Update: Apple confirmed its plan to sell ads in Apple Maps when it announced the upcoming launch of Apple Business on Tuesday.

“Beginning this summer in the U.S. and Canada, businesses will have a new way to be discovered by using Apple Business to create ads on Maps,” the company said in a press release. “Ads on Maps will appear when users search in Maps, and can appear at the top of a user’s search results based on relevance, as well as at the top of a new Suggested Places experience in Maps, which will display recommendations based on what’s trending nearby, the user’s recent searches, and more. Ads will be clearly marked to ensure transparency for Maps users.”

Apple’s website says ads in Apple Maps are “coming soon.”

Previously: Apple’s getting ready to roll out advertising in its Maps application as part of a broader effort to grow its already substantial services revenue, according to a new report Monday. An announcement about plans to bring ads to Maps could come as early as this month.

Apple is expanding its push into workplace services with the introduction of Apple Business, a new platform designed to give companies a single place to manage devices, communicate with customers, and grow their presence across Apple’s ecosystem.

Announced Tuesday, Apple Business bundles tools that have traditionally been spread across multiple services. The platform includes device management features for iPhones, iPads and Macs, along with business email, customer communication tools, and new ways for companies to appear in apps like Apple Maps.

“Apple Business is a significant leap forward in our decades-long commitment to helping companies of all sizes leverage the power of Apple products and services to run and grow,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of enterprise and education marketing, in a press release. “We’ve unified Apple’s strongest business offerings into one simple, secure platform, delivering key features for organizations in every stage and sector, including built-in device management, collaboration tools, and additional ways to reach new customers.”

March 24, 1997: The Newton MessagePad 2000 brings major upgrades to Apple’s PDA line, including a far better display and a much faster processor.

The best MessagePad yet by a wide margin, it quickly becomes a critical and commercial success. But it won’t be enough to save the doomed product line.

Accessory maker Ugreen just expanded its lineup with two new Thunderbolt 5 docking stations targeting professionals, creators and power users who demand the most from their Mac setups. The flagship Maxidok 17-in-1 ($389.99 at Ugreen, normally $499.99) and formidable-but-less-so Maxidok 10-in-1 ($249.99 at Ugreen, normally $299.99) just became available Tuesday on Amazon after initial release earlier in March.

Your iPad is fun and relaxing, but it can also be the heart of a compact workstation with the Satechi OntheGo Foldable Stand Hub. This holds up your tablet while simultaneously expanding its connectivity with five additional ports.

It’s so useful in the office, it’s easy to forget the accessory folds down so you can take it with you. Satechi says it’s made for creatives on the move.

I tested the stand+hub in my home office and when traveling. Here’s what I found.

Update: The sophisticated DarkSword hacking technique that came to light last week — capable of silently taking over iPhones the moment a user visits an infected website — just got worse for Apple users running older software, TechCrunch reported Monday.

Someone leaked versions of DarkSword on code-sharing site GitHub. That means DarkSword attacks likely will increase — especially since iOS expertise is not required to deploy the technique.

“This is bad. They are way too easy to repurpose,” iVerify co-founder Matthias Frielingsdorf told TechCrunch. “I don’t think that can be contained anymore. So we need to expect criminals and others to start deploying this.”

Apple spokesperson Sarah O’Rourke reminded people that “keeping software up to date is the single most important thing you can do to maintain the security of your Apple products.” So if you haven’t updated to the latest iOS for your device, do so now.

Every MacBook boasts industry-leading battery life. But everything comes to an end. It may take a full day or more, but MacBooks do eventually run out of charge. 

If you want to take your M5 Max MacBook Pro to the coffee shop to get work done, and you leave your power cable at home — even if you’re editing 8K ProRes video streams in Final Cut Pro — you still might be ordering breakfast, lunch and staying for dinner. 

Of course, that low battery warning always comes at the most inopportune time. With that in mind, there are a few tricks to get even more unplugged time with your MacBook. Keep reading or watch our quick video.

The Ultimate 2026 Cybersecurity Training Bundle preps you for certification exams for CompTIA and Microsoft. It gives you a foolproof way to study for key certifications and build real skills without paying for an expensive bootcamp or short-term courses over and over again.

It’s an affordable, accessible way to jump-start your IT career. And right now, it’s on sale for just $42.50 with code MARCH15 (regularly $199). Note: You also can use the MARCH15 code to save an extra 15% off many other items in the Cult of Mac Deals store through March 29.

Anyone thinking about adding a portable SSD to their Mac or iPad would be wise to make that purchase soon. Prices for the external storage devices are already on the rise.

Why? For the same reason that Apple needed to raise prices for its newest MacBooks.

The annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26) will take place June 8–12, according to an update Monday on the Apple Developer website — setting the stage for what promises to be one of the company’s most anticipated software events in years. The event will mark the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27 and more.

March 23, 1992: The “headless” Macintosh LC II arrives, wooing value-oriented customers with a beguiling mix of updated internals and budget pricing.

