December 31, 2012: App piracy hub Hackulous shuts down, bringing an end to two of its most popular pieces of software, Installous and AppSync.

Before the shutdown, iPhone jailbreak tool Installous allowed users to install “cracked” or pirated apps on their iOS devices, thereby avoiding paying Apple and developers. AppSync let users sync their cracked apps with iTunes.

The shuttering of Hackulous is a clear sign that the iPhone jailbreaking era is coming to an end — and that the App Store’s revolutionary business model is sound.

Apple TV is poised for a banner year in 2026, with an impressive slate of new original series, highly anticipated spinoffs and beloved returning favorites. From cyberpunk epics to gripping thrillers, the Apple TV 2026 lineup helps cement the streamer’s reputation as a powerhouse for quality programming.

Here’s your complete guide to the most highly anticipated shows coming to Apple TV next year.

If you ever endured a long lecture or an hours-long all-hands meeting, you know this to be true: There’s no way you can jot down every single word your professor or colleague utters. Rather than scramble and stress about missing certain parts of a presentation, you could add an AI note taker like My Notes AI to your productivity tool kit.

This AI-powered note transcription and summarization app works with your iPhone, iPad and Mac to help you catch every single word. Think of it as your very own personal assistant! You can snag a lifetime subscription to My Notes AI for just $27.97 (regularly $299) with code NOTE. That’s the best price you’ll find online.

Apple and Samsung are hard-charging competitors in many areas, like smartphones, but Apple fans love some of Samsung’s wares — especially its excellent displays for use in Mac computer setups. And Samsung monitor deals abound right now. 

The big year-end sale Samsung just launched includes a bunch of great options — including $800 off a brilliant and massive 57-inch curved OLED display and a whopping $1,400 off a 55-inch model. 

Your iPhone is a powerful computer held back by its single port. Connect the Satechi OntheGo 7-in-1 Multiport Adapter, and you can connect to a wide range of accessories — external monitors, SSDs and more — all without adding too much bulk. It really builds upon the phone’s capabilities.

I’m not saying it’ll turn your iPhone into a mini MacBook, but if you’re toting a laptop on trips simply to watch TV shows or give a presentation on a large screen, this hub is for you.

Plus, it stands out by connecting to the MagSafe magnets built into your iPhone, so the accessory conveniently clings to the back of your device.

I tested it out with my iPhone 17 to see what the multiport adapter has to offer. Here’s what I found.

December 30, 1999: Microsoft hits the height of its 1990s dominance and begins its early-2000s decline, clearing a gap at the top for Apple.

After hitting an all-time high of $53.60, Microsoft stock starts to fall. Less than a year later, MSFT shares will fall more than 60% in value to $20.

With more than a dozen new Apple products in the pipeline, 2026 is shaping up to be a busy and important year for the company. Among a plethora of high-profile device launches, we should see the first folding iPhone next year

If all the rumors prove true, Apple’s 2026 product road map looks bold, exciting and ambitious. Check out all the new products Apple likely will launch in 2026.

If you value intuitive design and smart learning tools, the Qlango language learning app might be your new favorite way to tackle a foreign language. This gamified app offers lifetime access to a whopping 71 languages for just $27.97 (regularly $119.99).

Yup, with just a one-time payment, a world of international vocabulary is available at your fingertips.

A hidden setting will speed up Haptic Touch, the fantastic feature that lets you preview links and bring up menus on your iPhone. If you use Haptic Touch all the time, like I do, changing this setting will make your iPhone feel turbocharged. With the settings tweak, your iPhone will bring up handy shortcuts — hidden actions, content previews and contextual menus — in a flash. And that saves you precious time as you tap around your screen. Alternatively, if you find Haptic Touch annoying and trigger it accidentally all the time, you can slow down the time needed to activate the gesture. That way, a tap won’t be mistaken for a tap-and-hold.

Even in 2025, most in-flight entertainment systems don’t offer Bluetooth connections. But with this affordable Bluetooth adapter, you can pop in your AirPods and enjoy your choice of the airline’s featured movies, TV shows and music in a glorious state of noise-cancellation-induced bliss.

That’s way better than packing an additional pair of wired headphones or using (or even purchasing) a crappy pair of earbuds on the plane. That’s why this Eve II Bluetooth Transmitter and Receiver is such a useful device for travelers. Perfect for any upcoming air travel, it’s on sale now for only $34.97 (regularly $59) with free shipping.

December 29, 1999: Apple starts shipping its unfathomably large 22-inch Cinema Display, the biggest LCD computer display available anywhere,

Apple’s all-digital flat panel is a far cry from the bulky cathode ray tube monitor of the original iMac, which took the world by storm the previous year. The Cinema Display is also Apple’s first widescreen display — and the first to sport a digital video interface.

After testing the Alogic Edge 40-inch Ultrawide 5K2K monitor with my M4 Pro MacBook Pro, I can confidently say the display represents one of the most compelling alternatives to Apple’s own monitors for productivity-focused users. The expansive high-res screen real estate and the sleek design are beautiful — and at a pretty reasonable price point of $1,349 (marked down 10% from $1,499). 

