A major Thread networking standard update Tuesday brings the Matter home automation technology standard a step closer for those who already own certain devices. Namely, gear that can act as a border router in the smart home — like Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini.
Thread 1.3.0 lets Thread devices work with any other Thread border router. That’s big because Thread will be Matter’s main wireless protocol, along with Wi-Fi.
Apple agreed to a preliminary settlement Monday for a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company knew the MacBook’s “butterfly” keyboard was defective but kept selling it. Apple admits no wrongdoing but agreed to pay up to $50 million, most of which will go to customers who had to replace the faulty keyboards.
This is good news for people in seven U.S. states who experienced problems with their MacBook butterfly keyboard.
In recent years Apple Watch has shown itself to be a lifesaver, either by calling for help when a person’s incapacitated or by offering health readings that lead a person to see a doctor.
In the latter category it just happened again. A woman in Maine didn’t believe what the wearable was telling her at first. But going to the ER led to open-heart surgery that saved her from a probable fatal stroke.
The iPhone’s wireless payment system is more secure than credit cards, and Apple wants to make sure everyone knows it. That’s why the company created three short video ads to show off the advantages of Apple Pay.
Watch them now to learn more about the contactless payment system built into certain Apple devices.
★★★★☆
In the ongoing mania for wireless earbuds and headphones, it’s easy to forget that their older wired siblings still have distinct advantages — namely, great sound for less money.
With no need to worry about analog-to-digital conversion and compression for Bluetooth, wired-gear manufacturers can focus on audio quality at a good price.
New York City-based Strauss & Wagner sent me a pair of its EM205 wired earbuds to try out, and they didn’t disappoint. You can find cheaper wired earbuds with good sound, but you can’t really go wrong with these for $39.95. They feature excellent balance and clarity with a comfortable fit and good build quality.
Apple Watch makes for a great activity and health tracker, whether you’re just going for a stroll or sweating serious bullets at the gym. But you don’t necessarily want a heavy steel band or a fine leather strap with that, though, do you? You want something designed for exercise. Something light and flexible.
That something is the Laut Active Apple Watch Band. It’s so smooth and light you may forget you’re wearing it, except when its vibrant color catches your eye.
Russia plans to levy fines against Apple for allegedly using the App Store in an uncompetitive way.
This is the second time Russia has accused the iPhone-maker of breaking its laws in recent weeks.
Use the internet for long enough, and you’ll notice it’s loaded up with locked doors. You can watch this particular video, but you can’t download it. You can download something else, but you can’t share it. Or maybe you can share something, but you’re only allowed one file at a time (and it can’t be too big).
Restrictions like that are a drag. But you can unlock the internet with Offcloud. This cloud-based download manager lets you save, share and do much more with content that you could barely access before. For a limited time, a lifetime subscription to Offcloud is on sale for $39.99 (regularly $699).
Apple’s macOS is more secure than other operating systems like Windows. But an increasing number of phishing and malware attacks now target Mac users.
And, no matter how secure macOS is, it does not make Mac users immune from the danger of phishing. The success of such attacks often depends on the vigilance of the user.
Apple violates U.S. antitrust law by making sure Apple Pay is the only e-wallet way to tap to pay via an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, a new class-action lawsuit filed Monday alleges.
The complaint says Apple profits illegally to the tune of $1 billion a year or more by blocking competitors like Google Pay and Samsung Pay from offering tap-to-pay transactions on Apple devices.
Finding a good host for your website is one of the best things you can do for yourself. The right host can give you tools to expand and manage your site while keeping your content and data safe from third parties. The wrong host can leave you vulnerable, frustrated and without the tools to grow your website or even take care of it.
DoRoyal Eternal Kingdom is a reliable lifetime web hosting service that gives its users a massive menu of toys to play with. And for a limited time, it’s only $49 (regularly $300).
Apple is preparing for a recession by slowing its growth in hiring and spending in 2023, according to information leaking from the company.
But the changes supposedly won’t affect every division of the iPhone-maker. And the company still plans to release many new products in 2023.
Cupertino’s latest Apple Store location is coming to tony Brompton Road, London, on July 28. To go along with that opening Apple just put out a flowery new wallpaper with some hidden imagery to help pique your interest.
