Cult of Mac

Cleaning AirPods is kind of a disgusting job, but Cardlax has a solution. It’s an itty-bitty washing machine to clean the crud off your earbuds in a couple of minutes.

Before you ask, April Fools’ Day was last week. This is a real thing.

Samsung reached out to iPhone users with iTest — a web app that simulates a Galaxy smartphone on an iOS device. The device maker says it’s hoping some people “might find the grass a shade greener.”

The iTest app isn’t a simple static image — it offers samples of some commonly-used Android applications, including phone calls and texts with marketing messages.

The upcoming Chipolo One Spot could rise to be a top Bluetooth item tracker. And if that happens, it’ll be with Apple’s help. The product will be one of the very first accessible through Apple’s Find My network, which means iPhone, Mac and iPad users can locate it without having to install any software from Chipolo.

The same is true of AirTags, Apple’s own much-rumored item tracker expected to be released soon.

Broken one of the physical buttons on your iPhone or iPad? That won’t prevent you from shutting it down completely. This simple trick allows you to turn off your iPhone or iPad from within iOS in just a few steps.

We’ll show you how.

The Crowded Room is an upcoming Apple TV+ series exploring true and inspirational stories of those who have learned to successfully live with mental illness. The first season will star Tom Holland.

Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple is less about App Store rules and more about reviving “flagging interest in Fortnite,” according to a court document filed Thursday by Cupertino’s lawyers.

In a court filing with the US District Court on Thursday, Apple argues that Epic just wants “to free-ride on Apple’s innovation” by being allowed in the App Store without having to pay Apple a cut of earnings.

Venture capitalist, early Facebook investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel criticized Apple for being too close to China.

At a virtual event held Tuesday by California nonprofit Richard Nixon Foundation, Thiel said the United States should put a “lot of pressure” on Apple because of its links to the Asian country.

There are plenty of things to love about having different devices for different needs. Your iPhone keeps you connected. Your Apple Watch helps you achieve your fitness goals. And your AirPods keep you focused while you work.

The problem with having so many devices is that it means just as many cables or charging pads to keep them fully juiced. If you want to avoid the mess of cable clutter on your desk or nightstand, but still have all your favorite devices conveniently nearby, try this inexpensive Trio 3-in-1 Aluminum Desktop Charging Stand.

Dummy mockups of the next-gen iPad Pro and iPad mini suggest that they could look very similar to their predecessors. According to the images, the next-gen iPad mini boasts the same design as the iPad mini 5, released in 2019, although it may be slightly thicker.

Meanwhile, the next-gen iPad Pro resembles the last generation model, with a possible slightly less protruding camera bump on the larger 12.9-inch model.

MacBooks and iPads could face severe delays later this year due to a global chip shortage. While Apple has done its best to insulate itself, the company is “not immune” from the “unprecedented supply crunch,” Nikkei Asia reports.

The lack of key computer components initially stemmed from factories shuttered at the start of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, boosted demand resulting from “changing habits fueled by the pandemic” appear to have compounded the problem.

It’s an open secret that an Apple Car is on the drawing board, but no one has a clue what it’ll look like. A new collection of concept designs doesn’t make serious suggestions but takes the idea for a fun spin. The designs combine popular car models with Apple products

Take a look at what they dreamed up.

Say goodbye to plugging in Lightning cables with the Aukey Aircore 15W. Touch this wireless charger to the back of an iPhone 12 and it’ll cling there, juicing up the battery.

I tested this low-cost accessory in real-world conditions. Here how it handled.

New app HomePaper for HomeKit lets you quickly customize the look of Apple’s notoriously bland-looking Home app — with zero hassles.

With the app, you simply select a photo from your iPhone or iPad camera or take a new one. Then you can quickly adjust the color(s) and make your own customized wallpaper for the Home app. There’s no fussing around with a complicated image editor or painstaking resizing required.

Here’s how to use HomePaper, which runs on iPhone and iPad, to give your Home app the remodel it deserves.

