Apple just made a major change to its standard warranty terms for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Going forward, the company will no longer cover a single hairline crack under its warranty.

Instead, users must pay for the repair or claim accidental damage under their AppleCare plan.

Apple had a great day in the stock market on Wednesday, with its market capitalization once again surpassing the $3 trillion mark. But chip-maker Nvidia had an even better day and passed Apple’s market cap for the first time ever.

The result is that Apple, which spent years as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company, is now in third place. To see how Apple’s apple market cap has evolved over time, check out this detailed analysis.

UPDATE June 6: The funny part about stocks is they go up and down. The market capitalization of both Apple and Nvidia dropped below $3 trillion on Thursday. But NVDA dropped even more so AAPL is once again the second most valuable publicly traded company behind Microsoft.

The iPhone’s StandBy feature is great and all. But anyone who has fumbled around in the dark to turn off their iPhone alarm knows the importance of a good, solid alarm clock. In terms of design and functionality, this LED alarm clock is a keeper. Its mirrored LED screen and futuristic design make it look like something from a sci-fi flick.

With this large-format clock, you’ll know at a glance what time it is and when to wake up. You can now grab this stylish and functional LED alarm clock for only $19.97 (regularly $32).

Those in Europe and Asia eager to get an Apple Vision Pro supposedly won’t have to wait much longer. Consumers in more than half a dozen countries will reportedly be able to buy the AR/VR headset in about a week.

The product launched in the U.S. this winter, but an announcement of broader availability isn’t expected until June 10 at WWDC24.

In a surprising incident at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, an Apple Watch played a pivotal role in helping a determined passenger track down her stolen luggage when Spirit Airlines couldn’t.

You expect this sort of thing from AirTag, a dedicated tracker. But this time, an Apple Watch and the Find My network came to the rescue.

Some people are happy typing away on quiet membrane keyboards like Apple’s Magic Keyboard. Others are obsessed with pimping out their clickity-clackety mechanical keebs with the exact key caps, switches and design flourishes they prefer. Today’s M3 Pro MacBook Pro setup goes for the latter style with a Keychron Q2 custom mechanical keyboard.

It’s an excellent, moderately affordable option in a crowded market.

Apple will add an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI to iPhone and Mac, according to an unconfirmed report. But users of these devices won’t be forced to use it.

And that goes for more than the chatbot. Apparently, Apple will give users the option to pass on all the upcoming artificial intelligence features. The company plans to showcase its big AI push at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week.

These transparent earbuds look cool. But they’re also packed with fantastic features that make them a great for any music lover, busy professional or techie. On sale for just $39.99 (regularly $59.99), these sleek earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.3 with enhanced data rate capabilities, aka EDR. This technology offers faster pairing and a more stable connection, which can let you enjoy a more seamless audio streaming experience and crystal-clear calls.

Apple held talks with China Mobile in 2023 to bring Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade to China. If the two parties agree, Apple will gain access to over 200 million of China Mobile’s broadband and TV customers.

It is unclear whether Apple and China Mobile are still in talks and have reached an agreement.

Whether it’s wedged between the cushions or kicked far under the couch, a handy-dandy feature in iOS 17 and tvOS 17 lets you find your lost Apple TV remote using your iPhone.

Sure, you can take the L and simply use your iPhone or Apple Watch to control your Apple TV. But I like having the physical remote on hand, too.

The mind races when one imagines how many hours of human life might have been saved if everyone had this feature 30 years ago. Let me show you how to find your AWOL Apple TV remote with your iPhone.

iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AirPods … the more Apple gear we collect, the more important is it to have a multiple-charging cable. The inCharge X Max — a six-in-one cable with Lightning, USB-C and more — cuts down on the clutter in your bag with its compact design and multiple connections.

As the Cult of Mac review of the inCharge X says, these cables are “adaptable enough to enable almost any type of Apple device to get power from almost any charger.” And for a limited time, you can get one of these multi-tip cables at a new low price: just $19.97 with code INCHARGE.

Apple Watch shipments dropped almost 20% year over year in the first quarter of 2024. Market analysts blame some of the decline on Apple being temporarily forced to halt sales of its most recent wearables in a patent dispute over blood oxygen monitoring in units sold in the United States.

AirPods sales also declined in Q1 2024 but for a different reason.

Last chance: Save a whopping 40% on SwitchEasy’s great Skin Silicone Magnetic Apple Watch Band. For just $17.99 (regularly $29.99), you can get a great-looking magnetic band that’s super comfortable and great for the office or the gym. But hurry: The sale ends soon.

