France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has lambasted companies such as Apple that “develop strategies to lock in their users” through the creation of ecosystems. Speaking Tuesday, Le Maire said that these companies represent a “competition issue” that should be scrutinized by antitrust investigators.

Le Maire’s comment was broader than just Apple. But he did note that Apple’s market capitalization is now larger than the capitalization” of all the CAC 40. This refers to the benchmark French stock market index.

Apple’s item location-tracking AirTags are already in production, claims a Nikkei report published Tuesday. This suggests that AirTags, which have been heavily rumored for months, are likely on the verge of launching.

AirTags can be attached to items like a keychain or luggage and then be easily located using the “Find My” app on iPhone. This tags will use ultra-wideband technology to accurately determine their location. Recently, sounds discovered in iOS code gave an indication of how the AirTag-finding process will work.

Pick up Apple’s newest iPad Air during Best Buy’s three-day Anniversary Sale to enjoy the biggest discounts so far. You can save $100 on 256GB models with or without cellular connectivity.

Plus, you’ll get a year of free Apple TV+, and you can save another $30 if you also pick up the Logitech Combo Touch Keyboard Case.

Judging by the number of timelapse art creation videos on YouTube, people in 2020 don’t just like to see great art online; they also like to see how it was created.

Timelapse videos are a great way to show this — since they allow creators to compress the lengthy process of making something, whether it’s a kickass Photoshop montage or a digital drawing into a few short minutes. The results can make you realize just how much work goes into a particular finished product.

Hustl 2.0, a newly rewritten Mac app, offers a great, one-click way to do this. While there are plenty of screen recording apps, this one doesn’t require a whole lot of postproduction speeding-up to create the finished piece. Just a couple of clicks and you’re good to go.

Unlock your iPhone’s awesome potential with one or more of the fantastic accessories in our Labor Day sale.

We’ve got fantastic noise-canceling headphones that cost a fraction of what you’d pay for AirPods Pro. A solar charger that lets you stay powered up when you go off the grid. And a handful of tools that will make your FaceTime calls or YouTube videos look their best.

No matter what you use your iPhone for, we’ve got something for you — and all of these accessories are heavily discounted for your Labor Day shopping pleasure.

This year’s iPhones will arrive in two waves, a report published Monday claims. According to Digitimes, the initial iPhone 12 units will be the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. After that, the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro will both ship together.

There’s no doubt HomePod is the best-sounding smart speaker on the market today. So, if you want to hear your music like never before, bag one of your own — and save $100 for a limited time.

Italy has opened the latest investigation into potential Apple antitrust violations. Announced by the Italian antitrust authority Monday, this investigation will look into Apple’s iCloud cloud computing services.

Similar investigations will be carried out investigating Google parent company Alphabet and Dropbox.

Apple has hired a former executive who worked for shortform video service Quibi, in addition to Hulu and Disney, to work on growing its video-focused endeavors.

Spotted by the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, Tim Connolly recently updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his job at Apple. It’s not evident exactly when he started working in the new role.

In the latest development in Epic Games’ battle with Apple, the Fortnite-maker requested that a court require Apple to return the game to the App Store and restore Epic’s developer account.

Lawyers for the company argue that Epic is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if this is not done.

Amazon has increased its discounts on AirPods and AirPods Pro for a limited time only. Bag yours today to enjoy up to $44.02 off the usual price — or check out even bigger savings on Beats headphones.

Working from home means building little battle stations for our MacBooks and other essential gear. So for Labor Day weekend, we pulled together some great deals on awesome accessories for getting the most out of your laptop at home and elsewhere.

From portable power and data hubs to extra screens and sleek monitor stands, these discounted MacBook accessories will work wonders when it comes to leveling up your setup.

Anyone looking for new TV comedies to binge watch on a long holiday weekend shouldn’t miss the very positive reviews for Central Park and Trying on Apple TV+. Both shows debuted at the beginning of the summer, which means their entire first seasons are available now.

