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Score a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac for just $53

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A lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac.
Enjoy lifetime access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Stuck using an older version of Microsoft Office? This offer gets you a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Home and Business 2021 for Mac for just $52.97 with code MARCH15. With a low one-time payment, you can bid farewell to Microsoft 365’s pesky recurring subscription fees. You’ll never need to pay again for Microsoft’s widely used software for work and school.

And if you need Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows, you can secure a lifetime license for even less: just $35.97 using the same code. (Note: You also can use code MARCH15 to save 15% on almost every item in the Cult of Mac Deals store through March 29.)

Today in Apple history: Apple TV makes its big-screen debut

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Apple TV did not become an instant smash hit.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

March 21: Today in Apple history: Apple launches the Apple TV March 21, 2007: Apple launches the Apple TV, a gleaming-white set-top box with a remote control, for bringing iTunes media to the living room.

Unfortunately, the device lacks key features needed to make it a killer entertainment system. It’s something of a missed opportunity for Apple.

Price drop: Unlock 40+ top AIs for life: Compare ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini for just $68

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ChatPlayground AI promotional image with text
Access multiple AI apps with a lifetime subscription to ChatPlayground AI.
Image: Cult of Mac Deals

ChatPlayground AI gives you easy access to more than 40 of the top AI models across 25 apps, all in one place — and all for one low price. It includes big names like ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Llama, Perplexity and Gemini, and it lets you send one prompt to multiple AIs simultaneously.

That means you can compare results to find the right AI tool for the job at hand, without jumping from one AI app to another. If you’re a heavy AI user, it will save you time as well as money. Normally $619, a lifetime subscription to ChatPlayground AI’s Unlimited plan is on sale now for only $67.15 with code MARCH15.

How to block ads (and other distracting things) on iPhone for free

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Image of an iPhone showing the Hide Distracting Items feature used to remove ads from web pages, along with the words,
Simplify the web, one annoyance at a time.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Safari’s Hide Distracting Items feature lets you remove ads from your iPhone, along with other elements on the page that irritate you. It doesn’t require an ad blocker or a paid extension — Apple built it right into the browser in iOS 18.

Hide Distracting Items is not an ad blocker per se. But if pop-ups and other items with no obvious close button pester you, Hide Distracting Items can come to the rescue. Here’s how to use it — keep reading or watch our video.

MacBook Neo draws record number of new buyers to macOS

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Tim Cook is excited about MacBook Neo
Tim Cook is excited about MacBook Neo.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

CEO Tim Cook says Apple just had its “best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers.” That means the MacBook Neo is doing exactly what it was designed to do: bring in people who have never owned a Mac before.

The first entry-level macOS notebook launched on March 11, and Apple can’t keep up with demand. Orders placed today come with wait times of several weeks.

Never lose a show: This app saves your favorite streams for offline viewing

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Photo of Keeprix streaming downloader open on a laptop on a desk.
All-in-one streaming video downloader Keeprix makes it easy to watch offline.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Streaming is great until you want to watch something offline, save a show before it disappears, or avoid the limits most platforms put on downloads — that’s when you need a streaming downloader like Keeprix.

It works with Netflix, YouTube and other major streaming services, letting you save the videos you care about so you can watch them whenever you want. That means no dealing with ads, expiration timers or unreliable Wi-Fi. And a lifetime subscription to Keeprix is on sale for $95.99 (regularly $159.99).

Today in Apple history: Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh lands with a thud

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Photo of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, which launched on March 20, 1997.
The Twentieth Anniversary Mac offered a glimpse of the future.
Photo: Apple

March 20: Today in Apple history: Twentieth Anniversary Mac lands with a thud March 20, 1997: Apple launches its Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, a futuristic, special-edition Mac that’s ahead of its time in every way. Not part of any established Mac line, it brings a look (and a price!) unlike anything else available — and Apple delivers them to buyers in a limo!

And yet the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh promptly bombs. Today, it’s a collector’s piece.

MacBook Neo costs far less than entry-level PCs over time

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MacBook Neo real cost makes 'budget PCs' look overpriced
Think long term, and the MacBook Neo costs far less than you might realize.
AI image: Apple/ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

An analyst’s report shows Apple’s new MacBook Neo is even more affordable than it first appears. The total cost of ownership is about half that of comparable Windows PCs.

It may sound counterintuitive at first — how can a $599 Mac be half the cost of a $599 PC? — but the analyst showed that the typical lifespan of a Mac is so much longer than that of a Windows PC that the Apple model costs much less over time.

