November 28, 2001: People download QuickTime 5 for Mac and PC a million times every three days, Apple says, putting the multimedia software on track to exceed 100 million downloads in its first year of distribution. The announcement comes as websites adopt the MPEG-4 format, and online video begins to take off in a big way.

In particular, Apple’s movie trailer website proves a massive success. Millions of people download previews of upcoming blockbusters like Spider-Man and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Online trailer releases for films like The Lord of the Rings become buzz-worthy events.

In a pre-YouTube world, Apple has everything to gain!

Spam calls and text messages seem absolutely relentless these days — you’ll want to know how to block a number on your iPhone to keep your sanity. Luckily, it’s easy. There are a variety of ways you can stop unwanted calls. You can block an incoming phone call or text message. And you can send unknown callers directly to Live Voicemail.

If you’re blocking a person in your contacts list, it doesn’t matter which app you block them from — Messages, Phone, Contacts, Mail, Settings — they will be blocked everywhere.

Here’s how to block calls from unknown numbers on iPhone and keep spammers at bay.

Apple Watch Cyber Monday 2025 deals are live, featuring significant price drops on entry-level models and premium variations.

The best deal so far is the newest Apple Watch Series 11, which has dropped to its lowest price to date — just $339 (regularly $399). Another great buy is the entry-level Apple Watch SE 3, on sale from just $199 (save $50 or 20% off). This is a superb starter watch and perfect for kids (and you can use it to track the little darlings). And even the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on sale (although not by much).

Plus, if you want to save even more, you might be able to grab a previous year’s model before the clearance sales in effect decimate the inventory forever.

Cyber Monday isn’t just a great time to upgrade to an Apple silicon MacBook or snag an outstanding deal on an iPad. It’s also one of the best times to grab accessories for your Apple devices at deep discounts.

Check out the best deals on Apple accessories for Cyber Monday 2025.

Have you noticed clean, comfortable air is getting harder to find? Among the reasons I finally left California after many years were the increasingly common and unhealthy “smoke seasons” caused by western wildfires. So I moved back east only to discover Canadian wildfires wafting choking drafts into New England, as well as my old nemesis — humidity. So I finally got myself a serious appliance to deal with indoor air quality. This Turonic PH950 Air Purifier and Humidifier review finds it quite the beast for the tasks, with just a few caveats (no HomeKit!?). But control via app for iOS and watchOS makes it especially convenient. 

If you’re using macOS 26 and mourning the loss of Launchpad, you need an alternative like BuhoLaunchpad. The newly released Mac app delivers practically the same experience that Launchpad did, effortlessly re-creating the classic app launching and organizational tool for Mac.

It’s a simple and effective solution to the Mac’s missing Launchpad in macOS Tahoe. And Cult of Mac readers can get BuhoLaunchpad at up to 70% off with the exclusive code CLMA25BL58 during Dr.Buho’s Black Friday sale.

We’ll explain how Dr.Buho’s BuhoLaunchpad stands out from other Launchpad alternatives below. And don’t miss your chance to get that Black Friday deal.

Apple’s Black Friday deals are now live on the Apple Store. The promotion runs from November 28 through December 1.

Depending on the device you purchase, you can get up to a $250 Apple Gift Card.

If you’ve always coveted a pair of Apple’s AirPods Max headphones, but always balked at the outrageous price, this Black Friday deal is for you.

You can get a new pair of Apple’s premium headphones for just $399.99 — a massive discount off the list price of $549.

November 27, 2012: Apple fires the manager responsible for the disastrous Apple Maps launch in iOS 6 after the glitchy software delivers embarrassingly bad data to users around the world.

Richard Williamson, who oversaw Apple’s mapping team, gets the ax from Eddy Cue, who assumes leadership of the project.

If you want to learn key concepts from nonfiction books you don’t have time to read, try Sumizeit’s book summaries. This new platform gives you access to a collection of thousands of 15-minute summaries for some of the most popular nonfiction books, so you can learn without the time commitment.

Sumizeit tackles topics like psychology, health, business, relationships, money and general personal growth. Each one is conveniently available in several formats: You can read the text version, play the audio, watch a short video, download the PDF or use the podcast feed.

It’s an incredibly easy way to absorb the biggest of thoughts in the shortest amount of time. And you can snag a lifetime subscription to Sumizeit for only $39.99 (regularly $99).

Cyber Monday is a great time not only to pick up new Apple gear and accessories, but also to score some excellent Mac apps at deep discounts. Many popular titles get major price cuts during the sale, and you can pick them for a fraction of their usual cost.

From powerful utilities to creative apps and professional tools, check out the best Cyber Monday deals on Mac apps.

It’s good to know how to close apps on iPhone for those times when an app is acting buggy or becomes unresponsive. It’s really easy — just swipe up to see your running apps and swipe up again to close them.

But does this mean you should always quit your open apps? No, not at all.

Despite what you may have heard, quitting apps on iOS usually makes things worse, not better. It’s a myth that quitting apps will save battery life, make your iPhone run faster or free up memory. Overall, it negatively impacts your iPhone’s performance.

Here’s how to close iPhone apps — plus three reasons why you shouldn’t rush to do it.

