Apple Wallet will soon be able to turn Apple Cash into a virtual debit card. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple Cash will soon give shoppers everything they need to make purchases online. Starting with iOS 17.4, a debit card number can be created for the financial service, along with the usual associated details.
This will be a boon for those who depend on the digital payment system, especially teenagers.
Put old DVDs on your Mac in minutes with this $31.97 ripper. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Still got a stack of DVDs gathering dust in the garage? Far too many of us throw them away or dump them at the thrift store, assuming it’ll be too much of a timesuck to convert them to digital format. If you’re using default Mac software, you’re probably right — but not if you’re using a great Mac DVD ripper.
With a license to MacX DVD Ripper Pro, you can put that old video on your digital screen for good with surprising speed. Plus, you can even improve upon the original — all for less than $32 through February 18.
The life expectancy of these airmen was not high. Photo: Apple
When I was a kid, I had a thing for historical aircraft. I especially loved the smooth lines of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. And it played a big role in ending World War II, as shown in Masters of the Air on Apple TV+, the final installment in Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s World War II filmmaking trilogy.
Despite massive challenges, the plane and its crews’ strategic bombing helped bring down Adolf Hilter and the Nazi regime, shortening a horrific ground war.
And yet as good as the series is, sometimes it lands just short of the runway, like a beat-up B-17 losing its landing gear and grinding to a halt. Will it blow up? Maybe, maybe not. But is Masters of the Air worth watching? Hell yes.
Apple's headset is still a work in progress. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
Apple insiders think the Vision Pro is at least four generations away from reaching its “ideal form.” Apple still needs to do a lot of work behind the scenes before the headset can potentially become as popular as an iPhone or Mac.
While the first-gen headset has issues, it is an impressive first try from Apple.
The App Store also recommends Paramount+ for watching the 2024 Super Bowl. Image: Apple/Paramount
The 2024 Super Bowl is Sunday, and football fans can watch via their favorite Apple device. Maybe it’s on an Apple TV connected to the big screen in your living room, or you might need to watch on your iPhone because you have to be at work tonight.
Whatever your setup is, here are the best ways to stream the big game.
Erfon has some thoughts about the Vision Pro. Photo: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: After spending a few days with Apple’s headset, Erfon and Griffin are ready to unleash their initial Vision Pro reviews. They’ve got some gushing praise, some mild concerns and some unmitigated gripes.
Also on The CultCast:
A sad Vision Pro “demo” shows why you should never try the headset with your glasses on. Book a real Apple demo instead!
The technology in Apple’s headset is astonishing. So are the immersive experiences. But is all that enough to justify the price?
Griffin talks about doing actual work while wearing Vision Pro.
Erfon reveals his grand plan for a new podcast called CultCast Off Topic.
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.
For most cases, laser printers outshine inkjet printers. Here's how to find the best laser printer for Mac. Photo: Cult of Mac
What is the best laser printer for Mac users? When choosing between laser or inkjet, we recommend laser. Laser printers used to be prohibitively expensive, but prices have come down, and you’ll have fewer headaches. Inkjet printers are better for photos but are a pain to own. Replacement ink costs a fortune, the heads clog, and they dry out if the printer isn’t in regular use.
Laser printers, on the other hand, can sit idle for weeks without problems. They cost more up front, but are often cheaper to own in the long-run.
In this guide, we’ll explore which brand of printer works best with Mac and top laser printers that are fully compatible with macOS, whether you need a printer for your personal use, a home office or a small business.
Criminals can't yet steal an Apple car, but they can steal secrets of its technology. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
An Apple employee who tried to head for China with stolen secrets about Apple’s self-driving car was sentenced to four months in prison and a $147,000 fine.
He’s one of two people caught attempting industrial espionage on technical details of the upcoming autonomous vehicle.
Is this the future of working out? Probably not. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
People have been spotted wearing Apple’s Vision Pro headset at gyms. I was curious whether they had unlocked a secret killer feature or whether they were bearing through aches and pains just to show off. What’s it really like working out wearing a Vision Pro?
To find out, I hopped on a treadmill, lifted some weights and did some crunches while wearing the headset to discover the pros and cons of wearing a Vision Pro while working out. Check out our latest YouTube video to see what it’s like first-person.
The overall experience proved unsurprisingly mixed — with one very surprising drawback.
Belkin's new combo power bank and wall charger can cover plenty of your charging needs. Photo: Belkin
Belkin rolled out a new portable 2-in-1 charger Thursday that should suit people who travel a lot or work in different places, like hybrid employees, because it’s both a wall charger and a power bank. It’s the Belkin BoostCharge Hybrid Wall Charger 25W + Power Bank 5K, great for keeping devices like iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch going.
It’s set to start shipping on Valentine’s Day, February 14. And no, we’re not saying it’s a romantic gift idea.
Today's user relies on Loupedeck Live for photo and video editing tasks. Photo: Loupedeck
The other day we featured an M1 Ultra Mac Studio setup. We wanted to loop back to call out a couple of cool components in it — namely, a Loupedeck streaming media console and a Keychron Q1 Pro Mechanical Keyboard. It turns out Loupedeck Live is great for video editing (photos, too!).
Use promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com to score hearty savings on Microsoft software. Photo: CdkeySales.com
Love is a many-splendored thing, the old song says. And mid-February means many sweet deals on Microsoft products you’ll love in CdkeySales.com’s Valentine’s Day Sale. Bargains galore await on Microsoft productivity software like Windows and Office. You’ll be smitten.
