Here’s some pretty big news for iOS musicians: AudioKit’s Digital D1 synth is now an Audio Unit. What? That means that, instead of running as a standalone app, you can now run it as a plugin inside your music app of choice. It also means you can run more than one copy, putting one instance on each track of GarageBand, for instance.

And what makes D1 more interesting than other synths for iOS? A few things. One, it’s open source and built by volunteers. Another is that it looks and sounds amazing. And finally, it’s totally ’80s, giving you the synth sounds of pop music’s best decade. Radical.

Security researches have discovered new malware that targets macOS users and evades popular antivirus tools.

“CrescentCore” is distributed as a DMG package that’s disguised as Adobe Flash Player. It can now be found on multiple websites — one of which is “a high-ranking Google search result,” according to Intego.

Another dispute between countries looms over Apple, but this one dates back to World War II and could cause the tech giant heartburn as it readies the lineup of 2019 iPhones.

Japan will tighten export restrictions on South Korea for materials used to make smartphone chips and displays beginning Thursday. Japan imposed the rule after a court in South Korea ordered Japan’s Nippon Steel to compensate South Koreans for wartime forced labor.

The just-released Legrand Home Smart Lighting for Apple HomeKit collection includes 3-way and dimmable wall switches, as well as plug-in wall sockets that are also either on/off or dimmable. Any of these can be controlled via an iPhone, HomePod, etc. with no pesky hub required for in-home use.

Apple is hosting seven exclusive concerts and artist Q&As at Apple Stores around the world. Designed to promote Apple Music and its “Up Next” playlists, the concerts run from July 9 through August 23.

They are free to subscribers to Apple Music.

Lego Tower, the newest game from Tiny Tower developer NimbleBit, has landed on iOS.

The free-to-play title lets you build a Lego skyscraper world, with apartments, hospitals, stores, and more. The higher you build, the more options you have — and you’ll collect a bunch of awesome Lego toys along the way.

The ability to use Siri to listen to live radio stations is up and running for HomePod users, along with people running the latest iOS 13 beta.

Apple announced the feature at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, boasting support for iHeartRadio, TuneIn and Radio.com streaming radio. That means users can access more than 100,000 different stations using Apple’s AI assistant.

At this point, our DVD collections are mostly just decoration for our shelves. It doesn’t have to be that way, you can convert all those old discs so they play on your iOS or Android devices (or anything else).

Google is working to deliver an AirDrop clone that will allow Android users to quickly share files with nearby devices.

Its new “Fast Share” feature, which will also make its way to Chrome OS, can be used to send images, videos, links, and other files without an internet connection. It can already be enabled on some Android Q devices.

Apple is the big winner of global trade talks at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

That’s according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives. Ives notes that Apple has become the “poster child” for the U.S. vs. China trade war. As a result, the news that trade talks will resume between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping is a winner for Apple.

Unlike the way Apple used to brag about its record iPhone sales, the company never reveals how many units the Apple Watch sells.

According to a new report, there may be a good reason for this secrecy. In its first year, the device proved a big disappointment for Apple.

Apple has identified a logic board issue with “a vey small number” of 2018 MacBook Air units. Users can return their machine to an Apple Store or Authorized Service Provider for a free repair.

You will receive an email from Apple if your MacBook Air is affected.

Jony Ive began to drift away from Apple shortly after the Apple Watch launched, a new report claims. The Apple design chief’s waning enthusiasm caused problems during development of the iPhone X and other products.

Following news that Ive is finished at Apple (at least as a full-time employee), this account backs up earlier reports stating that he had had one foot out the door for a while. In some cases, Ive’s long goodbye made things difficult for his co-workers.

Apple has some big designs on television with its Apple TV+ service. But Eddy Cue, SVP of Internet Software and Services, admits the company didn’t have much expertise on the subject of TV when it started its latest project.

That’s now changed, Cue says, and Apple is focused on “creating the best” content possible. And he doesn’t think it’s left it too late, either.

UPDATE: This article from 2019 is obsolete now that iPadOS 16.2 includes full support for external displays.

Dramatic changes in the iPad Pro line make it reasonable for the average user to consider adding an external display to their tablet.

I’ve been exploring this with an LG UltraFine 4K monitor for several weeks. Here’s everything I’ve learned.

This week, we remix memes with Meme Machine, sync SSH in iOS with Secure ShellFish, and go two-up in the Finder with Commander One. And more. As usual.

June 30, 2011: A little more than a year after the iPad goes on sale, the number of iPad-exclusive apps in the App Store passes 100,000.

The milestone caps a brilliant first year for Apple’s long-awaited tablet. And the amazing breadth of iPad-only apps proves the device is much more than just a bigger iPhone.

AirPods are an essential part of using an iOS device. They’re an important accessory, so it should be no surprise that AirPods also get their own accessories. We’ve rounded up three of the best, from handmade carabiner carriers, to cases that double as fidget spinners and a set of grip-enhancing earhooks. Read on for more details:

Anker’s latest adapter lets Apple fans bring a single pair of wired headphones to use with their iPhone, Mac and even iPad Pro. It’s a simple gizmo that converts Lightning audio to USB-C.

You won’t need an adapter to read our hands-on review.

The many iPhone 11 rumors reveal a device with only a few changes, and one of those is a relatively giant camera hump. A graphic designer created a video for a concept device that takes this device forward in a way that people will probably prefer.

Watch his iPhone Pro proposal video now:

What will Apple miss most as design chief Jony Ive spacewalks out of the spaceship campus? We think it’s the “fiddle factor” he injected into all his best Apple design.

Find out all about this tactile innovation in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. We’ve got the lowdown on Ive’s exit — and the elusive “>Evans Hankey, the woman who will lead Apple’s famous Industrial Design studio going forward.

If you prefer to read in a browser, you can find links to the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos below.

Travel can be stressful, especially if you don’t speak the language or know your way around. Even unfamiliar food can be intimidating. So this massive bundle of travel guide, language lessons, and food tips across the globe is an opportunity to be well prepared for your next trip.

As a design student back in the 1980s, a teenage Jony Ive spent a semester with a design agency in London, the Roberts Weaver Group. One of his first projects was designing a new pen for Japan’s Zebra Co. Ltd., a pen-maker based in Tokyo.

Ive’s TX2 pen was made of white plastic — the beginning of a life-long obsession with the color — and had a pair of rubbery side panels for a better grip. But what set the pen apart from every other was a nonessential feature — a ball-and-clip mechanism on the top that served no purpose other than to give the owner something to fiddle with.

Ive noticed that people fiddled with their pens all the time. So he decided to give his pen something he called the “fiddle factor.” This crucial insight ultimately became an essential element of Apple design as Ive rose to become Cupertino’s chief design officer.

Apple is already having to consider some major changes to its new Apple News+ service just three months after it launched earlier this year.

The subscription news service was supposed to be a boon for publishers and bring in a ton of extra cash, but a new report claims most publishers are only seeing a fraction of the revenue Apple promised.

iFixit has been helping iPhone owners fix their busted devices for over a decade. Now the company is ready to help you from breaking your iPhone in the first place with a new line of cheap iPhone cases that also give your device an X-ray look.