Black Friday has arrived early, and the savings on Apple Watch Series 11 are making headlines. The much-talked-about smartwatch is seeing its deepest discounts to date, with GPS models now starting at $339 — $60 off list price — and cellular versions dipping below $440.

Series 11 just launched in September, so it’s amazing you can already get 15% off the price.

November 26, 1984: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates praises Apple’s newly arrived Macintosh as the future of personal computing.

“The next generation of interesting software will be done on the Macintosh, not the IBM PC,” Gates says in a BusinessWeek cover story.

This high praise for the Mac would seem almost unthinkable coming out of Gates’ mouth just a few years later. However, the interview arrives at a time when Microsoft is best known as one of the biggest Mac developers.

The iLive Portable Bluetooth Multimedia Sound Bar/Speaker is ready to bring quality sound back to an old TV. Or connect it to your iPhone to add a soundtrack to your life. It’s portable and offers a multicolor light show when being used at a party.

Connect via Bluetooth or 3.5mm audio jack, and there are more options, too.

The speaker is only $30, and you’re probably reading this review to see if it’s terrible. Have no fear, I tested it out and you can expect decent quality sound, as long as you manage your expectations.

Apple’s smallest tablet may be getting a significant upgrade soon, with iPad mini 8 expected to adopt OLED display technology by late 2026, according to Chinese leaker Instant Digital. The third quarter of next year at the earliest, they said.

Liven up your Thanksgiving week with woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. The next chapter in the Apple TV award-winning natural history series Prehistoric Planet leaves dinosaurs behind in favor of megafauna that lived during the last ice age, when glaciers covered much of the Earth’s surface.

The streaming service premiered Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age on Wednesday.

Apple will reportedly surpass Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone maker this year. The strong sales of Phone 17 will help the company reclaim the crown in more than a decade.

Strong consumer interest in the new iPhones has led to double-digit growth in sales, which will make this achievement possible.

For Black Friday 2025, Apple unleashed a promotion giving new and returning Apple TV subscribers a six-month subscription for $5.99 per month.

This Apple TV Black Friday deal slashes more than 50% off the regular price of $12.99 per month!

Additionally, Apple is offering a bundle deal with Peacock Premium/Premium Plus at a discounted rate. See all the details below. 

Want a major car upgrade without buying a new vehicle? You can add a 7-inch dashboard display that works with Apple’s CarPlay and Android Auto for just $59.97 (regularly $139.99). That’s a great deal on an after-market wireless CarPlay display with a vivid touchscreen.

Designed to put your smartphone’s features and apps front and center in any car, this wireless car display makes road trips easier, safer and more fun. It’s incredibly easy to set up and widely compatible with various automobiles.

If your iPhone ever experiences odd technical problems, the first thing you should try is a good, old-fashioned restart. You’ll be surprised how many problems you can fix by simply rebooting your phone.

Restarting your iPhone is just like restarting a computer. All of the apps and software will be reset, and you shouldn’t lose any saved data.

If a particular app you’re using is acting up, you can always force-quit it and open it again to reset it. But if there’s a deeper underlying problem with your phone’s software, like if Bluetooth accessories aren’t working or phone calls suddenly won’t connect, you should restart your iPhone.

Here’s how to do it with any model of iPhone.

November 25, 1996: A midlevel manager at NeXT contacts Apple about the possibility of Cupertino licensing NeXT’s OpenStep operating system. The phone call sows the seeds of Mac OS X and Apple’s rejuvenation.

The talk in question takes place between NeXT’s Garrett L. Rice and Ellen Hancock, Apple’s chief technology officer. While just the first formal step in a long process, it ultimately leads to Apple buying NeXT, the creation of Mac OS X, and Steve Jobs returning to the company he co-founded.

From wild concept art to polished edits, Google Gemini’s Nano Banana Pro image creation and editing tool can spin up impressive visuals from a single prompt on your iPhone.

The featured image of this article itself serves as an amazing example of Nano Banana Pro’s capabilities. And it also showcases just how far behind Apple is in the AI race. (Sorry, Image Playground.)

If you’re itching to use Google’s Nano Banana Pro on your iPhone, this guide will show you how.

Black Friday 2025 delivers some of the steepest discounts yet on Apple’s latest AirPods 4, giving shoppers a chance to grab the wireless earbuds for well below their regular prices. A deal knocks a stunning 47% off the cost, making them just $69 — an amazing price! Or there’s the version that adds active noise cancellation, which is currently 44% off, dropping it below $100 for the first time ever.

These deals make Apple’s earbuds one of this year’s standout tech bargains.

After spending a few weeks with the new SoundPeats Air5 Pro+ earbuds as my daily audio drivers, I’ve come to appreciate what this Chinese audio brand accomplishes at the budget end of the wireless earbud market. These earbuds, released Tuesday, pack an xMEMS Labs’ silicon-based micro tweeter in addition to a more traditional dynamic driver. With a Black Friday sale price of just over $100, they deliver features and performance that can cost twice as much with more established brands.

But do the buds outshine pricier competitors? Not exactly. My experience with their sound quality and adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC) — “adaptive” being one of the new features that puts the “+” in the name — fell a little flat. I would not be tempted to choose these over AirPods Pro 3 for any reason other than cost.