If you want the absolute best fast charger for your new iPhone, check out Anker, one of the top makers of phone accessories.

Anker makes an array of chargers for iPhone, including some of the fastest on the market. You never know when you have half an hour (or less!) to charge your phone. You can prepare yourself for that — get a fast charger. All modern iPhones support charging at high speeds, whether it’s plugged in, on a MagSafe stand or a Qi2 charger.

Don’t know the difference, or what your phone supports? Read our guide below.

Apple delivered some of its most memorable advertising campaigns in 2025, blending storytelling, humor and technical innovation. From emotional tributes to playful satire, the tech giant demonstrated why it remains a marketing powerhouse.

Here are the best Apple ads of 2025, which really helped define Cupertino’s creative year.

December 28, 2006: As the rest of the country enjoys a much-deserved holiday, Apple gets embroiled in a stock option “backdating” scandal.

The news, centered on the dubious awarding of stock options to CEO Steve Jobs, prompts Apple’s share price to fall. Some people even suggest Jobs might need to step down as Apple’s leader. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen.

2025 was a busy year for Apple. The company launched multiple new products, some of which pushed its lineup forward in meaningful ways. However, others left plenty to be desired. Looking back, it’s clear that Apple delivered both standout successes and some head-scratching misses.

Here’s a look at the best and worst Apple products of 2025 — the ones that got everything right, and the ones that missed the mark completely.

In software development, having the right tools can make all the difference between sinking and succeeding. If you’re on the hunt for such tools, Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 — on sale now at an insane 98% off from Cult of Mac Deals — stands out as a powerhouse for developers who want to enhance productivity and streamline the coding process.

This professional-grade 64-bit integrated development environment is more accessible than ever. It can improve how you and your team approach your programming. Act fast to get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for just $9.97 (regularly $499).

The first folding iPhone is expected to break iOS out of its years-long rut, and new rumors give us the most complete picture yet of a handset supposedly set to launch in 2026.

These come from a formerly prolific source of often reliable Apple leaks.

December 27, 2010: Almost four months after the second-gen Apple TV’s debut, Cupertino says it has sold 1 million of the streaming video devices.

The news shows that Apple’s set-top box is gaining momentum. However, Apple’s PR move — which included a preemptive press release issued on December 21 that said Apple “expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week” — is also a low-blow shot at competitor Roku, which recently said it planned to hit the 1 million unit mark by the end of 2010.

macOS is powerful out of the box, but with the right apps, the experience gets even better. In 2025, several Mac apps became essential to my daily workflow, reducing friction and boosting my productivity.

Here are my five favorite Mac apps of 2025. All of them are free (or at least free to try), although some require payment to access advanced features.

With the wealth of AI tools available, the problem isn’t finding one that will get the job done. The real issue is finding the best fit for your budget. You might be able to find independent AI tools like ChatGPT or Dall-E for generating copy, creating logos, building stories and more, but AI MagicX does it all under one subscription, and you only have to pay for it once. That makes it a perfect suite of AI tools for business.

This robust AI platform includes tools for designing logos, generating art, creating chatbots, writing articles and creating stories. There’s even a document editor. And for a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription on sale for just $59.97 (regularly $972).

December 26, 1982: Time magazine names the personal computer its “Man of the Year.”

It’s the first time a nonhuman entity wins the award, which was created in 1927. The award devastates Apple co-founder Steve Jobs — because he thought the accolade would go to him.

Another year, another incredible collection of Apple workstations in Cult of Mac‘s Setups section that make us rethink our own desk situations. From devices powered by the powerful M4 chip family to innovative display solutions and clever space-saving tricks, the top 10 Apple setups of 2025 brought us some truly remarkable gear and uses for it.

We combed through hundreds of featured workstations on Cult of Mac to bring you the cream of the crop — setups that excel in raw computing power, aesthetic beauty, functional innovation or that perfect combination of all three.

There are three Apple TV settings I always tell people to change as soon as they set theirs up. While I heartily recommend the Apple TV over the clunky and ad-infested experience of Roku and other smart TVs, it’s not perfect. You’ll want to change a few things to make it right. 
First of all, you can put one of the Siri Remote buttons to better use. The TV button, by default, opens the Apple TV app — but you can have it take you to the Home Screen instead. Also, you’ll want to change the Home Screen to show your Continue Watching list, not its recommendations. And finally, you can turn off those annoying Apple TV sports notifications to stop the interruptions while you’re watching your shows. 
Change these three annoying default settings, and you’ll be in for a far better viewing experience. Keep reading or watch our video to find out how.

December 25, 1977: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spends the holidays building a prototype of the Disk II, the Apple II computer’s revolutionary floppy disk drive.

“I worked all day, all night, through Christmas and New Year’s trying to get it done,” Wozniak would later recall in his autobiography, iWoz. “[Early Apple employee] Randy Wiggington, who was actually attending Homestead High, the school Steve [Jobs] and I had graduated from, helped me a lot on that project.”

Wiggington takes December 25 off. Woz does not.