Cult of Mac

The new solid-state xMEMS Labs Lassen micro speaker is a silicon micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) tweeter. It eliminates the need for a separate piezo amplifier while delivering premium sound quality in wireless earbuds, xMEMS Labs said Thursday. As the company’s latest tiny speaker, it could play a big role in next-gen buds.

“Lassen is a revolutionary design based on a proven platform,” said Mike Housholder, VP of Marketing & Business Development at xMEMS. “It will bring the benefits of 2-way earbud audio to a broader market by eliminating the extra cost of the piezo amplifier and minimizing the space and power required to deliver a truly immersive TWS sound experience.”

The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro could feature 8K video recording capabilities, bringing a big boost in resolution over Apple’s current models, which max out at 4K 120fps.

8K recording has been a standard feature on flagship Android phones for years, but Apple steered clear of the trend.

If you’ve been looking to buy a HomePod mini for a while, a new deal makes the rarely discounted smart speaker much more affordable. The HomePod mini discount slashes $15 off the price, dropping it to just $84.99.

In a fascinating new installment of its “Behind the Mac” series, Apple spotlights the pivotal role Mac computers play in editing acclaimed Apple TV+ series Severance. The 11-minute video posted Wednesday on the Apple YouTube channel and in a feature article on apple.com offers unprecedented insight into the creative process behind the thrilling season finale.

Note: Spoilers for season 2 of Severance, which recently concluded with its season finale on Apple TV+, lie below.

Also note: In a surprising little twist, Apple added a faux listing for Lumon Terminal Pro, just like the ones used in Lumon’s Macrodata Refinement Department, to Apple Store with a link to the video as well as Macs for sale. The Severance promos and tie-ins keep coming!

The M4 Mac mini comes with a built-in speaker, but it’s more for alert sounds, calls and the like rather than high-quality music streaming. So today’s M4 Mac mini user does the necessary thing and adds an external sound system. This one includes nice Kanto speakers on rising stands and a powerful Kanto subwoofer under the desk.

March 26, 2010: Apple pays up to settle a trademark dispute with Japanese multinational Fujitsu over the name “iPad” in the United States.

It comes two months after Apple CEO Steve Jobs first showed off the iPad, and around a week before the tablet will land in stores. As it happens, it’s not the first time Apple battled over the name for one of its new products.

The Baseus Nomos 5-in-1 charging station stands out in a sea of desktop chargers with its sleek design, an adjustable Qi2 charging pad, and retractable USB-C cable, helping minimize cable clutter.

It is also smart enough to automatically allocate more power to devices low on juice so that they can charge faster. So, is the Baseus Nomos 5-in-1 the charging station to buy? Find out in my review.

Adam Elements’ Omnia GaN hub is a two-in-one gadget that pairs a 65W charger with an HDMI port. Its award-winning detachable design lets you use the hub (for image and data transfer) or the charger (for charging, duh) either separately or together.

Right now, you can grab a price-dropped Omnia 65W GaN hub for just $99.99 (regularly $109) with free shipping.

Comedy actor Seth Rogen shoulders a lot with new Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio, as he writes, directs, executive produces and stars in it as an embattled Hollywood studio head, according to two trailers the streamer dropped for the show, now streaming. Will Rogen’s series fare better than the show’s fictional “Continental Studios?” Well, as you can see in the trailers, he has a star-studded cast to work with, including himself, Catherine O’Hara, Kathryn Hahn and guest star Bryan Cranston.

The 10-episode, half-hour comedy series premieres on Apple TV+ March 26, 2025. Watch the promising trailers below.

Update: We added the official trailer for The Studio under the teaser trailer, below. The new comedy series started streaming Wednesday on Apple TV+. Loaded with stars in guest cameos, the spoof of Hollywood filmmaking gets good reviews. AP News calls it “the defining portrait of modern Hollywood.” Other reviews throw around descriptions like “superb,” “spot-on, star-studded takedown” and “hilarious.” Apple TV+ press tends to stamp every show as “highly anticipated,” but this one actually was, and it sound justified in this case. It sounds like a must-see.

The Photographic Styles feature built into your iPhone’s camera can give your pictures a radically different aesthetic. And once you nail down your personal photo style or styles, you can make sure all your pictures use these specific filters. And on a newer iPhone, you can edit them after the fact.

Photographic Styles can save you the time you’d waste editing your pictures in Instagram or VSCO. Since they live in the iPhone’s camera and in Apple’s Photos app, you can see them while you’re shooting your pictures, too. Read on to see how to edit your photos in these different styles or watch our video below.

A new video potentially gives us our first look at the massive iOS 19 redesign that Apple reportedly will unveil this June at WWDC25.

As previous rumors indicated, the next major iOS upgrade supposedly will take inspiration from the Vision Pro’s visionOS, integrating many of its design elements.

New Apple Music Classical listening guides launched Tuesday are streaming app’s most significant update since its 2023 debut, Apple said. New updates introduce three innovative features designed to enhance the classical music listening experience: Listening Guides, Personalized Recommendations and Editorial Stations.

“The features in this update are the most significant additions to Apple Music Classical since launch. They each turn a normal listening experience into a wonderful journey that enhances the listener’s experience, catering to curiosity and creating new interactive ways to learn about favorite pieces of music,” said Anjali Malhotra, Global Director of Apple Music Classical.

Apple revealed Tuesday that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off with a keynote on June 9. Apple traditionally uses WWDC to show off the next major upgrades for iOS, macOS and its other operating systems. WWDC25, which will run from June 9 to June 13, will be no different.

