Apple fans are just like everybody else. In a world filled with digital documents, job applications and more, we often need to deal with PDF files. But instead of spending a ton of money on big-name software, or hunting around for severely limited free apps, wouldn’t you rather try the efficient and effective Afirstsoft PDF app for Apple users?

At a quarter the annual cost of Adobe Acrobat, Afirstsoft PDF helps you view, annotate, edit, convert, scan and organize PDF files. And its artificial intelligence feature analyzes and summarizes PDF files for you in seconds. Even better, you can use it across Mac, iPhone and iPad with ease (Windows and Android, too). And you can save even more money with special discounts for new users (see below).

The recent return of the iconic Beats Pill portable Bluetooth speaker wasn’t just a typical product update, but a complete overhaul to help cement Beats’ identity as a premium-products subsidiary of the iPhone giant, according to a new interview with Apple executives.

“We wanted to do something special with the Pill and completely re-architect and reimagine it,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple VP of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports and Beats. “It wasn’t a case [of] let’s swap out one or two things. We really wanted a complete refresh. This is a completely new product inside, and outside as well.”

If you’re not yet all in on USB-C, the Waloo Portable Foldable Charging Dock is a great way to keep your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods topped off at home or on the road. The compact multi-charger comes with two built-in Lightning connectors and an Apple Watch charging puck. It’s a little bigger than your iPhone, folds flat for easy transport, and costs a shockingly low $14.99.

The Apple TV+ streaming service earned more Emmy Award nominations than it ever has before. There were 72 noms for 16 different shows, including The Morning Show, Palm Royale, Lessons in Chemistry, Slow Horses, Loot, Hijack and many more.

“We are so thankful to the Television Academy for honoring our storytellers with a record number of Emmy nominations today,” said Jamie Erlicht, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video.

An innovative case that turns your Apple Watch into a pseudo iPod is now available to order for $79.99. The tinyPod is a clever case that houses your Apple Watch, turning it into a music player you carry in your pocket rather than strapped to your wrist.

Plus, since it’s an Apple Watch rather than an actual iPod, it comes with some features that Apple’s groundbreaking MP3 player never did.

Apple has rejected reports of training Apple Intelligence and its AI model on YouTube videos without the creators’ consent. The company says OpenELM, its open language model, does not power Apple Intelligence.

Instead, it created OpenELM as a way to contribute to the development of open source large language models.

FolderFort is an affordable alternative to Google Drive. And with this limited-time deal, this cloud storage service is even easier on your wallet. Right now, you can get 1TB of cloud storage with a lifetime FolderFort subscription for just $69.97 (regularly $251.64).

Unlike Google Drive, with FolderFort, you only pay once, and you’re set for life. And when it comes to pricing, there’s no comparison. Google Drive charges nearly half that much per year, for one-fifth the storage. And Apple One bundles — which admittedly add in things like Apple TV+ and Apple Music — cost even more.

A big upgrade is a special occasion for any computer setup. And today’s featured M2 Max Mac Studio rig saw major changes recently, including a boost to audio quality courtesy of a legendary audio brand. Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 speakers joined the desktop mix.

A new Apple initiative addresses California’s housing-affordability crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company said Wednesday. In partnership with the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund, Sobrato Philanthropies and Destination: Home, Apple launched the Bay Area Housing Innovation Fund with an initial investment of $50 million.

The fund aims to accelerate affordable housing development by providing targeted, favorable loans to developers. It’s part of Apple’s larger $2.5 billion commitment to tackle housing affordability issues across the company’s home state.

With the recently-released PC emulator UTM SE, you can now emulate Windows on iPad directly. You can revisit old PC games, just like how you can use Delta to play old Nintendo games. You can also install Mac OS 9 or Linux. With Ubuntu, Debian or other versions of Linux, you can run all kinds of open-source software for getting real work or programming projects done.

But bad news: You can’t use it to run macOS Sonoma on your iPad. There’s some confusion about this, but unfortunately the long-held dream of turning your iPad into a Mac will have to wait for another day.

Setting it up is a little finicky — but the reward of seeing that classic Windows XP desktop on your iPad can make it all worth it. Keep reading to see how it works.

With eight states running sales tax holidays in coming weeks, Apple specified on Wednesday which of its products will qualify for tax-exempt status and in which states. The sale dates vary depending on the state, with the tax waiver helping consumers potentially save hundreds of dollars on Macs, iPads and Apple accessories.

