An Apple employee was recently indicted for allegedly transferring trade secrets about self-driving car technology to a Chinese company. This marks the third such incident.

The cases seem quite similar: Chinese companies hire the workers, who then get caught attempting to bring Apple’s proprietary information with them when they leave the United States.

We all love to listen to music, and personal audio gear has evolved in many ways over the decades. For the most part, improvements in the tech have been focused on sound quality and portability. But these Open Ear Induction Stereo Wireless Headphones finally make a relatively new feature affordable.

For only $33.99 (regularly $109), you can have the ability to hear your tunes and the outside world without one disturbing the other.

In the tragicomic new Apple TV+ series High Desert, Patricia Arquette plays Peggy Newman, a drug addict and serial liar/improviser who’s trying to remake her life after her husband goes to jail and ruins her social standing.

The perpetually broke and broken Peggy is a marvelous creation. The first three episodes of High Desert arrived on Apple TV+ today, and the show is mighty good company.

Apple has expanded iPhone’s Tap to Pay feature to businesses in Australia. This will allow them to accept payments from customers directly using their iPhones.

All kinds of businesses, irrespective of their size, can accept payments using Apple Pay and Tap to Pay.

Keeping bad applications out of the App Store is a monumental task — Apple says it denied 1.7 million apps submitted for approval in 2022. That’s out of 6.1 million, and it’s an increase from the previous year.

And Apple also blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases on the App Store. Plus, the iPhone-maker blocked millions of fake reviews.

Eve Systems rolled out its second generation of the Eve Flare portable smart LED lamp Tuesday, adding Thread networking support.

It also released the Eve Shutter Switch, but only in parts of Europe.

The powerful image-editing application that used to be called Pixelmator Photo when it was only available for iPad and iPhone launched Tuesday on Mac as Photomator.

It promises state-of-the-art color adjustments, AI tools, powerful Repair and Clone tools, and batch editing. But it faces tough competition from Adobe Photoshop.

Everybody knows it’s dangerous to use your iPhone while driving. In order to do so safely and hands-free, you need a car mount. And what could be better than a wireless charger mount that senses and grabs onto your phone for you? No need to take your eyes off the road to carefully place it just so.

Elago now offers just such an auto-clamping car charger in the Cult of Mac Store.

Good news for live-music lovers rang out Tuesday. Apple said new concert-discovery features it just added to Apple Maps and Apple Music will help music fans and artists connect in major cultural hubs worldwide.

Just can’t wait for WWDC23? Apparently, Apple can’t either because it’s already starting announcing new features that will almost certainly be in iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS 14.

These are aimed at those with disabilities, and include Live Speech and Personal Voice. These will allow those with speech disabilities to participate in conversations in a synthesized voice that sounds like the user.

AI image generators are exciting, but there’s another way for artificial intelligence to give you a great photo. The self-flying Air Neo camera drone uses AI to lock onto you and snap a few photos from the air.

This AI-powered drone is on sale for $149.99 (regularly $159). 

Windows users can now send and receive messages and calls via an iPhone. The new capability — which many thought would never happen — comes courtesy of Microsoft’s Phone Link for iOS, which is rolling out now.

This is the latest software release from Microsoft to make it easier for Windows users to own an iPhone.

Microsoft started rolling the feature out in April, and announced on Monday it’s available to all Windows 11 users.

Your Mac can’t do everything right out of the box. The Mac Madness App Bundle gives you 14 Mac apps especially suited for various tasks, from exporting photo metadata to batch-converting audio files.

These apps will give your Mac a very particular set of skills, just like Liam Neeson in Taken. And you can get lifetime licenses to all 14 of them for just $19.99 (regularly $74.86).

Swagger, the Apple TV+ series that isn’t exactly the life of basketball superstar Kevin Durant, returns for season 2 in June. The young players are getting famous and the future look bright, but a scandal might ruin all their hopes.

A trailer for the upcoming season, released Monday, shows some of what to expect in the episodes that premiere in June.

Multiple sources predict Apple will launch its first VR/AR headset three weeks from today at WWDC23. As the company’s first major new product category to launch since Apple Watch, there’s a lot riding on the headset. And yet not everyone’s buzzing with anticipation.

For those who aren’t yet feeling excited, here are five reasons you should look forward to the big reveal next month.

You’re not the first person to show up late to the party for Mother’s Day, forgetting to fork over a gift on her special day. So, a day later, it’s a good thing you can still choose from a huge selection of great Apple accessories on sale.

You can pick up a variety of items for 15% to 25% off in the Cult of Mac Store’s Mother’s Day Sweet Savings Collection through Monday. See a selection of highlights below.

Bluetti’s latest portable power station, the AC60, is the company’s most compact and durable yet. The lightweight power station, which launches today alongside the B80 expansion battery, comes with an IP65 rating, so it’s ready for your next outdoor adventure.

Plus, if you pair it with Bluetti’s new B80 — and maybe a solar panel or two — you don’t need to run out of juice.

Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip is down to its lowest-ever price. After a staggering $249.01 discount, you can get Apple’s best MacBook Pro for $2,249.99.

You can get a similar $250 off on the machine’s 1TB and M2 Max configurations.

Before reading past the jump, take a look at today’s featured M1 Mac mini computer setup in the photograph above and see if you can quickly identify the two items that aren’t from peripherals giant Logitech — other than the main computer, display and furniture.

Both items are on the small side, so it might take a hard look to spot them. Answers below in the post and at the bottom just above the gear list.

Apple is now offering a free, month-long trial of MLS Season Pass, its subscription service that shows all the matches from the top professional soccer league in the United States.

The deal is available for both new and returning customers.

When you get a Costco Gold Star Membership, you gain access to a wide selection of appealing ingredients and premade food items that can aid you in crafting delicious meals. Take advantage of this limited-time deal for a one-year Costco Gold Star Membership for only $60, which includes a $30 Digital Shop Card*.

Apple is expanding Emergency SOS via satellite to two new countries: Australia and New Zealand. If you use an iPhone 14, you can enjoy this life-saving feature for free for the next two years.

The feature allows your iPhone to contact emergency services through text messages when you are out of mobile network range.

With the Pitaka MagEZ Case Pro, you can stop plugging in a charging cable. Put the tablet in this slim, lightweight case then pop on a charging mat when it’s time to juice up the tablet.

Combine it with the MagEZ Charging Stand and you have a desktop setup without the hassle of wires for the iPad Pro and an iPhone or AirPods.

I tested both accessories in my home office. There’s a lot to like here.

Haven’t bought a Mother’s Day gift yet? Don’t worry. Moms are generally forgiving types. Instead of rushing to get something cheap at the drug store on the way to her house, buy her a cool Laut accessory and let her know a nice gift is on the way.

And she doesn’t even have to know you’re getting 15% off the price. Browse the Mother’s Day Sweet Savings Collection in the Cult of Mac Store now (and click here to see only Laut items). Peruse some highlights below. The sale goes through Monday.

Apple reportedly began internal testing of Macs powered by next-generation M3 chips. At least one of the variants could feature a 12-core CPU, an 18-core GPU and 36GB of system memory.

The next-generation Apple silicon remains a few months away from release, however. Rumors suggest it could debut at the end of this year or early 2024.