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Foldout wireless charger can juice three Apple devices

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Unravel wireless charger
Unravel will keep tight rein on charging devices.
Photo: Ampere

Charging solutions are the foot soldiers in our growing army of devices. They’re just expected to work and don’t get full-throated praise we lavish on the iPhone or Apple Watch.

But that could change with a wireless charger called Unravel, a misleading name for a versatile gadget that cooly and simultaneously charges an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch.

How to see if your original AirPods updated themselves

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AirPods supplier confident of booming business through 2021
Your old Airpods aren’t dead yet.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you’ve updated your iPhone or iPad to iOS 12.2, and you own a pair of first-gen AirPods, the wireless earbuds probably got an automatic firmware update already. Today we’ll see how to check your AirPods firmware version, and learn what’s new in the update.

Spoiler: Some owners even report better battery life in their original AirPods.

Apple Pay Cash can’t come from credit cards [Updated]

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Pay for your doughnut dash with help from Apple Pay.
You can still send money to friends and family with Apple Pay Cash. You just can’t get the cash from a credit card.
Screenshot: Apple

It is no longer possible to transfer money into an Apple Pay Cash account from a credit card. Transferring funds in via a debit card from another bank is allowed, however.

The service still enables users to make person-to-person payments, but the money cannot come from a credit card.

Huawei smartphone cameras beating iPhone at its game

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Huawei Pro30 Pro
That's some good bokeh.
Screenshot: Huawei/YouTube

The devoted iPhone photographer mostly shrugs at the camera tests of DxOMark, but the growing number of smartphones ranking above the best iPhone is hard to ignore.

With the recent release of the Huawei P30 Pro, there are now five smartphone cameras that best the iPhone XS Max in the independent lab’s gauntlet of tests. The top three spots belong to Huawei.

Apple Watch’s fashion ambitions have virtually vanished

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Apple
Remember the Apple Watch Edition?
Photo: Apple

Today, the Apple Watch is the world’s best-selling smartwatch by a wide margin. But Apple’s strategy for convincing users that it’s important has certainly changed.

A new article notes how Apple has dropped its original ambitions for the Apple Watch as being a fashion-oriented product. And we don’t blame Apple!

Apple Pay is about to spread its reach across Europe

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Apple Pay Terminal
¡Es inminente!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay is on its way to seven new markets across Europe.

A number of banks serving Greece, Portugal, and other territories have already confirmed their support for the service. The launch is “coming soon,” but a more specific date hasn’t been announced just yet.

App Store Search Ads expand to 46 more countries

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App Store Search Ads
Ads are coming to an iPhone near you.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

App Store users in a bunch of new countries will now see ads when searching for apps and games.

Apple on Tuesday expanded App Store Search Ads to 46 new territories. Developers can bid to have their titles appear in search results for specific keywords, which brings more attention to their apps.

Song pays tribute to Wyatt Mitchell’s keynote boiler suit

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Jumpsuit 2
Remember this guy from Monday's event? How could you forget?
Screenshot: Apple

Monday’s “show time” event might not have been Apple’s greatest keynote in living memory, but it did give us one thing we can all agree on. That’s the undisputed awesomeness of Apple’s director of design for applications Wyatt Mitchell’s white boiler suit.

A sartorial choice that steals the show from names like Steven Spielberg and Oprah isn’t easy to do. And yet thats exactly what Mitchell’s wardrobe decision managed. And now a long-time Apple fan has immortalized it in the medium of song. Check it out.

Save 93 percent on a bundle of great Mac apps [Deals]

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This massive bundle of 8 top apps is discounted by a whopping 93 percent.
This massive bundle of 8 top apps is discounted by a whopping 93 percent.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

You’ll never squeeze maximum productivity out of your Mac until you load it up with some fantastic software.

That’s just what you’ll get in the Epic Mac Bundle, featuring Fantastical 2 and PDF Expert. It’s a bundle of eight premium Mac apps that usually costs nearly $500, but right now you can get it for just $22.50 with promo code “LAST25.”

Apple’s ‘show time’ keynote leaves Wall Street cold

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Apple TV+ could have 26 million paying subs by 2025; 2.6 million currently
Apple's TV+ service has promise. But is it enough to excite investors?
Photo: Apple

Apple stock closed down 1.03 percent yesterday as Wall Street continues to show relative indifference to Monday’s “show time” event.

While AAPL share prices hit $190.57, it finished out the day at $186.79. This came after a 2 percent dip the day before. It follows a media event that was big on talk, but relatively small on detail.

