December 15, 2020: Apple releases AirPods Max, its first over-ear headphones, touting the device’s pristine design and advanced computational audio.
The pricey cans with the sleek aluminum ear cups retail for a wallet-thrashing $549. But they supersize the magical AirPods experience, and deliver Apple’s best audio experience yet.
Apple recently changed the way you turn off alarms on your iPhone, switching to a new slide-to-stop gesture. The new method is designed to help you. But if you just can’t stand it, going back to the old way — stopping alarms with a button — is easy.
Here’s how to make the quick change.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Fresh rumors about the hybrid device that marries an iPad with a HomePod get us thinking about the future of Apple’s home automation. This could be the start of something big.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Ever been annoyed when someone sends you a PDF instead of a file you can edit? An all-in-one PDF editor like PDF Converter Pro can help, and it doesn’t need to cost a fortune.
Lifetime licenses for the Mac PDF app are on sale for $23.99 with code CONVERT (regularly $99.99) for a limited time.
The UK government is reportedly pushing ahead with plans to ask Apple and Google to block access to nude images on smartphones unless a user’s age has been verified. Ministers say the proposal is aimed at protecting children from explicit material, but the move is a dramatic shift as it could shift responsibility onto technology companies.
Information leaking out of London indicates the Home Office wants age checks built directly into iOS and Android, as well as direct blocks on taking and viewing nude images.
In this, they will have a surprising ally: porn websites.
Apple’s 20th anniversary iPhone might stand out due to a “four-sided bending design,” according to a new report. The company reportedly plans to make the phone bezel-less, integrating the camera and Face ID sensors below the display panel.
To help Apple achieve its goal, LG Display is seemingly making heavy investments in the next-generation display technology.
December 14, 2017: The much-anticipated iMac Pro finally reaches customers many months after Apple’s announced the product. With a built-in 27-inch, 5K display and an Intel Xeon processor, the high-end desktop combines the features of an iMac and a Mac Pro.
It is beautiful and far more powerful than earlier iMacs, but is destined to stay in Apple’s product lineup only a relatively short time.
A Costco Gold Star Membership can help you secure high-quality goods — including iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches and iPads — at bargain-basement prices. You can hop on the savings train now with a Costco membership deal that lets you join the warehouse club for less.
Right now, when you pick up a year-long Costco Gold Star Membership for only $65 you’ll also score an extra-satisfying $40 Digital Costco Shop Card*.
Want even more savings? Bump up to an Executive Gold Star Membership for $130 to earn more perks and receive an even larger $60 Digital Costco Shop Card.
The Christmas season is starting, and there’s good news for fans of the Peanuts holiday specials. Apple made the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas available for everyone to stream free this weekend, whether they’re an Apple TV subscriber or not.
That gives everyone the opportunity to watch Linus teach his friends what Christmas is all about.
December 13, 2016: After months of anticipation and delay, Apple finally launches the first-generation AirPods. The tiny wireless earbuds arrive in Apple’s online store just in time for holiday shoppers looking for stocking stuffers.
Like so many Apple products, they aren’t the first wireless earbuds to arrive on the scene. However, AirPods’ rapid success will fuel a wireless listening revolution.
JustinGuitar has been one of the internet’s most trusted guitar-learning platforms for nearly two decades. And now, Justin Sandercoe — who has taught millions via YouTube, racking up more than 592 million views in the process — has turned his method into a guitar app that actually feels like having a personal coach in your pocket.
It features structured lessons, real-time feedback and thousands of songs. And with this special holiday sale, you can give the guitarist in your life (or yourself) lifetime access to JustinGuitar for just $249.99 (MSRP $299.99).
A leaked iOS 26 internal build reveals several new features Apple plans to introduce in iOS 26.4. These include credit card autofill support for third-party apps, folders in whiteboarding app Freeform, and a Sports tier in Apple TV.
The company will supposedly also introduce additional security measures with the update.
Not ready to take a gamble on iOS 26? You can stop an iOS update in its tracks if you don’t want to be pushed into the latest version.
There are all kinds of reasons you might not want to upgrade. Maybe you like the speed and stability of iOS 18. Perhaps you don’t want Apple’s divisive new Liquid Glass user interface slowing down your aging iPhone.
While Apple is finally starting to push people to update to iOS 26, you don’t need to go along with the crowd. Obviously, you can disable automatic updates to put on the brakes, but it won’t be long before Apple starts sending push notifications and red badges, encouraging you to update.
Luckily, there’s a secret trick to hide those and make sure your phone stays on iOS 18 for as long as you like. Here’s how.