Designed to take up minimal space underneath a monitor (sold separately), the Mac LC II is destined to become a hit. In retrospect, the entry-level machine is roughly analogous to today’s Mac mini.

Apple AirTag deal alert! Now that second-gen AirTags are here, the original model is on close-out. A four-pack of these essential Bluetooth trackers now costs a whopping 39% less than the list price on Amazon right now.

That means you can currently pick up an AirTags four-pack for $59.99, or $39 off. That’s $15 apiece — not the usual $29.

A newly uncovered video from July 1999 captures Steve Jobs speaking candidly to Apple employees just days after the launch of the wildly successful iBook G3. It offers an unfiltered window into the mind of a CEO who had just pulled a company back from the brink.

The iPhone Air accomplished one of the goals Apple surely had for it: It’s reportedly outselling the device it replaced — and by a wide margin. That said, the super-slim iPhone hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm.

Still, it’s far from the flop that some critics labeled it.

Following in Google’s footsteps, Samsung added AirDrop support to its newest flagship phones: the Galaxy S26 series. This enables iPhone and Galaxy S26 users to transfer files between devices seamlessly.

Top be clear, Google and Samsung enabled AirDrop support in Quick Share without Apple’s help. 

March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD, the first device from the company that doesn’t require a computer to work.

A portable CD player that also works as an external CD drive for Macs, it offers a glimpse of the extremely lucrative path Apple will follow a decade later. However, the PowerCD itself will ultimately fail to take off.

This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: The surprise release of AirPods Max 2 gives us plenty to talk about (including all the things Apple didn’t fix about the high-end headphones).

Plus, special guest Christina Warren (developer advocate at GitHub and co-host of the MacBreak Weekly podcast) joins us for a deep dive into one of Leander’s favorite topics — OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent that’s got everyone snapping up Mac minis, and the rise of agentic coding.

Also on the Cult of Mac podcast:

• More on the MacBook Neo, including why every Mac owner should be thrilled that it comes with just 8GB of unified memory.
• Griffin reviews the new Studio Display XDR and iPhone 17e.

Listen to this week’s episode of the Cult of Mac podcast 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 version, embedded below.

Stuck using an older version of Microsoft Office? This offer gets you a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for just $52.97 with code MARCH15. With a low one-time payment, you can bid farewell to Microsoft 365’s pesky recurring subscription fees. You’ll never need to pay again for Microsoft’s widely used software for work and school.

And if you need Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, you can secure a lifetime license for even less: just $35.97 using the same code. (Note: You also can use code MARCH15 to save 15% on almost every item in the Cult of Mac Deals store through March 29.)

March 21, 2007: Apple launches the Apple TV, a gleaming-white set-top box with a remote control, for bringing iTunes media to the living room.

Unfortunately, the device lacks key features needed to make it a killer entertainment system. It’s something of a missed opportunity for Apple.

CEO Tim Cook says Apple just had its “best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers.” That means the MacBook Neo is doing exactly what it was designed to do: bring in people who have never owned a Mac before.

The first entry-level macOS notebook launched on March 11, and Apple can’t keep up with demand. Orders placed today come with wait times of several weeks.

March 20, 1997: Apple launches its Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, a futuristic, special-edition Mac that’s ahead of its time in every way. Not part of any established Mac line, it brings a look (and a price!) unlike anything else available — and Apple delivers them to buyers in a limo!

And yet the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh promptly bombs. Today, it’s a collector’s piece.

An analyst’s report shows Apple’s new MacBook Neo is even more affordable than it first appears. The total cost of ownership is about half that of comparable Windows PCs.

It may sound counterintuitive at first — how can a $599 Mac be half the cost of a $599 PC? — but the analyst showed that the typical lifespan of a Mac is so much longer than that of a Windows PC that the Apple model costs much less over time.

The iMac has always occupied a special place in Apple’s lineup — a beautifully integrated all-in-one desktop computer that bundles a 4.5K Retina display, camera, speakers and microphone into a single elegant slab of aluminium with color-matched accessories.

Yet despite the machine’s considerable visual appeal, iMac setups are a surprisingly rare sight in Cult of Mac‘s long-running Setups section. I noted in March 2025 that, out of 616 Setups articles written over more than four years at that time, only 11 featured an iMac as the centrepiece. That’s partly due to the fact that Apple desktop sales. They made up just 14% of Mac sales in 2024, while MacBooks accounted for a whopping 86%.

Apple had years to refine its high-end headphones, the AirPods Max. But with the just-announced AirPods Max 2, the company played it safe.

An upgrade to Apple’s H2 chip brings some notable new features to AirPods Max 2. However, with many of the original model’s shortcomings still present, the revamp feels like a missed opportunity.

Google has begun internally testing a dedicated Gemini app for macOS. While the company continues to improve its AI tool almost every other week, the lack of a native Mac app limits its full potential.

A dedicated app will make Gemini more accessible and better integrated into everyday workflows on macOS.