Apple is perceived as a laggard in the AI race — despite that, Apple has developed the single best computer for AI research. The new Mac Studio with an M3 Ultra chip, which supports up to 512GB of unified memory, is the easiest and cheapest way to run powerful, cutting-edge LLMs on your own hardware.

The latest DeepSeek v3 model, which sent shockwaves through the AI space for its comparable performance to ChatGPT, can run entirely on a single Mac, Apple AI researchers revealed Monday.

It’s a machine that fits comfortably on your desk, rather than a server farm; it costs the same as a used Honda Civic, not a new Lamborghini.

How did this happen? Most remarkably of all — by sheer coincidence. Here’s why the Apple silicon architecture makes for the best AI hardware, a use case Apple didn’t mean to design it for.

Twelve South just launched AirFly Pro 2, which improves on what was already a brilliant AirPods enhancer. Plug it into audio sources that don’t have Bluetooth — like an airliner’s in-seat entertainment system — and you (and a friend!) can listen to them with your AirPods. Alternately, plug it into the AUX port on a car stereo and play music from your iPhone over a wireless connection.

The new version of the Bluetooth audio adapter offers better sound and new controls.

I tested out AirFly Pro 2 with my AirPods, iPhone and other gear. Here’s what I found.

Apple users who enjoy the popular open-world adventure game Genshin Impact now have a stylish way to keep their devices powered up, Ugreen said Monday. Known for its charging accessories, the company said it partnered with game creators to launch a co-branded collection of four Ugreen Genshen Impact charging products. The company sent them to me. It looks like a fun collection.

Chargeasap’s 100W Omega USB-C GaN Charger is tiny yet powerful. It comes with three ports and packs enough punch to fast-charge three Apple devices — like a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone — simultaneously.

Like other GaN (short for gallium nitride) chargers, it’s smaller and more efficient than your typical wall wart. However, while most GaN chargers usually go for a premium price, this one’s on sale at Cult of Mac Deals. Grab a Chargeasap 100W Omega USB-C GaN charger for just $54.97 (regularly $119).

March 24, 1997: The Newton MessagePad 2000 brings major upgrades to Apple’s PDA line, including a far better display and a much faster processor.

The best MessagePad yet by a wide margin, it quickly becomes a critical and commercial success. But it won’t be enough to save the doomed product line.

When I came across today’s M4 iMac setup on the interwebs, I realized how rarely they come up in Cult of Mac‘s setups coverage. Out of 616 articles I’ve written about setups to date — over more than 4 years — this is only the 11th one to feature an iMac (plus a few others from before I took over the setups beat). And that small number doesn’t come from any hatred of iMacs on my part. It’s just that users seem to flaunt them much less on social media than other hardware. And they’re not top sellers for Apple.

Anyone who constantly moves around with multiple devices knows finding a reliable power bank for laptop charging can be a challenge. After more than a week of using the new Alogic Roam 21,000mAh Power Bank, I’m ready to share my hands-on experience with the premium charger. Is it worth the investment? Yes. Let’s dive in, and I’ll tell you why.

iOS 18.4 will be one of Apple’s biggest updates to iOS 18 since the operating system’s public release last September. It will pack plenty of changes and improvements, like a Vision Pro app, Apple News+ Food and new emoji.

That all sounds great, but these are the five iOS 18.4 features that I am most excited about.

Apple’s third-gen Apple Watch SE may not launch anytime soon, with the device running into “serious jeopardy.” Rumors have indicated Apple will switch to a plastic casing with the next Apple Watch SE refresh.

However, this move might have backfired, with the company’s design and operations team not happy with the outcome.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Griffin goes deep on the M3 iPad Air and the M4 MacBook Air, which he recently reviewed from his unique perspective as a Mac mini fanatic. He loved them both, but which one rules the day? And can either of them come close to his desktop dynamo?

Also on The CultCast:

• Erfon digs into the M3 Ultra benchmarks.
• There’s a shakeup in Siri land! Can the new boss fix Apple’s virtual assistant and/or deliver Siri’s promised AI upgrade?
• Surprise, surprise — Apple is working on a new monitor.
• iOS 19 might turn AirPods into real-time translators, which sounds like a killer feature for travelers.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

March 23, 1992: The “headless” Macintosh LC II arrives, wooing value-oriented customers with a beguiling mix of updated internals and budget pricing.

Designed to take up minimal space underneath a monitor (sold separately), the Mac LC II is destined to become a hit. In retrospect, the entry-level machine is roughly analogous to today’s Mac mini.

Apple reportedly wants to put cameras in future Apple Watch versions. This will enable the wearable to “see the outside world and use AI to deliver relevant information.”

However, Apple needs a few more generations to turn the Apple Watch with cameras into a reality.

This iPad Air refurb is possibly the best iPad deal you can get right now. With Apple’s M1 chip inside, this iPad Air is capable of serious work and entertainment — and it supports Apple Intelligence, which even the latest (and similarly priced) iPad 11 won’t do.

Thanks to its modern features and design, you get premium Apple performance at a fraction of the cost. Instead of dropping $599 on a brand-new iPad Air, you can grab this grade-A iPad Air refurb for just $369.99. You get the same cool Apple design — with way less of a hit to your bank account.

Want to learn to play piano? This all-in-one bundle comes with everything you need to get started and excel. It pairs in-depth video lessons (taught by a pro) with a PopuPiano — an actual MIDI keyboard — and other extras.

