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Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition delivers console-quality football excitement

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Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition scores big on Apple Arcade
It's kickoff time for Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition.
Image: EA Games

Are you ready for some football?! Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition is now available on Apple’s game subscription service, bringing EA Sports’ blockbuster football franchise to iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro without ads or in-app purchases.

It’s the first time the Madden series has been offered through Apple Arcade, giving subscribers a premium version of one of gaming’s most popular sports franchises.

“Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition is a chance to bring the most authentic NFL experience to a new audience of football fans, letting them play and compete as the league’s most elite players, or take control as GM and shape a franchise,” said Evan Dexter, EA’s vice president of Franchise Strategy and Marketing.

Today in Apple history: Original Mac Pro packs serious Intel power

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A photo of the first Mac Pro, an impressively expandable workstation that launched in 2006
The original Mac Pro took productivity to new levels.
Photo: Apple

August 7: Today in Apple history: Original Mac Pro packs serious Intel power August 7, 2006: Apple unleashes the first Mac Pro, a high-end desktop computer that completes the company’s transition from PowerPC to Intel processors.

Built for computation-heavy tasks like 3D rendering and professional audio and video editing, the quad-core, 64-bit Mac Pro serves as a replacement for the Power Mac G5 (from which it borrows its aluminum “cheese grater” design).

OpenAI’s first smart speaker could come with a bizarre doughnut design

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HomePod on a table
OpenAI's first smart speaker will not look like a typical smart speaker.
Photo: Unsplash

OpenAI’s first smart speaker will supposedly look like a “doughnut that’s roughly the size of a hockey puck,” according to a new Bloomberg report. This odd design will help the speaker stand out from the competition.

It will also apparently enable the speaker to work in “different positions.” 

macOS Tahoe 26.6.1 patches nasty Screen Sharing security hole

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Why you should install macOS Tahoe 26.6.1 today
Mac users, don't procrastinate on installing macOS Tahoe 26.6.1.
Photo: Tranmautritam/Pexels CC

Apple on Thursday released macOS Tahoe 26.6.1, a surprise security update that fixes a potentially serious vulnerability in the operating system’s Screen Sharing feature.

While the update doesn’t bring any new features, Mac users should nevertheless install it as soon as possible — or the new security patches for macOS Sequoia and Sonoma.  

Score more money as Apple boosts iPhone and Mac trade-in values

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Apple trade-in values for iPhone and Mac increase
Apple trade-in values for older iPhones increase ahead of the iPhone 18 launch.
Photo: Tessa Charles/Pexels CC

Thinking about upgrading to an iPhone 18 this fall? Apple just made the decision a little easier.

The company increased the max trade-in values for most iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch models in the United States, marking the latest value bump this year. The higher payouts let customers put more money toward a new device, whether they’re buying outright or through the new Apple Upgrade program.

MacPaw teams up with Liquid AI to bring on-device AI to its Mac assistant

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MacPaw logo on a colored background
MacPaw is building on-device AI into its Eney assistant with help from Liquid AI.
Image: MacPaw

MacPaw is bringing on-device AI to its Mac assistant, Eney. The company partnered with Liquid AI to build a local intelligence stack designed to run on your Mac, not in the cloud.

The partnership pairs Liquid AI’s foundation models with MacPaw’s own inference and memory technology. Eney will be the first product to get the upgrade, and results are expected later this year.

Without a new budget iPad, Apple tablet demand slows

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No new budget iPad: Why Apple tablet shipments dropped in Q2 2026
The last new budget iPad debuted in spring 2025, and it shows.
Photo: Apple

iPad shipments slowed in the second quarter of this year, the first time that’s happened in over two years. The source of the problem is easy to pinpoint: the extra-long wait for a new version of the budget iPad.

And unfortunately for consumers, Apple supposedly won’t release a replacement for the iPad (A16) for many more months.

Today in Apple history: Microsoft throws Apple a $150 million lifeline

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A photo of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates invests $150 million in Apple
Bill Gates looking like the cat that got the cream.
Photo: Apple

August 6: Today in Apple history: Microsoft investment helps save Apple from doom August 6, 1997: In one of the most famous moments in Apple history, Steve Jobs reveals a $150 million Microsoft investment that saved his company from ruin.

Although often presented as an inexplicable gesture of good faith on the part of Microsoft boss Bill Gates, the cash infusion into Apple actually benefits both companies.

