In some ways, iPad is the most versatile computer Apple makes — which makes it an unusually rich ingredient in a Mac workstation. And as iPadOS grows ever more capable, more users find new, smarter roles for their tablet. The following 10 examples drawn from the Cult of Mac Setups archive represent the best uses of iPad in Mac setups. They show just how many ways the tablet can earn its place on a desk.

Pisen unveiled two new portable power banks Thursday aimed at users who need fast, reliable power on the go — including solid support for iPhones and other Apple devices, plus certification for airline travel.

Apple’s Education Store in the US and Canada now requires UNiDAYS verification. This brings the store’s policy in line with the rest of the world.

Going forward, to be eligible for a student discount on Apple products, you’ll need an active UNiDAYS account.

Ever been annoyed when someone sends you a PDF instead of a file you can edit? An all-in-one PDF editor like AcePDF Converter & Editor can help, and it doesn’t need to cost a fortune.

Lifetime licenses for the Mac PDF app are on sale for $23.97 (regularly $99.99).

Apple’s next-gen AirPods are reportedly in “late stages of development,” with the addition of cameras being a standout feature of the earbuds. The goal of adding cameras is apparently to make the earbuds, potentially called “AirPods Ultra,” into AI-friendly devices that are aware of the user’s surroundings.

They could become the first of a new class of wearables from Apple designed for the AI era.

Philips Hue and its sibling smart-lighting brand WiZ both get a new feature soon that could change how you watch the World Cup this summer, parent company Signify said Thursday. Called Sports Live, the software uses real-time match data to trigger lighting effects in your home whenever key moments happen on the pitch — goals, yellow cards, red cards — with no manual input or hardware required.

“With Sports Live, we’re moving beyond the traditional screen-based sync offering, broadening the role of smart lighting in at-home sports entertainment,” said said John Smith, business leader for Connected Lighting at Signify.

“By using live match data to trigger lighting in real time, we’re creating a new level of precision and immersion in how fans experience sports at home, making every match a truly memorable occasion,” he added.

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.

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

Apple’s 2026 Swift Student Challenge produced some of its most socially conscious code yet, with four Distinguished Winners using Apple’s developer tools — and a lot of AI assistance from Claude, among others — to build apps that address tremors, presentation anxiety, flood safety and music education. Apple showcased them in a feature story Thursday. 

May 7, 2014: Katie Cotton, the fearsome, much-admired head of Apple’s worldwide publicity machine, steps down from her vice president post after 18 years with the company.

During her stint at Apple, Cotton worked in lockstep with CEO Steve Jobs and proved instrumental in controlling the company’s portrayal in the press. Her departure provides one more reminder that the Jobs era is over at Apple.

Apple reportedly will produce twice as many MacBook Neos as it originally planned. That will require producing more A18 Pro chips, which might force Apple to raise the price of the popular laptops.

Demand for the company’s first entry-level notebook exceeds supply because it also exceeds Apple’s prelaunch estimate of how popular the MacBook Neo would be.

Here’s a privacy-focused security bundle that pairs two top-notch services — Surfshark One+ and Incogni — for one low price. Snag this deal to cover real-time security threats and remove your personal data from the internet, all for just $91.99 for two years.

If you’ve been on the fence about buying a Mac, you might want to stop waiting. A growing DRAM and NAND shortage is about to make all kinds of computers more expensive and harder to find.

Right now, Apple is still (somewhat) ahead of that curve. But that window is closing fast. So, if you need to buy a Mac, now’s the best time to pull the trigger.

Your computer monitor’s built-in speakers aren’t doing your music, movies or video calls any favors. Whether you work from home, game a lot or simply stream your favorite playlist, a good pair of desktop speakers transforms the experience for the better. The good news is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to hear a real difference. Here are my picks for top budget computer speakers under $399 (with many way under that price).

I found that the around-$300 bracket has quietly become one of the most exciting categories in consumer audio. Brands like Audioengine, Edifier, Creative and Onkyo compete fiercely. That means the quality on offer today would have cost twice as much just a few years ago.

The more devices you own, the more difficulty you will encounter in protecting your privacy from malicious actors and sanctioned snoops. This heavily discounted FastestVPN lifetime license guards up to 10 of your devices, from your MacBook to your iPhone, for just $29.99.

The first deal we’ve seen on the MacBook Neo chops $10 off the price of Apple’s entry-level laptop. While Apple’s online store currently shows big shipping delays for the budget laptop, you can get a MacBook Neo faster — and cheaper! — than from Apple itself.

In some locations, and for some models/colors, you can get free overnight shipping. That makes the MacBook Neo, which is already an outrageous deal, even more attractive. With its combination of power, performance and sleek Apple design, it’s an unbeatable laptop for everyday tasks.

Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing it of false advertising and unfair competition, after the personalized Siri features it promoted when launching iPhone 16 saw significant delays. Now, many iPhone users can lay claim to payouts. 

May 6, 1998: Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the original iMac, a brightly colored, translucent computer that will help save the company.

Coming just 10 months after Jobs’ new management team took over the struggling company, the iMac loudly announces that the days of Apple quietly fading into the background are over. The colorful computer marks the start of a very successful run for Cupertino.

Bose brought back one of its most iconic product lines with the launch of the Lifestyle Collection on Tuesday. The trio of premium home audio devices — which put the brand squarely in competition with Apple’s HomePod 2 and Sonos’ popular lineup — are Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099) and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899).

All three go on sale May 15 and are available for preorder now.

The iHealth Track blood pressure monitor offers an easy way to track your blood pressure at home. It syncs to your iPhone, tracks trends, and gives you real health data you can use.

And right now, you can get this highly rated home blood pressure monitor for just $24.99 (regularly $49.99) with free shipping to the contiguous United States.

If you use Final Cut Pro, you’re well aware of how much storage one of its libraries can eat up. Producing weekly videos and podcasts for Cult of Mac, disk space is a never-ending battle for me — and I even splurged on a 2TB hard drive!

The third time I ran into this problem, I tried digging deeper into Final Cut Pro settings to see if there was a better way. I found a bunch of settings that help stop the 800-pound, hard-drive-eating gorilla.  

Then, I opened up the Final Cut Pro library bundle itself, and found even more folders, many gigabytes in size, that I could clear out. 

Here’s how Final Cut Pro users can reclaim some storage from a runaway video library. 

Apple no longer offers RAM upgrade options for the Mac Studio on its online store. As a result, you can get the Mac Studio with a maximum of 96GB memory — over 5x lower than its previous maximum of 512GB.

Likewise, the M4 Mac mini is now unavailable with 32GB memory.

Not every Cult of Mac reader is all Mac, all the time. We know many of you use PCs for various reasons — and here’s the big Windows 11 sale you’ve been waiting for.

For a limited time, you can get a lifetime license to Windows 11 Pro for just $9.97 from Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple will let iPhone and Mac users choose between multiple AI models for different tasks, according to a report published Tuesday. The strategy would allow users to select whichever third-party AI system they prefer to generate and edit text and images for them.

It’s a brilliant solution to the ongoing battle between companies to develop the best AI models. It won’t matter whether OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, etc., wins that fight — because Apple also wins.

You can easily connect your Apple Watch to exercise equipment, like a treadmill at Planet Fitness, to record more accurate health data inside the Fitness and Health apps on your iPhone. After all, if you’re working out, you want to make sure your Apple Watch gives you credit for it.

Here’s how.

After more than three years in beta, Homebridge 2.0 officially launched Monday. And for Apple Home users, it’s one of the most meaningful smart home software updates in years. The new release adds support for the Matter smart home standard, significantly expanding what devices you can use within Apple’s ecosystem.