“We’re excited to mark another incredible year of WWDC with our global developer community,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We can’t wait to share the latest tools and technologies that will empower developers and help them continue to innovate.” 

An iPad retrieved from the River Thames in London — after sitting underwater and lodged in mud for more than five years — became the crucial piece of evidence that helped police solve a complex international criminal network. The crime ring involved museum heists, luxury robberies and an attempted murder, according to a new report. No big surprise that iPad evidence helps convict criminals — except under these extreme conditions.

The extraordinary case highlights the remarkable resilience of Apple’s iPad technology. It maintained crucial evidence integrity even after years of submersion. The case also demonstrates how digital devices can become key pieces of evidence in solving complex criminal investigations. And that’s even when criminals believe they have successfully disposed of incriminating technology.

March 25, 1993: Apple executive Gaston Bastiaens bets a journalist that the eagerly anticipated Newton MessagePad will ship before summer ends. The prize? Bastiaens’ well-stocked personal wine cellar, worth thousands of dollars.

The bet takes place at the CeBit trade show in Hanover, Germany. Bastiaens’ outburst comes in response to a reporter’s needling. The gamble not only gives the Newton a release timetable, but also a price target: less than $1,000.

The iSteady M7 gimbal for phones is a super-advanced stabilizer for iPhone that Wired says is “the most advanced and feature-packed smartphone stabilizer.”

Whether you’re creating content for social media, documenting travel adventures or capturing family memories, the Hohem iSteady M7 gimbal elevates your smartphone camera’s capabilities to new heights, delivering cinema-quality results in a portable, user-friendly package.

The iPhone stabilizer combines three-axis stabilization, AI-powered subject tracking, built-in subject lighting and remote control capabilities into a single, compact package.

It’s perfect for all iPhone users, from casual content creators to professional filmmakers. Whether you’re a social media maven, a globetrotting travel vlogger or a casual user who wants to capture better footage, this affordable gimbal for smartphones offers professional-level tools in an accessible format. It’s an all-in-one videography tool that elevates what’s possible with your iPhone camera.

Apple is perceived as a laggard in the AI race — despite that, Apple has developed the single best computer for AI research. The new Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip, which supports up to 512GB of unified memory, is the easiest and cheapest way to run powerful, cutting-edge LLMs on your own hardware.

The latest DeepSeek v3 model, which sent shockwaves through the AI space for its comparable performance to ChatGPT, can run entirely on a single Mac, Apple AI researchers revealed Monday.

It’s a machine that fits comfortably on your desk, rather than a server farm; it costs the same as a used Honda Civic, not a new Lamborghini.

How did this happen? Most remarkably of all — by sheer coincidence. Here’s why the Apple silicon architecture makes for the best AI hardware, a use case Apple didn’t mean to design it for.

Twelve South just launched AirFly Pro 2, which improves on what was already a brilliant AirPods enhancer. Plug it into audio sources that don’t have Bluetooth — like an airliner’s in-seat entertainment system — and you (and a friend!) can listen to them with your AirPods. Alternately, plug it into the AUX port on a car stereo and play music from your iPhone over a wireless connection.

The new version of the Bluetooth audio adapter offers better sound and new controls.

I tested out AirFly Pro 2 with my AirPods, iPhone and other gear. Here’s what I found.

Apple users who enjoy the popular open-world adventure game Genshin Impact now have a stylish way to keep their devices powered up, Ugreen said Monday. Known for its charging accessories, the company said it partnered with game creators to launch a co-branded collection of four Ugreen Genshen Impact charging products. The company sent them to me. It looks like a fun collection.

Chargeasap’s 100W Omega USB-C GaN Charger is tiny yet powerful. It comes with three ports and packs enough punch to fast-charge three Apple devices — like a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone — simultaneously.

Like other GaN (short for gallium nitride) chargers, it’s smaller and more efficient than your typical wall wart. However, while most GaN chargers usually go for a premium price, this one’s on sale at Cult of Mac Deals. Grab a Chargeasap 100W Omega USB-C GaN charger for just $54.97 (regularly $119).

March 24, 1997: The Newton MessagePad 2000 brings major upgrades to Apple’s PDA line, including a far better display and a much faster processor.

The best MessagePad yet by a wide margin, it quickly becomes a critical and commercial success. But it won’t be enough to save the doomed product line.

When I came across today’s M4 iMac setup on the interwebs, I realized how rarely they come up in Cult of Mac‘s setups coverage. Out of 616 articles I’ve written about setups to date — over more than 4 years — this is only the 11th one to feature an iMac (plus a few others from before I took over the setups beat). And that small number doesn’t come from any hatred of iMacs on my part. It’s just that users seem to flaunt them much less on social media than other hardware. And they’re not top sellers for Apple.

Anyone who constantly moves around with multiple devices knows finding a reliable power bank for laptop charging can be a challenge. After more than a week of using the new Alogic Roam 21,000mAh Power Bank, I’m ready to share my hands-on experience with the premium charger. Is it worth the investment? Yes. Let’s dive in, and I’ll tell you why.

iOS 18.4 will be one of Apple’s biggest updates to iOS 18 since the operating system’s public release last September. It will pack plenty of changes and improvements, like a Vision Pro app, Apple News+ Food and new emoji.

That all sounds great, but these are the five iOS 18.4 features that I am most excited about.

Apple’s third-gen Apple Watch SE may not launch anytime soon, with the device running into “serious jeopardy.” Rumors have indicated Apple will switch to a plastic casing with the next Apple Watch SE refresh.

However, this move might have backfired, with the company’s design and operations team not happy with the outcome.