Stop paying monthly for domain names — get 6 that last for life for just $30

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Hostdeal lifetime domain names deal advertisement on n iMac with text overlay
Secure multiple domains for life with Hostdeal (at a big discount).
Image: Cult of Mac Deals

Domain registration looks cheap right up until you’re five projects deep and every name renews in a different month at a rate you never agreed to. Registrars raise those prices whenever they want, and your card gets charged automatically while you’re not looking.  But that doesn’t happen with Hostdeal domain names.

Skip that annoyance with this Hostdeal domain names lifetime subscription. It lets you lock down six domains for life with a single payment of just $29.99 (regularly $120).

Does charging your iPhone to 100% really hurt the battery?

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A picture of an iPhone used in a story about battery charging habits.
Charging your iPhone to 100% overnight might stress your battery more than you realize, but what actually matters is how long it stays at full charge.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Charging your iPhone to 100% won’t instantly fry your battery. But regularly keeping it at full charge for hours matters more than you might think.

The real culprit isn’t the charge itself — it’s how long your phone stays plugged in at maximum capacity. Apple’s built-in tools do help, but temperature and charging habits matter even more.

WebKit privacy leak leaves iPhone and Mac users exposed

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A Safari logo used in a story about WebKit privacy leaks.
A WebKit privacy leak can expose your iPhone or Mac’s real IP address even when using proxy browsers or iCloud Private Relay.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Three recently discovered WebKit privacy leaks expose users’ real IP addresses on iPhone and Mac, even when they use a proxy browser or iCloud Private Relay, according to a new report.

This would mean Apple’s trusted privacy tools aren’t working as advertised. If you’ve relied on proxy browsers for anonymity or iCloud Private Relay for privacy, that protection apparently has some serious gaps.

Today in Apple history: Beginning of the end for clone Macs

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Photo of a Power Computing clone Mac with keyboard and a dark background
Clone Macs sounded like a good idea at first.
Photo: Antnik

August 5: Today in Apple history: Beginning of the end for Power Computing Mac clones August 5, 1997: Apple gets into a standoff with Power Computing, a maker of Macintosh clones. A very public clash at the Macworld Expo in Boston marks the beginning of the end for Apple’s mid-1990s strategy of licensing the Mac operating system.

“If the [Mac] platform goes closed, it is over,” predicts Power Computing CEO Joel J. Kocher of Apple’s strategy. “[It’s] total destruction. The kiss of death.” Of course, things don’t turn out exactly like that for Apple…

Ted Lasso returns with a fresh start as Apple TV revives a fan favorite

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Photo of cast of Apple TV comedy series
Apple TV gives beloved comedy Ted Lasso a soft reboot with season four, which premieres Wednesday.
Image: Apple TV

Despite what really seemed like a series finale three years ago, Ted Lasso is back. Apple TV began streaming season four on Wednesday, reviving its Emmy-winning comedy with what amounts to a soft reboot rather than a direct continuation of the story.

Here’s what to look forward to as Ted, Coach Beard and all our favorites return.

iPhone 18e rumors: RAM, chip, design, price and more

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A picture of the iPhone 17e used in a story about iPhone 18e rumors.
iPhone 18e rumors point to a strange new RAM configuration, even as most other specs carry over unchanged from the iPhone 17e.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

A handful of small but real changes are coming to Apple’s next budget iPhone, with iPhone 18e rumors pointing to a new chip and a RAM configuration nobody expected. None of it amounts to a redesign – this is still a budget phone, just slightly better.

The extra memory is the most interesting shift, but it comes with a catch. Most other specs, including the screen and camera, look set to carry over largely unchanged from the iPhone 17e. Here’s everything reported so far, and how solid each claim actually is.

Split View is still in iPadOS 26 — here’s how to use it

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Split View is still in iPadOS 26
Installing iPadOS 26 doesn’t mean losing Split View from your iPad!
Graphic: Apple

Apple kept the iPad’s Split View feature alongside the new multitasking stuff in iPadOS 26, despite what you might have read online. And setting it up is as easy as a couple of flicks of your finger.

Here’s how to keep using Split View on your iPad. Apple even made a video that demonstrates what to do.

Razer Travel Case Folio cleverly combines keyboard case with tablet stand [Review] ★★★★★

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Razer Travel Case Folio review★★★★★
The Razer Travel Case Folio keyboard case and stand is designed for gamers as well as productivity on the go.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Razer Travel Case Folio is a combination keyboard case/stand created for gamers who need a keyboard while they game on the go with an iPad, Steam Deck or even an iPhone. And it’s also useful when you need to get some work done on your tablet.

Put a Razer Joro or an Apple Magic Keyboard into the folio, then deploy its built-in kickstand and it’s ready to prop up your tablet, gaming handheld, etc. for fun or productivity.

