Reading is essential to daily life and staying informed, but so is listening. In an age of podcasts, audiobooks and multitasking, many of us have adjusted to take in information through our ears while our eyes are busy doing other things.

Plus, some people simply retain information better through listening rather than reading. That was the case with Cliff Weitzman, who struggled with learning because of dyslexia. So he built a simple but powerful tool that makes any text instantly listenable.

President Donald Trump’s dispute with TikTok and other Chinese tech companies could wind up hurting Apple.

Trump threatened to ban TikTok from the United States if Beijing tech company ByteDance does not sell the app by Sept. 15. (Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok. Apple on Tuesday shot down a rumor that it was interested in buying the social media company.)

According to multiple reports, China could respond to the United States’ “bullying” over TikTok by hitting back in its own way. The language in the reports, some of which come from government-backed Chinese newspapers, is vague. However, others suggest Apple could be an obvious target of China’s wrath.

PNY’s ultra-portable 240GB solid-state drive is ideal for anyone who needs extra storage that they can take with them everywhere. And for today only, you can bag yours from Best Buy for less than half price.

The drive works with both Macs and Windows machines, as well as iPad Pro. Get yours for just $32.99!

Apple is reportedly putting together a supply chain consisting of exclusively Chinese manufacturers to build iPhones for the China market.

This is at the same time that Apple is trying to expand its supply chain. That is partly so as to lessen its reliance on China. Apple has also been building iPhones in India which are aimed at the local market there.

The makers of secure email service ProtonMail are the latest developers to speak out about Apple’s control of the App Store.

In a blog post published Monday, founder and CEO Andy Yen wrote that Apple has become a “monopoly, crushing potential competitors with exploitative fees and conducting censorship on behalf of dictators.”

Created for a diverting if not particularly funny web short, Jason Sudeikis‘ clueless coach Ted Lasso now has his own Apple TV+ series. The question is: Is there enough meat on the bones of the premise to support a comedy series?

Like the NBC Sports promos that spawned the character, Ted Lasso is about an American coaching football in England — and being sorta kinda unfit for the demands. Fish-out-of-water, culture-clash comedies are as old as film comedy itself. And there’s certainly potential in the idea of an old-fashioned Southern gentleman dropped into tough-as-nails, hyper-masculine soccer culture. But ultimately, the high-concept stuff isn’t what works in Ted Lasso’s favor. You must get past the show’s premise to get to the good part.

Strong sales of iPad and Mac during Q2 2020 propelled Apple closer to taking the lead in the worldwide computer market. But they weren’t quite enough to push Lenovo out of the top spot, according to a market-research firm.

Still, the Mac-maker stayed ahead of rivals HP, Dell and Samsung as the global computer market grew 14% year over year.

It’s a great time to replace your aging iPad, with up to $500 off brand-new iPad Pros for a limited time only. And we can help make your upgrade even cheaper.

Sell your old tablet to Cult of Mac and we’ll pay you the money you deserve. We offer real cash — and fast — and we typically cough up more than other trade-in services.

Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest Hollywood star teaming up with Apple. His production company Appian Way reportedly signed a first-look deal with the iPhone maker.

This means the Apple TV+ streaming service gets the right of first refusal for all projects DiCaprio and co. dream up.

Use your Apple Card to buy soup, sandwiches or more at Panera, and you’ll earn 3% Daily Cash back. The usual percentage is 1%.

Other businesses offer this same 3% cash back bonus, but Panera is the first restaurant. And there are locations in almost every U.S. state.

Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman took a little motorcycle ride — a mere 13,000 miles over 100 days. They went through 16 border crossings and 13 countries, starting from the city of Ushuaia at the tip of South America.

Their epic journey is the subject of Long Way Up, a series that launches on Apple TV+ in September.

Mobeewave helps handsets act like little cash registers. Apple reportedly purchased this company, which could lead to iPhones able to easily receive money from credit cards with just a tap.

