One of the priciest countries on the planet to buy an iPhone claims that Apple is violating competition rules — thereby driving up prices for customers.

Egypt, where an iPhone costs up to 50 percent more than in the rest of the Middle East, accuses Apple of placing unfair restrictions on local distributors. According to a report, this behavior is the reason customers have to pay so much in the country.

Apple has joined other tech giants — including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others — in speaking out against the anti-encryption law recently passed in Australia.

The country’s controversial law means that law enforcement officials are allowed to access encrypted messages when required. Unsurprisingly, tech’s biggest titans are none too happy about it.

Binge watching can be something you actually feel good about. That is, if you’re watching content that’s enriching and informative. So instead of spending hours on Netflix, maybe sink into the couch to browse a massive library of documentaries.

The biggest photo and video sharing social network in the world is doubling down on voice messaging.

Instagram launched a new feature today that gives all users the ability to share short voice messages with other people through the Instagram Direct section of the app.

Don’t leave your holiday shopping until the last minute. With Cult of Mac’s handy gift guides, you can find the perfect presents and get them all early for a stress-free December.

Our guides are filled with fantastic gadgets and accessories that Apple fans will love. We’ve handpicked only the best — things we’ve used, reviewed, and would recommend — so that you can be sure your money is being well spent.

This guide focuses on the Apple Watch owners in your life, and it features something to suit every budget.

Google Maps is going beyond just giving driving directions. It’s new “For You” tab provides updates on restaurants, stores, or entire neighborhoods.

This free feature launched for Android over the summer, and begins rolling out to iOS today in dozens of countries.

The iPad’s main trick is that it disappears when you launch an app. Fire up a piano app, and your iPad becomes a piano. Launch YouTube and it turns into a TV for pacifying children. This is part of the magic of the iPad, but it’s not quite perfect. Kids can easily leave YouTube and start reading your sexts instead. And a musician might accidentally trigger a gesture while playing on those virtual piano keys, finding themselves back at the home screen in the middle of a performance.

What you need is kiosk mode, aka Guided Access. This locks the iPad into a single app, and disables the hardware buttons. And it’s equally good for keeping you in one app, or keeping people out of all the others.

This post is presented by CloudBerry.

Extending your backup from a local drive to the cloud is a good idea. But if you’re using iCloud, your options are limited to approved apps, and absent useful features like file version history.

You can enhance the power of Time Machine backups with CloudBerry Backup. The third-party macOS app gives you more control over backups and more efficient transfers. Additionally, it offers an additional layer of protection for your precious files, because it gives you an extra backup for your local backups to restore from if disaster strikes.

Developers received a fresh batch of new beta updates this morning, just in time for the holidays.

iOS 12.1.2 beta 1 was made available today, bringing a host of new fixes and improvements to the iPhone and iPad. Apple also came out with the first betas of macOS Mojave 10.14.3, watchOS 5.1.3 and tvOS 12.1.2.

If you bought the new iPad Pro for making music, then you probably already discovered that it’s almost useless for the purpose. I just hope you didn’t sell your old iPad yet. The problem, which is so widespread that it probably affects all of the new 2018 iPad Pro models, causes the CPU to spike, and sound to crackle whenever you use more than a couple of music apps together.

Fortunately, a fix is apparently on the way.

The iPhone XS Max is still the fastest new smartphone on the market, based on the latest speed test that pits Huawei’s flagship Mate 20 Pro against Apple’s most expensive iPhone.

PhoneBuff pitted the Mate 20 Pro against the iPhone XS Max in its speed test which measures which phone can open a select number of apps the fastest and then open them again a second time. So far the iPhone XS Max has stomped its Android competitors in every test. While the Mate 20 Pro puts up a good fight, it ultimately lost, making the iPhone XS Max the undisputed speed king of smartphones in 2018.

Watch the two phones battle it out:

Apple Pay will finally make its debut in Germany this week, according to a new report.

Tim Cook previously promised that the mobile payments service would be available in Germany by the end of the year, while local webpages were recently updated to confirm it is “coming soon.”

Google’s popular Chrome browser is getting a new dark mode for macOS Mojave.

