After a thrilling MLS postseason, the championship promises to be a good watch (and free!). Photo: Apple
The culmination of a Major League Soccer postseason filled with upsets and comebacks, the MLS Cup championship unfolds Saturday as LA Galaxy hosts the New York Red Bulls. And you can watch the MLS Cup final for free on various Apple TV platforms via MLS Season Pass, the streamer said Thursday.
December 5, 2002: Cupertino says it served its millionth unique customer in the Apple Store online, marking a significant milestone for the company. It is a benchmark worth celebrating for Apple, which launched its online store just five years earlier.
“Reaching our 1 millionth customer is a major milestone, and is proof positive that our online shopping experience is second to none,” Tim Cook, Apple’s executive vice president of worldwide sales and operations at the time, says in a statement. “The Apple Store is a popular way for a growing number of consumers and businesses to buy Apple products, and with extensive build-to-order capabilities, easy 1-Click shopping and free shipping on orders, it’s never been easier to buy a Mac online.”
Polysoft answered the requests of many Mac Studio owners. Photo: Polysoft
Third-party accessory-maker Polysoft stepped in to make something Apple won’t: upgrade SSDs for the Mac Studio. These will allow owners of the powerful desktop to increase the storage capacity with relative ease, which is not possible now.
And the product raises the possibility that Mac mini SSD upgrades will launch at some point, too.
It may look like an ancient classic, but this is brand new. Noki recreated the FlatMac concept from 1984, likening it to a 1980s iPad. Photo: Kevin Noki
Another mad tinkerer surfaced this week spending a huge amount of time an effort recreating a decades-old Apple concept. Designer Kevin Noki dropped a YouTube video Wednesday showing every detail about how he remade Apple’s abandoned FlatMac concept from 1984 into a working prototype. And like an inspiration for the iPads that would come later, it’s a thing of beauty!
“This project has been a dream come true! As a designer, I’ve always been inspired by groundbreaking concepts, and this time, I challenged myself to recreate one of the most iconic and unrealized prototypes: Hartmut Esslinger’s Apple FlatMac,” Noki wrote on his YouTube video page.
Indians are buying more iPhones than ever before. Photo: Apple
Apple continued its impressive run in its next big growth market, India, shipping more than 9 million iPhones from January to September 2024. This represents 35% year-over-year growth for iPhone shipments in the country.
The company also increased its lead over Samsung, the previous leader in India’s smartphone market.
Find your top songs with Apple Music Replay. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Apple Music Replay is a great way to find your music stats for the past year: the most played songs, artists and albums in the last 12 months. Similar to Spotify Wrapped and the like, your annualApple Music Replay is a fun way to see what tracks you listened to most.
Fun fact: Apple usually publicizes Apple Music Replay in November, but it’s actually updated weekly and available throughout the whole year! You can check in whenever you want to see how 2025 is shaping up.
We’ll show you how to find it and how to share your top music of the year to your friends and social media.
The GameSir X3 Pro includes features many mobile controllers leave out. Photo: GameSir
The newly launched GameSir X3 Pro Mobile Gaming Controller packs Hall Effect sticks, dual rumble motors, micro switch triggers and detachable grips. And its USB-C connector and telescoping design means it fits a range of iPhone and Android models.
A stand-out feature is a cooling plate designed to prevent the handset from overheating while playing very demanding games.
Look, ma, no keys! And both renters and property managers get benefits from the new smart lock. Photo: SmartRent
Apple Wallet-compatible smart lock Alloy Deadbolt+ will make life easier for renters and landlords alike, SmartRent said Wednesday. Debuting at a Starwood Capital Group property, Alloy Deadbolt+ expands on the security, functionality and convenience of smart locks by integrating with resident keys in Apple Wallet. It easily lets you in, as well as your property manager and designated friends and service providers.
“Alloy Deadbolt+ enhances the way we think about secure access, providing a straightforward and reliable solution for both residents and property managers,” SmartRent Chief Technology Officer Isaiah DeRose-Wilson said.
Most commenters' advice had to do with the dual LG UltraFine external displays. Photo: [email protected]
There are supposedly 12 days of Christmas and at least that many ways to fix a computer setup. If your workstation features a MacBook Pro and two big external LG UltraFine external displays sitting on a desk, plus a Magic Keyboard mini and a Magic Trackpad, it’s pretty much good to go, right? Well, maybe. But today’s user with that rig asked on social media how to improve it, and they got a ton of advice.
Most of the comments concerned the dual displays, but they ranged pretty far afield, and anyone can learn from it.
Should Apple have licensed Mac OS back in the early 1990s? Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr CC
December 4, 1992: Apple engineers demonstrate a “proof of concept” of the Mac operating system running on an Intel computer. More than a decade before Macs will switch to Intel processors, getting Mac OS to run on PCs is an astonishing feat.
It’s part of an aborted plan to make Apple’s software available on other manufacturers’ hardware. Apple ultimately chickens out, fearing (probably correctly) that such a move would hurt Macintosh sales.
Haley Louise Jones will star in a new medical drama “KRANK Berlin" on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ casts its net wide for quality programming, offering plenty of entertainment from distant lands. So why not a German hospital drama? A “gritty” new eight-episode series called Krank BerlinBerlinER is headed your way soon. Apple offered a description of the “vibrant and dynamic” show. And since first announcing it, the stream has posted an air date, below, for the German-language medical drama — as well as a new title.
