Get your AirPods Max working normally again. Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
Are your AirPods Max malfunctioning? Most problems can be fixed with a simple reboot or reset. We’ll show you the steps you need to follow when your pricey headphones start acting up.
Enter to win a stellar at-home arcade. Photo: Polycade
Let’s face it: Apple Arcade is fine, but real arcades absolutely ruled. You could win the ultimate at-home arcade system — and relive the past with a decidedly modern twist — if you enter our Polycade Lux Giveaway.
Step right up for your chance to win this high-end gaming system (retail value $4,449). It’s decked out with the latest bells and whistles that will allow you to play your favorite retro classics as well as today’s finest games.
Even better, when you purchase entries, you’re also donating to Playing For Change, an organization that brings music to countries in need all around the world. And the more you donate, the more you increase your chances of winning!
Are you protecting your Mac yet? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Cybercriminals reportedly created more macOS malware in 2020 than from 2012 to 2019 combined. The days when Mac users could happily assume they weren’t in danger from hackers are long over.
But the situation remains far worse for Windows users. Researchers found 135 times as many Windows malware samples last year as ones targeting macOS.
Best of all worlds? A powerful Mac and PC combo crushes work, gaming and podcasting. Photo: Liquidsama@Reddit
Redditor Liquidsama’s setup is popular on the social media app not just for the adorable Pac-Man Ghost Light in the corner (see photos), but for its awesome computing power for work and play.
The LED ghost light phases through nine colors and reacts to music, by the way — which is neat — but the real draw here is a bulked-up Mac Pro for IT work and a heavily modded PC for gaming. Not to mention a great audio rig for podcasting.
OK, so that’s overstating things a little bit, but Justin Long — the actor still instantly recognizable for playing a Mac in a long-running series of Apple commercials — is now advertising Intel. And taking shots at Apple.
Group FaceTime is great. Until it really isn't. Photo: Apple
Multiple FaceTime users have reported being overwhelmed with spam or prank group FaceTime calls, in which individuals are called by large numbers of spammers. When a person hangs up, a different number immediately calls them back.
Some users report this behavior being repeated over and over.
Signal app offers strong encryption. Photo: Signal
End-to-end-encrypted messaging app Signal is secure. So secure, in fact, that it’s the European Union’s encrypted messaging app of choice.
Unfortunately, it’s also secure enough that it’s gotten on the wrong side of the Chinese government. China has reportedly banned the app in mainland China as of March 16, TechCrunch reports. This is one day after its website was blocked in the country.
Apple is making it tougher for apps to track users. Graphic: Apple
China’s state-backed China Advertising Association is already looking for ways to get around Apple’s upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.
The organization’s approach reportedly involves something called a “CAID.” This can supposedly act as an alternative means of tracking users to the iPhone’s ad identifier, or IDFA. TikTok parent company ByteDance issued a guide for app developers that describes how marketers “can use CAID as a substitute if the user’s IDFA is unavailable.”
With the Kensington StudioDock, an iPad tablet becomes an outstanding desktop with multiple ports and wireless chargers. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Imagine an iMac with an iPad for its screen and you’ve got the Kensington StudioDock. Slip your tablet into the docking station and it’s elevated to eye level, plus you have access to an extensive collection of built-in ports. The stand can even wirelessly charge your other Apple devices.
Read on to explore all the reasons why this is the best iPad desktop stand ever made.
It seems Apple plans to release stand-alone iOS/iPadOS security updates. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple is apparently preparing to release iPhone security updates separately from iOS updates with feature changes. The just-released fourth beta of iOS 14.5 gives users a new, separate toggle to choose whether to automatically install security updates.
However, at this point this feature doesn’t work quite as many might expect.