Many music lovers just lost a best friend. Image: Basic Apple Guy
Soon after Apple officially killed the iPod on Tuesday, users flooded Twitter with remembrances of the little music player that changed the world when it barged onto the scene in 2001.
From tech influencers to industry analysts to garden-variety music lovers — you know, the folks whose ears lit up when Apple gave them a device that put 1,000 songs in their pockets — it was a genuine iPod lovefest.
This AirPods charging case has a USB-C connection. Photo: Ken Pillonel
The robotics engineering student who made a name for himself replacing an iPhone’s Lightning connector with USB-C is at it again. But this time he’s bringing a USB-C AirPods charging case into the world for the first time.
Ken Pillonel got $86,000 for the iPhone. No word yet on whether crazy money will come his way for the AirPods case.
It’s the end of an era — Apple has stopped making the once-iconic iPod. The little music player helped save Apple, and made the company a powerhouse in the music industry, but its day is over.
The last model is the iPod touch, which “will be available while supplies last,” Apple said Tuesday in a press release.
Steve Jobs and the iPod make the cover of NewsWeek. Photo: NewsWeek
Editor’s note: We originally published this illustrated history of the iPod to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary on Oct. 22, 2011 (and updated it a decade later). We republished it on May 10, 2022, when Apple finally pulled the plug on the iPod.
The iPod grew out of Steve Jobs’ digital hub strategy. Life was going digital. People were plugging all kinds of devices into their computers: digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players.
The computer was the central device, the “digital hub,” that could be used to edit photos and movies or manage a large music library. Jobs tasked Apple’s programmers with making software for editing photos, movies and managing digital music. While they were doing this, they discovered that all the early MP3 players were horrible. Jobs asked his top hardware guy, Jon Rubinstein, to see if Apple could do better.
Have you been too hard on Apple Watch Series 7? Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Six months after its launch, people are still griping about Apple Watch Series 7. Even our own Lewis and Erfon recently agreed on The CultCast that Series 7 wasn’t worth the upgrade.
Many have moaned that it lacks new features, with some even suggesting it was a last-minute rush-job on Cupertino’s part. Personally, I don’t believe a word of it. I love my Series 7 and I think the haters have got it all wrong. Here’s why.
Apple is still the world’s most valuable company, but just barely. Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC
For a brief period, the Saudi Aramco oil giant took over from Apple as the world’s most valuable company. A rally on Tuesday has since put the Mac-maker back on top, but all it would take is another bad day on Wall Street for Apple to lose the title again.
This comes after Apple has lost over 14% of its value in 2022, while Aramco gained about 28%.
The DJI Mini Pro 3 can fly for 34 minutes on a standard charge. Photo: DJI
DJI launched its newest consumer drone Tuesday, the compact and lightweight Mini Pro 3. It’s just light enough so you don’t have to register it with the Federal Aviation Administration. Folded up, it fits in the palm of your hand.
And it packs features associated with bigger, pricier drones, like a 48MP camera, 4K 60fps video and obstacle sensing.
Get all kinds of great travel deals with Launching Travel. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
One of the No. 1 stressors about traveling is money, and it’s not just the food at the airport terminal that comes with a sky-high price tag. However, with the right tools, you can save on every part of your travels, from flights to hotels and even the car you rent when you land.
A one-year subscription to Launching Travel will help you save on hotels, rental cars and more. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for just $29.99 (regularly $45).
Apple wants to remove the polarizer from OLED panels to make them thinner Screenshot: ConceptsiPhone
Apple has started developing an OLED panel without a polarizer that will make them thinner than traditional displays.
Reportedly, these slim OLED panels are ideal for use in foldable displays. Samsung already uses OLED displays with similar technology on the Galaxy Z Fold3.
Eddy Cue wants Apple to make more money from its streaming and advertising businesses. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, is reportedly looking to restructure the company’s offerings to make a more significant push in streaming and advertising.
Apple’s services business has been growing rapidly over the last few years. It currently boasts more than 825 million paid subscribers.
The Adobe Photoshop Actions asset bundle from FilterGrade will give your images a boost. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Today, we all need great images. Whether it’s for make social media posts and websites look engaging or to sell a product, the quality of your images is a direct reflection of the quality of your enterprise.
The Motion Boom Plus is built to stand up to water so you can take your tunes anywhere. Photo: Soundcore
Soundcore’s new Motion Boom Plus boombox is built to blast out the tunes wherever you go this summer. The 80-watt Bluetooth speaker packs an array of new features designed to deliver “punchy bass and detailed high end,” the company said.
“Combining an IP67 rating with its upgraded woofers, newly added tweeters, more power,
and portable carry handle, the Motion Boom Plus is the ideal Bluetooth speaker for the park
or at an outdoor pool or beach party,” said Frank Zhu, general manager of Soundcore’s
speaker division, in a press release Monday. “We’ve also made it two times louder than its predecessor to help keep the party going, all day and all night long.”
Plus, you don’t need to worry about losing it in the pool or the lake. It floats!