All-in-1 brilliance: Top 7 iMac setups

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top 7 iMac setups
This M4 iMac setup packs great audio gear, too.
Photo: [email protected]

The iMac has always occupied a special place in Apple’s lineup — a beautifully integrated all-in-one desktop computer that bundles a 4.5K Retina display, camera, speakers and microphone into a single elegant slab of aluminium with color-matched accessories.

Yet despite the machine’s considerable visual appeal, iMac setups are a surprisingly rare sight in Cult of Mac‘s long-running Setups section. I noted in March 2025 that, out of 616 Setups articles written over more than four years at that time, only 11 featured an iMac as the centrepiece. That’s partly due to the fact that Apple desktop sales. They made up just 14% of Mac sales in 2024, while MacBooks accounted for a whopping 86%.

5 old problems that still plague AirPods Max 2

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A photo of Apple's space gray AirPods Max headphones sitting on a leather mat
New model number, same old drawbacks.
Photo: Jason Zhang/Unsplash License

Apple had years to refine its high-end headphones, the AirPods Max. But with the just-announced AirPods Max 2, the company played it safe.

An upgrade to Apple’s H2 chip brings some notable new features to AirPods Max 2. However, with many of the original model’s shortcomings still present, the revamp feels like a missed opportunity.

Google preps a Gemini Mac app with smarter features

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Gemini could soon get a dedicated Mac app.
Gemini could soon get a dedicated Mac app.
AI image: ChatGPT

Google has begun internally testing a dedicated Gemini app for macOS. While the company continues to improve its AI tool almost every other week, the lack of a native Mac app limits its full potential.

A dedicated app will make Gemini more accessible and better integrated into everyday workflows on macOS.

When your iPhone says ‘storage full,’ do this instead of deleting

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CleanMy®Phone opened on an iPhone device
This is the smart, easy way to free up storage space on your iPhone or iPad.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

MacPaw’s CleanMy®Phone app frees up storage space on your iPhone by scanning for duplicate photos, massive videos, screenshots you forgot about and other silent space-eaters.

CleanMy®Phone offers a smarter, more Apple-like way to take control of your storage on your iPhone or iPad. And one year of access is on sale for just $19.99 (MSRP $44.99) for a limited time. Alternatively, you can grab a lifetime sub for just $51 with code MARCH20.

Apple finally fixes frustrating iPhone typing problem

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An iPhone typing problem frustrates iPhone users.
An iPhone typing bug that frustrates users gets a fix.
AI image: Apple/ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

Apple’s iOS 26.4 update includes a small line in its release notes that is drawing outsized attention. It promises “improved keyboard accuracy when typing quickly.”

While that might sound like a routine tweak, it appears to address a typing problem that has frustrated iPhone users for months.

Price cut: This private AI assistant runs offline for life

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Image of an iMac running Pansophy private personal AI assistant
Don't send your data to some sketchy AI company's servers. Keep it local with Pansophy.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Pansophy is a secure personal AI assistant that runs on your Mac (or other computer). Once installed, Pansophy acts like a constant companion that can help with writing, coding, research, planning and everyday problem-solving.

You can ask it to draft emails, clean up text, brainstorm marketing ideas, outline projects or walk through tricky concepts. It feels similar to chatting with a cloud-based model, only everything happens on your CPU.  It’s a fully local AI assistant that runs without accounts, subscriptions or cloud processing. And right now, you can get a lifetime subscription to Pansophy for just $59.97 (regularly $199).

Today in Apple history: The ultra-fast Macintosh IIfx speeds into stores

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Mac IIfx
The IIfx was the fastest Mac of its day.
Photo: Old Computr

March 19: Today in Apple history: The ultra-fast Macintosh IIfx speeds into stores March 19, 1990: The ultra-fast Macintosh IIfx makes its debut, sporting a hefty price tag appropriate for such a speedy machine.

The fastest Macintosh of its day, it boasts a CPU running at a “wicked fast” 40 MHz. It gains an additional speed bump from a pair of Apple-designed, application-specific integrated circuits. Prices start at $9,870 and run up to $12,000 — the equivalent of $24,561 to $29,862 in 2026 money!

