Google Photos’ advanced editing tools will now play better with HDR photos. They preserve both the dynamic range and HDR metadata after edits.
The photo backup tool is also gaining a new “Ultra HDR” tool. It will enable you to control the brightness of HDR images.
Screensavers fell out of fashion a long time ago, but Apple’s Aerial screensaver looks so beautiful, it just might make you reconsider. In fact, with its stunning visuals, it might just be the best Mac screensaver around.
The Aerial screensaver started on the Apple TV, showing gorgeous, sweeping helicopter photography of the world’s greatest natural landscapes, underwater sights and cityscapes — even shots from space. Now, if you have a desktop display set up somewhere prominently in your house, you can get the same beautiful vistas on your computer with the Aerial screensaver for Mac.
Here’s where to find this beautiful Mac screensaver, plus some setup tips that will really help it shine.
A growing number of people rely on iPad tablets — particularly iPad Pro — as their main daily driver. And with iPadOS 26 software currently in beta testing and available to all in September, this will become even easier to do. Today’s featured iPad-Studio Display setup doesn’t abandon Mac — in fact, it includes a hidden M4 MacBook Pro — but it makes the most of iPad Pro and looks damn good doing it.
Want to buy a MacBook and pay monthly? Apple fans love staying current. But when it comes to MacBooks, upgrading isn’t always easy. Base models at big box stores can feel underpowered. Reselling is a pain. And dropping $2,000-plus upfront? Not ideal.
That’s why more people are switching to Upgraded, a MacBook installment plan that starts at just $33.28 per month. It lets you customize your machine’s specs, and offers an easy upgrade every two years.
No resale headaches. No massive upfront cost. Just the Mac you want, when you want it.
Apple TV+ heats up this summer with the true-crime drama Smoke season 1 igniting small screens everywhere Friday, with investigators on the trail of two serial arsonists. The streamer recently revealed a first look and a trailer, below, for the nine-episode series, starring and executive produced by Taron Egerton. And now you can watch the show on Apple TV+.
Inspired by the popular podcast Firebug, Smoke reunites the creative team behind Apple’s critically acclaimed limited psycho-drama Black Bird. It should appeal to fans of crime dramas, psychological thrillers and the previous Dennis Lehane-Egerton collaboration on Black Bird. Smoke looks like a must-watch addition to the Apple TV+ lineup.
Update 2: Smoke streams as of Friday, June 27, on Apple TV+. Reviews so far are mixed but leaning positive. The Boston Globe said the show “stretches too much story over too many episodes.” But The Guardian said “no TV show has ever been worth sticking with more,” adding the “smart, mesmerizing and hugely entertaining” series more than pays off after the first two somewhat shaky episodes.
Update 1: Apple TV+ just released a new trailer for upcoming drama series Smoke. Clocking in at just over 2 minutes, the tense trailer pits two would-be allies — the Fire Dept. arson investigator played by Egerton and the Police crime scene expert played by Jurnee Smollett — against each other in a psychological game with a timer on it. When will the arsonists, whoever they are, kill again? And at least one of them might be Egerton’s character.
June 27, 1997: The last day of another disappointing quarter brings an end to CEO Gil Amelio’s 500 days running Apple.
The $56 million quarterly loss contributes to an overall deficit of $1.6 billion during Amelio’s reign. The slump effectively wipes out every cent of profit Cupertino earned since fiscal 1991. After losing money for six out of the last seven quarters, Apple seems past the point of no return.
To avoid further penalties under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, Apple has announced sweeping changes to its App Store guidelines for the EU.
However, it’s not happy with the EU’s additional demands and plans to appeal against this.
AI photo editor PicWish lets you remove backgrounds, unblur or sharpen pictures, and generally enhance your images in all kinds of ways. It’s easy to use but yields impressive results that would have been impossible (or required an advanced degree in an expensive tool like Adobe Photoshop) just a few years ago.
With this PicWish deal, you can slash the price of the credits you need to pull off these fantastic image tweaks. You can get 5,000 PicWish credits for just $59.99 (regularly $95.95).
Apple celebrated 20 years of Apple podcasts on Thursday by unveiling a curated collection of 20 shows that it said helped shape the medium into what it is today. The first podcasts in iTunes debuted back in 2005, before the name “Apple Podcasts” became a thing. This new list is like a roadmap to quality content that goes back in time.
“This list is a love letter to the podcasts that left a lasting impact on us and the ones we continue to recommend again and again,” the streamer wrote. “They are shows with hosts that feel like friends, and shows that make us press play immediately on the latest episode to hear what happens next. These shows have measurably improved our lives and helped define this medium we know and love.”
You don’t need to wait until September to see the four models in the iPhone 17 series. Images of them leaked out already, including a new glamour shot showing the entire collection, including the slim model likely called the iPhone 17 Air.
A highlight of the image is the rumored move from a camera hump to a camera bar in most of Apple’s upcoming handsets.
If you know how to schedule texts on iPhone, you can make sure you never forget to send a reminder, birthday greeting or early morning message for someone in a different time zone. You can schedule a whole slew of texts up to a week in advance, with links, photos, attachments and more, using the iPhone’s Send Later feature.
This can save your bacon if you’re often the type of person to forget to text someone later. And it’s really easy to do, once you figure out how to use the somewhat hidden feature.