A company based in Shanghai has filed a patent-infringement lawsuit that could stop Apple from offering products with its Siri voice assistant in China, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Few things improve productivity like having more screen space to play with. Plenty of us rely on two screens to keep our workflows straight. And if you’re a gamer, you might want even more screen so your experience is truly immersive. With this lightweight add-on, you can get all of the above straight from your laptop.

The iPhone 12 release could be staggered, with certain models going on sale before others, a new report from Digitimes suggests.

This year, Apple is expected to release four iPhone models. These are likely to include a regular iPhone 12 in 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch models, and an iPhone 12 Pro in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch variants.

Spending on mobile games in the App Store grew significantly over the past quarter, despite the coronavirus pandemic, a new report by Sensor Tower claims. Across the App Store and Google Play, global spending grew 27% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020 to hit $19.3 billion.

Of the total revenue, the App Store made up $11.6 billion to Google Play’s $7.7 billion. That’s even though the App Store only making up a tiny 2.7 billion of the overall 15.1 billion app downloads in the quarter. As ever, the App Store is where the lion’s share of profits is to be made!

Despite pulling in record earnings last quarter, Apple reportedly asked the landlords of its U.K. retail outlets to cut their rent by a massive 50%, The Sunday Times reports.

The newspaper says Apple is also asking for a “rent-free period” as the COVID-19 pandemic plays out. In return, the company says it will extend its leases for a lengthy period — although some of the stores in question have several years left on their lease agreements.

Apple struck a deal with American Airlines to stream Apple TV+ shows during flights.

The agreement, which started this month, means American’s seat-back entertainment systems come preloaded with Apple Originals. These include The Morning Show, For All Mankind, Dickinson, Defending Jacob and seven more.

iPadOS 14 includes Scribble, finally allowing you to hand write text on an iPad with a stylus. If you don’t already have a stylus, there are some great options out there besides the very expensive Apple Pencil.

Here are some of the best available, so you can take full advantage of your iPad’s capabilities without paying too much.

Being stuck at home can be a drag, so we’ve rounded up three things that can make it more bearable. With language lessons, VPN protection, and a library of short reads, you can pass the time productively and safely.

If you put your fitness goals on the back burner due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time to turn up the heat. And if you own an Apple Watch, the wonderful wearable is your ultimate post-lockdown fitness pal.

These tips will help you get back in shape, post-lockdown, with a little help from your friend. Find out how in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now to read on your iOS device, or follow the links below to read this week’s top Apple news, how-tos and reviews in your browser.

This week, you’ll get the scoop on another surprisingly good Apple earnings call. Plus, a full rundown of Tim Cook’s relatively painless appearance during a congressional antitrust hearing.

More than ever, it’s easy to carry stress throughout the day and into the night. Research shows that sleep quality is one of the most important indicators of overall health. And if you want a reliable way to feel your best, it’s getting a good night’s sleep.

This streaming service, loaded with content designed to calm your mind, will take you to the Land of Zzzzs …

For most podcast listeners, there comes a time when you have way too many unplayed shows, taking up way too much space on your iPhone or iPad. Fortunately, this is a problem with an easy fix.

Take back precious storage space by deleting episodes you don’t need to have saved locally, and prevent the Podcasts app from hoarding content in the future. We’ll show you how.

Apple shares hit a new all-time high Friday on the back of the company’s shockingly good Q3 earnings. AAPL closed up 10.47% at $425.04, fueled by Thursday’s record-breaking report.

Friday’s surge gives Apple a market cap of an astonishing $1.84 trillion, within spitting distance of the once-unimaginable $2 trillion valuation. And it makes Apple the most valuable publicly traded company in the world.

In mid July, a hacker gained access to Apple’s Twitter account, along with those other corporations, high-profile politicians, and celebrities. At the time, there was speculation it was done by Russian hackers. Or perhaps they were Chinese. Some pointed fingers at international criminal gangs.

Nope. Turns out it was a 17-year-old kid from Tampa.