Cult of Mac

You don’t need us to tell you that the future of everything, both business and personal, is online. So, whether you want to host your professional portfolio, or launch stores, blogs or countless other exciting projects, having a website is essential. To do that without breaking the bank, you’re going to need cheap web hosting — which traditionally can cost anywhere from a hundred dollars a year to hundreds of dollars per month.

It doesn’t have to, thanks to this special deal. For a limited time, you can get your hands on unlimited web hosting for life with the top-rated iBrave lifetime subscription for just $89.97 (regular price $899.10).

For the first time, an iOS trojan has been spotted in the wild. Adapted from a well-known Android trojan, GoldDigger, the new malware is called GoldPickaxe, according to a new report. And it steals an iPhone user’s facial recognition data to go after money in banking and other financial apps. We’ll show you how below.

Known for docks, hubs and other Mac-friendly accessories, OWC has put together a big sale on Amazon. You can get up to $100 off Thunderbolt docks!

We’re focusing on Thunderbolt docks that can help you broaden your computer setup’s connectivity. But you can also find external hard drives, memory kits, keyboards, cables and more in the sale.

Weight isn’t the only way to measure your health, but if you use a dumb scale, that’s the only insight it gives you. If you want a more holistic look at your wellness, try the Roomie Sophie Smart Body Scale. It’s a smart scale that can measure body fat and more.

In fact, it measures 11 key health and nutrition metrics and comes with a free health app. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for just $27.99 (regularly $79).

Google Chrome uses artificial intelligence in a new experimental tool that makes it easier to start writing or improve something already written online. “Help me write” can punch up the content of any text field in the browser.

It’s coming to Mac and Windows, and is just the latest AI addition to Chrome.

February 22, 2001: The iMac Special Edition, sporting wild designs that would make a hippie happy, puts a wacky face on the computer that saved Apple’s bacon at the turn of the century. The Flower Power iMac and Blue Dalmatian iMac evoke tie-dye shirts or other unconventional ’60s-era imagery.

A far cry from the super-serious, aluminum-heavy industrial design that will come to define Apple in coming years, these colorfully patterned iMacs stand out as some of the most irreverent computers Cupertino ever dreamed up. (C’mon, when was a real Dalmatian blue?)

Under the consciously tacky exteriors, a pretty darn great iMac G3 hums along.

A wall charger is useless when there’s no power socket handy. That’s why Belkin recently launched one that has a built-in battery so it’s ready to charge up your iPhone even when you’re off the grid.

Belkin BoostCharge Hybrid Wall Charger 25W + Power Bank 5K has a pair of USB ports and flip-out power prongs for maximum adaptability.

I put it through a series of tests with my iPhone 15 Plus, and it came through quite well.

The SwapSolar, Bluetti’s very first “ecosystem,” pairs a power station with a portable fridge. The combo is designed to power up all your outdoor activities and keep your food and drinks chilled. But the Bluetti SwapSolar is currently heating up Indiegogo.

The crowd-funding campaign for SwapSolar — which combines the new MultiCooler (the world’s first portable refrigerator powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries) and the AC180T hot-swappable battery power station — launched Tuesday on Indiegogo and quickly eclipsed Bluetti’s $50,000 goal. There’s still plenty of time for you to get in on the deal, though, with multiple perks and discounts available for early backers.

Now hear this: Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Tuesday for its upcoming documentary series Earthsounds, narrated by Golden Globe winner and Emmy Award nominee Tom Hiddleston.

The streamer said you’ll “hear our planet like never before in the new 12-part immersive natural history series.” All episodes become available February 23.

Spark, a renowned email client for iPhone and Mac, is getting a new AI-driven My Writing Style feature. While the email app already offers AI-powered writing assistance, the new feature aims to mirror your writing style. This will enable you to use AI to draft emails in your voice and style, giving them a personal touch.

The new Apple Sports app gives iPhone users a handy tool for tracking sports scores and stats. Previously buried inside Apple News, the constantly updated sports data becomes much more accessible when delivered via a dedicated iPhone sports app.

You can choose which teams and leagues you follow, get live updates on scores (and betting odds), and tap to open live coverage of the game in a streaming app.