I’ve been amazed lately about how incredibly good affordable headphones from brands like EarFun, Soundcore and Edifier continue to get. When I tested the recently released EarFun Tune Pro cans for a review, I had a hard time telling them apart, in several important ways, from the excellent — and much more expensive — Beats Studio Pro. And now you can get an EarFun Tune Pro headphones deal on Amazon for an even lower price — just $53.99 (for a limited time).
The goal of the new Targus VersaVu line is to upgrade the latest iPad models to a laptop-like experience. Plus, the slim keyboard case allows users to type on their tablet in either landscape or portrait mode.
It boasts a backlit keyboard, a trackpad and an adjustable kickstand.
June 26, 2008: A year after the first iPhone was released, Apple sends an email to developers calling for smartphone software to be distributed in the forthcoming App Store.
Coders around the world greet the news with excitement. They hurry to submit their iPhone apps and get in on the looming App Store gold rush. Many rake in small fortunes when the App Store goes live less than a month later.
With every new iOS and macOS release, Apple deepens the integration between its mobile and desktop operating systems. iOS 26 is no different, building on the iPhone Mirroring feature introduced in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
Check out all the new cross-device features and integrations that iOS 26 and macOS 26 (aka Tahoe) bring.
Apple’s walled garden approach means you can’t use the Apple Watch with a smartphone other than the iPhone. But with its latest Android foldable, Vivo claims full support for the Apple Watch.
The Vivo X Fold 5 even promises deep iPhone and Mac integration, apparently mirroring your calls, messages, and notifications.
Our friends at Anker Solix built a big launch sale on Wednesday around their new rolling beast of a backup power plant for your home, appliances and Apple devices — the F3000 Portable Power Station. Right now you can get an amazing $1,000 off the electrical generator itself. And in addition to the basic F3000 Portable Power Station launch deal, you can score even more savings on bundles pairing it with other essentials, like extension batteries, solar panels and power cables.
The launch sale with all the options below runs through Wednesday, July 2.
Apple TV+ subscribers will soon get an exclusive look inside one of college basketball’s greatest dynasties. It’s a new three-part documentary series focused on the University of Connecticut (UCONN) women’s basketball program. The series chronicles four decades of unprecedented success under legendary head coach Geno Auriemma. That includes the team’s most recent triumph as 2025 NCAA National Champions, of course. No other team, men or women, has won so many championships — 12.
“This series offers fans an exclusive view into 40 seasons of UConn women’s basketball, and I’m really excited for audiences to be able to see all the hard work that has built this program,” Auriemma said.
The three-part documentary series doesn’t have a title or a streaming date yet, however.
You want to get faster at typing? Sure, you can hold down the Backspace key or mash it really fast. But there’s a better and more precise way to backspace and delete text on the Mac, using the Option (⌥) and Command (⌘) keys. These Mac typing shortcuts can make editing text lightning-fast and seamless. Here’s how you can be a keyboard wizard.
All of these work on the iPad, too, if you have a physical keyboard connected.
The next-generation iPad Pro is on the horizon. Its OLED screen is reportedly already in production, and the launch is rumored for this autumn with a new Apple M5 processor on board.
The upcoming iPadOS 26 might do more to spur sales of the tablet than a faster processor or gorgeous screen, though.
Sometimes a computer setup may look basic or boring at a glance — but it still might get the job done quite well and pack some surprisingly cool gear. Today’s featured setup, centered on an M3 MacBook Air with dual monitors, is a good example. It features not only Apple’s great lightweight laptop driving a pair of displays, but some other solid peripherals — like a Harman Kardon Bluetooth speaker I’ve never seen before in a setup featured on Cult of Mac.
And while the user seemed unsure his not-super-cool setup warranted posting on social media, he ended up getting lots of reassurance and good advice for improvements.
The new Apple Sports app version 3.0 dropped Wednesday, packing significant improvements that should make following your favorite teams and matches easier than ever on iPhone. The update brings a redesigned home screen with more personalization, some new baseball features and, more importantly for certain sports fans, new coverage of professional tennis — just in time for Wimbledon!
June 25, 1985: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sends a memo to Apple execs suggesting that Cupertino should license its Mac operating system and additional technology to other companies.
Apple CEO John Sculley and Macintosh boss Jean Louis Gassée ignore the advice of the 30-year-old Gates, who at the time is best known as a Mac developer. Five months later, Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.
CarPlay Ultra just hit another speed bump. Several automakers reportedly won’t use Apple’s most advanced in-dash infotainment system because it takes over too many features of the vehicle that the carmakers themselves want to control. This is especially bad news for Apple as some of these holdouts are companies that previously showed interest in implementing CarPlay Ultra.
On the other hand, there are well-known carmakers still planning on adding the system to their vehicles.
Canvid is an AI-powered screen recorder and editor that makes creating pro-level videos fast, simple and actually kind of fun. With this affordable app for Mac or PC, you can easily take your presentations, walkthroughs, app demos and explainer videos to the next level. And you won’t need to learn complex editing tools or wrestle with clunky file exports.
With a one-time payment of just $59.99 (regularly $197), you get lifetime access to Canvid on up to three devices. Turning screen recordings into polished presentations has never been easier.