It’s that time of year again — back to school time. So the person who spends all your money — you and/or your beloved child — needs expensive new gadgets. Good thing Amazon offers its typical iPad 10 back-to-school deal — $299 ($50 off). And you can pick any model of Apple’s basic tablet, actually, with or without cellular coverage and up to 256GB of storage. They’re all $50 off. Click on the links below to snag these deals.

A rookie FBI agent uncovers a massive money-laundering operation in American horse racing led by Mexico’s deadly Zetas cartel, according to a trailer Apple TV+ dropped Tuesday for the documentary series Cowboy Cartel. Watch it below.

The fascinating story, featuring first-time interviews with key players, looks like a tough but satisfying ride. The series debuts on Apple TV+ on August 2.

Update: As of Friday, you can watch this documentary and see how Mexican cartel Los Zetas infiltrated American horse racing and what a rookie FBI agent tried to do about it. Reviews so far seem a bit mixed. The story itself is compelling, but the story-telling may be a little forced in its use of re-enactments, for example (according to The New York Times). But other sources, like The Daily Beast, compare it favorably to the Netflix drama Narcos, and not just as a wanna-be version.

If you’re going to sound your best on podcasts, online videos or conference calls, it helps to invest in a USB microphone. Today’s MacBook Pro setup takes advantage of a USB mic from the excellent brand Shure. And the user throws in a nice pair of Audioengine speakers for loud-and-clear playback, too.

Chargeasap Connect Pro is a charging and data cable with a built-in power meter and swappable magnetic connectors. It’s ready to power up a broad variety of devices at up to 100W, and iPhone at up to 27W.

The high-quality cable is 4.75 feet long, and it comes with three magnetic connectors. And with the meter, you always know how much current is flowing.

I tested it with my Apple devices, and a bunch of others, too. Here’s how it performed.

Apple could have another bump year in India, with its revenue reaching nearly $10 billion. iPhones will account for most of this, with projected sales of around $8.2 billion.

Revenue from non-iPhone devices should also set a new record this year.

Apple is working with regulators to bring Apple Intelligence to China and the EU. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook revealed this in response to an investor’s question during the company’s Q3 earnings call.

Cook said the company aims to “move as fast we can” to bring Apple Intelligence features to everyone.

Apple broke a string a weak quarters by announcing a 5% year-over-year increase in revenue for the June quarter Thursday, setting a new record for the quarter. iPad sales experienced an especially strong quarter, up 24%, and the company’s services sector also grew by double digits.

Apple surpassed Wall Street analysts’ revenue expectations, though iPhone sales dropped slightly when compared to the same quarter a year ago.

A federal judge should toss out an antitrust lawsuit accusing Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market because it “bears no relation to reality,” the iPhone giant said Thursday in a court filing. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have joined the lawsuit, according to a new report.

Google rolled out three new artificial intelligence (AI) features for its Chrome browser, including support for Mac users, the company said Thursday. Powered by Google’s latest AI and Gemini models, the new AI features in Chrome aim to make it easier to search visually, compare products and easily return to websites you’ve visited. If you work with colors frequently, tools like the Nix Mini can help you match and identify colors with precision.

“We’re making it even easier to search what you see with the power of Google Lens, compare products across multiple tabs and rediscover sites from your browser history,” wrote Parisa Tabriz, Google vice president, Chrome.

Frustrated game developers continue to vent about working on Apple Arcade titles, in a new report citing anonymous sources. In the story, a follow-up to one from earlier this year that noted “the smell of death around the service,” devs complain about poor communication with Apple, slow payouts, and big problems working on Vision Pro games.

The opinions expressed in the new story aren’t entirely negative, but they paint a pretty ugly portrait of Apple Arcade from some developers’ perspectives.

Looking for a sleek and reliable Apple laptop that won’t break the bank? You’re in luck, because we have a deal on a grade-A refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from 2016. Yes, it’s on Apple’s vintage list, but it’s only $399.99.

Just a day after the alleged iPhone 16 color options leaked, we now have our first glimpse of the potential iPhone 16 Pro Max colors. Apple apparently will offer its upcoming Pro iPhones in at least three shades: white, black and titanium.