Looking to forge a new career in the information technology field? You can take a step in the right direction by working on your data science and web development skills with this bundle of computer science training classes on sale for a great price.

In The 2021 Complete Computer Science Training Bundle, you’ll get nine different courses and more than 200 hours of instruction as you work with Python, Linux and more. You’ll get close to 1,500 individual lessons. And with lifetime access, you can take them or review them at your convenience.

Those planning to resell their handset someday might want to steer clear of Samsung latest flagship models. The Galaxy S21 series reportedly lost between 44.8% and 57.1% of its original value since in debut in January 2021.

Of course, every smartphone depreciates over time. But iPhones hold their value better than their rivals.

The Find My application built into iOS and macOS finally opened up to device trackers made by other companies, not just Apple. Wednesday’s move allows iPhones, Macs and iPads to locate lost items produced by third-party accessory makers without needing to install additional software.

The first supported non-Apple products come from Belkin, Chipolo and VanMoof.

Jon Stewart is coming back on TV this fall. After 6 years off the air, the acclaimed comedian will star in The Problem with Jon Stewart exclusively on Apple TV+.

This is his first show since The Daily Show with Jon Stewart came to a close in 2015 after winning twenty Emmy Awards.

The setup showcased in a recent Reddit post consists of just a MacBook Air, an iPad, an iPhone and some peripherals and accessories, but it brings up a puzzling conundrum: Should you use both a MacBook and an iPad, even though their functionality overlaps to a great extent?

According to most of the comments, the answer is yes — even if it makes you feel like a sucker.

A massive 88% of U.S. teenagers own an iPhone, and 90% expect their next phone to be an iPhone, a new Piper Sandler survey of more than 7,000 teens suggests.

It’s an impressive showcase of just how popular Apple is among young people — especially so considering that this is a relatively fickle demographic that frequently shies away from things their parents are into. The oldest teen today was only 5 when the first-gen iPhone debuted in 2007. The youngest weren’t even born yet.

Ahead of the launch of the new App Tracking Transparency iOS 14 feature, Apple on Wednesday published a report titled A Day in the Life of Your Data.

It details the “$227 billion-a-year industry” made up of websites, apps, social media companies, data brokers, and more who harvest user personal data for profit — and what Apple is doing about it.

The biggest ever discount on the outstanding 12.9-inch Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is back. Order yours from Amazon or Best Buy today for just $249 — down from $349 — before the price returns to normal.

You can also save $100 on the 11-inch model for iPad Pro and the newest iPad Air, which is now just $199.

Can’t remember where you last left your phone or car keys? Short-term memory loss is incredibly common (and actually not so harmful). But in order to preserve your precious memory, you should start sharpening the skills you need to improve your recall.

Strengthening your memory is like any other skill. The more you work at it, the better it gets. With The Become a Super-Learner & Speed Reading Bundle, you can learn the best speed-reading techniques and triple your learning rate, helping you improve your memory and more.

iOS 14 adoption tops 90%, according to figures published by analysts at Mixpanel. The firm’s most recent data shows 90.45% of users with an iPhone or iPad run either iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 on it. That’s an incredibly impressive feat, considering Apple only made the operating systems available in mid-September.

Last time Apple released its own figures, back in late February, the company reported that 80% of iPhones and 70% of iPads ran the new operating systems. Those figures increased to 86% and 84% respectively when focusing on devices from the past four years.

The 10.2-inch iPad’s affordable price tag and impressive features make it an easy sell even at full price. But you don’t need to pay full price. Best Buy now offers the biggest discount seen so far on new units.

Order yours today to enjoy up to $50 off the usual price.

A 14-inch MacBook Pro reportedly will join Apple’s product lineup, and a concept artist merged all the rumors into a design that might hit store shelves later in 2021.

It includes more ports than any MacBook in years, but even important is what’s missing: the Touch Bar and most of the screen bezels.