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iPhone 18 Pro could get a major performance boost from A20 chip

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A picture with the text A20 alongside an Apple logo used in a story about the A20 Pro chip.
The A20 Pro chip is rumored to power the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the much-rumored iPhone Ultra this fall.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s A20 Pro chip is shaping up to be a big leap forward. A new leak points to a significant jump in speed with a considerable cut in power use. This is the best look yet at the performance of a processor that will be critical to the success of Apple new flagship smartphones.

Built on TSMC’s 2-nm process, the chip is expected to make its debut in the iPhone 18 Pro lineup this fall. The upgrade should mean serious performance and battery gains, but it likely won’t come cheap.

Today in Apple history: iJustine’s 300-page iPhone bill shocks the internet

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Screenshot showing iJustine's reaction to her massive 300-page iPhone bill fueled one of the first iPhone
iJustine's reaction to her massive 300-page iPhone bill fueled one of the first iPhone "scandals."
Photo: iJustine

Aug 18: Today in Apple history: Apple's Christmas-themed 'Misunderstood' iPhone ad wins Emmy August 18, 2007: A video goes viral on YouTube when 23-year-old internet personality Justine Ezarik, aka iJustine, posts a 300-page iPhone bill mailed to her in a box by AT&T.

The video of her reaction to the outrageous bill — which lists every single action that consumed cellular data on Ezarik’s brand-new iPhone — quickly racks up 3 million views and receives extensive media coverage. (You can watch it below.)

The Ultimate AI Learning Bundle goes from ChatGPT basics to AI certification prep

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A person accessing online AI courses on a laptop while at a cafe
This comprehensive AI learning bundle is now available at a huge discount.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

To get the most out of artificial intelligence, you must master the fundamentals with some serious AI learning sessions. You need to know how to write a better prompt, guide an AI coding agent and more.

The Ultimate AI Learning Bundle teaches you everything you need to know to take advantage of the AI revolution. It packs five courses and 11 hours of training. And for a limited time, it costs just $24.99, down from $145.

Oops: Apple accidentally leaks 10+ unreleased devices

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Apple Store
A macOS 26.7 slipup from Apple reveals what's coming next.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple rarely lets details about unreleased products slip out ahead of schedule. But every once in a while, the company accidentally spoils its own surprises.

That’s exactly what happened with the macOS 26.7 Release Candidate, which contains references to several unreleased Apple devices, including upcoming iPhones, Macs and smart home products.

AirPods with cameras are real, and Apple just showed how they’ll work

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AirPods with cameras are real! Hello AirPods Ultra?
Apple accidentally revealed AirPods with cameras in macOS 26.7 RC.
Screenshot: Apple

A video file found in the new macOS 26.7 release candidate code gives us our first look at Apple’s upcoming AirPods with built-in infrared cameras. The video shows the AirPods Pro working in tandem with Visual Intelligence to let you save information about objects you see in the real world.

In the short demo, a man holds up a book so the AirPods’ cameras can identify its title. He then asks Siri to save it for later, showing how the IR cameras could give Apple’s earbuds a better understanding of the world around you.

Save 46% on LifeLock’s credit, dark web and breach monitoring

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A man with a dog uses a laptop, with text overlay about LifeLock Core features
GIve yourself an edge in the fight against identity theft with LifeLock Core.
Image: Cult of Mac Deals

This heavily discounted LifeLock Core deal provides identity alerts, credit and dark web monitoring, recovery support and up to $1.05 million in identity theft coverage.

And right now, you can score 15 months of this trusted identity-protection service for just $99.99 (regularly $187.35).

Hackers exploit macOS Screen Sharing vulnerability — update your Mac ASAP

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An image of macOS Screen Sharing feature used in a story about an exploit being actively used in the wild.
The macOS Screen Sharing vulnerability lets attackers bypass login credentials entirely.
Photo: Cult of Mac

A macOS Screen Sharing vulnerability that Apple patched earlier this month is now being actively exploited by hackers. Attackers use the flaw to seize control of Macs and install cryptocurrency miners.

The bug allows attackers to bypass Screen Sharing’s login screen without needing any valid credentials. Once inside, attackers escalate to full root access and install Monero mining software on compromised machines. If you didn’t already update your Mac’s operating system, you should do it as soon as possible.

WhatsApp custom emoji reactions spotted in iOS beta

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A picture showing WhatsApp logo used in a story about new features coming to the app's iPhone version.
WhatsApp custom emoji reactions would let users replace the app’s six default icons with emojis of their choice.
Photo: Pixabay

WhatsApp is reportedly working on custom emoji reactions for iPhone. The feature would let users change the app’s six default reactions to emojis they like.

Right now, every iPhone owner sees the same six icons when they long-press a message. But the upcoming tool would let people build a reaction tray that actually matches how they text.

Today in Apple history: PowerBook 165 becomes Apple’s most affordable laptop

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Photo of Apple PowerBook 165, Apple's affordable laptop released in 1993.
The PowerBook 165 isn't one of Apple's most memorable laptops, but it was important nevertheless.
Photo: Mass Made Soul/CC BY-NC 4.0/Modified by Cult of Mac

August 16: Today in Apple history: PowerBook 165 becomes Apple's most affordable laptop August 16, 1993: Apple ships the PowerBook 165, a lower-cost, grayscale version of the PowerBook 165c, which was the company’s first laptop to offer a color display.

The new model lacks the most attention-grabbing feature of the 165c, but it also brings its own claim to fame. The PowerBook 165 is Apple’s most affordable laptop yet.

This Mac bundle packs 27 lifetime apps into one $29.99 deal

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Image of a MacBook showing icons from The 27-App Lifetime Mac Bundle on its screen
This affordable bundle of indie apps gives your Mac superpowers (with zero recurring fees).
Image: Cult of Mac Deals

Tired of renting your software? The 27-App Lifetime Mac Bundle gives you permanent licenses to nearly every type of tool a Mac user could want, from design and productivity to developer tools and file utilities, with no monthly fees attached.

Built by indie developer Yanis Zafiropulos, who has been making Mac software since 2010, the bundle contains 27 native macOS apps that skip the bloat you would get from bigger, subscription-based suites.

Every app comes with free updates through its next major version and two Mac activations per app, so you can run the whole collection on a second machine too. And you can get the entire 27-App Lifetime Mac Bundle for just $29.99 (regularly $390).

I love my Logitech mouse, but I finally deleted its bloated Mac app

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Logitech mouse on a wooden desk.
BetterMouse delivers powerful Logitech mouse customization without the bloat.
Photo: Unsplash

I love my Logitech MX Master 3S and MX Keys S keyboard. They are my go-to devices for my Mac. However, I don’t feel the same way about Logi Options+, Logitech’s companion app for its mice and keyboards.

The software feels unnecessarily bloated for what I need it to do. So, I replaced it with a third-party alternative called BetterMouse that’s lighter and even more feature-rich.

Today in Apple history: Original iMac arrives to save Apple

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On this day in 1998, the world says
On this day in 1998, the world said "hello" to the computer that would save Apple.
Photo: Apple

August 15: Today in Apple history: iMac G3 arrives to save Apple August 15, 1998: The original iMac — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs‘ first major new product since returning to Cupertino, the internet-ready iMac G3 line will cement his legacy as a forward-thinking tech visionary.

The all-in-one computer also introduces the world to the design talents of Jony Ive — and pretty much saves Apple in the process.

Just another day at the office, eh?

This slim, metal, RFID-blocking wallet also works with Find My

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Photo of a Slim RFID Wallet with Apple Find My support
This slim, metal wallet sports a built-in tracking chip.
Image: Cult of Mac Deals

Is your wallet ready for a serious upgrade? This slim metal wallet holds up to 12 cards, blocks compatible RFID scans, and works with Apple’s Find My so you can track it down if you misplace it.

The price is slim, too. It’s currently on sale for just $29.99, down from its $79.95 MSRP.

6 custom gestures that make my MacBook trackpad even better

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MacBook with lid closed
You can do a lot more with your MacBook's trackpad.
Photo: Unsplash

The MacBook’s trackpad is one of the best you can get on any laptop, and Apple’s excellent gestures make it even better. You can swipe or tap with two or three fingers to nimbly jump around macOS, switching between Spaces, viewing all app windows and more.

But as a Mac power user, I wanted my trackpad to do even more. So I used BetterTouchTool to add custom gestures for managing tabs, arranging windows and speeding up other repetitive tasks.

I’ll show you what I did, and how you can use BetterTouchTool to turbocharge your productivity with custom Mac gestures.

Apple is finally bringing its own AI model to China — with Alibaba’s help

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An Apple logo alongside the Qwen logo used in a story about Apple's AI deal with China.
Apple’s China AI deal leans heavily on Alibaba’s Qwen for its Chinese Siri experience.
Image: Cult of Mac

Apple’s deal to bring its AI tools to China finally cleared Beijing’s regulatory hurdles, paving the way for Apple Intelligence to launch in the country. Apple trained its own large language model specifically for Chinese devices, but leaned on Alibaba’s support to pull it off.

ChatGPT just learned to watch everything you do on your Mac

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Screenshot from an OpenAI video introducing the new Computer History feature.
To better automate workflows, ChatGPT's new Computer History feature remembers most of what you do on your machine.
Screenshot: OpenAI

OpenAI wants ChatGPT to remember your workday better than you do. The newly introduced Computer History feature, currently rolling out in the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS, turns your clicks, keystrokes, web browsing and more into a searchable timeline.

The idea is to make ChatGPT more of an intelligent assistant. It can help you resume unfinished work, locate relevant files or conversations and automate workflows. If you lose the thread of what you were doing before lunch, ChatGPT can reconstruct it for you. Whether you want an AI logging all that activity is a separate question — one that’s in opposition to Apple’s privacy positioning.

Get the time without even looking at your Apple Watch

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Taptic Time on Apple Watch
A clock you don’t even need to look at. What a time to be alive.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Pro tip bug You can get the time without even looking at your Apple Watch using a little-known feature called Taptic Time. Simply hold two fingers on the device’s screen, and the watch will tap out the time on your wrist.

This is handy if you’re in a meeting and need to know the time, but you don’t want to look rude checking your watch. Or maybe you’re in the middle of a presidential debate.
Whatever the situation, turning on this little-known Apple Watch feature — and familiarizing yourself with how it works –can come in handy.

Today in Apple history: Tide turns against Apple in war with Microsoft

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Mac vs. PC
A judge's decision proves very damaging to Apple in its courtroom fight with Microsoft.
Image: Hardware Secrets/Ruben de Rijcke

August 14: Today in Apple history: Tide turns against Apple in war with Microsoft August 14, 1991: As Apple and Microsoft head to court to battle each other, the tide begins to turn against Cupertino and its claims that Windows unlawfully copies the look and feel of Mac OS. A judge’s ruling calls into question the basic tenet of Apple’s copyright lawsuit against Microsoft over Windows 2.03.

The case concerns whether key elements of Apple’s operating system are original enough for copyright protection. The decision turns out to be a major blow against Apple — and the start of the company’s 1990s decline.

Replace basic voice typing with context-aware dictation for just $59.99

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Photo showing Contextli dictation on an iPhone held by a hand
This powerful AI dictation tool is available at a huge discount.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Contextli is a context-aware AI dictation app that turns natural speech into polished, task-specific writing on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and other supported devices.

It takes voice dictation well beyond the basics, turning your spoken thoughts into emails, notes and documents. And right now, lifetime access to Contextli costs just $59.99 instead of $450.

iPhone 18 could bring Pro-level features to Apple’s base model

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A picture showing the iPhone Pro alongside the base model used in a story about iPhone 18 getting two iPhone 18 Pro upgrades.
The iPhone 18 could get features that bring the standard model closer to Apple’s Pro lineup.
Photo: Pixabay

The standard iPhone 18 may finally close the gap with its pricier Pro siblings. New supply chain research suggests a jump in iPhone 18 RAM. A smaller Dynamic Island, once tipped only for Pro models, could be on the way as well.

Both upgrades would put the base iPhone 18 closer to Apple’s premium lineup. The changes are still unconfirmed, and one prominent analyst disagrees on the memory number.

Here’s what we know now. 

Today in Apple history: Power Mac G4 gets a mirrored redesign

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The Power Mac G4 Mirrored Doors model looked distinctive, as seen from the side on a black-and-white gradient background
This Power Mac G4 blew people away.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

August 13: Today in Apple history: Power Mac G4 gets a Mirrored Drive Doors redesign August 13, 2002: Apple unveils the final face-lift for its Power Mac G4, the Mirrored Drive Doors model.

The distinctive-looking computer borrows visually from the previous QuickSilver G4, released a year earlier. However, it adds a different front panel, with a mirrorlike finish for the media drive doors. And the new computer’s powerful processors force an unfortunate compromise.

Apple TV gets big batch of classic movies you can stream at no extra cost

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Classic movies for Apple TV subscribers
Apple TV just beefed up its catalog with a collection of classic movies for subscribers to enjoy.
Image: Apple TV/Cult of Mac

Apple TV added something its growing library of original shows and movies has been missing: a bunch of big-name Hollywood hits. The streaming service now offers a collection of popular movies that subscribers can watch at no additional cost.

Apple Originals are great, but sometimes you’re in the mood for an old-school classic. Check out the ones now available through Apple TV.