The Skin Silicone band is a great example of a comfortable, stylish, durable and easy-to-adjust band. We gave it four-and-a-half stars in our hands-on review. The magnetic closure keeps it secure on your wrist, while getting it on or off is a snap. And the soft silicone feels great.

It’s a hot seller, and we have it on sale exclusively for Cult of Mac readers.

Apple Pencil Pro is the latest and greatest iPad stylus coming out of Cupertino. It adds a new “squeeze” gesture, an internal gyroscope, haptic feedback and Find My support. I’m not a digital artist, so for this iPad Pencil review, I tested the stylus by writing notes, entering text with Scribble and doing moderate editing of photographs.

Plenty of artists have reviewed the new accessory, so my goal was to answer the question, “Does a typical iPad user need Apple Pencil Pro?” Or would a cheaper alternative suffice?

Audio brands and manufacturers can now buy cutting-edge reference designs for solid-state, all-silicon micro speakers online to bring new generations of true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds and in-ear monitors (IEMs) to market faster, xMEMS Labs said Tuesday.

This is another step toward realizing the “ultrasonic revolution” I wrote about in-depth in November 2023. In it, old-school speaker technology still used even in tiny earbuds may give way to new solid-state tech providing the full sonic range digitally compressed audio has compromised.

“Steve Jobs was a digital pioneer, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl,” classic rocker and noted audiophile Neil Young once said. He was getting at all the sonic detail lost to digital compression in forms like MP3 files.

The Netflix streaming service will soon stop working on second- and third-generation Apple TV models. It’s not a shocking development as both are over a decade old.

If you’ve been looking for a reason to buy a newer tvOS device, it may have just arrived. (By coincidence, Verizon currently offers the Apple TV 4K for just $89.99.)

Apple TV+ subscribers are just as happy with their streaming service as Netflix subscribers are, according to new data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. That’s after Apple’s offering improved considerably in this year’s rankings.

But neither scored as well on the survey of U.S. consumers as Amazon Prime did.

HomePod (2nd generation) is a great smart speaker, but the $300 price tag holds some folks back. That’s $600 for a pair. But now you can get a great deal on HomePod 2 for a price of $175 for one, or two for $350, thanks to a sale at Verizon.

Sorry, not the white one, just the midnight option. But still!

A Virginia carpenter put Apple AirTag trackers on some of his tools so he could find them if they were stolen. It worked beyond his wildest expectations — he led police to what eventually turned out to be multiple collections of 15,000 stolen construction tools.

This is far from the first time an AirTag has helped locate a stolen item. But it’s never been quite this enourmously successful before.

Qualcomm tried a new spoof of a legendary Apple ad campaign Sunday, coming in 14 years late and more than a few dollars short. The new ad for Arm-powered PCs stars “I’m a Mac” actor Justin Long pretending that notifications would drive him away from his MacBook.

The ad appeared at the end of Qualcomm’s “Snapdragon Computex 2024 Keynote: The PC Reborn.” You can see it and Long’s other work for Apple and competitors below.

Some computer setups just seem to have it all. Today’s featured workstation sports a new M3 Pro MacBook Pro with hefty amounts of memory and storage, plus a speedy Thunderbolt 4 dock connected to a well-curated selection of peripherals. Even the gear stands and furniture are especially nice.

The streaming music service Spotify just increased its prices for new U.S. subscribers. The costs of most subscription options are now above those of its arch rival, Apple Music.

The new prices go into effect for current subscribers in July.

Apple will overhaul its Settings app across iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 when it unveils the updates at WWDC24, according to a report Friday. In other words, not everything at the big developers conference will be about AI.

Update: Control Center, which provides easy access to frequently used features on iPhones (as well as Macs and iPads), should see changes, too. Apple will upgrade it “with a new music widget and improvements to how it operates smart home appliances,” Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman wrote over the weekend in his PowerOn newsletter.

The iPhone 16 Pro could sport the world’s slimmest bezels on a smartphone. Its borders will apparently measure just 1.2mm, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max having even slimmer bezels at 1.15mm.

The slimmer bezels should help offset the size increase due to Apple using larger displays on its 2024 iPhones.

Don’t get your heart set on new Macs launching at WWDC24 next week. A generally reliable tipster predicts that that’ll be none unveiled at Apple’s developer conference.

And not just Macs. Supposedly the agenda includes no new hardware at all.