Mount your iPad on the stand magnetically and rotate and tilt it as much as you want. Photo: SwitchEasy
For anyone who wants to use their iPad like a desktop computer or laptop, with proper ergonomics in mind, the SwitchEasy MagMount Magnetic iPad Stand can help.
And you can get it for 20% off the regular price in the Cult of Mac Store through May 16. That’s $20 off.
Want to be like Jony Ive? Here's about $10,000 worth of tools to carry with you every day. Photo: Apple
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive recently served as a guest editor for the UK’s Financial Times. In the magazine’s “How to Spend It” issue, he lists a dozen tools he finds indispensable for “making.”
More specifically, these are his top picks “for making, for marking, for measuring, and carrying with you every day.”
But don’t break your neck craning to see if he included any Apple items, or even computing products. He didn’t.
Will Smith's personal problems struck a blow to his upcoming Apple TV+ film Emancipation. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple has reportedly decided to push back the premiere of Emancipation. Insider sources that leaked the change did not say the delay of the historical drama staring Will Smith was the result of “The Slap,” but Smith’s shocking outburst at this year’s Academy Awards show almost certainly had to be a factor.
Emancipation is based on the real-life story of a man named Peter, whose saga of escaping slavery made headlines around the world in 1863.
The Backbone One for iPhone takes your gaming to the next level. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Clip the Backbone One to your iPhone to get the physical buttons and sticks you’ve been missing. It has a lot in common with an Xbox controller, while being designed specifically for iPhone gaming. And a Lightning connector makes hookups easy.
I spent many hours testing the Backbone One. Here’s why I completely love it, especially for cloud gaming.
You might be lucky enough to win an invitation to attend WWDC22 in person, but not if you don't request an invite soon. Image: Apple
Apple is now accepting requests to attend its next developers conference in person. WWDC22 in June is mostly online, but a fortunate few developers and students will be able to watch the keynote from Apple Park. The company will soon randomly select the lucky group who can attend from all the requests it receives.
The submission window isn’t open for long – don’t procrastinate.
You don’t have to settle for Apple’s stock calendar app. Image: Cult of Mac
Awesome Apps is a new series highlighting the best apps around. We’ll be featuring our favorite apps as well as new and notable apps. Apps are transformative, and these are the best.
Years ago, I decided to ditch my paper Filofax diary for my iPhone, before quickly realizing that Apple’s built-in Calendar app didn’t fully meet my needs. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find the perfect third-party calendar app for iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
It’s called Fantastical – let me tell you about it.
Apple’s own Calendar app might be relatively well-formed and functional – most of the time – but for anyone looking to take their personal organization to the next level, long-time favorite Fantastical from developer Flexibits is a great option. The app’s wide-ranging feature set makes it easy to add tasks, manage calendars and streamline your productivity. Let’s start with the basics, before looking at some of Fantastical’s power features.
Nanoleaf Lines, behind the displays, are the primary lights in this show. Photo: apple_tech_admin
Recently we wrote about a PC gamer converting to the Apple ecosystem, happily, with an M1 MacBook Pro-based setup. Now we have a lucky recipient of not one but two recently shipped Studio Displays, freshly arrived to replace a pair of gaming monitors.
A Raspberry Pi makes it all possible. Photo: Michał Gapiński
Tesla drivers can add CarPlay to their vehicles, thanks to a workaround by a Polish developer. This is something Tesla itself has shown no interest in.
The hack was first shown off in January, 2022, and the developer has now made the code publicly available.
Python is the coding language programmers prefer. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Learning to code is wildly useful — and it’s surprisingly fun once you get the hang of it. And one of the most well-loved languages in the world is Python.
This coding language is manageable for beginners and has a massive range of applications. Learn to write it with The Complete 2022 Python Programmer Bundle. This Python learning bundle happens to also be on sale for just $39 (regularly $1,791).
Give your data a 10TB backup plan that can't be beat.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
You can’t control when you lose or break your phone, but you can control how much of a pain it is when it happens. With the right data backup service, you can protect your photos, messages, videos and other difficult-to-replace files.
The Degoo Premium: Lifetime 10TB Backup Plan offers a massive amount of automatic data backup. And it works on all your devices to keep your files safe, even if the hardware breaks down or disappears.
For a limited time, you can get Degoo Premium for only $79.99 (regularly $3,600) with code SAVE20NOW.
Artist Adam Duff explains why Apple's Studio Display makes perfect sense. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Haters gonna hate, but digital artist Adam Duff explains why Apple’s new Studio Display is the perfect monitor — for some users.
Also on The CultCast:
iPhone 14 leak reveals sizing, pricing and more.
Who needs a smart water bottle?
Apple TV+ has some hits on its hands.
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.
Our sponsor: Squarespace
Special thanks to this week’s sponsor, Squarespace. Get all the tools you need to set up your very own website and commence selling anything online. Start your free website trial today at squarespace.com/cultcast (no credit card required). Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain with code cultcast at checkout.