Update: Apple TV+ gave Krank Berlina boring new title and an air date Wednesday. Now named Berlin ER, the series, which comes to us from a former emergency room doctor, streams with its first two episodes February 26, 2025.
A HomePod with a larger touchscreen -- perhaps something like this concept -- is supposedly on the drawing board at Apple. Concept: Apple/Cult of Mac
The HomePod with a built-in 6- to 7-inch display that’s been the subject of previous rumors will launch after Apple’s developer conference in June, according to a report on Wednesday from a reliable source.
It will supposedly be part of Apple’s drive to offer more smart home products.
M5 iPad Pro is still more than a few months away. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The next big iPad Pro refresh will arrive in the second half of 2025 at the earliest, according to a new report. The upgraded M5 iPad Pro reportedly will be the first product to use the next-gen Apple silicon chip.
Apple surprised everyone by launching this year’s iPad Pro refresh with an M4 chip.
Tim Cook spoke recently at Apple Park during the "It's Glowtime" event. Photo: Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed details about the company’s approach to artificial intelligence and defended its Vision Pro headset in an extensive interview Wednesday. In a now-familiar refrain, he discussed the company’s strategic entry into generative AI while addressing criticisms about Apple’s seemingly delayed response to the AI boom.
“We never talked about charging for it,” Cook said of Apple Intelligence. “We view it sort of like multitouch, which enabled the smartphone revolution and the modern tablet.”
Apple wants to use Amazon's chips for training its AI models Photo: Apple
Apple uses Amazon Web Services’ custom artificial intelligence chips to power its search services. The company is also evaluating if it can use Amazon’s latest AI chips to pretrain Apple Intelligence models.
Apple’s Benoit Dupin, senior director of machine learning and AI, made these revelations Tuesday in a surprise appearance at Amazon’s annual AWS re:Reinvent conference in Las Vegas.
Apple singled out Hysterical for its annual podcasts award. Image: Apple/Cult of mac
Apple picked Hysterical as the winner of the Apple Podcasts Award for 2024, which honors quality and innovation in podcasting.
It’s not a comedy. The seven-part series by Dan Taberski investigates a mysterious illness that spreads among a group of high school girls in upstate New York, and looks for parallels with one that affects American diplomats.
The crime thriller Lucky will become an Apple TV+ limited series. Image: Simon & Schuster/Cult of Mac
Anya Taylor-Joy, perhaps best known for starring in The Queen’s Gambit, is coming to Apple TV+. She’ll star in an adaptation of the bestselling crime thriller Lucky by Marissa Stapley.
News Corp's experiment with an iPad "newspaper" came to an ugly end. Photo: The Daily
December 3, 2012: News Corp pulls the plug on The Daily, the world’s first iPad-only newspaper, less than two years after launching the publication.
While the writing has been on the wall for some time, the closure is a blow for those who view the iPad as the savior of the traditional publishing industry.
Chill out and silence the sounds of your environment with the sounds of rain, the ocean and more. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac/W.carter/Wikimedia Commons
Working in an office or in the city, you’re probably inundated with noise from people chattering, cars running and nearby music. Your iPhone has a built-in feature called Background Sounds for playing rain noises or white noise to tune it all out.
You don’t need to download any apps or pay a cent; it comes for free on your Mac and iPhone. Let me show you how it works.
The iOS 18.2 release date is soon — just not as soon as had been rumored. AI image: ChatGPT
A rumor from early November said the iOS 18.2 launch day would be the week of December 2, but that’s now impossible. There are steps that must take place before the operating system can be introduced, and not all of them have happened yet.
The release will probably be in the second week of December. Right now, the earliest likely date is December 10, though December 11 is looking increasingly likely.
Whenever the launch finally happens, it’ll usher in some of the most-anticipated new Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji, the Image Playground and more.
The Samsung T9 SSD is small but holds terabytes of data. Photo: Samsung
The Samsung T9 SSD is quick and it’s very portable. Plus, for Cyber Week means it’s up to 40% off. Opt for 1TB, 2TB or even 4TB of additional storage for your Mac or iPad.
For an even more affordable option, the older Samsung T7 series is available for as much as 44% off.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the new Black Titanium finish is available at its lowest ever price for Black Friday. Photo: Apple
Note: This post has been updated with new deals and the latest price drops. Some prices vary according to Apple Watch color, band, etc.
Apple Watch Cyber Monday deals are live, featuring some significant price drops on both the most affordable and the priciest models.
The best deal is the entry-level Apple Watch SE 2 from just $149 (save $100 or 40%). This is a great price for a great watch that boasts almost all the same features as its pricier siblings. It’s a great starter watch and perfect for kids (and you can track them with it). Meanwhile, the latest high-end Apple Watch Ultra 2 in sleek black titanium is also $80 off. Or pick up a refurbished Ultra 1 for just $380.
Not to be left out, the brand-new Apple Watch Series 10 with its big beautiful screen is available at its best price to date on Amazon, starting at just $329. The biggest savings are on Series 9.
Tesla's rendering shows how the app will look on your Apple Watch display. Photo: Tesla
Tesla is rolling out a significant holiday software update, headlined by the launch of its first Tesla Apple Watch app. The new app, long expected and finally available next week, will allow owners of Tesla electric cars and trucks to use their Apple Watch as a digital key to lock and unlock their vehicles. That eliminates the need to carry a smartphone (at least for that reason).
Users can also view battery charge levels, control climate settings, and remotely open the front trunk (“frunk”) directly from their wrist.