I tested the new accessory with my mobile setup. Here’s what I found.

Apple Photos lawsuit over facial recognition data can move forward

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A picture of Apple Photos app on an iPhone, used in a story about a class action lawsuit on Apple.
The Apple Photos lawsuit centers on the app’s People album face-recognition feature.
Photo: Apple

Apple faces a $32.5 billion lawsuit over how its Photos app scans and stores faces. A federal judge cleared the case to proceed as a class action late last month, allowing millions of Illinois iPhone owners to join.

The case has been years in the making, and Apple has fought to shut it down at nearly every turn. Now it heads back to the court, with the company’s privacy practices on trial.

Apple caps bug bounty reports as AI ‘slop’ floods security team

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Apple bug bounty reports capped after AI flood
Turns out there is such a things as too many bug bounty reports going to Apple.
Photo: Pexels CC

Apple decided to cap the number of bug bounty reports a researcher can have open at once. The move follows a flood of AI-generated “slop” that overwhelmed Apple’s internal security team this year.

But the cap almost backfired. A small Italian security firm had found a serious macOS flaw using ChatGPT, but they couldn’t report it because their group had already hit its new limit.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs acknowledges MobileMe failure

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Apple MobileMe logo
MobileMe was the failed precursor to iCloud.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

August 4: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs acknowledges MobileMe failure August 4, 2008: In an internal memo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs owns up to mistakes in launching MobileMe. He spins the company’s bungled cloud service rollout as a learning opportunity.

“It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store,” Jobs writes in an email to Apple employees. “We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.”

Apple will eventually bring iPhone clipboard syncing to Windows PCs

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One of Apple's best productivity features may soon work with Windows.
One of Apple's best productivity features may soon work with Windows.
AI image: ChatGPT

Apple plans to bring one of the iPhone and Mac’s most useful ecosystem features — cross-device clipboard sync — to Windows PCs. Don’t expect it anytime soon, though, as the functionality likely won’t arrive until fall 2027 at the earliest.

Apple is not adding cross-device clipboard sync support for Windows PCs to iOS because it wants to, though. The feature stems from an interoperability request Microsoft submitted under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act.

Master AirDrop: Your ultimate guide to seamless file sharing on iPhone, iPad and Mac

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How to AirDrop: Drop It My Way
AirDrop is right up there with iMessage as a great Apple-exclusive feature. Learn how to use it.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

If you want to know the fastest and easiest way to send someone photos, videos, files and so, so much more, you should know how to AirDrop. There’s no need to send an iMessage — Apple’s slick AirDrop feature will immediately send and open the content on someone else’s iPhone (or other Apple device). There’s no middle step.

AirDrop works iPhone-to-iPhone, iPhone-to-Mac, iPhone-to-iPad, Vision Pro-to-Mac — any combination and permutation of two Apple devices. And, if your friend has a Google Pixel 10, you can AirDrop with them, too!

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about how to take advantage of AirDrop.

How a data-scrubber stopped my elderly relative from being scammed [Review] ★★★★☆

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Incogni's personal data scrubbing app on an iPhone.★★★★☆
Incogni's personal data scrubbing service helped stop an elderly relative from getting scammed.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

When fraudsters targeted an elderly relative of mine last year, they scammed her out of thousands of dollars. We tried to stop them, without much success. But then we scrubbed her personal data from the internet using a service called Incogni.

Surprisingly, using this affordable data removal service made all the difference. Here’s how I stopped my relative from getting scammed.

Apple job listing hints at fitness features for rumored smart glasses

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A picture of a person wearing glasses used in a story about Apple's rumored smart glasses.
Fitness features in Apple's rumored smart glasses could pick up where Vision Pro’s shelved workout plans left off.
Photo: Pexels

A new job posting reveals that Apple is already thinking about how to bring fitness features to its long-rumored smart glasses.

The company is looking to hire a “strategic product design leader” for its Vision Products Group. The role focuses on shaping health, wellness and fitness experiences across future visionOS hardware.

Leagues Cup tournament brings a month of international soccer action to Apple TV

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Leagues Cup 2026 returns to Apple TV with every match streaming live
All 62 Leagues Cup matches will stream live on Apple TV.
Photo: Apple TV

The 2026 Leagues Cup tournament kicks off Tuesday, August 4. The month-long competition pits 18 Major League Soccer clubs against 18 teams from Mexico’s Liga MX, with all 62 matches streaming through Apple TV.

No separate subscription is required to enjoy the action – any Apple TV subscriber in 100 countries and regions can watch.