Find out which states offer the discounts, and on what products, below.

Cameras that beam still images and video to iPhones and other smartphones make it easy to keep tabs on your home or business from anywhere. Security cams, video doorbells and other types of cameras can connect to your phone, letting you view live footage 24/7.

Here are a few secret tricks and gestures that will help you get around your iPhone faster. These hidden gestures help you text pictures to your friends faster, scroll through big pages and screens, type special characters and use your phone one-handed.

This is a follow-up to an earlier article with three other secret iPhone gestures you need to know. Learn all of these gestures and you’ll feel like an iPhone power user.

New game Roia challenges players to guide a river down a mountain by rearranging the terrain. It’s another unique premise from Emoak, a team of developers with a history of creating standout games.

I spent a couple of hours playing it on my iPhone, and found the game to be demanding but also relaxing. And not like anything I’ve played before.

This is traditionally the best time of year to buy portable power stations and solar generators for summer camping and hurricane preparedness. And now there’s another big reason to pull the trigger on a power purchase: Amazon Prime Day. Bluetti’s Prime Day deals on power stations, backup batteries and more mean you can assemble the perfect system for your needs — and save tons of money from July 16 to July 21.

Looking for good Bluetooth headphones that won’t throttle your wallet? In this Edifier W830NB headphones review, I look at Edifier’s latest noise canceling set. They might just be your ticket to affordable listening.

Following up on its W820NB model, Edifier packs serious punch for the price in this $80 pair (or $63 for Amazon Prime Day!). Just don’t expect them to beat out top-shelf cans from the likes of Apple and Sony.

iOS 18’s redesigned Photos app will gain a Recovered album to help you restore damaged photos or videos. It will only show up when the app detects corrupted media not in your photo library.

The new Recovered album will appear under the Utilities section of the Photos app.

With a market capitalization above $3.6 trillion, Apple regained the title of world’s most valuable publicly traded company. The Mac-maker is valued well above Microsoft and Nvidia, both of which had been valued higher earlier this year.

A recent sharp rise in AAPL share value seems to indicate that investors are optimistic that a surge in iPhone sales is on the horizon.

Today’s M3 MacBook Air setup features a retro-cool speaker unlike most you’ll see in workstations. When people look beyond the laptop for sound, the usual answer is bookshelf speakers. But the doctor who runs this MacBook Air and iPad Pro setup likes an unusual choice — an Edifier desktop speaker called the MP230.

Apple just replaced the space gray HomePod mini with a new midnight color option. Monday’s change to the company’s smart speaker lineup is hardly monumental — you might not even be able to see the difference.

Still, the new midnight HomePod mini is also “green.” Apple made it using 100% recycled mesh fabric.

Apple’s revenue in India hit an all-time high of nearly $8 billion in the last fiscal year. The company reported a 33% jump in revenues, up from $6 billion a year ago.

iPhones led the growth, accounting for over half of all Apple devices sold in India.

The first PC emulator for iOS is now available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro. Free app UTM SE allows you to run “classic software and old-school games.”

Apple first rejected the developer’s submission in June, citing a violation of the App Store Review Guidelines. However, Apple appears to have changed its stance regarding PC emulators on the App Store since then.

It takes a lot more than wanting to be Billy Joel to become a piano player. You need passion, time, motivation and an excellent instructor (and, uh, a piano). But traditional piano lessons might not fit into your schedule. Plus, they can get expensive if you’re serious about learning. Luckily, if you buy a piano lesson app like Skoove, you can learn how to play piano by yourself.

Skoove lets you practice with hands-on piano lessons and AI software that listens to your playing. Get all this and more in a lifetime subscription for only $120 (regularly $300). That’s the lowest price found on the web! But you must use code SAVENOW by July 21 to get this price.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We dissect the latest Apple rumors, which go from incredible bummer (Apple Watch) to potential breakthroughs (iPhone and HomePod).

Also on The CultCast:

• The latest iOS 18 beta brings some welcome new changes.
• A teaser trailer and a release date get us psyched for season two of Severance.
• Griffin tells us all about a keyboard with a peculiar name in a new Under Review segment.

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.

iPad users, get your game on. The Delta retro game emulator that launched for iPhone in the spring is now out for Apple tablets, too.

The software can handle ROMs originally for the classic Game Boy plus NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS.