Cult of Mac

If you own an iPhone 13 Pro and an AirTag, you should definitely enter the latest Cult of Mac giveaway. The $80 bundles we’re giving away to five lucky winners feature a pair of protective accessories from Raptic.

The bundle includes the Terrain iPhone 13 Pro Case (which offers 10-foot drop protection) and the Link + Lock AirTag case (with a built-in combination lock for extra security).

If you care about protection for your devices, and also the environment, be sure and enter our giveaway. The Terrain is the only iPhone case 100% made in the USA. Which means it’s better for the environment, because it eliminates carbon emissions from international transportation.

This 5-in-1 MagSafe Wireless & Wired Charging Station can charge four Apple devices simultaneously. So why is it called a “5-in-1” charging stand? Because it also includes a bedside lamp.

Configure the new Mac Studio with a super-fast M1 Ultra processor and the weight goes up a full 2 pounds. Weight doesn’t matter for a desktop, but people have been curious what about where all the extra comes from.

Apple has an answer. And it all comes down to heat and heavy metal.

Hardcore gamers, dedicated office workers, gear geeks — can you ever have enough choice among affordable mechanical keyboards? Well, another new one entered the fray recently when peripherals maker Cooler Master released its new CK721 Gaming Keyboard.

The new keeb sports a sleek 65% layout, customizable features and compatibility with macOS, iOS, Windows and Android.

This MDM post is brought to you by Scalefusion.

With the recent surge in employees working via smartphones, tablets and laptops from practically anywhere, it’s no surprise mobile device management, aka MDM, has become a crucial tool for organizations large and small. Then add in the growth of cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps, plus companies letting employees use their own devices (BYOD).

It all adds up to needing an MDM provider you can depend on. These days, you need something that serves the IT department’s needs while remaining easy for users to navigate. And it should work across operating systems and device types.

With Scalefusion, you can get up and running fast with a vast array of devices, and even expand your fleet, without having to worry about engaging multiple MDM providers.

The Apple M1 processor inside the newly announced iPad Air 5 makes the tablet as powerful as the similarly sized iPad Pro. Given the price difference, the new Air is a better option for most people.

The iPad Pro has advantages. And it’s still the right device for some folks. But think hard before putting down an extra $200 that might be unnecessary. Here’s why the iPad Air 5, which Apple unveiled during Tuesday’s Peek Performance event, comes out ahead in many ways.

Not every Bluetooth speaker on the market packs 60W of power, but the new Tronsmart Bang Outdoor Party Speaker does. And it brings a beat-driven light show to the party, too. The company rolled it out on Tuesday, emphasizing that the four-driver speaker is “loud and powerful.”

“The Bang delivers an audio feast with an impactful stereo sound thanks to its two tweeters and two woofers,” the company said.

Ever wonder how people get crazy-cool mood lighting in and around their computer setups? You see it all the time in folks’ photos on social media sites. The hardware — computer, displays, peripherals, other gear — may be fabulous in its own right, but the lighting just takes it to another level.

Or not. Sometimes lighting ends up being too flashy — as in, on the verge of fit-inducing. And sometimes it’s just too much of one thing. Today’s featured setup shows a cool blue wash that might just drown productivity. Or maybe it’s just for off-duty hours.

Whatever your preferences, an increasing array of products can help you get your setup light show on.

Need to add a little more graphical firepower to your Mac Pro? AMD rolled out its new Radeon Pro W6600X GPU for Mac Pro on Tuesday, now available at Apple for $700.

The new graphics processing unit is designed to boost image quality and performance for design pros and other content creators.

The TechMatte Apple Pencil Gen 2 Charging Carrying Case juices up the iPad’s official stylus when it’s not attached to the tablet. It’s a secure place to carry the Apple Pencil around, and keep it topped off when you’re on the go.

I tested this charging accessory to be sure it lives up to its promises.

If you’re a fan of Apple products, you’re not alone. And if you lead a company or organization that operates across a network of Apple devices, then you’re also not alone. In fact, 100% of Fortune 500 companies use Apple products.

Those with small (or no) IT departments may not have the resources to successfully manage all those Macs, iPhones and iPads. Without the proper approach, handling things like application distribution, inventory management, enforcement of security settings and everything else that comes into play when overseeing a group of devices can suck up a ton of time.

Mobile device management platform Jamf Now is here to help you set up, manage and make the most of your employees’ Apple devices.

It requires a lot of bandwidth to drive the super-sharp 5K screen in Apple’s new Studio Display, and some devices just don’t cut it. Those hoping to use one with iPad Air will be disappointed to learn that a big upgrade is necessary.

Studio Display is only compatible with the fifth-generation iPad Air, announced during Apple’s big Peek Performance event on Tuesday. The fourth-generation model, released in October 2020, is left out in the cold — like iPad mini.

You don’t have to spend 12 hours waiting for the perfect shot to get a professional-quality photo. All you need is a good photo editor. The Complete Award-Winning Luminar AI Bundle does most of the work editing your photos for you — and makes all the rest easy.