Stuck using an older version of Microsoft Office? This offer gets you a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for just $49.97. With a low one-time payment, you can bid farewell to Microsoft 365’s pesky recurring subscription fees. You’ll never need to pay again for Microsoft’s widely used software for work and school.
And if you need Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, you can secure a lifetime license for even less: just $34.97.
iPad users once again gain access to classic Split View multitasking in iPadOS 26.2. It’s back to being the best way to use two applications side-by-side on your iPad.
Apple nerfed Split View in iPadOS 26, but the latest OS update walks that mistake back — it’s as good as it’s ever been. Here’s how to use the revised version.
In addition to hundreds of bug fixes, iOS 26.2 brings much-needed refinement to the iPhone’s operating system — along with more than 20 new features.
iOS 26.2, which Apple released Friday, lets you turn your reminders into alarms, so they’re impossible to ignore. Apple Podcasts gains automatic chapters and links. And the controversial Liquid Glass user interface continues to be refined and tweaked.
There are subtle improvements everywhere. Here’s the complete list of exciting changes in iOS 26.2. Keep reading or watch our video.
The wait for iOS 26.2 is over! Apple’s latest update to the iPhone operating system includes a useful change to AirDrop file sharing, a prominent tweak to Liquid Glass and more. We expected it all week, and it’s finally out.
The update is joined by macOS Tahoe 26.2, iPadOS 26.2, watchOS 26.2, tvOS 26.2 and visionOS 26.2, all at the same time.
After earning more than $629 million at the global box office this summer, the racing flick F1: The Movie finally zoomed from theaters to living rooms, reaching the Apple TV streaming service on Friday.
The film blends blazing-fast cars on the racetrack with clashing personalities off the track. Brad Pitt stars as an aging racer trying to prove he still has what it takes to be a Formula One driver, with the action playing out at 230 mph.
Apple has begun actively encouraging iPhone users to move from iOS 18 to iOS 26, and social media is filling up with people complaining about Liquid Glass, with the occasional compliment for the new look.
Trying to find out what most people really think about the new version, Cult of Mac polled its readers, and their answers might surprise you.
December 12, 1980: Apple goes public, floating 4.6 million shares on the stock market at $22 per share. The Apple IPO becomes the biggest tech public offering of its day. And more than 40 out of 1,000 Apple employees become instant millionaires.
As Apple’s biggest shareholder, 25-year-old Steve Jobs ends the day with a net worth of $217 million. However, the big payday triggers internal tensions as it highlights Cupertino’s class divide.
Streaming is great until you want to watch something offline, save a show before it disappears, or avoid the limits most platforms put on downloads — that’s when you need a streaming downloader like Keeprix.
It works with Netflix, YouTube and other major streaming services, letting you save the videos you care about so you can watch them whenever you want. That means no dealing with ads, expiration timers or unreliable Wi-Fi.
A lifetime subscription to Keeprix just went on sale for $95.99 (regularly $159.99).
Apple released new firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 on Thursday that offers bug fixes for a major recent firmware upgrade. Version 8B28 and 8B30 merely tweak the wireless earbuds, but every AirPods update is worth installing.
Apple recently explained exactly how to update your AirPods firmware. The process can happen automatically, in the background, but there is a way to speed things up. It’s a good idea to manually check that you’re running the latest version, which brings bug fixes and sometimes great new features.
Read on for more details, and find all current AirPods firmware versions, along with instructions for getting the AirPods update as quickly as possible.
If you waited for an AirPods Pro 3 deal that beats Black Friday and Cyber Monday, your moment has arrived. Apple’s excellent noise-canceling earbuds are way down to just $199. That’s a 20% discount off the newly upgraded earbuds — and $20 less than Black Friday.
AirPods Pro 3 bring new features, including a heart rate monitor, revved-up audio quality and redesigned ear tips for better active noise cancellation. Plus, like the previous model, they can even function as clinical-grade hearing aids.
Make no mistake: These are the best wireless earbuds you can buy for your iPhone, Mac and other Apple gear. Nothing can match how seamlessly AirPods integrate with Apple devices.
AirTag 2 will reportedly include features clearly intended to win over new converts to Apple’s tracking tag. A leak on Thursday of details about the second-generation model reveals that the product will be easier to find in several ways, and easier to set up, too.
The new AirTag is now expected to launch in 2026.
Music-recognition service Shazam now features Popular Segments, a data-driven feature that reveals exactly which part of a song resonates most with listeners all over the world, according to an Apple website update Thursday.