Among the exotic flora in the image above, can you spot an Apple Pencil, an iPhone and Siri remote? That’s not everything lurking there, but it’s a start.
Amazon has discounted the iPad mini 6 with cellular connectivity to its lowest ever price of $549.99 — a sweet $99.01 off its regular price.
The deal is also available on the tablet’s 256GB variant, albeit in specific colors.
In the very near future Apple Arcade will lose 15 games, according to a new section in the Arcade area of the App Store labeled as “Leaving Arcade Soon.”
So if you subscribe to Apple Arcade or think you might — it’s $4.99 a month — consider downloading those games before they’re gone.
And according to new information about the situation, some games may return, but Apple Arcade subscribers who had them will have to re-download them.
A new supernatural series for kids and families is coming to Apple TV+. The streaming service dropped a trailer for Surfside Girls Monday showing best surfer-girl friends solving supernatural mysteries in their sleepy California beach town.
And did we mention: pirates! They fit into this. There’s some sort of cave-portal and a pirate ship and a friendly boy who is, somehow, a pirate, apparently.
The adventurous mystery series debuts August 19 on Apple TV+.
You might think you’d give your right arm for one of those stunning, 49-inch curved ultra-wide monitors to use with your Mac. But then again, you might end up begging for your appendage back, as well as your old display. Or at least something a little less colossal.
Minus the stray arm — as far as we know — that’s more-or-less what happened with today’s featured MacBook Pro-based setup.
Armed criminals carried out a daylight robbery of the Apple store in Covent Garden in London’s West End. The thieves reportedly got away with stolen Macs, iPhone and iPads.
Grab-and-run raids on Apple stores aren’t unusual, but it’s very rare for the perpetrators to be armed. No one was injured in Sunday’s U.K. incident, though.
Tired of being tied down by a short charging cable that’s barely long enough to use your phone with? Love wireless charging but hate needing to set your phone down to charge every time the battery gets low?
You can wirelessly charge at a distance with this 10-foot magnetic wireless USB-C charging cable from ZeroLemon. And it’s now on sale for just $20.99 (regularly $24).
Imagine if Apple sold AirPods for $5,000, and they were so buggy they kept disconnecting from your iPhone. Sounds crazy, right? But that’s the reality faced by me and millions of other hearing aid users today.
Apple offers a solution for hearing aids called Made for iPhone (MFi). This enables third-party hearing aids to work like regular AirPods. In hardware terms, there’s not much difference between them anyway these days. But while AirPods will set you back just $129, MFi hearing aids cost 30 times more, and they’re far less reliable.
So, why did I just buy a pair? It’s complicated.
Apple has dropped a couple of new ads highlighting iPhone 13’s splash resistance and the durability of the Ceramic Shield front.
The entire iPhone 13 series carries an IP68 certification, making them dust and water-resistant. However, Apple is only highlighting the phone’s splash resistance capabilities in the ad.
MacBook Pros powered by upgraded Apple M2 Pro and M2 Max chips could debut as early as this fall. The new chips would focus on delivering improved GPU performance.
The upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro refresh is not expected to pack any other significant changes.
If you want to set up a smart home, you may not have to pay as much as you think. Sure, you could buy lights that turn on when you get home or a fridge that knows when you’re out of milk. Alternatively, you could just get a Wireless Wall Tap Smart Plug and turn anything you connect into a smart device.
For a limited time, this simple way to turn your dumb house into a smart home is on sale for $39.99 (regularly $49).
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Everyone’s raving about the new M2-powered MacBook Air — and so are we. Although Erfon just bought a different Apple laptop (and offers up a pro tip for anybody thinking of getting the hot new MBA).
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 livestream, embedded below.
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Is your home safe? With more than a million burglaries every year in the United States, it could be worth double-checking. If you want to ensure your home’s safety even when you aren’t there, you don’t need an expensive security system. The Smart Home DIY Wireless Alarm Security System is easy to install and can alert you 24/7 to a break-in.
For a limited time, it’s only $69.99 (regularly $89). And you won’t need to pay exorbitant monthly fees, like most other systems require.