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You can find attractively low prices at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com now and throughout the year. To get the most savings in the Valentine’s Day Sale, enter promo code CULT. That cuts an additional 30% off the site’s low prices on software keys. And what’s more, when you buy Windows 10, you get a free upgrade to Windows 11.
"Foundation" is known for epic visuals but not a huge budget. Photo: Apple TV+
Despite the sci-fi epic Foundation being a huge hit for Apple TV+, the restart of filming for season three has reportedly been postponed as producers look for ways to trim the budget.
The news is somewhat surprising, as leaks indicated that the series was costing less than many might expect.
FaceTime on Vision Pro puts people around the room in your space. Photo: Apple
Making a FaceTime call in Vision Pro is a bit more involved than on iPhone or Mac. After all, you have a computer strapped onto your face, which is not typical with other devices.
Step 0, of course, is setting up your Persona — the dynamic, digital version of yourself that Vision Pro uses for FaceTime calls. If you didn’t create a Persona during the Vision Pro setup process, or your Persona looks less fantastic than you’d like, we wrote a separate explainer for you: How to create your Persona in Vision Pro (or make it better).
Once your Persona is set, here’s how to FaceTime in Vision Pro.
Click both top buttons to take a screenshot. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You can take a screenshot or a screen recording on Vision Pro, just like on an iPhone or a Mac. The screenshot is saved as an image file, and is easy to view in Photos or share.
The update across Apple device OS software fixes a problem with overlapping text. Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Apple made an unexpected software update available Thursday with a bug fix across devices, releasing macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, iOS 17.3.1, iPadOS 17.3.1 and watchOS 10.3.1 for users to install.
The fix relates to text that automatically duplicates or overlaps in various apps, like Safari, Mail and Messages.
WaterField's new Vision Pro carrying case is more compact than Apple's Travel Case, and it comes in more design choices. Photo: WaterField Designs
Apple offers a $199 Travel Case as an accessory for its new Vision Pro spatial computing headset, but Waterfield Designs just came out with a much smaller and more portable one — the Vision Pro Shield Case.
The first production run of WaterField’s cool new case is already sold out, but you can order it now and it will ship on February 29, the company said.
Tap your fingers to select in Vision Pro. Photo: Apple
Apple Vision Pro is controlled by just five simple gestures you do with your hands. The Vision Pro gestures even work in the dark!
If you’re going to try on someone’s Vision Pro, or you’re lucky enough to buy one yourself, here’s how to use what Apple calls “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.”
While Vision Pro takes a physical form resembling ski goggles, the whole idea is that, unlike with a MacBook or iPhone, you don’t have a screen, keyboard, mouse or trackpad to interact with. It’s an invisible computer. Apple has a bunch of breakthrough gestures to make it work — here’s how to use them.
It's another sign Cupertino is very serious about competing in artificial intelligence. Photo: Cult of Mac
When it comes to deploying artificial intelligence in products, companies like Google might seem quicker on the draw than Apple. But no major tech company bought more AI startups than the iPhone-maker in 2023, according to a new report.
That suggests Apple might soon become a leader in generative AI rather than playing catch-up.
Windows users with an iPhone, grab the Apple Music app today. Screenshot: Apple
Windows users can now download full versions of the Apple Music and Apple TV applications, as well as a new Apple Devices app. They make the venerable iTunes app almost obsolete.
The software combination is the new way to manage an iPhone or iPad on a Windows PC.
After a few days of testing, here’s what I noticed after trying to work on a Vision Pro. Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Can you get real work done inside a Vision Pro? Yes — although it comes with many asterisks.
It’s closely correlated to how much work you can do entirely on the web without specialized apps, although the virtual Mac display can smooth that down a bit. Surprisingly, typing in Vision Pro is great.
Working on Vision Pro has its annoyances, quirks and limitations, but I think Apple has built a very solid foundation here for a version-one product.
Capturing incredibly immersive spatial photos and videos starts with a click of the Vision Pro's top button to launch the Capture app. Photo: Apple
Spatial photos and videos look incredibly lifelike in full 3D while wearing an Apple Vision Pro headset. But how do you take photos with Vision Pro? It might be confusing at first since there’s no Camera app in the headset. Instead, Vision Pro uses a new Capture app.
But don’t worry. Any photos or videos you take with Vision Pro will sync to your Photos library. And they’re fully compatible with your other Apple devices, although you’ll only see them there in a boring two dimensions, like it’s still 2023. Yawn.
M3 MacBook Pro hits Apple's refurbished store. Photo: Apple
You can now buy the 14-inch MacBook Pro with M3 chip from Apple’s Certified Refurbished store. The machine launched less than four months ago, in late October 2023.
While the M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pros also debuted in October, they are not listed for sale on Apple’s refurbished store.
Upgrade your Nintendo Switch setup with a special offer on this 3-in-1 docking station. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Released in 2017, the Nintendo Switch remains a popular hybrid gaming system that allows for play at home or on the move. While the device itself is familiar, accessories present new possibilities.
For a limited time, you can pick up a 3-in-1 Nintendo Switch Docking Station for only $19.99 (regularly $24). For that low price, you’ll gain a fresh experience with the gaming console you already own. This deal makes it easier than ever to improve your Nintendo Switch experience.