Apple Music crowned rapper Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year on Thursday, honoring the hip-hop innovator’s remarkable creative output and cultural influence over the past 12 months. With streaming minutes numbering in the billions, the guy gives new meaning to “off the charts.”

This year has been Tyler’s most successful to date across Apple Music’s platform. Between November 2024 and October 2025, fans worldwide streamed his music for more than 4.5 billion minutes, marking career highs in plays, listeners and total listening hours on the service.

Apple is kicking off the holiday shopping season with a Black Friday promotion: from November 28 through December 1, customers who purchase select Apple products will receive an Apple Gift Card worth up to $250.

While that sounds sweet, you might want to shop elsewhere.

November 20, 2007: In a milestone for iTunes movie distribution, Purple Violets becomes the first feature film to launch exclusively on Apple’s platform.

A romantic comedy directed by Edward Burns, Purple Violets stars Selma Blair, Debra Messing and Patrick Wilson. With limited offers from Hollywood’s traditional players, the filmmakers pin their hopes on iTunes distribution as an alternative way to get their movie in front of viewers.

In what may be the strangest twist in the ongoing smartphone wars, London phone thieves have developed a strong brand loyalty to iPhone. Some phone thieves return Androids, literally giving the handsets like Samsung phones back to their victims, according to a new investigation. Now why would they do that? Well, it’s mainly about economics. And good taste, of course. 

We.inc is a no-code website builder that offers numerous perks — and an affordable lifetime subscription. It’s one of the cleanest, fastest ways to build, launch and manage a website right from your Mac, iPad or iPhone, without needing to know anything about HTML or Python coding.

This deal on We.inc’s Unlimited Plan lets you build endless websites, gives you AI chatbot access, and includes a handy Social Media Suite that makes it easy to schedule posts across the most popular platforms. And you can get the whole thing for just $149.99 (a 92% savings off the MSRP of $1,899).

Love the convenience of 3-in-1 wireless chargers for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods — but wish they were faster? Well, Ugreen joined the early wave of Qi2.2 chargers with it MagFlow 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger. And that means it leaps from 15 watts (Qi2) to 25W (Qi2.2) of charging power for late-model iPhones, which makes a big difference in charging speed. And with this Ugreen MagFlow charger deal, you can get $40 off right now on Amazon. 

November 19, 2013: Apple gets final approval from the Cupertino City Council to proceed with building a massive second campus to house the iPhone-maker’s growing army of workers in California. Regarding the new Apple headquarters, Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney issues a simple message: “Go for it.”

However, the massive structure — with an innovative circular design that will earn it the nickname “the spaceship” — remains years away from opening, despite Apple’s ambitious schedule.

In several states, Apple’s state ID initiative enables iPhones and Apple Watches to hold a digital copy of the user’s driver’s license, in the same way these devices store credit cards and airline tickets. And across the United States, you can create an Apple Digital ID based on your passport that can get you through some airport security checks. 

The day when an iPhone can completely take the place of an old-fashioned wallet remains years away, but it’s a goal Apple is working toward. Apple Pay is making progress on replacing credit cards, you can put airline tickets in the Wallet app, and the same goes for loyalty cards.

But no wallet is complete unless it can hold an ID. And that’s where Apple’s digital ID initiative comes in. Here’s what you need to know to add your driver’s license, state ID or federal passport to your Apple Wallet.

Sandisk gives its new Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive the crown as “the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive.” It’s undeniably very, very small — so tiny that you can leave it plugged into your MacBook. That means it can semi-permanently boost the storage capacity of your older notebook — and at quite a good price.

I tested the miniature external SSD with a variety of Apple devices, including my iPhone. Here’s how it stood up to real-world use.

When will you be able to add your driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet on your iPhone? In the United States, it varies by where you live. It’s not up to Apple: Each state and territory maintains a completely independent registry of drivers and identification cards, so each one must independently pass legislation and implement digital IDs.

If you live in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto Rico or West Virginia, you can do it today. (Our guide will show you how to add your driver’s license to Apple Wallet.) Otherwise, check our map and lists below to see how likely your state is to let you add your ID to Apple Wallet, and when it might happen.

You can queue songs in Apple Music so the tracks you want to hear play automatically, one after another. You don’t need to wait for the song to end and manually play the next one. And if you want to start over, you can quickly clear the queue as well. 

Plus, you can let friends add songs to the queue from their own phones — even if they don’t have an Apple Music subscription. Watch our video or keep reading below.

