With a little know-how, you can photograph fireworks with an iPhone and achieve great results. But just pointing and shooting with no prior planning can lead to blurry, unexciting fireworks photos.

For instance, does this sound familiar? Last year’s fireworks made you say ooh and ahh, but when you look at your iPhone photos from that night, the sound you make is more of an ugh. Don’t blame Siri or some engineer in Cupertino for previous photo fails. The iPhone camera, as mighty as it is, can’t do all the thinking for you — especially in challenging lighting conditions like a fireworks display.

But with a little thought and preparation, you can make this holiday worth reliving on your iPhone camera roll. Below are some simple tips to make your iPhone fireworks photos sizzle.

July 3, 2001: Apple suspends production of its Power Mac G4 Cube, one of the most notable busts in Apple history — and the first major flop following Steve Jobs’ glorious return to the company in 1997.

Although Apple leaves the door open to possibly reintroducing the remarkably clear G4 Cube at a later date, this never happens. The stylish computer is superseded by Apple’s upgrade to G5 processors and then to Intel Core-based Macs.

Apple just responsded to three YouTube channels that filed a lawsuit against the company earlier this year over AI training data — and Cupertino isn’t apologizing. In short, its defense is that these creators uploaded the videos online for free, so they shouldn’t be shocked that Apple looked at them.

Even if you haven’t uploaded a video in your life, here’s why you should care. This lawsuit is about how AI features baked into your iPhone actually got smart, and whether the people who made it possible got anything for it.

The Camera app in iOS 27 is chock-full of small but meaningful improvements. The UI was given a major simplification last year; this year, that design is iterated and refined upon to make it the best yet.

This is one of the changes I’ve really grown to appreciate since installing the developer betas. Check it out below.

The Apple Pro Display XDR is, by almost any measure, the most spectacular external monitor ever made for a Mac. Launched in 2019 at a price that shocked even committed Apple fans — $4,999 for the standard glass version, $5,999 for nano-texture, plus $999 for the Pro Stand — it takes your breath away for several reasons. A dozen great workstations below are the best Pro Display XDR setups in Cult of Mac‘s archive.

Apple’s next AirPods Pro were rumored to gain built-in cameras, marking one of the biggest upgrades in the earbuds’ history — large enough that  the product may be dubbed AirPods Ultra instead. However, Apple is reportedly shelving those plans for now.

A reliable leaker now claims Apple “suspended” the project. But it’s unclear whether the company canceled the feature or simply delayed it.

Apple could be telling its suppliers to build more foldable iPhones than anyone expected. The company has reportedly raised its 2026 prediction target for the much-rumored iPhone Ultra to around 10 million units. This is a significant jump from the previous 7-to-8-million estimation.

That’s a huge vote of confidence from Apple and good news for anyone hoping to get their hands on one. A bigger build target usually means fewer launch-day sellouts and a better shot at your preferred color and storage.

Apple just rewired a gesture you’ve used every day since 2011, and you probably won’t notice it until it’s too late. iOS 27 hands to the new Siri AI the exact swipe you’ve used to check notifications, and it doesn’t even ask nicely first.

Turn on Siri AI in the latest iOS 27 beta, and swiping down from the top center of your screen will no longer open the Notification Center but wake up Siri instead. Your alerts aren’t going anywhere, but you’ll need to relearn where to find them.

July 2, 2010: Apple opens up about “Antennagate,” issuing a letter that addresses iPhone 4 reception problems publicly for the first time.

In a letter addressed to iPhone 4 users, Apple admits to being “surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and … immediately began investigating them.” However, the company’s findings do little to dispel the growing Antennagate controversy.

Newly leaked timing of Apple’s next iPad Pro refresh suggests that the premium tablet may jump straight to the M7 processor and skip the M6 generation altogether.

Note that this is a combination of rumor and speculation. A leak on Wednesday only says that the next iPad Pro is a year away with “faster chips.” But going with the M7 processor makes sense, given the timing annd Apple’s previous practices.

Apple reportedly wants to source memory from two Chinese suppliers — CXMT and YMTC — for its products. Previous rumors suggested Apple lobbying for CMXT’s approval from the US government.

However, a new report from Bloomberg suggests the company is also looking to secure DRAM from YMTC.

A year from today, people across the world will be using a redesigned entry-level MacBook Pro powered by an unannounced M7 processor, according to an unconfirmed report on Wednesday.

This new model will supposedly launch in the first half of 2027, and it’ll apparently be out surprisingly soon after the current basic MacBook Pro gets the M6 chip.

