Apple’s next HomePod is reportedly stuck in limbo while the company works on its delayed AI Siri upgrade. And honestly? That might be what the HomePod 3 needs. But before Apple unveils the HomePod 3, it needs to address some serious gaps that make it feel far less intelligent than the competition.

The HomePod’s problem has never been its hardware. The speakers sound fantastic, and the device tightly integrates into Apple’s ecosystem. But the user experience still feels a generation behind competing smart speakers. If Apple wants the HomePod 3 to be the center of its smart home ambitions, a faster chip and a shinier enclosure won’t be enough. Here’s what actually needs to change.

The Ugreen DXP4800 Pro is the kind of network-attached storage device, aka NAS, that blurs the line between simple network storage and a compact home server. It packs enough power to handle Plex streaming, Docker containers, virtual machines and multidevice backups.

With a faster processor and improved bandwidth over its predecessor, the DXP4800 Pro delivers a noticeable performance boost for users who want more than just basic file storage.

This added flexibility makes the DXP4800 Pro stand out.

There’s a moment, familiar to anyone who has experienced it, when you move from a dual-monitor setup to a single ultrawide and realize the bezels were never doing you any favors. One seamless, curving (or not) expanse of glass — from 34 inches to 49 inches and beyond — that wraps gently around the periphery of your vision, eliminating the dead stripe down the middle of your workspace where two screens met. We found the best ultrawide Mac setups from years of Cult of Mac coverage.

Apple is reportedly testing a prototype quad-curved OLED screen for the iPhone 19 Pro as part of its push toward an all-screen iPhone. If the leaks prove accurate, it could mark Apple’s biggest redesign since the iPhone X.

The rumored 2027 flagship phone is said to come with under-display Face ID and be curved on all four sides. It could give buyers a compelling reason to skip the iPhone 18 Pro.

Apple stopped signing iOS 26.4.2, meaning iPhone users who updated to iOS 26.5 can no longer roll back to the previous version.

Whenever Apple rolls out an iOS update, it allows users to go back to the previous version if they run into bugs or other issues. But once the company considers the new release stable, it stops signing the older build.

One of the most dramatic ways you can customize your computer is to remap your Mac keyboard keys. You can make it your own with custom functionality, powerful keyboard shortcuts and advanced features. 

Using the free app Karabiner Elements, switching out one key for another is super-easy. It’s a must-have if you use a PC keyboard with your Mac. You can also go one step further, making custom keyboard shortcuts.

But if that sounds too fiddly to do yourself, you can simply install some customizations made by the Karabiner Elements community. Someone might have set up a rule for your specific keyboard! 

Here’s how to get started. 

May 22, 1997: Apple spins off its Newton division, creating an independent company to manage the line of personal digital assistants. Newton Inc.’s first job? Selling the MessagePad 2000 PDA, the best Newton device yet.

But Apple also gave Newton Inc. a mandate to develop new technologies and market existing ones.

“We have a solid business plan and a strong management team in place to optimize the value of Newton technology for corporate users and take Newton technology into a new era,” says Sandy Benett, former vice president of Apple’s Newton Systems Group and chief operating officer of the new venture.

Instead, it turns out to be the beginning of the end for the ahead-of-its-time Apple PDA.

Apple’s Shortcuts app can be incredibly powerful, but building automations often requires patience and trial and error. A new AI-powered tool — Shortcuts Playground — aims to simplify the process by letting you create shortcuts on your iPhone or Mac with natural-language prompts.

The free and open source app requires Codex or Claude Code to work.

Two new sets of Soundcore flagship earbuds — Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max — introduce the company’s first product line built around a co-developed Thus AI chip, the Anker subsidiary said Thursday. Both models are available now, starting at $169.99 and $229.99 respectively. They’re compatible with Apple’s Find My network.

This Saturday, Apple TV will make broadcast history when it streams a live Major League Soccer match captured entirely on iPhone 17 Pro. It marks the first use of just a smartphone to shoot a whole major professional live sporting event, the iPhone giant said Thursday.

The Nyrius Phoenix Home True 4K60 Wireless HDMI Video Transmitter & Receiver (TBB85) lets you connect your MacBook to your TV without the hassle of stretching a cable between them.

I recently reviewed the Nyrius Orion Prime, which is the light-duty version. The company’s new model is the top-of-the-line option, packed with premium features, especially support for 4K60 video, but also a 500-foot range.

I tested the device and came away impressed.

Digital signature service SignIt gives you unlimited legally binding e-signatures for life, plus AI-powered document setup, templates, automation and team tools. You can use it on your iPhone, Mac, iPad and other devices.