Unlike in the past, it appears the company will finally adopt a deep black shade for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, giving it a stealthy look.

Ohio just became the fifth U.S. state to support digital driver’s licenses and IDs stored in the Wallet app on iPhone or Apple Watch. The major advantage is speeding up the process of moving through security checkpoints at airports.

The rollout of digital ID like this is going slowly, so the day when an iPhone can completely replace a physical wallet is still somewhere off in the misty future.

You have the opportunity to wrap yourself in a piece of Apple history: the bomber jacket Steve Jobs was wearing in an iconic photo of the Apple co-founder “flipping the bird” to an IBM sign.

It’s part of Steve Jobs and the Apple Revolution, an auction that just kicked off featuring nearly 300 items.

Analysts predict Apple will announce a jump in revenue when it reveals the financial results for the June quarter Thursday. The iPhone-maker has reported very few revenue increases in the past 18 months, so this is cause for excitement among investors.

Positive expectations helped keep Apple the world’s most valuable publicly traded company for almost three weeks now.

When you think of psychological thrillers, the first two people you picture probably aren’t Billy Crystal and Rosie Perez. But apparently they don’t just do funny — they do tense and scary, too. Apple TV+ gave a first look at the stars in upcoming thriller Beyond on Wednesday.

The new 10-episode series starring Crystal and Perez arrives on Apple TV+ on October 25.

In a surprising development that may concern Apple users, computer security researchers from Uruguay have discovered a method to reconstruct screen content by intercepting electromagnetic emissions from HDMI cables. The bad news is this HDMI cable security threat could potentially impact all devices using HDMI, including Apple gear. The “good” news is that it’s not easy to do, so individual users aren’t likely to be targets. But companies and governments might be.

Not many USB microphones favored by streamers and podcasters eclipse the big names like Shure, Sennheiser and Rode. But one example that comes close is the Blue Yeti USB mic. Once a rising mainstay in a oddball startup’s lineup, now it’s a mainstay for peripherals giant Logitech. And it remains popular and even award-winning. Today’s Mac Studio rig relies on one.

Apple expanded Emergency SOS via satellite to Japan. It allows iPhone users to communicate with emergency services from very remote locations.

The potentially life-saving feature works on all iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models, and is already available in over a dozen other countries around the globe.

Alleged iPhone 16 dummy units showing off the rear panel’s design and color options leaked in all their glory Tuesday. The picture suggests Apple will return to an iPhone 12-like vertical camera setup on its upcoming non-pro iPhones.

They also show the iPhone 16 in five colors, including pink and mint green shades.

Deadpool and Wolverine star in the blockbuster film of the summer, and you can join in the fun with iPhone cases from Casetify. These feature limited-edition designs inspired by classic comics.

There are also MacBook cases, Apple Watch bands, AirPods cases, and more with the two superheroes.

Imagine putting your iPad onto a stand and it immediately begins charging, without needing to plug it in. That’s possible with the Lululook 360 Rotating Foldable Magnetic iPad Charging Stand.

It’s very flexible, doesn’t take up the tablet’s USB-C port, and works with a variety iPad Pro and iPad Air models, including the ones released in 2024.

I love this accessory. Absolutely love it. Here’s why.

Apparently now’s the time to upgrade to a powerful 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro or M3 Max chip. Major retailers Amazon and Best Buy currently offer the same big-time deals on the killer laptops — $500 off. And it doesn’t matter what set of memory and storage specifications you go for, each machine is five Benjamins cheaper than normal.

Love your laptop but hate its small screen? You can easily triple your screen real estate on the go with the super-portable Maxfree S2 14-inch triple monitor for laptops. This laptop monitor extender adds two screens, one on either side of your laptop, quickly turning your single-screen setup into a triple-screen productivity station.

For a limited time, it’s on sale at a steep discount from Cult of Mac Deals. Get the Maxfree S2 for just $179.99 (regularly $349) in this new, open-box sale.

Apple has finally added dual external display support to the M3 MacBook Pro, nine months after its release. The latest macOS Sonoma 14.6 update enables this feature.

After the update, M3 MacBook Pro users can run two external displays simultaneously, albeit with the lid closed.