 launched in 2016, well, it’s about time. Eight years usually represents several generations in tech products, not just one.

For a reliable pair of noise-canceling earbuds, you don’t have to turn to Apple. There are other brands that are trusted in the audio world — for instance, JBL. Ideal for anyone looking for high-quality noise cancellation, these wireless JBL Tune Flex Ghost Edition earbuds are currently discounted to only $59.99 (regularly $99.95).

They’re affordable thanks to their open box status, which simply means that these were likely excess inventory that may have come into contact with customers but have not been purchased or used. They’re certified to have been inspected and confirmed as in like-new condition. (They’ve also been placed in clean packaging.)

If you’re looking for a hardy velcro EDC watch band for your Apple Watch, Mifa has you covered. Mifa’s Nylon Sports Leather Apple Watch Band is sturdy, the velcro is strong and the stitched leather is high-quality.

It’s a nice band for daily wear.

It comes in five different styles. The gray-on-black NASA-inspired design is my favorite. Two other designs in brown and black emphasize “EDC-34 Essential Series” with the Mifa name. And two new versions (in green and orange) sport NASA’s classic “meatball” insignia.

Amazon bargain site Woot! is known for its bargain-basement sales on tech items, but Tuesday’s Best of Tech sale digs up some oddities, including an offbeat selection of Apple products. An international travel-adapter kit, for example. The much-maligned FineWoven iPhone cases (also silicone). And an AirTag keychain with a carabiner clip.

Not to mention gear from Belkin, Victrola and others — everything from chargers to solar panels.

The Best of Tech sale runs through April 9. See below for some of the most interesting items on sale.

After a wait that stretched out weeks longer than usual, Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.5 to developers Tuesday, along with the initial beta of macOS Sonoma 14.5.

And it’s going to be a very busy day for developers because iPadOS 17.5 beta 1, watchOS 10.5 beta 1, tvOS 17.5 beta 1 and visionOS 1.2 beta 1 also all went out.

Apple updated its iWork suite of productivity applications Tuesday with improvements related to shared documents, HEIC photos and iPad keyboards. The updated apps in iWork 14.0 — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — are all available free on Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Clever kids and adorable animals rush headlong into new adventures in the season 2 trailer Apple TV+ dropped Tuesday for Jane. The work of famed ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall inspired the TV series.

The mission-driven family show’s second season debuts April 19 on Apple TV+.

Apple will make Spatial Personas, a more lifelike enhancement of the Persona feature for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, available in the visionOS 1.1 update coming Tuesday.

In beta test versions of the software, Spatial Personas allow Vision Pro users to create and interact with customizable, free-floating 3D digital avatars in virtual spaces. They enhance collaboration via SharePlay while going beyond the limits of a little box on a FaceTime call.

Apple TV+ just added two dozen more classic movies to its limited-time collection, including three John Wick films, the original Ghostbusters, a pair of Transformers movies and more.

They join an existing selection of films available to the streaming service’s subscribers, as well as all the content Apple TV+ itself produces or buys.

It’s almost time for spring cleaning — and that can and should include tidying up your Mac’s files. If you want to do the job right, try professional software like Mac Washing Machine X9 from Intego’s robust software suite.

Google is reportedly required to delete the data it gathered while millions of users of its Chrome web bowser were in Incognito mode as part of settling a lawsuit.

Moving forward, the company will continue to track Chrome users in Incognito mode — while making it clearer that is what is happening.

The new Apple TV+ trailer for LA-noir detective series Sugar asks an important question: Who is John Sugar? Well, apparently, the gumshoe played by Colin Farrell is a tough dude who “does one thing and one thing only: Find the missing.”

A legendary film producer played by veteran actor James Cromwell utters the line in the trailer, which Apple TV+ dropped Sunday. Having cast members like Cromwell adds some serious gravitas to a moody and engrossing-looking series (as if Farrell wasn’t enough).

You can see the new Sugar trailer, and the previous one, below. They should whet your appetite for some good ol’ fashioned-yet-contemporary LA crime noir. It comes up from time to time to great acclaim (see LA Confidential among others).

The new Elgato Facecam Mk.2, successor to the company’s popular Facecam webcam for creators and streamers, just came out. Improved picture quality, a new privacy shutter and other enhancements appear to make it a worthy upgrade. And that’s especially true because it carries a lower price than Facecam did at its launch.

We see many, many dual-display computer setups in our coverage, with the vast majority being two screens of the same size, whether they’re oriented differently or not. But that’s not always the case. Today’s M1 Pro MacBook Pro and Windows laptop rig sports different-size dual displays that even have different resolutions. But it works for the user, a systems engineer who works for a software developer.

Apple is investigating whether its wearable can prevent some of 4,000 drowning deaths every year in the United States. An engineer proposed a system for an Apple Watch to detect if the swimmer wearing it is in distress and send an alert to nearby iPhones.

The plan fits with Apple’s goal to bring more health-related features to Apple Watch.

Apple offers iCloud plans for iPhone and Mac users who need a bit of extra storage capacity, and other plans for those who want a huge amount. But there’s a noticeable gap in the middle the company should really fill.

The lack of a 1TB iCloud+ storage plan is painfully evident. Adding it would be a boon to many users, and to Apple, too.

Today is World Backup Day — a fine opportunity to lobby for the additional tier.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Now that Apple set a date for WWDC24, it’s time for the speculation to begin. Artificial intelligence undoubtedly will be on the agenda. But what will Apple’s AI push look like?

Join us for a whirlwind discussion.

Also on The CultCast:

• Sounds like iOS 18 will give iPhone owners even more control over their Home Screens.
• A flaw in Apple’s M-series processors sounds downright disturbing.
• Apple’s got a trick up its sleeve to keep you from annoying iPhone upgrades.
• And the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple makes some truly ludicrous claims.

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.

Comparing the Apple TV vs. Roku vs. other smart TV products, there are a lot of good reasons to stick with Apple’s offering — even though it’s more expensive.

Roku is the more popular product, selling plug-in devices for as little as $30. And if you buy a new TV today, it’s probably running Roku or Google TV software. Although the latest Apple TV 4K is a pricey $129, it offers better privacy protection, it’s easily controlled with your iPhone and Apple Watch, makes FaceTime calls, plays better games and runs faster.

Check out our latest video or keep reading.

Google let slip that Apple will fulfill its promise to add support for Rich Communication Services to the iPhone Messages app “in the fall of 2024.”

That almost certainly means iPhone and Android users will enjoy higher quality cross-platform texting with the release of iOS 18 and not before.

A smartphone giant just came out with its first car. No, Apple hasn’t about-faced on its plans to scrap its decade-long Project Titan car program. Instead, Chinese tech behemoth Xiaomi unveiled a sporty electric vehicle Thursday it hopes will rival those made by Porsche and Tesla. It’s the Xiaomi SU7 EV series.