The best podcasting app on iOS (alibeit one with a wonky and controversial pricing structure), Instacast has just gotten a huge update making it even better.

We know that you Cult of Mac readers are also a bunch of photo nerds, so we thought that this week’s best-of list could be about cameras. You’re iPhone might be great (and even makes it into this list) but sometimes you need something more powerful, more rugged or just plain better. Here’s our list of the best cameras out these.

Before Apple created the Notification Center for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, most of us depended on Growl as the most popular way to get app notifications. Growl has been the best way for developers to display notifications in their apps and was probably one inspiration behind Apple’s Notification Center.

Now that Apple is building notifications into Mountain Lion, many developers have feared the fantastic customizable powers of Growl notifications will become a dead relic. However, a recent post by the Growl team is laying those fears aside, announcing that Growl 2.0 will support Notification Center so that developers have even more options.

We’re super excited for iOS 6. Although it isn’t the complete iOS overhaul many users were hoping for, it does deliver a whole host of new features — like a new Maps app, user interface enhancements, improvements to stock apps, and Siri support on iPad — that we’re certainly looking forward to.

However, it’s hard to ignore the fact that iOS 6 still has some things missing. Things we’ve been waiting for for some time. Here are seven of them.

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Back in August of last year, famed jailbreak hacker Comex — the mind responsible for the famed JailbreakMe exploit — hung up his old hacker hat and went to work at Apple as an intern.

Here’s a coincidence then. In iOS 6, the top secret, much guarded exploit used by developers to root their devices — first founded by Comex! — has suddenly been closed after being open for two years, as recent jailbreak superstar pod2g just made note on his Twitter account.

When opening up his new MacBook Pro, an Apple customer recently found the laminated card pictured above that was probably lost in the packaging by some worker at the Foxconn factory. Obviously it’s in Chinese, which adds a bit of mystery to the card because most of us Americans can’t read it. Does the card contain Apple’s secret plans for world domination? Maybe it’s an invitation to a top secret party?

I suppose that product meeting for the V-Moda Vamp went something like this:

Designer: Here it is! The Vamp case. It’s a metal case for the iPhone.

Boss: What the hell is wrong with you? That thing is huge. It’s an embarrassment to the good name of V-Moda. My god. With a box that size you could fit in literally anything. ANYTHING!

(Light bulb goes off over designer’s head)

Samsung’s a company of shameless copycats. They’ve ripped off the iPhone. They’ve ripped off the Mac mini. They’ve ripped off  the iPhone 3G. They’ve ripped off the iPad Smart Cover. Heck, they’ve even ripped off Apple’s commercial actresses.

So it’s kind of nice to see Samsung ripping off someone else for a change. That all said, this is beyond parody: Samsung is now looking to create its own social network, and their top-super-secret codename for the endeavor? “SAMSUNG FACEBOOK.” You can’t make this stuff up.

Amazon is said to be in the final stages of negotiations with record labels over licensing deals that would allow the online retailer to launch a competitor to iTunes Match. It has reportedly reached agreements with Universal Music Group and EMI already, and is now close to wrapping up deals with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Bros. as well.

iFixit has described Apple’s new MacBook Pro as the “least repairable laptop” it has ever opened up, and subsequently gave the device a repair score of 1/10. However, just like the MacBook Air, you’ll be pleased to know that it is possible to upgrade the new MacBook Pro’s solid-state storage yourself.

Man, is the Diff case a neat little iPhone case. It starts out as a tough case with a tripod mount (Zzzzz) but quickly picks up thanks to a clever cover and a pro-level lens mount.

Right now, if you want to learn more about, say, the iPhone, you go to apple.com/iPhone. Pretty soon, though, you will just type in iPhone.apple and your browser will immediately whisk you there instead.

Look, showing your vacation photos to friends and family is a time honored tradition. That doesn’t mean that you have to be boring about it. With a few easy steps, some photos, and iPhoto for Mac OS X, you can create some really nice slideshows to make your audience ooh, ahh, and perhaps even applaud. Here’s how.

