Cult of Mac

Do AirTags make noise? They don’t look like they make any sound, but yes indeed they do. They make noise for a variety of reasons, and in my experience, it can sometimes be mysterious — or irritating.

• What does the setup chime mean?
• Why is this AirTag I found beeping?
• And how do I stop it?

I have about half a dozen AirTags, my family has about a dozen more, and we use them regularly to find lost or forgotten items.

But they can sometimes be mysterious and the sounds they make aren’t always obvious. Here are all the reasons why it’s beeping at you, and how to stop it. But be warned: it’s not a simple yes/no situation.

February 1, 2010: The tech-loving world goes into meltdown at the sight of comedian Stephen Colbert using a prerelease iPad to read nominations during the Grammy Awards show.

“Jay-Z, did you not get one of these in your gift bag?” Colbert quips from the stage. “Am I cooler than you?”

The celebrity sneak peek is all part of Apple’s big (and wildly successful) plan to hype its upcoming tablet.

A day ahead of Vision Pro’s release, Apple put a spotlight on more than 600 new “spatial” apps and games made specifically for the headset. They join more than a million Vision Pro-compatible apps Friday in the App Store.

“Apple Vision Pro is unlocking the imaginations of our worldwide developer community, and we’re inspired by the range of spatial experiences they’ve created for this exciting new platform,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of worldwide developer relations.

During quarterly earnings calls, executives often deploy language designed to puff up, excuse or obfuscate their companies’ recent performance. The goal is to make investors pant with delight over implied future success. And ultimately to give the company more money. Always. More. Money.

But when you’re Apple — with a mind-blowing market cap and a seemingly never-ending supply of hit products, including ongoing growth in services — you typically don’t need to craft hopeful-yet-non-material statements or deflect questions designed to get at the bottom line.

Apple’s next earnings call takes place this afternoon. CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri will report on all the numbers. Analysts expect revenue to track with last year’s final quarter but with a bump in earnings per share for the quarter, which is the fourth quarter by the calendar but Apple’s Q1 because it starts its fiscal year in the holiday season.

Amazon’s latest deal slashes nearly $400 off the price of the 15-inch MacBook Air with 512GB storage to a new low of $1,103.

While Apple’s 15-inch Air has been frequently discounted since launch, this is the best deal on the machine yet.

The Complete 2024 Microsoft Tech Certification Training Super Bundle takes you on a deep dive into the skills and subjects you need to land a job in the IT industry. While finishing this educational bundle alone won’t get you certified, it will set you up for success. Finish the courses, then ace the critical exams to earn the certifications you need.

For one low price, you get unlimited access to 11 courses with 246 hours of material, covering everything from desktop management to Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Teams. And for a limited time, it costs just $69.97.

Apple has extended its modem deal with Qualcomm for almost two years until March 2027. The three-year contract was supposed to expire in 2025.

Apple’s extension of its modem deal with Qualcomm comes as the Cupertino giant struggles to develop its in-house modem.

Artificial intelligence tools are making their rounds in the creative world, and next up is AI-powered image generation. Just in time for you to cash in on the craze, this $29.99 e-learning bundle can help you tame these robots and get them to work for you. With a small investment of time and money, you’ll be creating AI art that turns heads.

While these (mostly free) bots typically only need a text prompt to generate content, many nuances affect how well they work at outputting images that meet your requests. So, this course bundle is the right place to start. Well, only if you want to save time and turn your Mac into a complete productivity powerhouse.

Apple earning results to be announced Thursday will reveal how well the company performed financially during the all-important holiday quarter of 2023. Analysts predict that revenue stayed steady in the October-through-December timeframe compared to the same period of the previous year, but the Mac-maker will announce a jump in earnings per share.

A strong earnings report might stop a recent slide in APPL share values — the stock price dropped about 5% over the last week or so.

Drop, owned by gaming powerhouse Corsair, rolled out the compact new CSTM65, a 65% mechanical keyboard, the company said Wednesday. It allows a high degree of personalization much like the larger, recently released CSTM80.

With the launch of a new Webex app designed for Apple TV 4K, you can now use Continuity Camera on your iPhone or iPad to join in Webex calls on your biggest screen with up to 25 participants, Webex owner Cisco said Wednesday.

A great sale at Best Buy brings you one of Apple’s greatest tablets, the iPad Air (5th Generation) at $150 off — no matter which configuration you want. That includes the base 64GB model with Wi-Fi only, up through the 256GB model with Wi-Fi and cellular coverage, and in a choice of five colors. See the deals below.

If you’re looking for an Apple Watch band worthy of a black-tie dinner and a dip in the ocean afterward, look no further.  The Laut Links Petite Apple Watch Band will suit your needs.

The pretty stainless steel band, which is seawater-resistant, comes in four colors. And it costs only $39.99.

