Apple is building a larger research group to investigate ways to transmit data directly to iPhones and other devices, Bloomberg reported Friday.

According to the report, Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly made the project a company priority.

Spotted a vulnerability in Apple software, but not among Cupertino’s chosen developers tasked with seeking out bugs? No problem. As of today, Apple’s $1.5 million bug bounty program is available everyone who wants to participate. Previously, it was only open to a select few.

The bug bounty means people can earn up to 7-figures for finding weaknesses in Apple software. These could otherwise be exploited by nefarious hackers.

Apple today stopped signing iOS 13.2.3. It’s no longer possible to downgrade devices that have already been updated to iOS 13.3, which rolled out to everyone just over one week ago.

Some 2020 iPhones will feature special sensor-shift stabilization technology for their cameras, according to Digitimes.

This technology, used in many high-end cameras, would further reduce camera shake on the next-gen iPhone. It differs from the optical image stabilization currently used in iPhones.

This week on The CultCast: From the hottest gift of 2019, to our favorite tech and travel locations, catch our picks for Best of the Year!

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It’s the last Friday before the holidays, and appropriately enough, two of Apple’s most popular Apple TV+ Originals are wrapping up. On Friday, Apple debuted the season finale for both The Morning Show and For All Mankind.

There are new episodes of both Servant and Truth Be Told as well. That’s plenty to keep you entertained between frantic bits of last-minute shopping!

If you’ve beaten the computer a thousand times on Mario Kart Tour (which, let’s face it, is pretty tough not to do), you can finally pit your Mario and Luigi-steering abilities against other flesh-and-blood players.

That’s because Nintendo has launched the eagerly anticipated multiplayer online beta for Mario Kart Tour. You’ll need to sign up to the Gold Pass to play it, though.

Some AirPods Pro owners report an unusual smell emanating from the plastic and rubber casings of Apple’s hot new earbuds. Of all things, they say they detect a whiff of … blueberries.

One expert tells Cult of Mac the aroma could be deliberate, or simply a result of chemical compounds in the plastics.

If you thought using Apple Pay was already easy, prepare to be amazed. It’s even easier when you enable Express Transit mode. In New York City, Portland and London, you can now pass the ticket barrier with just a wave of your wrist. And even if your local transit authority doesn’t support Express Transit mode yet, it could be coming soon.

Wanna give it a try? Here’s everything you need to know.

The newest luxury leather bands from OleksynPrannyk are out ahead of the holidays, and they’re a wonderful gift for any Apple Watch owner.

Handmade in the U.S. from soft Italian leather, and available in a number of gorgeous color options, they’re a delight to wear and incredibly long-lasting. They’re also more affordable than they look.

The iPhone’s Portrait mode lets users add effects that emulate studio lighting. Soon, the iPhone could allow for the real thing.

Apple has added support for strobes as a preview for developers in its Made-for-iPhone licensing program.

Apple has been in early talks to possibly buy MGM Holdings and an equity stake in the Pac-12 Networks, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The deals could bring important live and on-demand content to grow Apple’s TV+ streaming service.

The U.K. division of Apple’s worldwide entertainment team finally inked its first major exclusive-look deal this week, after reaching an agreement with Catastrophe creator, Sharon Horgan.

Horgan, who just finished a similar deal with Amazon, will be reunited with Jay Hunt, Apple’s creative director in Europe. Hunt commissioned Catastrophe for Channel 4 and Amazon.

Cubasis, the audio workstation app from Steinberg, just got rewritten as a brand new app. Cubasis 3 looks just like the old version, but is all-new, and includes support for the iPhone as well as the iPad. And hopefully, this rewrite also means that in the future, updates that adjust the user interface for new iOS features and screen sizes will be supported a lot faster. It took more than a year for Cubasis to support the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, for example.

So, what’s new in Cubasis 3?

Our new book about the Apple community, The Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition, is finally available in book stores and on Amazon.

To celebrate, we’re throwing a book-signing party tonight at the publisher’s HQ in San Francisco — and all Cult of Mac readers are invited. Please join me and the book’s award-winning designer, Derek Yee, at the No Starch Press offices. There will be a big sale (and free Chinese food, too)!

In macOS Catalina, iTunes has disappeared. It’s been replaced by the new Music app, which is a version of the iOS Music app. You could never call iTunes “beloved,” but it did its job, and had plenty of power hidden inside its confusing and bloated interface. The Apple Music app, on the other hand, is rather basic. But it still lets you do one thing that remains impossible on iOS: You can add your own music to your library. And yes, it will then sync that music to your iDevices. Let’s see how.

The first trailer for Little America, Apple’s anthology series about immigrants, is finally here, and it might just be the antidote we need for these wildly divisive impeachment days.

Clocking in at just over two minutes, the Little America trailer starts with a round table discussion among immigrants from various nations talking about things you’ll only see in America. The trailer then dives into glimpses from the eight different episodes that show the uniqueness of all immigrant stories.

Check it out:

The Satechi USB-C Magnetic Charging Dock for Apple Watch offers a USB-C connector that enables it to plug directly into MacBooks and iPad Pros. It’s also designed to be used on the go.

Blue light from iPhones or MacBook Pros might not be keeping people up at night as originally thought, according to new research.

The bottom line … the Night Shift mode on Apple products — meant to dial down the amount of blue light emitted by displays — may not be as effective as expected. Using dim, cooler lights in the evening, and bright, warmer lights in the day might prove more beneficial to our health.

When you hear about declining iPhone sales and factoids like Huawei overtaking Apple as the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, it’s easy to lose sight of just how successful Apple is at selling phones.

A new report from Counterpoint Research is a reminder just what a profit-generating powerhouse the iPhone actually is. In Q3 2019, Apple captured a whopping 66% of industry profits. Second place winner Samsung, by comparison, pulled in just 17% of handset profits.

Apple stands accusing of breaking the US Copyright Act by streaming copyrighted songs through Apple Music without the right permissions.

The company Pro Music Rights (PRM) filed its complaint in New York on Wednesday. It describes unpaid royalties and ongoing infringement relating to a number of songs. PMR licenses a couple of million tracks, including works from artists such as A$AP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell, Gucci Mane, and others.

Making your Mac more productive can be as easy as getting the right app. So we’ve rounded up four of the best deals on some great software, from a useful screen capture tool to a speed reading helper, an intuitive data syncing tool and a powerful PDF editor. Each one is already discounted, but you can save an extra 15% off when you use the promo code MERRYSAVE15 at checkout.

A quirky little indie movie you probably haven’t heard of is coming to theaters this Friday and — oh, who am I kidding, it’s freaking Star Wars!

In an effort to ramp up excitement about The Rise of Skywalker, Disney just added new Star Wars content to its Disney Magic Kingdoms game. Check out a trailer below:

A former Apple Store Genius is suing Apple for not providing legally obligated adequate facilities to allow him to work with his disability.

Robert Shaw says he was promised that the store he worked at would be fitted with automatic doors and a special table to accommodate his wheelchair. However, this did not happen to the degree allegedly promised.

The last of Australia’s big four banks to adopt Apple Pay says that it will support Apple’s mobile payments service.

While Australia is just one market of many where Apple Pay is available, its arrival in the country has been particularly fraught with challenges. Westpac’s support marks the end of that particular story.