If you’ve ever tried recording your Mac’s screen and ended up juggling multiple apps — one for video, another for audio and a third just to trim the thing — you’ll instantly get why AWZ Screen Recorder for Mac is such a big deal. It lets you record anything on your screen in crisp 4K, edit it instantly, and share it anywhere.

It’s the rare screen-capture tool that actually groks what creators, gamers and professionals need: clarity, control and zero friction. And right now, you can grab lifetime access to AWZ Screen Recorder for just $29.99 (MSRP $79.90).

Bloom is a Finder replacement that will completely change how you work with files on your Mac. 

With a refined interface that makes it feel like a native Mac app, it offers advanced features like a customizable multi-pane layout and enhanced file operations. After using Bloom for several weeks, I’m hooked. It speeds up basic tasks and makes file management on my Mac much easier.

Here’s everything this productivity-boosting Finder replacement can do.

A new open-source app called LibrePods aims to make the AirPods experience on Android nearly as good as on an iPhone.

Currently, Androids do not officially support AirPods. You can technically pair Apple’s earbuds with Android phones, but you won’t be able to access most of coolest features. 

Want to customize your Mac? MacPilot shows you how to tap into macOS’s Unix underpinnings to deliver under-the-hood tweaks and customizations that will make your Mac life simpler.

For a limited time, you can get lifetime access to MacPilot for just $27.97 with code UPDATE (regularly $99).

Illinois motorists can securely add a digital driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet, which enables them to present their ID using their iPhone or Apple Watch. The option was announced Tuesday and becomes available on Wednesday.

That makes the Prairie State the fourteenth U.S. state or territory to support Apple’s digital ID program.

Apple continues to quickly push ahead with development of its next round of operating system updates. The result: the third betas of iOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2 reached developers on Monday, and the public on Tuesday. The same goes for iPadOS 26.2 beta 3, watchOS 26.2 beta 3, tvOS 26.2 beta 3 and visionOS 26.2 beta 3.

Expect the full versions to be ready in only a few weeks.

The Clingomatic Qi2 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with Halo Light offers a simple solution for charging your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch all in one place. It’s designed to fit seamlessly on a nightstand, desk or side table, bringing a touch of modern elegance to your space. And right now, it’s on sale for just $44.99 (regularly $119.95).

Apple has achieved what many thought impossible: manufacturing millions of Apple Watch cases using 3D-printing technology with 100% recycled titanium — while cutting raw material usage in half. The breakthrough marks a significant milestone in both sustainable manufacturing and production efficiency, with the company estimating the process will save more than 400 metric tons of raw titanium this year alone.

“It wasn’t just an idea — it was an idea that wanted to become a reality,” said Kate Bergeron, Apple’s vice president of product design, in a press release Tuesday. “Once we asked the question, we immediately started testing it. We had to prove, with continuous prototyping, process optimization, and a tremendous amount of data gathering, that this technology was capable of meeting the high standard of quality we demand.”

November 18, 2003: Apple debuts a new iMac G4 sporting a 20-inch screen, the company’s biggest flat-panel all-in-one computer ever.

The introduction makes an already superb Mac even better. Somehow, though, the additional screen real estate makes the new Mac weigh twice as much as the 17-inch model.

For years I’ve showcased cool Apple-centric computer setups for Cult of Mac. I never seem to get tired of drooling over the sweetest of the bunch. Sometimes that’s about the most awesome possible computers and monitors — Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR, anyone? — and sometimes it’s about a whole package, including fabulous audio gear and more. I selected a bunch of drool-worthy setups with stratospheric price tags for you below. 

The iPhone 17’s new N1 wireless chip brings a significant boost in Wi-Fi speeds. Tests conducted by Ookla show the newer iPhone models pulling faster speeds over Wi-Fi than their predecessors.

Based on the test data, the iPhone 17 pulled 40% faster Wi-Fi speeds than the iPhone 16.

Apple One makes life easier (and cheaper) by bundling multiple Apple services together — and hidden perks make everything even better. The initial draw is that you gain access to services like Apple TV, iCloud and Apple Music at a reduced price. But there’s more to each of these services than meets the eye.

There are several lesser-known features you might not know about. Some enhance your day-to-day experience, while others will help you save even more money.

Apple continues testing iOS 26.2, seeding the third beta to developers. Building on the first two betas, the third beta contains several changes.

Below is everything new in iOS 26.2 beta 3.

Apple will soon allow iPhone users in Japan to use the side button to trigger a third-party voice assistant they might prefer to Siri. It is laying the groundwork for this change in iOS 26.2, which is currently in beta testing.

The company posted a detailed post on its developer blog providing insight into this change.