The official Apple Sports app is available on the App Store now. Here’s how to use it.

Apple recently seeded the fourth beta of iOS 17.4. Despite this late into the beta cycle, iOS 17.4 beta 4 packs several notable changes.

Below are all the changes we have come across in the latest iOS 17.4 beta along with an archive of all the changes in the previous beta builds.

There’s no time like the present to jump on a great deal on a very cool laptop computer — $200 off an M2 MacBook Air. You can get that price on a midnight- or spay gray-colored model at B&H Photo.

Right now you can get the highly rated laptop — 4.9 out of 5 stars at B&H — for just $1,149, down from $1,349. That’s a great deal on a bantamweight machine that packs a powerful punch, thanks to Apple silicon.

The second-generation version of Astropad’s Rock Paper Pencil includes an improved version of the textured iPad screen protector. Theres also a more durable Apple Pencil tip.

The combo is designed for digital artists who want drawing on an iPad to feel more like using a pen on paper.

An iMessage upgrade with post-quantum cryptography will make Apple’s instant messaging platform ready to fend off future hackers. Today’s encryption methods likely won’t be able to stand up, which is why Apple is bringing in the cutting-edge protocol.

The new tech will launch in March, making iMessage the most secure, widely used messaging service in the world, according to Apple.

A federal jury found two Chinese men living in Maryland guilty Tuesday in a fake iPhone fraud scheme. They attempted to defraud Apple in a $3 million scheme to replace fake iPhones with real ones, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said.

Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue’s mail fraud convictions carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The Apple Watch Ultra is famously rugged and great for endurance sports. But no wearable is truly indestructible. So if you want to make your Ultra even tougher, put it in the Elkson Quattro Pro 2.0 bumper case with band for Apple Watch Ultra.

The case/band combo, which now comes in six colors, is available in the Cult of Mac Store for just $23.99.

Mechanical keyboards are all the rage for folks who love their nuanced typing feel, customizability and all that clickety-clackety noise.

Today’s featured Mac Studio and dual-Studio Display setup boasts a great mechanical gaming keyboard, the NuPhy Halo75, with custom keycaps.

February 21, 2007: Apple comes to an agreement with Cisco over the iPhone trademark, which Cisco legally owns but Apple wants to use.

Under the agreement, both companies get to use the iPhone trademark on products throughout the world. The two businesses also dismiss outstanding lawsuits against one another, and agree to “explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications.”

It’s a classic bit of Steve Jobs steamrolling the opposition.

For the first time, iPhones captured the top seven out of 10 spots on a list of bestselling smartphones worldwide, according to Counterpoint Research.

And guess what? iPhone 15 series handsets enter the list not at the top, but at No. 5. Many markets place a greater value on less expensive handsets.

The new Apple Sports app for iPhone gives fans access to real-time scores, stats and more for their favorite teams across a wide range of sports leagues. The free app launched Wednesday on the App Store.

“We created Apple Sports to give sports fans what they want — an app that delivers incredibly fast access to scores and stats,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, in a statement.

If you’re short on know-how or entering unfamiliar territory, an AI consultant can help you tap into the collective intelligence of experts — without prohibitive costs.

Consultio Pro gives you 24/7 access to more than 50 AI-powered experts across a range of topics that will help your business (and yourself!) excel. Right now, you can get a lifetime subscription for only $29.99 (regularly $199).

If you want to get work done on your Vision Pro, you’ll really want a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad for precision input and pointing. And for gaming, you can connect a controller, too. The Vision Pro officially supports Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch controllers, with support for some other Bluetooth models as well.

Follow these instructions to pair a Bluetooth device with Vision Pro.

Apple’s rumored OLED iPad Pro will reportedly be significantly thinner than existing models. The switch to slimmer Organic Light-Emitting Diode panels will make this possible.

Besides the thinner chassis, the 2024 OLED iPad Pros will have slightly bigger dimensions than its predecessors.

Electric bikes are having a moment, and Cult of Mac Deals has e-bikes on sale at the lowest price yet for a limited time.

If you want all the fun of a bicycle, with on-demand power to push up a hill, don’t miss this deal: Get a popular BirdBike in a variety of styles for just $699.97, with free delivery.