Apple’s VP of Services unlikely to ‘take on the plight of publishers’

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Keynote pic
Peter Stern at Monday's event.
Screenshot: Apple

Monday’s “show time” keynote introduced plenty of new faces to Apple fans when it came to presenters. One of them, Peter Stern, is the VP of Services in charge of the company’s Apple+ and Apple News+ services.

Having joined Apple in 2016, he’s a relatively new arrival. However, he’s someone we’re likely to see a lot more of — as a new profile makes clear.

Don’t fall for the Twitter prank that locks you out

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Twitter has changed its mind on deleting inactive user accounts (for now)
Twitter is crushing dreams in 2020.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A viral prank is getting some Twitter users locked out of their accounts.

Tweets that promise you’ll receive new color schemes, admin privileges, or even a verified check mark for changing your birthday have been circulating on the platform. But if you fall for the trick, all you will end up with is a Twitter account you can no longer use.

Developers think Apple Arcade is disruptive — for better or worse

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Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade has plenty of promise -- but poses some big challenges, too.
Photo: Apple

Will Apple Arcade turn out to be the game changer that developers are hoping for? According to a new report… maybe.

Speaking to a slew of developers, a news report found that many are cautiously optimistic about what Apple Arcade could mean. In particular, it could help break the stronghold of freemium titles in the App Store. But there are still potential challenges.

Users can’t sign into Gmail in Mail after latest macOS update

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Gmail error macOS
Are you seeing this message in macOS 10.14.4?
Photo: Wesley de Souza

Some macOS users are unable to sign into Gmail inside the Mail app after installing Apple’s most recent update.

The version 10.14.4 release, rolled out on Monday, puts many in an endless sign-in loop when trying to sync their Google accounts. The problem affects new accounts, as well as existing accounts that were already set up in Mail before the update arrived.

Apple AR glasses concept is both futuristic and retro

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Proposed Apple AR glasses would run realityOS, their own operating system.
Proposed Apple AR glasses would run realityOS, their own operating system.
Photo: Dominik Hofacker/ConceptsiPhone

An artist created a vision for a set of augmented reality glasses running a new Apple operating system. His concept video is built around the strong evidence that Apple is designing just such a product.

Watch the video now:

Apple v. Qualcomm: You win some, you lose some

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Qualcomm patents
The ITC sided with Apple over Qualcomm today in one case, but things went the other way in a separate decision earlier in the afternoon.
Photo: Qualcomm

Just hours after an International Trade Commission judge ruled in favor of Qualcomm in a patent infringement lawsuit with Apple, the Commission as a whole made the iPhone maker the winner in a separate dispute between the pair of companies.

This is a demonstration of how much acrimony there is between these two, who were once close allies.

Turn your iPhone into a focus-enhancing machine [Deals]

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This app offers specially curated music that's designed to help keep you focused and on-task.
This app offers specially curated music that's designed to help keep you focused and on-task.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When we think about the effects of our always-on culture on our minds, the picture isn’t always pretty. Our smartphones often cause us plenty of distraction, so it might be surprising to learn that they can actually help us stay focused.

Don’t expect your AirPods to last forever

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AirPods-teardown
The tiny batteries buried in AirPods start to wear out in a few years.
Photo: iFixit

Apple’s second-generation AirPods are arriving just in time for people who are discovering that their first-gen ones are wearing out.

This despite the original AirPods being, at most, 2.25 years old.

Grab the beautiful wallpaper from the new iPad Air

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The new 2019 iPad Air, with its 10.5-inch screen, works with Apple's existing Smart Keyboard.
Like that wallpaper? You can put it on your iPad.
Photo: Apple

Anyone who likes the looks of the sweet wallpaper that comes with the iPad Air 3 doesn’t have to buy a new tablet to get it (Duh).

It’s available to download to your iPad or Mac now. It’s not really shaped right for iPhones.

The best AirPods 2 tips and tricks

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This won’t fool anybody.
This won’t fool anybody.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

AirPods 2 have arrived. Faster, longer-lasting, and with extra Hey Siri action, they’re a solid upgrade to the  (deservedly well-loved) originals.

The new AirPods work — for the most part — just like the old ones, with a few extra Siri options. And that means that all the best AirPod tricks, like eavesdropping with Live Listen, and customizing your double-taps, all still work. Check out our roundup of the best tips and tricks for AirPods 2.

Judge calls for iPhone import ban due to patent infringements

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Qualcomm patents
Qualcomm scored another victory in its legal battle with Apple.
Photo: Qualcomm

Some iPhone models could soon be blocked from coming into the U.S. after a judge recently ruled that Apple infringed on Qualcomm’s patents.

ITC Judge MaryJoan McNamara found that iPhone infringes on one of three patents in Qualcomm’s case against Apple. She subsequently said she will recommend an import ban on iPhones, but a panel of judges could still save Apple.