And rather than paying a monthly subscription fee, you can secure lifetime access to SignIt for a one-time payment of just $79. That’s a 90% discount off the regular price of $819, and a substantial savings when compared to competing services like Docusign, which starts at $11 per month.

Your Apple Watch has a web browser built-in, although it’s somewhat hidden. While Apple doesn’t have a full Safari app for the watch, you can still open links from Messages — so you can text yourself as a hack to browse the web. Or, you can install the μBrowser app for a dedicated user experience with bookmarks and even complications. 

Admittedly, it’s not a fantastic experience. The screen is less than two inches tall, so many pages don’t render properly. It’s not especially speedy, either. If your watch is within range of your iPhone, it’ll use the slow Bluetooth connection with your iPhone as a relay instead of connecting to the Wi-Fi network directly, in order to save power. 

But having a web browser on your Apple Watch occasionally comes in handy, especially if you have a cellular model and left your phone at home. 

May 21, 2010: Apple quietly ends its award-winning “Get a Mac” ad campaign. Debuting in 2006, the ads starred actor Justin Long as the cool, youthful Mac. Comedian John Hodgman portrayed the stuffy, awkward PC.

Alongside the “Think Different” and iPod “Silhouette” campaigns, “Get a Mac” will become one of the most fondly remembered extended advertising blitzes in Apple history.

Samsung Display reportedly pushed the yield of its 8.6-generation OLED panels above 90%. This clears a major hurdle and paves the way for the rumored mass production of Apple’s OLED MacBook lineup later this year.

The improved yield rate should allow Samsung to ramp up panel production at scale.

Apple might be having second thoughts about aluminum on the iPhone. A few months after switching the iPhone 17 Pro away from titanium, the company is now reportedly experimenting with an improved titanium alloy that could fix a huge problem with the metal.

If Apple finds a way to make it practical, we could see titanium return to a future iPhone Pro. But the problem is that titanium isn’t as good as aluminum at transferring heat. Aluminum’s better thermal properties are likely why Apple moved away from titanium in the first place. Also, aluminum is cheaper and easier to recycle.

Fortnite returned to the App Store in almost all regions, ending its years-long absence that began when Epic Games sued Apple over in-app purchases.

The battle royale’s comeback is real, but Epic Games’ claim that it has already won isn’t completely true. Epic Games brought back Fortnite to the App Store on Tuesday, following the game’s U.S. return last year. But there’s an exception — Australia — and the legal fight that made this possible is nowhere near finished.

Apple is reportedly developing an advanced high blood pressure notification feature for the Apple Watch. And the Apple Watch Ultra 4 might be the first to get the improved hypertension monitoring feature.

If true, it could turn the upcoming smartwatch into a serious cardiovascular health tool. Combined with a much-rumored hardware refresh, the Apple Watch Ultra 4 may be hard to resist for both new and existing users.

Apple stopped more than $2.2 billion in potentially fraudulent App Store transactions last year and rejected over 2 million problematic app submissions, the company reported Wednesday. It’s all part of what it said is a sustained, multilayered effort to keep the App Store safe for both users and developers.

This deal lands you Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC, plus a full training bundle that will teach you how to use all the software in the popular productivity suite. And right now, you can get it all for just $143.99 — a 64% discount off the regular price of $409.99.

That means no monthly payments for a Microsoft software subscription. And no fumbling around trying to get the latest software to do what you want it to do.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off June 8, and all eyes are on iOS 27 — the software update that could define the iPhone experience for the next several years.

Given a steady drumbeat of reliable rumors, a surprisingly complete picture of the update has already emerged. Here’s what to expect in iOS 27 regarding the big Siri revamp and more. We’ll see if the keynote confirms it all.

May 20, 1988: Apple launches AppleLink Personal Edition, a user-facing online service that lets customers connect using a Mac-style user interface.

Years before Apple will get serious about its internet efforts, AppleLink offered a glimpse of things to come. Unfortunately for Apple, it did not become quite the hit many hoped!

A new lineup of ultra-compact charging accessories under Ugreen’s Nexode and MagFlow Air Edition banners comes tailor-made for iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air and AirPods users who want serious power in a minimal footprint, the company said Wednesday.

Google showcased its first pair of smart glasses at I/O 2026. Developed in partnership with Samsung and Qualcomm, the company plans to launch its audio-focused glasses first.

The glasses will debut later this fall and feature frames from Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

WhatsApp is testing a new feature on iPhone where messages automatically disappear once you read them. The privacy-focused feature, called “After reading,” also gives users fine-tuned control over how long their texts remain visible after someone opens them.

The new feature builds upon WhatsApp’s existing disappearing messages functionality. Currently, users can choose to automatically delete sent messages after one day, seven days or 90 days.