Interface designer Bas Ording is one of those little-known Apple employees who has had a huge influence on our digital lives. Ording is the brains behind the “rubber band” effect — the iconic touchscreen animation that convinced Steve Jobs to build the iPhone. During a 15-year career at Apple, Ording was responsible for a big chunk of Apple’s computing interfaces — from macOS to iOS.

You can read about his career in Unsung Apple Hero, a Cult of Mac e-book detailing his career at Apple. Just sign up for Cult of Mac Today, our free daily newsletter, or Weekender, our weekly email, and we’ll email you a copy.

August 20, 2012: Apple passes a financial milestone as it becomes the most valuable publicly traded stock ever.

The company it bests to attain this record? Longtime rival Microsoft, which peaked on December 30, 1999. Apple’s surge to the top spot serves as a reminder of just how radically the fortunes of both companies changed over the years.

We can all (probably) agree that Apple products are superior, but they do lack in some areas — like their built-in microphones. While they’re usually good enough for a FaceTime chat or voice memo, they don’t deliver professional-level quality.

But the Babbl USB-C plug-and-play microphone does. Yup, no need to download complicated software or mess around with setup. Just plug the microphone into your Mac for seamless, high-quality sound. Right here you can get yours for the best price on the web, only $39.99 (regularly $69.99).

The best Apple TV+ documentaries bring something extra to the nonfiction party. From historical subjects to oddball artistic projects, the streaming service’s finest docs deliver interesting insights in compelling ways (even politically irresponsible).

Here’s a look at the best Apple TV+ documentaries — both series and films — so far.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We always expect Apple silicon to make our smartphones faster, but iPhone 15 could be a speed demon in unsuspected ways. Like, it might deliver 80 times faster data transfers through the port that replaces Lightning. Anyone who moves large files around should be thrilled with the latest iPhone 15 rumor. And that’s not all …

Also on The CultCast:

• iPhone 15 might charge at extreme speeds, too.
• Why is iPhone 14 taking a beating over its battery life?
• Next year’s Apple Watch X could bring the major redesign we’ve all been waiting for.
• Erfon does a surprise live unboxing of a great gift sent in by a CultCast listener.

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.

Momax’s Airbox Portable Power Cabin may be the ultimate companion for your Apple devices. The clamshell case not only charges your gadgets fast with its built-in 10,000mAh battery, it also stores them on the go — including iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods or AirPods Pro.

It’ll top up your iPad quickly via USB-C as well. And there’s even a special, non-charging slot to store your Apple Pencil.

The company calls the Airbox the world’s first foldable power bank. And Momax is offering a limited-time deal that drops the price considerably — plus an additional discount for Cult of Mac readers only!

Kingdoms: Merge & Build is a merge-2 game that’s also a story-rich adventure. Players rebuild a ruined kingdom by solving puzzles.

The game is now on Apple Arcade, and is available for iPhone, Mac and more.

Every day, content creators and researchers unearth exciting new ways to use ChatGPT. Whether you’re turbocharging your productivity, coding iPhone apps from scratch or unleashing your inner genius, this AI tool delivers amazing results.

Now there’s SheetGPT, the ultimate fusion of ChatGPT’s brainpower and Google Sheets’ organizational wizardry. It’s like peanut butter meeting jelly, but for data and AI!

Experience the thrill of soaring through the skies without breaking the bank with this drone duo for all adventure enthusiasts. Get the Ninja Dragon Phantom Eagle Pro and Ninja Dragon Alpha Z Pro drones, available together at an incredible price of just $189.99.

This heavily discounted drone bundle is the perfect solution for novice and/or budding pilots seeking an unforgettable aerial experience. With this deal, you can bid goodbye to expensive options, and say hello to a new era of affordable, high-flying fun.

Whether you’re a grade-schooler, a high school kid or a college student, fall classes are just around the corner. And that makes this a great time to save big on Microsoft productivity software. Good thing you can get the latest versions of Microsoft Windows and Office at bargain-basement prices in back-to-school sales like this one.