January 31, 1998: Mac clone-maker Power Computing goes out of business, having auctioned off its office supplies and computers.

Apple bought out Power Computing, once the fastest-growing PC company of the decade, the previous year. As a result, Power Computing shareholders receive Apple stock as a replacement. As it turns out, that may not have been a terrible deal.

Macs are expensive, but their performance and build quality help justify their steep price tag. But what if you are on a tight budget? Amazon has a deal just for you, knocking a whopping $249.01 off the M1 MacBook Air.

With the discount, the 2020 MacBook Air is available for an all-time low price of $749. If you want to buy a new Mac for cheap, do not miss this deal.

Apple TV+ revealed that the thriller Hijack starring Idris Elba is getting a season two. The first was hugely popular but the premise of the show — a guy stumbles into a hijacking — made coming up with a non-stupid followup a struggle. It seems they found a way.

“It’s top secret what new situation unfolds for Sam Nelson but I can assure you we will bring the high octane back!” Elba promised Wednesday.

Trend alert: We’re seeing more computer setups cutting down from dual displays — or sometimes a few — to one external display. This is no scientific survey, but today’s setup looks like another example of several we’ve seen popping up on social media lately where a user wants to simplify and focus in that way.

And commenters compared the choice of display that remained — a Dell 4K gaming monitor — favorably to Studio Display.

If you don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for an Apple Watch, but are curious about its benefits, check out this $40 starter smartwatch. The CMax Lite Bluetooth Smartwatch is not as slick as Apple’s device, but it does some of the same things: heart rate monitoring, calorie counting, alarms, weather, calendar and more.

The CMax Lite Bluetooth packs a lot into a low-cost package. For just $39.99, you can pick up a smartwatch to use fitness tracking, maximize your connectivity and give you a little more info about what your body’s doing.

iOS developer Riley Testut, the brains behind AltStore (the original alternative App Store), has a great take on Apple’s plans to open up the App Store in the European Union

This is “everything I’ve been wanting for the past few years,” he said after Apple laid out its plans last week. “Even reading the announcement I was tearing up.”

Testut, who lives in Texas, has a vested interest in Apple loosening its grip on the App Store to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. He’s the co-creator of AltStore, a hacky skunkworks project that enables sideloading of iPhone and iPad apps. Now he’s working to transition AltStore into an officially sanctioned app marketplace that complies with Apple’s new rules.

In an exclusive interview with Cult of Mac, Testut talks about the hidden upside for iPhone owners around the world; the downsides of Apple’s strict new framework and fees; and the joys of making AltStore one of the first legit third-party app marketplaces in the EU.

Testut’s take on Apple’s plans for opening up iOS is perhaps the best to date, and well worth a read.

You can also watch the full interview on YouTube.

Sharing files using services like Dropbox and Google Drive isn’t as easy — or as aesthetically pleasing — as it could be. That’s precisely why Smmall Cloud was started. Once you get the Smmall Cloud Mac app, anytime you need to send a large file to a client, co-worker, student or friend, all you need to do is drag and drop. Yup, it’s that easy!

Right now, you can get a lifetime individual Smmall Cloud plan for just $79.99 (regularly $288). That gets you 50GB of storage, and a fast and easy way to share any files (up to 5GB each) that you stash there.

iPhone’s lack of two key features — generative AI and a foldable design — could cause a significant decline in shipments in 2024. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says without these advances, the iPhone will fall behind amid a “new paradigm in high-end mobile phone design.”

Kuo cites supply chain sources to back up his predictions. However, there are numerous reasons to doubt his opinion.

NexDock lets you easily add a 13-inch external screen, keyboard and trackpad to your iPad or iPhone 15 and make them even more useful. Plus, there are bonus features: The all-in-one accessory recharges the Apple device, and includes a microSD card reader and an additional USB-C port.

I tested the Nex’s NexDock for this review, and found it a great fit for iPad — and a somewhat problematic one for iPhone 15, though a third-party app helps. Here’s why.

January 30, 1995: Apple Computer launches the Newton MessagePad 120, the first truly great device in an unfairly maligned product line.

Coming 18 months after the original Newton MessagePad, the upgraded PDA packs more power — and truly shines once Newton OS 2.0 rolls out.

Amazon bargain site Woot! is offering deep discounts, anywhere from 13% to 83% off, on dozens of Apple accessories and a few choice items like Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods Pro — but only until Wednesday at 9:59 p.m. PT.

As of Tuesday morning, one item had sold out and 52 remained, including accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch, AirTag, AirPods and more. See some highlights below.

The first reviews of Apple’s Vision Pro gush compliments on the augmented-reality headset, with one reviewer calling it “mind-blowing” and another “stunning.”

However, there’s also plenty of criticism for the high price, weight and slim collection of software available when the product launches later this week.