And while Ted Lasso is only halfway through its first season on Apple’s streaming service, it also has drawn praise from critics.

It’s officially Apple hardware season. With new gear coming as early as next week, the rumors and leaks are coming in fast and furious. Read the latest to get an idea what to expect in the near future from iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Apple TV and maybe even some high-end Apple headphones.

Get those rumors, plus the rest of the week’s top Apple news, how-tos and reviews, in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it to read for free on your iPad or iPhone. Or scroll below to get the headlines in your browser.

This VPN post is presented by Surfshark.

Humans use the internet for almost everything. That’s hardly a revolutionary statement, but it’s crucial to keep in mind. From theater tickets to bank accounts, if we can have it all on one handheld device, why not do it? It’s convenient and easy.

But with that convenience comes risks. Typically, humans adapt to new technology — but so do criminals, shady corporations and marketing agencies looking to profit off as many internet users as possible.

That’s why virtual private networks (VPNs) have become popular. While the internet security product was initially created for corporations to protect their assets, demand eventually grew for everyday internet users. The market is ever-growing, and there’s a VPN for everyone, whether you want a free or a premium product. One of the top-rated and affordable options is Surfshark — a humanized VPN for anyone and everyone.

This year, fewer of us will spend Labor Day weekend at the beach or on a road trip. Luckily, it’s still a good time for retail therapy.

So, how about some instant gratification? We’ve got fantastic deals on great Mac and iPhone apps that will really make your day. Plus, that instant gratification will last forever: Our deep discounts apply to lifetime subscriptions on these life-changing apps.

Duncan Schultz, a government official from the land down under, started working from his home in Brisbane earlier this year. It turned out to be a great opportunity to upgrade his setup. He got rid of his 2015 iMac and instead bought himself a 2020 Mac mini and decided to experiment. He specced out his Mac mini with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. He wanted plenty of screen real estate without having two screens. So he connected it to a Samsung 43-inch 4K Smart TV and is not looking back.

Apple TV+ took over the Apple.com home page on Friday. And the company also released a lengthy video about a game recently added to Apple Arcade. These Apple services are seen as increasingly important to its bottom line. And the company is using new ways to advertise them.

Are you sick of Siri on Apple Watch butting into your conversations? Prevent it by customizing the way Siri works, or by disabling it altogether. It’s easy to do and it fixes one of Apple Watch’s biggest annoyances.

We’ll show you how.

Add a second screen to your mobile office setup with $70 off this excellent portable monitor from Lepow. It boasts a 15.6-inch display with a 1080p resolution, plus HDMI and USB-C connectivity.

The monitor is highly rated by Amazon customers, and now available at one of its lowest prices to date. The discount is good for a limited time only, though, so you’ll need to act fast.

Apple’s new statement on “Our Commitment to Human Rights” promises the company will make devices that respect human rights, including freedom of speech. But the company will also follow national laws.

Just-released World’s End Club happily mixes genres. It’s a side-scroller puzzle-action game and a story-adventure game… all at the same time.

The action starts when a group of Japanese school kids find themselves in a long-abandoned amusement park under the ocean. It just gets weirder from there.

Some iPhone owners are refusing to install Apple’s latest software update for fear of being tracked. iOS 13.7, which Apple released Tuesday, makes COVID-19 contact tracing easier for government health agencies to implement — but some people claim its true purpose is more sinister.

“Another step towards a totally surveillanced state,” said one iPhone user on Twitter — and many others continue to voice similar complaints and fears.

Facebook is rolling out new message-forwarding limits in an effort to cut down on the spread of misinformation.

A similar version of the feature, which ensures messages can be forwarded to only five people or groups at a time, is already available inside WhatsApp — another Facebook service.

Apple is supposedly prepping an iPhone with a screen that’s just 5.4 inches. A concept artist created a video that effectively demonstrates exactly how small that “iPhone 12 mini” will be.

Watch it now to see the rumored handset absolutely dwarfed by a 2020 iPhone SE.