Your party is about to start, but you’ve just realized you’re missing a key ingredient for dessert — and you forgot to stock up on cups, plates, napkins and other party essentials. Yes, you should probably hire a party planner next time. But instead of zipping through multiple stores for those items, you could shop more efficiently (and more money-consciously) with a Costco Gold Star Membership.

Fortunately, you can get a one-year Gold Star Membership to Costco now for only $60 — and you’ll even score a $30 Digital Costco Shop Card* with your purchase.

Not just anyone qualifies for a new Apple Card — including Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to a new report. The Goldman Sachs underwriting system apparently rejected his application a while back.

Amid reports lately that Goldman is losing money on its deal with Apple, and the two might part ways, it almost sounded like payback. But that’s not it.

When you splurged for a new Mac, or picked up one of our amazing refurbished deals, did you opt for a model with less storage to save some cash? It’s a genius idea in theory. But now you might find yourself stuck with a full hard drive and a bogged-down computer.

You don’t need to upgrade your Mac — or pay recurring cloud storage fees — if you pick up this 1TB portable external hard drive. And right now, it costs just $56.99 (normal price: $63.99).

There are more than 170,000 homeless people in California, and Apple is doing its part to remedy the problem. That includes a $2.5 billion commitment to address the housing crisis in its home state.

More than 40,000 Californians currently receive housing support through the projects and programs Apple funds.

What will the Italians think of next? They’ve produced a leather with such a mirrorlike sheen that it actually looks metallic. And Laut is using it to create quite the statement-making Laut Metallic Leather Apple Watch Band.

Check out the flashy band in three cool colors in the Cult of Mac Store and read more below.

Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Wednesday for season 2 of its sci-fi thriller series Invasion, and it looks like full-scale global war will erupt after season 1’s slow burn led up to frightening first contact.

Season 2 debuts August 23, with new episodes coming out on Wednesdays.

We know from social media that folks love checking out others’ computer setups. But is it really the headlining hardware they’re after, like the flashiest MacBook Pro or brilliant display? Not always. Sometimes it’s the small stuff they want.

With today’s Mac mini setup with a pair of 1080p displays, people were most curious about a standing desk, a cable-management raceway and a desk organizer. You can find everything in the gear list below.

This week Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) unveiled the August Friday Night Baseball schedule for Apple TV+ subscribers, so you know when your team is up at bat. And there’s quite a lot of other baseball content streaming. Check it out below.

The 48 megapixel camera that debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro models is making its way to the “standard” iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, according to a trusted analyst.

If true, the change will appreciably improve the quality of the pictures the two lower-cost handsets can take.

Hit Apple TV+ thriller Hijack nears its final destination this week. Sam Nelson’s family is in danger and he can’t do much to stop the potential devastation.

What he can do is take control of the hijacked airplane. But will the rest of the passengers help him? And will the kidnappers let down their guard long enough to allow him to do so? The episode, entitled “Comply Slowly,” is a white-knuckler.

Alogic’s new Quad Display Universal Docking Station delivers up to dual 4K and dual 1080p output for creatives and other professionals who need ample screen real estate in their computer setups.

To be precise, that’s four screens for Windows, while Mac users can connect up to three screens. In any case, the DUCDV4, introduced Wednesday by Alogic, connects your other peripherals and powers your laptop, too.

Whether you vacation at the beach, in the mountains or anywhere in between, you’ll surely bring your iPhone, Apple Watch and maybe an iPad or even a MacBook with you. We have suggestions for accessories to simplify keeping your gear charged and organized. Plus some to make the trip more fun.

We’ve tested all these gadgets so we know they do what they promise.

Ever watch a sign language interpreter and wonder how those movements come so naturally? Both hearing and non-hearing users come by it the same way: practice. The truth is that anyone can learn sign language, given the right time and the right teachers.

The American Sign Language Boot Camp Bundle addresses both of those needs, giving online learners access to engaging lessons that can be completed in just a few hours. And for only $14.99, you could not only broaden your overall communication skills, but also enhance your cultural awareness and literacy, among other things.

Apple has its eye on a folding iPad, according to a new report coming out of Asia. This might be the flexible tablet that a reliable tipster predicted was coming in 2024.

Or it could only be a sign that Apple is simply doing basic research on this policy category.

While today’s iPhone snapshots are easily preserved and shared, families can struggle to retain older memories recorded on film. The Kodak Slide N Scan can not only preserve negatives and slides, but it can also restore them with a few button presses.

After the chairman of Nissan was arrested for a variety of financial crimes, he fled custody with the aid of a former Green Beret — and was smuggled out in a box. He’s still a fugitive today. These amazing events are the subject of Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn, a documentary series premiering on Apple TV+ in August.

A trailer for the four-part docuseries debuted Tuesday, offering a glimpse at the bizarre story.

If you are looking for a new pair of earphones for your iPhone, the AirPods Pro 2 are an obvious choice. And if you take advantage of Amazon’s latest deal, you can grab the earbuds for as low as $199.

This is a sweet $50 off the earphones’ retail price, making them much more affordable.

Anyone eagerly awaiting the Apple TV+ adaptation of Nathan Pyle’s Strange Planet graphic novels should be thrilled by the trailer released Tuesday. The upcoming animated series captures the gentle mockery of human foibles from the books.

The series will premiere on Apple’s streaming service in two weeks.

The Pitaka MagEz Slider 2 combines a desktop stand for your iPhone with a MagSafe power bank, so your handset can get juiced up wherever you go. Just slide the external battery out and take it with you. As a bonus, the swiveling stand also includes an AirPods charger.

It originally launched in 2022, and there’s second-generation version out with an improved design. I put the updated charging stand on my desk to test it out in everyday use. Here’s what I found.

India surpassed France and Germany to become the fifth-largest iPhone market for Apple in Q2 2023. This is the first time India has become one of Apple’s top five iPhone markets.

The Asian country has emerged as a key market for Apple in recent years. It now trails China, the US, Japan and the U.K. in iPhone sales.

If you’ve ever had writer’s block, you know the spiral it can cause. But with the power of AI in your back pocket, there’s no need to go down that hole. With the help of AI, Write Bot allows you to write faster so you can generate content, translate text, summarize information and more without the threat of an empty page staring back at you.

For a limited time, you can grab a lifetime subscription this incredible tool for only $39.99 (regularly $539) — the best price online.

A fortunate few will soon get their hands on the Apple Vision Pro. Developers can now apply to get a prerelease loaner unit with which to test the applications they’re creating for the upcoming AR headset.

But don’t expect to see people walking the street with a Vision Pro anytime soon. Apple’s rules for the loaner units are extremely restrictive.

Apple TV+ made a hit with the fictional remedial British spies of the series Slow Horses, and now it’s adding a documentary about the real former British spy-turned-author who essentially defined the spy thriller genre: John le Carré.

That famous name is not his real one, of course. It’s David Cornwell. And now his two sons are teaming up with legendary documentary filmmaker Errol Morris on the story of the author’s life, The Pigeon Tunnel, a title shared with his memoir. The film debuts October 20.

iPhone and Mac users can now install iOS 16.6 and macOS Ventura 13.5. These are mostly bug-fix updates with only a few tweaks, but are still worth installing.

Apple also launched iPadOS 16.6, watchOS 9.6 and tvOS 16.6.

The iPhone 14’s ability to tell when it’s been a car crash saved the life of a California man after he drove off a cliff and fell 400 feet. The Crash Detection feature automatically called for emergency assistance.

One of the rescuers says the man probably would have died without the quick aid made possible by the iPhone.