The bundle’s name says it all. And right now, you can get the Learn to Play Piano Bundle for just $294.99.

March 22, 1993: Apple launches the PowerCD, the first device from the company that doesn’t require a computer to work.

A portable CD player that also works as an external CD drive for Macs, it offers a glimpse of the extremely lucrative path Apple will follow a decade later. However, the PowerCD itself will ultimately fail in the marketplace.

Window snapping and tiling is a new way to quickly organize your Mac desktop. It lets you throw the two apps you’re working on side by side so you can focus on them.

Window snapping proves more versatile than fullscreen mode, which the Mac has had ever since OS X Lion. Using fullscreen mode comes with a few compromises. For one, fullscreen mode only supports two windows side by side. And while you’re in fullscreen mode, you can’t have any other apps visible — fullscreen apps exist in a separate space from everything else.

With window snapping, you can have your Mac windows tiled in halves, quarters or a mix — you pick the orderly layout that works best for the task at hand. You can use gestures or keyboard shortcuts for quick tiling. Or you can control the tiling from your Mac’s menu bar. Keep reading or watch our video to learn how this cool Mac productivity feature works.

Sennheiser’s latest offering are the new HD 550 open-back headphones, designed to bridge the gap between audiophile-grade sound quality and gaming performance, the company said Wednesday. For Mac users who demand great audio whether they’re working with Logic Pro, enjoying Apple Music with lossless audio or diving into the latest Apple Arcade titles, these headphones promise to deliver a compelling listening experience.

“Audiophiles looking for featherlight headphones with honest voicing and deep bass extension are in for a treat,” said Sennheiser Audiophile Product Manager Klas Hanselmann. “While the HD 550’s airy detail is obvious, customers will fall in love with its delightfully polite touch — perfect for listening for hours on end.”

You should get comfortable with the world’s handiest camera so you can capture memories that will last a lifetime. After all, more and more people are leaving behind family point-and-shoot cameras for the smartphones in their pockets. With our iPhone photography tips, you won’t need the latest and greatest in your pocket.

If you know the ins and outs of photography, you can make the most out of a years-old camera. In fact, the winner of the 2020 iPhone Photography Awards took the prize-winning picture on an iPhone 4!

No matter what phone you have, check out these pointers for the casual and curious. And watch our video to see them in action.

In my lengthy travels among computer setups displayed on social media, I saw a cool Mac mini case a while back that made the compact M4/M4 Pro desktop computer look like a little Mac Pro. I wondered if it’d catch on as a cool, must-have accessory, but then I never saw it again — until now. Today’s featured M4 Pro Mac mini setup sports one of the snazzy and functional cases in a dual-display workstation.

To avoid mistakes made by rivals, Apple reportedly will do everything it can to create a crease-free folding iPhone with a durable hinge. According to a report released Friday, that includes producing the hinges using a liquid metal process.

The innovative handset should arrive in 2026.

Micro-learning app Wiser5 is like a fusion of Instagram and your favorite classes in school. You can learn about personal finance, math, biology, literature and other solid subjects right on your iPhone — and have fun while doing it.

Right now, you can bag this broad-based learning app for just $39.99 for life.

March 21, 2007: Apple launches the Apple TV, a gleaming-white set-top box with a remote control, for bringing iTunes media to the living room.

Unfortunately, the device lacks key features needed to make it a killer entertainment system. It’s something of a missed opportunity for Apple.

It’s season finale time! In our Severance season 2 episode 10 recap of “Cold Harbor,” we find Mark S. carrying out a wild plan with his allies while his tattered team makes a dangerous last stand against Lumon Industries. At 75 minutes, the episode’s a long one, directed by Ben Stiller. And with the hit show just renewed for a third season, the Severance season two finale actually asks more questions than it answers — before delivering a twist at the end.

Last week’s penultimate episode gave us a slower burn than expected on the way to Friday’s climactic season finale, but it did its job. As the macrodata refiners scattered while Mark and his sister Devon teamed up with company soldier Harmony Cobel to fight Lumon, it felt more like everything was coming apart than coming to a frenzied boil. But that groundwork set the stage for Friday’s outstanding final episode.

Apple TV+ renewed Severance for a third season Friday, delighting fans of the surreal drama series on the same day its season two finale aired. And Apple CEO Tim Cook and show executive producer and director Ben Stiller had some fun with an X.com post, below.

“What Ben, Dan, Adam and the talented cast and crew behind Severance have brought to the screen is undeniable magic,” said Matt Cherniss, head of Apple TV+ programming. “We’re so proud to be the home for this brilliant series and look forward to audiences experiencing what’s in store for Season 3.”

As someone who lived in the French-speaking part of Switzerland for a few years, I’m no stranger to poking fun when I catch a whiff of the sometimes-preposterously self-important and pretentious side of the French persona. And the new Apple TV+ trailer for Carême reeks of it.

While the premise of the streamer’s upcoming French-language series sounds interesting — a rags-to-riches story of the world’s first celebrity chef, who also worked as a spy — the series looks overwhelmingly French.

“Chef. Spy. Lover,” reads the tagline for the historical drama. Apple TV+ calls it “daring” and “provocative.” Ooh la la.

Carême premieres April 30 for those with a taste for that sort of thing.