Before the vast majority of us have even had the pleasure of signing for our new MacBook Pro delivery, iFixit has torn the notebook apart to reveal its internals. Although this is undoubtedly Apple’s best portable yet — what with its stunning Retina display, super speedy solid-state storage, and Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors — iFixit describes it as “the least repairable laptop” they’ve ever taken apart.

“Apple has packed all the things we have into one beautiful little package.” For consumers, this means incredible expensive repair bills, and little to no upgradeability at all.

Like all of Apple’s popular products, the MacBook Pro suffered a shipping delay soon after it went on sale on Monday. It first appeared in the Apple online store with a 5-7 day wait, but it didn’t take long before than turned into 7-10 days. On Tuesday the delay slipped again to 2-3 weeks. And this morning that situation has only gotten worse.

You know the shutdown spinner on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch? If you own latest-generation hardware, it probably drives you crazy every single time you see it. Why? Because it is a lone holdout of non-Retina UI on Apple’s otherwise beautifully high-res OS. Now, in iOS6, this has – finally – been fixed.

Apple is renowned for its obsession with detail and making even the slightest things — such as internal components — just as beautiful as the devices that house them. That’s why, during his recent WWDC keynote, Tim Cook said Apple’s new MacBook Pro was more beautiful on the inside than rival machines are on the outside.

This attention to detail is evident in iOS 6, where the slider reflections change as you tilt your device.

Pris is a ridiculously simple new camera app for the iPhone which nonetheless manages to give you all the features you actually need, only without getting in the way. Shoot with the iPhone in portrait orientation and it’ll snap square photos and videos, ready for Instagram. Flip the iPhone into landscape and Pris will shoot super widescreen video and stills in a Star Wars-like 2.25:1 aspect ratio. There’s more, but in principle that’s the entire app.

Imagine for a moment that your three year old daughter has a disability that stops her from using her voice to communicate. Then imagine that a combination of an iPad and a specialized app gave her the ability to talk to you, requesting things, express her needs, and even say, “Daddy, I love you.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d see that iPad and app as some sort of technological miracle.

Now, imagine that the app was pulled from the app store.

Introducing the radical new MacBook Pro. With breakthrough performance, stunning Retina display and an impossibly thin design, it’s innovation in every dimension.

Apple has aired its first ad for the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. “Every Dimension” has hit the airwaves, and the 30-second spot has also been uploaded to Apple’s YouTube account.

The ad features the MacBook Pro performing ‘pro’ tasks like intense photo and video editing.

To compliment the new MacBook Pro, Apple has also uploaded a 5-minute video detailing OS X Mountain Lion’s new features.

Poor Ping. Apple’s failed iTunes social network experiment just hasn’t caught on. Ping didn’t get off to a good start when Apple was unable to partner with Facebook years ago, and the service has become a running joke amongst the Apple fan community.

According to a new report, Ping will be killed once and for all later this year when Apple debuts the next major version of iTunes.

Apple unveiled a pretty disappointing Mac Pro refresh yesterday after its WWDC keynote, and the updated Pro’s lack of new features reinforced to many that Apple was abandoning its pro/desktop users. A new MacBook Pro with incredible specs was also unveiled yesterday, but Apple has payed little attention to its desktop computers recently.

Following whispers that Apple will unveil a totally new iMac and Mac Pro next year, an Apple spokesperson has confirmed that the company is indeed working on new designs for the iMac and Mac Pro that will “likely” debut in 2013.

We’re not quite sure how we missed this, but we did: in iOS 6’s first beta, iTunes Match has gone from a download-only service to a true streaming music service. It’s about time.

Don’t have time to watch the full WWDC keynote? No problem; we’ve taken the whole thing and mashed it down into just 90 seconds for your viewing pleasure. Check out the video after the break.

Over at Anandtech, they’ve posted a fantastic first look at the MacBook Pro’s Retina display, which naturally confirms that Apple’s new laptop display is every bit as gorgeous and futuristic as we all think it is. What I was most interested in, however, was the new settings panel for the Retina display, which actually gives users the option to choose on-the-fly between having clearer graphics or more desktop space. What a great idea.