Dev runs data-center AI model on MacBook — and it changes everything

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data-center AI model on MacBook
A developer did with a MacBook Pro what usually requires a whole rack of specialized, powerful gear.
AI image: Grok/Cult of Mac

Over the past few years, the artificial intelligence race looked like a story about infrastructure. Which company can build the biggest, most power-hungry data center, stock it with the most Nvidia GPUs and spend the most money? OpenAI, Amazon, Google, xAI — they’re all in a competition to build industrial-scale computing factories just to run the most powerful AI models. But it looks like developer Dan Woods just upended that story by running a data-center AI model on MacBook.

And that could mean Apple wins the AI race after all.

This travel adapter replaces every charger in your bag [Review] ★★★★

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The Tessan Voyager 205W travel adapter is one-of-a-kind.★★★★
The Tessan Voyager 205W travel adapter is one-of-a-kind.
Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac

The Tessan Voyager 205 Universal Travel Adapter combines a global plug adapter with a powerful 205W GaN charger with seven ports. It’s bigger and heavier than your usual travel adapter — but also far more capable.

Does the Voyager deserve a spot in your travel bag? Find out in our review.

Why Apple TV 4K can’t — and won’t — become a Mac

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Dream on: an Apple TV 4K can't be made into a Mac
Dream on: an Apple TV 4K can't be made into a useful Mac.
Image: Apple/Cult of mac

The MacBook Neo runs macOS on an Apple A-series processor with excellent performance, which has caused people to suggest that the Apple TV 4K could be hacked to run macOS and create a full-featured desktop computer for $129.

Or they propose Apple itself port macOS onto the video streamer and release it as a desktop that costs $200 or less.

Neither one is likely at all. Here’s why.

Here’s when Apple will launch iOS 26.4

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iOS 26.4 release date: Next week
Apple took an important step toward the iOS 26.4 release date.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple on Wednesday seeded the iOS 26.4 Release Candidate to beta testers, signaling that eager iPhone users should circle March 25 on their calendars. The new version brings in fresh emoji, a tweak to Liquid Glass and other changes.

The macOS Tahoe 26.4 Release Candidate has also been released, as have equivalents for iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and more.

How to take stunning selfies with the Apple Watch Camera Remote

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The Camera Remote app with raise your selfie game
The Camera Remote app will take your selfies to a whole new level.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Everyone knows Apple Watch is an excellent health and fitness companion. But did you know it’s also handy for taking selfies? That’s thanks to Apple Watch’s best-kept secret: the Camera Remote app.

This indispensable Apple Watch app lets you use your iPhone’s best camera to take selfies. Using the app will elevate your selfie game, enabling you to take more flattering shots — with better compositions, more interesting poses and much, much more.

I use it all the time to take photos for Cult of Mac, and I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. So here’s my definitive guide to taking better selfies with Apple Watch.

Why rent cloud storage? Own 2TB for life for just $76.

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Product photo of the FileJump 2TB Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription.
Make the smart investment today with FileJump’s 2TB lifetime subscription for $89 and enjoy secure, hassle-free storage for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

We all know subscription fees multiply like rascally rabbits. Wouldn’t it be nice to have cloud storage that doesn’t add to the misery? FileJump offers a refreshing alternative. Why rent your cloud storage month after month when you can score 2TB of cloud space for just $75.65 for life with code MARCH15?

No more recurring payments or surprise fees. Just a one-time investment for a lifetime of secure, accessible cloud storage.

Demanding spatial apps can now stream directly to Vision Pro

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Vision Pro 2 with M4 chip
The latest Vision Pro headset boosts processing power and improves comfort.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards — the kind already sitting inside many Windows PCs and workstations — can now stream high-fidelity, immersive content directly to an Apple Vision Pro headset via Nvidia CloudXR. It’s a collaboration the two companies announced Tuesday at Nvidia’s GTC conference in San Jose.

Apple releases first Background Security Improvements patch for iPhone and Mac

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iOS 26.3.1 (a) first Background Security Improvements patch
iOS 26.3.1 (a) is Apple's first ever Background Security Improvements patch for iPhone.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple updated iOS, macOS and iPadOS with a Background Security Improvements patch on Tuesday, the first time the company has used its new system for securing user devices. This patch fixes a flaw in WebKit that could have allowed malicious websites to access data from other websites.

Background Security Improvements are installed without requiring the iPhone, Mac or iPad user to do anything — or even be aware of the update.

Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs gets hitched

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Steve Jobs and Laurene Powell-Jobs remained married for the rest of the Apple co-founder's life.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

March 18: Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs marries Laurene Powell March 18, 1991: Steve Jobs marries 27-year-old Laurene Powell less than two years after a chance meeting.

The couple’s friends and family attend the wedding, which takes place at Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park in central California.