Apple and Google said Friday they are building in stronger privacy protections to their planned contact-tracing system for COVID-19 and that an early version of the initiative will launch for developers next week.

A number of iPhone 12 models currently face delays and may not become available in key markets until later in the year, a trusted source familiar with Apple’s plans revealed to Cult of Mac.

Options also could be limited in the United States and in other countries, where faster mmWave 5G technology is available. Elsewhere, customers may have a complete iPhone 12 lineup to choose from, but with slower 5G technology, according to the source.

With a hot cast and a true-crime sheen, Defending Jacob is one of the most highly anticipated Apple TV+ series so far. It’s based on a best-selling novel. It’s helmed by an Oscar-nominated director. And the first three episodes arrived Friday, primed for a literally captive audience seeking its latest obsession.

Apple calls its fledgling streaming service “the new home for the world’s most creative storytellers.” And for the first time, Apple TV+ has delivered a show that lives up to the hype — at least judging by the first three episodes.

Steve Jobs is coming to the radio. Through the medium of song, that is!

With theaters closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Seattle Opera plans to treat listeners to some much-needed opera by broadcasting some of its past performances on the radio (and streaming them online). Apple fans might want to tune in for Grammy-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which tells the story of Apple’s iconic late co-founder and CEO.

The second-generation iPhone SE began arriving at the front doors of new owners worldwide Friday, even as Apple and carriers began accepting new online orders for the low-cost mobile in selected markets.

These days, traveling is stressful no matter what, so why add worries about iPhone battery life to the list? A good backup battery is one of the handiest tools you can have on hand when the time comes to go outside. And with these deals, cost is no excuse not to have one.

Apple Pay is coming to Switzerland’s largest bank UBS after it refused to adopt it for years.

A report from the website MacPrime shared an image from UBS suggesting that Apple Pay will go live in the near future. No date has been announced for exactly when that will take place. However, it will reportedly be in the next few weeks.

Apple has told its working-from-home employees that family comes first when it comes to the current coronavirus pandemic. But many employees with kids are still struggling in Silicon Valley’s hectic work culture, claims a new report from CNet.

The article, published Thursday, describes some of the challenges in a tough Silicon Valley working culture, but where — at least in California — schools won’t reopen until fall. Apple is doing whatever it can to help, however.

Apple insisted on Friday that there is no evidence to suggest serious security flaws in its Mail app have been exploited.

The company says the issues do not pose an immediate risk to iPhone and iPad users. Its statement seems to dispute earlier claims from security researchers, who published details of at multiple suspected “attacks” on Wednesday.

Woot’s spectacular sale on refurbished iPhones is back, with big savings to be had on a wide range of models. Prices start at a mere $119.99 for iPhone 7 and rise to just $509.99 for iPhone XS Max.

This sale is good for today (Friday, April 24) only. Enjoy it while you can!

iPhone 2024 anyone? Apple chipmaker TSMC disclosed in its annual report to shareholders Friday that it has kicked off its 2-nanometer R&D process for future chips.

Going by Apple’s record trend of adopting a major upgrade (or, in terms of size, nanometer downgrade) in A-series chipsets every two years, that would mean the early stages of a new processor for the 2024 iPhone. This year’s iPhone is widely expected to come with a 5-nanometer A-series chip. The iPhone 11 has a 7nm processor.

Want to feel like a 1960s spy? Fire up your vintage sports car, take to a winding road in the Swiss alps, and then call up information on your auto’s touchscreen control panel.

Such a thing, once firmly in the realm of fiction, is now possible thanks to a new line of CarPlay radios created by Porsche. Allowing you to kit out cars dating back to the 1960s with high-resolution touchscreens, Bluetooth, DAB+, and Apple’s in-car infotainment system, the head units opens up CarPlay to a whole new audience.

Defending Jacob, a new Apple TV+ murder mystery show starring Chris Evans (Captain America), debuted Friday on Apple’s streaming TV service.

The show tells the story of a small-town assistant district attorney whose family is turned upside down after his 14-year-old son is accused of murder. Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery plays Evans’ wife, while Jaeden Martell from It plays the titular Jacob.

Beastie Boys Story, director Spike Jonze’s endearing Apple TV+ documentary about the first white rap phenoms, proves as powerful as it is screamingly funny.

Jonze, a confidant and collaborator of the group since the Beasties’ experimental mid-career, exhibits an easy candor with his subjects. That familiarity allows all of them to open up, which is important when it comes to discussing their failures and losses.

Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared on Thursday’s The Big Night In event on BBC One in Great Britain. He announced his company is making a “significant donation” to this fundraiser, which is raising money for Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need.

Looking for awesome but affordable protection for your new iPhone SE? This stellar range of cases from Elago includes something for everyone, with different styles and color options to choose from.

All offer ample protection, and they cost as little as $13 each!

Apple TV+ picked up a comedy starring a couple of household names on Thursday. Apple gave a straight-to-series order to The Shrink Next Door, a new, eight-episode limited series starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd.

Creative professionals working with 4K or 8K video, or anyone who just wants an enormous amount of portable storage, can turn to the OWC ThunderBlade.  Starting Thursday, this SSD now offers up to a whopping 16TB in capacity, and can transfer data at 2800MB/s.

OWC also updated its Envoy Pro EX line with 4TB version. And the Accelsior 4M2 internal SSD now also offers up to 16TB of capacity.

Darkroom, one of the best photo library and editing apps on iOS, is now also one of the best video library and editing apps on iOS. In today’s update, Darkroom adds support for editing your videos. Not cutting and chopping them up, like iMove, but changing how they look, as if you were applying filters and edits to a still photograph. And the along thing is, it’s instant, just as fast as editing a still image.

The FCC on Thursday approved an expansion of Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band. This adds almost five times the bandwidth to the short-range wireless networking standard. It should bring Wi-Fi connections that are up to 2.5 times faster, with less interference from nearby computers.

Thursday’s FCC vote on this expansion was unanimous, and the change has strong industry support.

Apple’s third-generation AirPods will enter mass-production during the first half of 2021 ahead of a release next year, according to one reliable analyst on Thursday.

Apple hopes the refresh will save falling demand for second-generation AirPods. Its next AirPods Pro units won’t enter mass-production until the fourth-quarter of next year at the earliest.

Right now, you shouldn’t be using the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad. Thanks to a serious exploit, a hacker can take control of your iOS Mail app just by sending you a malicious email.

You don’t need to open that mail for it to do its bad business. In fact, you don’t even have to have the Mail app open for the attack to work. Yesterday, we covered the news of this attack, and you can read all about the consequences. Today we’ll show you how to protect yourself by changing just one setting.

Welcome to Cult of Mac’s new look.

We redesigned the site’s front page to better display the day’s most important stories, make it easier to find content, and to surface parts of the site that are sometimes not easy to find.

We hope you like the result.

Apple Watch owners who send their device in for repair must remove bands first or risk losing them for good.

Apple has updated its support documentation to make it clear that it does not return bands and other add-ons. “Please remove them before sending your Apple Watch in for repair,” it states.

Apple Music invites people to “Lose yourself in 60 million songs.” Today, you can on a new device – a Samsung smart TV.

Samsung announced Thursday an Apple Music app is now available for its most recent smart TVs. Until the Samsung, an Apple Music app was only available with an Apple TV set-top device.