We’ll have to wait until next year for the alternate look to make its way into a stable Chrome update, but you can test drive it early by downloading the open source Chromium browser.

A court in China has granted Qualcomm an injunction against Apple. The ruling bars Apple from importing and selling multiple iPhone models in China.

The order specifically bars Apple from selling the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and iPhone X. However, the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR should be good to go.

Apple has done a whole lot in 2018 but, from a stock price perspective, none of it matters. That’s because Apple’s declining stock price means that the company has now officially lost money this year.

AAPL finished 2017 at $169.23. At time of writing, it is trading at $164.48. Overall, it’s now down around 1 percent year-on-year. In the process, it’s fallen behind some major rivals.

No matter how many times you proofread, typos and bad phrasings have a nasty habit of slipping by unnoticed. That can mean a lot of embarrassment over the smallest mistakes, especially in professional emails. So it’s good to know there’s a tool that can catch them before you hit send.

If you wish it could be Christmas every day, treat yourself to one of the new festive skins in Fortnite Battle Royale.

Both the Nog Ops and Yuletide Ranger outfits are available now, alongside a Cozy Coaster glider. They will be on sale for a limited time only — and you’ll be pleased to know they’re reasonably priced.

Apple’s Bordeaux retail store in France was raided over the weekend as continued anti-government protests raged.

In a clip widely shared on Twitter, looters entered the Apple Sainte-Catherine store on Saturday night. They proceeded to pull MacBooks, iPhones and other items off the shelves and tables. Some of those involved with the incident were wearing the yellow vests associated with the riots.

You’d think Tim Cook would be too busy running Apple to be tweeting about surfing, but you’d be wrong. Well, kind of.

In fact, Cook tweeted over this weekend in praise of the cover of the year end issue of Surfer’s Journal magazine. The front of the mag features a dazzling bit of water-based sports photography which, you guessed it, was shot on an iPhone.

You may think you’re a power user, but not unless you’re using keyboard macros. Macros are like keyboard shortcuts, but customized so you can tailor them to your workflow.

The holiday shopping season has rudely crept up on us, which means it’s time to start buying for friends and loved ones who have been good this year. Fortunately for you, Cult of Mac is here to help.

Our gift guides are full of great products Apple fans are sure to love. We’ve hand-picked awesome accessories and glorious gadgets that we all use and recommend, so you know your money is being well-spent.

This guide focuses on the iPad lovers in your life, and there’s something to suit every budget.

Take a deep breath and learn how to get the most out of your Apple Watch with a pair of handy how-tos. Every Apple Watch owner can take advantage of Apple’s stress-busting Breathe app. However, you’ll need a Series 4 (and this week’s watchOS update) to get in on the ECG action.

Get those how-tos and the week’s best Apple news and reviews — including an expose on Apple’s biologically bogus squid emoji — in your free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now on iTunes. Or keep reading for the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos. (Plus, enter to win a set of rugged iPhone XS Max cases.)

Just like every year, the holidays hit us before we know it. So to make sure you aren’t caught without anything to offer the Apple fans and other tech types in your life, we’ve rounded up five great deals on stocking stuffers that are sure to please.

We’ve got ultra-tough charging cables, adapters to make any headphones wireless, high-end power bricks, and plenty more. Everything is discounted by a third or more!

If you’re in the market for an iPad Pro, but working on a budget, B&H Photo Video is currently offering the 2017 12.9-inch iPad Pro at an amazing discount. With savings ranging from $220 to $330 off, you can pick up last year’s biggest tablets for hundreds less than their 2018 counterparts.

With B&H’s current offering, you can get a 2nd Generation (2017) 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 64GB of storage and Wi-Fi for $579 (a $230 savings). Or get the fully loaded Wi-Fi + Cellular model with 512GB for a cool $999 (a $280 savings).

The best deal of the bunch, coming in at $330 off, is the 256GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model for $749.

Apple has made another high-profile hire that could help the company gain a stronger foothold in the healthcare space.

Former Mango Health CEO Jason Oberfest left his highly-regarded startup last month. At the time, Mango Health only named a replacement but didn’t say where Oberfest was headed to. Now we have news that he has joined Apple as a member of its health team.