OneOdio unveiled its new OpenRock S Open Air Conduction Earbuds Tuesday, meant for active users who want to listen to music while doing sports activities.

Using air-conduction technology, the buds don’t go in your ear canal. So you can stay better-aware of what’s around you while you run, cycle or work out.

Interface designer Bas Ording is one of those little-known Apple employees who has had a huge influence on our digital lives. Ording is the brains behind the “rubber band” effect — the iconic touchscreen animation that convinced Steve Jobs to build the iPhone. During a 15-year career at Apple, Ording was responsible for a big chunk of Apple’s computing interfaces — from macOS to iOS.

You can read about his career in Unsung Apple Hero, a Cult of Mac e-book detailing his career at Apple. Just sign up for Cult of Mac Today, our free daily newsletter, or Weekender, our weekly email, and we’ll email you a copy.

Apple just received a patent that covers building Face ID into a MacBook. The facial-recognition system is not a feature of any Mac … yet. But the new patent serves as evidence that Apple is still at least considering the idea of replacing Touch ID with Face ID in its notebook line.

Swagger takes a look at personal responsibility this week, as Jace ponders his future after taking a tough stance.

He and Crystal spend an eventful, meaningful day together, while higher-ups decide what to do with the divisive athlete. Ike, Tonya and Emery must work through the Jace situation, while he needs to deal with his own confidence issues. Entitled “Jace + Crystal,” it’s a very fine episode of an Apple TV+ sports drama that produces little else.

Suppose you could change the channel on your TV by moving a sofa cushion? Or adjust the volume with a plate of nachos? That’s the simple but somewhat ridiculous idea behind a patent Apple applied for.

While silly, it would mean we’d never need to worry about losing the TV remote.

What if, instead of saying “Hey Siri” to activate your HomePod, you only had to glance at it? Apple is considering this possibility, and recently filed for a patent on it.

Whether this will become part of a future Apple smart speaker depends on whether it’s actually better than the current activation system.

People might be squawking about the $3,499 price tag of Apple’s new Vision Pro headset, but let’s put things in perspective. When Apple introduced the Macintosh — the first computer with a graphical user interface — it cost an eye-watering $7,400 in today’s dollars.

The Apple II — the first truly “personal computer’ — proved even more expensive. In 1977, an Apple II with maxed-out memory (a whopping 48KB of RAM, yes kilobytes) cost the equivalent of $14,400.

All that makes the $3,499 price tag of Apple’s new Vision Pro VR headset seem like a relative bargain. It packs insane 4K OLED screens to mesmerize your eyes, an outside screen that shows your face while wearing it, and an array of sensors to capture your hand movements, facial expressions and more.

If Apple is right, and the headset represents the dawn of a new era of 3D spatial computing, then 3,500 bucks isn’t so much to be at the cutting edge. New technology is always pricey … and it could have been even worse. Given the amount of new tech involved, and the high price of nearly a decade of development, the Vision Pro could have been even more expensive. It’s no $10,000 Apple Watch Edition!

Memorial Day is, of course, a time to honor and remember those who served. But it’s also an excellent chance to save money in Memorial Day sales like the one the Cult of Mac Store is running through the end of the day on Monday, May 29.

You can take up to 30% off great accessories for Apple products from makers like Elago, Rilee & Lo, SwitchEasy (selected items), Mifa, Laut, Bucardo and Nine Twenty Eight Co. Sample some highlights below and be sure to check out the whole sale featuring deals on hundreds of items!

A newly published patent filing shows Apple is exploring the possibility of building support for the Find My device locating system into a future version of the Apple Pencil. At the very least, the stylus might be able to play an alert sound to make it more findable.

Other products from the company already have this feature.

Apple’s newly announced Personal Voice technology enables an iPhone to read text in the user’s own voice. The same tech could be used to read incoming text messages in the sender’s own voice, making them feel more personal.

This isn’t a theory — Apple submitted a patent for exactly this idea in early 2023.