Your Apple Watch band could be a breeding ground for potentially dangerous pathogens, according to a new study.

Scientists found that 95% of the watchbands they tested were contaminated with “bacteria of public health importance.” This proved especially true for rubber and plastic bands.

But there’s good news. The scientists also found that cleaning an Apple Watch band (or any watch band) removes all the potentially dangerous bacteria.

Foundation, the epic Apple TV+ sci-fi show about the political machinations and battles being fought for control of a galaxy, finds its players being manipulated in all sorts of scary and surprising ways this week.

Hari looks backward and forward and finds nothing he likes. Cleric and Constant get Trantor’s version of a warm welcome. And finally, Brother Day unveils a new succession plan — that immediately backfires on him. It’s a very fine installment of this most exciting show.

Looking to buy a new keyboard for your Mac? Look no further than Apple’s own Magic Keyboard, which is down to its lowest price ever.

While the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad retails for $199 in black, Amazon has currently discounted it to $149.99.

Amazon bargain website Woot! is offering a sale on factory-reconditioned and refurbished MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models — with prices as low as $280!

That low price is for a 2017 MacBook Air, but you can also score hot deals on 2022 M2 models. See below. The sale ends Tuesday, August 22, at 10 p.m. Pacific.

Today’s featured setup sports a powerful M2 Ultra Mac Studio desktop computer and four screens, three of them with sparkling 4K resolution. But until recently it was an M2 Max MacBook Pro setup upgraded from an M1 MacBook Pro.

Why the switch to Mac Studio? Hey, sometimes you just need a more badass computer. Especially when you work in 3D rendering and you rarely take the laptop off its dock anyway.

For the third year in a row, Apple Card has been named the Best Co-Branded Credit Card for Customer Satisfaction with No Annual Fee in J.D. Power’s study of U.S. credit cards.

Accessories maker Nomad offered a new entrant in the multiport-gallium-nitride (GaN)-charger derby Thursday, unveiling its Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter.

It comes with three USB-C ports and 130 watts of charging power for MacBook, iPad and iPhone.

Ready to boost your website’s Google game and turn your traffic into treasure? Say hello to Blogify — your trusty sidekick in the quest for SEO supremacy!

Imagine waving goodbye to those endless hours spent crafting content. With Blogify, you’ve got a turbo-charged AI buddy that whips up SEO-friendly content in a heartbeat. That can mean higher Google rankings, increased traffic to your website, and more chances to make money.

Right now, you can save $400 on a lifetime subscription to this AI-powered content machine.

Apple could finally give the iPhone charging speed a much-needed speed boost this year. A report based on industry sources claims the iPhone 15 will support peak charging speeds of 35W.

The rumored switch from Lightning to USB-C on 2023 iPhones might have a role to play in this upgrade.

The Location Services bug that has been bothering Mac users since the end of July has been taken care of with the release of macOS 13.5.1.

It is the only change in the update, but the problem being fixed is fairly serious.

Sabrent’s new portable Rocket Nano XTRM External SSD features blazing-fast data-transfer speeds via Thunderbolt 3, the company said Thursday.

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Satechi’s Dual Dock Stand packs in an unusual number of features. It’s a nine-port USB-C hub, and also an NVMe SSD enclosure. And it’s designed to prop up a MacBook for easier typing.

The multifunction MacBook accessory launched Thursday.

The Opera browser for iOS now features an artificially intelligent assistant created in collaboration with OpenAI. Opera calls it Aria, and says it “offers you a cutting-edge generative AI service for free.”

Similarly to other such tools, Opera integrated its AI into the browser and makes it free to use once you opt in.

Apple TV+ just gave its first look at Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, an upcoming series set in the MonsterVerse that contains Godzilla and other classic kaiju.

The sci-fi series will star Kurt Russell, and will feature a family searching for their link to the secretive Monarch organization.

Upgraded, a MacBook upgrade program that offers month-to-month subscription for new laptops, launched in the United States on Thursday.

Subscribers pay for their MacBook with a monthly fee, and can trade up to a new model every two years at no additional cost.