Apple’s Hide My Email has one job — to keep your real inbox out of other people’s hands. But it isn’t doing that job, and Apple reportedly knew this for more than a year.

If you’ve ever used Hide My Email to sign up for a sketchy app or website, you’ll want to pay attention. A security researcher says he managed to unmask the real email address behind virtually every Hide My Email alias. And Apple hasn’t fixed it yet.

Apple’s years-long App Store fight with Fortnite maker Epic Games is now headed to the Supreme Court. The justices agreed on Tuesday to hear Apple’s appeal of a contempt ruling that has already forced it to change how it handles payments outside the App Store. And the stakes just got a lot higher.

If you’ve purchased anything through an iPhone app recently, this affects you more than you’d think. At stake is whether Apple can keep charging app developers a commission on payments made outside the App Store, and that fee trickles down to what you pay for subscriptions and in-app purchases.

July 1, 2012: Apple shuts down MobileMe, its subscription-based suite of online services and software offering push email, chat, data storage, a photo gallery and other features.

After letting the service limp along for four years, Apple finally decides to pull the plug, pushing users to switch to iCloud. The company gives MobileMe users until the end of July to remove their data from the service.

iOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate add a handful of Notes features that will supercharge your note-taking. There are new options for formatting, working with Markdown and even drawing on a Mac for the first time.

It’s not a big year for the popular note-taking app, but the changes Apple added will please plenty of power users. Here’s what’s new.

The M5 iPad Pro is the most powerful Apple tablet ever, with the same chip in the latest MacBook Air. And you can save $300 off the cost of the 13-inch variant, or save $250 on the 11-inch version. That drops the cost for both below what they were before last week’s price hike.

UPDATE: The deal on the 11-inch variant ended, but not the sale on the 13-inch one. But don’t wait — it could end any time.

iPad Pro is a very capable computer for creatives and digital nomads, thanks to the M5 processor. And don’t overlook the gorgeous OLED display and Mac-like operation thanks to iPadOS 26.

Apple rolled out a fresh batch of updates to Apple Creator Studio Tuesday, sharpening AI features inside its flagship video and music apps while weaving Pixelmator Pro’s editing tools directly into Final Cut Pro, Keynote, Pages and Numbers.

The updates expand on the role Mac, iPad and iPhone already play for creative work. They layer in new AI capabilities across editing, photo and music workflows.

Apple plans to overhaul the standard Apple Watch’s design in 2027, breaking compatibility with the bands owners currently use, a well-known Weibo tipster claimed Tuesday.

A newly discovered AirDrop vulnerability means someone sitting in the same café as you can silently break AirDrop on your iPhone or Mac, no tap or pairing required. They just send a stream of junk data to your iPhone and AirDrop — alongside AirPlay, Handoff, Universal Clipboard, and Continuity Camera — all go dark for as long as they keep it up.

That’s the core finding from new security research into Apple’s AirDrop protocol. The exploit does not steal any data, but instead lets an attacker shut down AirDrop and Continuity features. For Apple users who use AirDrop regularly, that could be a real annoyance hiding in a real-life vulnerability.

The TP-Link Roam 7 is small enough to be easily portable, but nevertheless provides speedy and reliable wireless connections to all your gear, no matter where you go.

I tested the travel router with Wi-Fi 7 on a recent beach trip. Here’s how it stands up to real-world use.

Because it’s connected to a wireless carrier, your iPhone can be used to locate you. Until this week, police could access this data on little more than a hunch — no Supreme Court location data ruling stood in their way. That changed on Monday.

The Supreme Court ruled that pulling your phone’s location history now counts as a Fourth Amendment search — no matter how short the window or whose server it sits on. Cops now need a real, individualized warrant before being able to dig through where your iPhone has been.

June 30, 2015: Apple launches 24/7 radio station Apple Music 1 (launched originally as Beats 1). Part of Apple Music, the new global radio station features top DJs ranging from former BBC presenter Zane Lowe to top musical artists like Lil Wayne.

Apple calls Apple Music 1 “the biggest radio station in the world” and says it beats (no pun intended) all other music stations when it comes to concurrent listeners. However, without hard figures to back that up, some call out Cupertino on this claim.

The new Photos app in iOS 27 clearly did not get the memo that this was a small year of bug fixes and performance improvements. While it is faster and more stable, there are tons of excellent new features top to bottom. Sorting through the largest photo libraries will be easier than ever in iOS 27.

Here are all the new features you can look forward to — or, if you’re daring, try out now.

WhatsApp now lets you reserve usernames. While the feature will only go live later this year, Meta is allowing you to reserve your username now.

This gives you a chance to claim your preferred handle before usernames become available to everyone.