And for just $39.99 (regularly $235), making the decision to get Luminar is a snap.

Apple is said to be planning a major MacBook Air refresh with an all-new design for 2022. But it may not get an “M2” chipset upgrade, as some rumors have suggested. It could also miss out on a mini-LED display.

Here’s what you can expect, according to one analyst who has proven reliable in the past.

Apple blew our minds this week with its all-new and somewhat unexpected Mac Studio. The diminutive desktop, which has the same footprint as Mac mini but is almost three times as tall, is by far Cupertino’s most powerful machine to date when you buy it with the incredible new M1 Ultra chip.

There’s just one problem with that. The impressive M1 Ultra model, which is significantly more powerful than even the fastest Mac Pro, starts at a whopping $3,999 — a considerable jump from the M1 Max model, which starts at $1,999. And I can’t work out how it’s so darn expensive!

No less than seven of the ten best-selling phones in 2021 were made by Apple. What’s more, all of the top five models were iPhones.

The iPhone 12 topped the list by a significant margin.

When CEO Tim Cook left the stage at the end of Apple’s “Peek Performance” event, he took the hopes of many MacBook and iMac users with him. Because there was just one Mac introduced Tuesday, the Mac Studio.

But some of the computers not announced are still expected to launch. Just not now.  Here are the Macs we didn’t get, and which ones to look for from Apple in the coming months.

How do you feel when you don’t get a good night’s sleep? Sluggish? Slow? Unproductive?

If you’re looking for a way to get to sleep and stay asleep, Restflix may offer a solution. And thanks to a new price cut, you can get a lifetime subscription to this sleep app for just $99.99. That’s 83% off the normal price of $599. (One- and three-year subscriptions are also available.)

Apple kicked off Tuesday’s Peek Performance event with a look at the upcoming Apple TV+ slate of movies — and it’s not a very pretty picture.

You can look forward to the kind of forgettable, star-studded stuff that Netflix has become so adept at providing a rapacious public, most of whom seem just as eager to forget these types of movies exist. While promising Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon remains free of both a release date and a trailer, the Apple TV+ sizzle real showcased several upcoming movies that don’t inspire confidence.

Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn’t often wear colorful Apple watch bands, but he made an exception during Apple’s Peek Performance event on Tuesday.

Cook emceed the event wearing an eye-catching yellow Sport band. Paired with his blue sweater, Cook seemed to be making a subtle gesture of support for the embattled country (yellow and blue are the colors of the Ukrainian national flag).

Apple seeded to developers the release candidates of macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPadOS 15.4 on Tuesday. That’s the final step before introducing them to the public, which will finally give Mac and iPad users access to the long-delayed Universal Control.

The iOS 15.4 Release Candidate also went to developers, so iPhone users will soon be able to unlock their iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask. Plus, the watchOS 8.5 RC and tvOS 15.4 RC were seeded as well.

When Apple rolled out the first M1 chip in late 2020, it seemed like a pretty big jump forward. Then the new M1 Pro and M1 Max in MacBook Pro models blew people away in October 2021. Now the Cupertino tech giant calls its latest M1 Ultra chip in the new Mac Studio desktop computer “the next giant leap for Apple silicon and the Mac.”

It’s almost like when Neil Armstrong got back from taking “one giant leap for mankind” on the moon in 1969 — if someone had told him, “you can toss that jalopy you went up in. Now we’ve got a real spaceship for ya.”

Apple said at its “Peek Performance” event Tuesday that the M1 Ultra is “the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer.”

After gracing us with its jaw-dropping Mac Studio and 27-inch Studio Display on Tuesday, Apple finally discontinued the aging 27-inch iMac. The machine is no longer available to purchase through official Apple retail channels.

It’s probably not gone for good, however. Cupertino is rumored to be working on a larger iMac model that could appear alongside other new Mac models — including a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro — later this year.

The Apple Studio Display, revealed Tuesday alongside the new Mac Studio desktop, finally brings a high-end Apple monitor at a more-affordable price point.

Like the MacBook Pro and Pro Display XDR, the new 27-inch 5K monitor features TrueTone, P3 wide color gamut, studio-quality microphones, a six-speaker sound system, a thin bezel and optional nano-texture glass. But at $1,599, it costs just a fraction of the Pro Display XDR’s eye-watering price.

“The Studio Display is in a class of its own,” said Nicole Kordes, Apple’s engineering program manager for Mac, during Tuesday’s Peek Performance event. “Along with a gorgeous screen. It’s loaded with incredible features that no other desktop display can deliver. And it provides that integrated experience Mac users love.”

Apple and Major League Baseball announced “Friday Night Baseball,” a weekly doubleheader with live pre- and postgame shows on Apple TV+. This is the first live sports available on the streaming service. And it won‘t require a subscription. At least not at first.

Of course, at this point there is no baseball. The MLB and players union are fighting over money, and the 2022 season is in jeopardy.