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How to watch Apple’s big WWDC22 keynote [Updated]

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How to watch Apple’s big WWDC22 keynote
Don't miss a thing from WWDC22.
Photo: Cult of Mac
WWDC22 - Brought to you by CleanMyMac X

One of Apple’s biggest events is right around the corner. This year’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote promises to deliver our first look at the company’s next-generation software updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac and more. And it’s all happening on June 6.

Just like past WWDC keynotes, this year’s will be streaming online, so you’ll be able to watch it in its entirety as it all unfolds. Here’s how.

Update: The WWDC22 keynote is behind us, but if you want to get caught up you can watch the whole presentation on YouTube. Or check Cult of Mac‘s in-depth coverage.

How to enable voice isolation for FaceTime calls in iOS 15

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Enable voice isolation for FaceTime
Keep kids' voices out of your remote meetings.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Remote meetings on FaceTime are a lot calmer in iOS and iPadOS 15, thanks to a feature called voice isolation that blocks out background noise. Even better, the feature works in other video-calling applications, including Zoom and Google Duo.

Here’s how you can enable it on iPhone and iPad.

Stop fat-shaming Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack

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Oh no. The Apple MagSafe Battery Pack fails to defy the laws of physics.
Oh no. Apple's new MagSafe Battery Pack fails to defy the laws of physics.
Image: Cult of Mac

Apple’s just-released MagSafe Battery Pack faced plenty of mockery for not being about as slim as a credit card, as some people apparently expected. This criticism clearly comes from people ignoring an inescapable fact: Batteries are always bulky.

Until there’s a revolutionary breakthrough in power storage tech, there’s no way to make an ultra-slim battery store a useful amount of power. Stop expecting it. And stop criticizing companies for not miraculously producing an impossible product.

New iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 betas fix some of Safari’s biggest problems

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New iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 betas fix some of Safari’s biggest problems
With the release of iOS 15 beta 3, the Safari Address Bar stays at the bottom of the screen where it belongs.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The just-released iOS 15 beta 3 fixes the bouncing address bar in Safari. Plus, iPadOS 15 beta 3 makes Safari’s Share button much more prominent. Both changes apparently come in response to complaints from beta testers about Apple’s updated mobile web browser.

The latest betas, released Wednesday, also bring other changes to the iPhone and iPad versions of Safari.

Supposed iPhone 13 dummy leak hints at new dual-camera layout

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iPhone 13 dummy leak
Another way to make iPhone more iconic?
Photo: Geek Village Chief

An apparent iPhone 13 dummy leak suggests Apple plans to rearrange the rear-facing camera layout on some devices this year.

It appears handsets with just two camera sensors — like the regular iPhone 13 and a possible iPhone 13 mini — could have their modules placed in a diagonal orientation as opposed to one above the other.

House committee approves antitrust legislation that could hit Apple hard

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App Store faces barrage of antitrust charges
Apple's antitrust woes look set to continue.
Photo: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels CC

A House committee approved antitrust legislation Thursday that threatens many big tech companies — Apple included. In a 24 to 20 vote early this morning, the committee approved the American Choice and Innovation Online Act.

The bill, which still needs to pass the full House, seeks to stop big platforms from advantaging their own products or services over those made by others. That could affect Apple, which not only owns and operates the App Store distribution platform, but also makes products that compete with some of the apps distributed through said store.

9 great but easily overlooked features in iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey

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9 great features you might have overlooked in iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey
There are so many big changes in Apple’s upcoming iPhone, Mac and iPad operating system updates that it might be easy to miss some smaller ones.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple made an enormous number of changes in its 2021 operating system updates. Many of these drew plenty of attention — like the FaceTime upgrade — but some useful improvements might have been overlooked in all the hoopla.

Here are nine new features in iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey you might have overlooked.

iOS 15 brings welcome enhancements to FaceTime, notifications, more

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iOS 15 brings welcome enhancements to FaceTime, Notifications, more
Apple took the wraps off iOS 15 on the opening day of its WWDC conference.
Screenshot: Apple

iOS 15 just made the jump from rumor to reality. Apple is bringing major new features to FaceTime, Messages, notifications, and more. Many of the applications that come bundled with iPhone are getting updates, like Apple Maps and Weather.

However, some features people had been hoping for didn’t make the cut, like interactive widgets.

M1 iMac review roundup: Fast, thin and oh-so-cool

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24-inch iMac with M1 processor released in 2021
A stunner of a computer.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s debut M1 iMac is a winner, according to the first wave of reviews that arrived Tuesday. The first iMac redesign since 2012 earns praise for its ultra-thin looks, its gorgeous 4.5K display and its M1-powered performance.

T3 hails it as “the world’s coolest desktop.” While it seems likely that other, better M1 Macs will follow — especially for power users who need a bit more oomph — the new 24-inch iMac certainly lives up to the hype.

High school student makes impressive 3D renders of big-time Mac leaks [Setups]

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Ian Zelbo's monitor shows a render of a leaked MacBook Air concept he worked on with Jon Prosser. on.
Ian Zelbo's previous monitor shows a render of a leaked MacBook Air concept he worked on with Jon Prosser.
Photo: Ian Zelbo

It’s not every day you come across a high school student running a successful tech-based business – never mind one whose 3D renderings are routinely seen by thousands of people. But that’s the case with 17-year-old New Yorker Ian Zelbo and his RendersbyIan.

His detailed and realistic renders of leaked tech products, including Macs, get loads of exposure on social media from his clients, the likes of Jon Prosser of @FrontPageTech and Sam Kohl of iupdate.

New sensor could turn 2022 Apple Watch into a doctor on your wrist

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The Blood Oxygen sensor employs LEDs, along with photodiodes on the back crystal of Apple Watch Series 6.
You might soon be wearing the equivalent of a medical laboratory.
Photo: Apple

A deal between Apple and Rockley Photonics could add new medical sensors to the Apple Watch in 2022. That might include non-invasive monitoring of blood sugar levels, body temperature and blood pressure. It might even add the ability to measure blood-alcohol levels.

The British startup promises to “bring laboratory diagnostics to the wrist.”

Why Apple Watch’s iPhone unlock changes your freakin’ face-mask life

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Why Apple Watch’s iPhone unlock will change your freakin’ life
Being able to to unlock your iPhone while wearing a face mask is the best reason yet to get an Apple Watch.
Photo: Ivan Samkov/Pexels CC

iOS 14.5 is the best update of the pandemic era because it works with your Apple Watch to remove the hassle of unlocking your iPhone while wearing a face mask. You don’t have to type in your passcode every single damn time. The phone just unlocks. Like it’s supposed to.

But the trick does require an Apple Watch. If you’ve been on the bubble about getting one, this feature should go a long way toward convincing you. It serves as yet another elegant example of how Apple’s ecosystem offers users simple solutions to modern life’s annoyances.

How to stop apps from tracking you in iOS 14.5

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How to allow/prevent apps tracking you
Thanks to App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14.5, it’s up to your to decide whether third-party applications track you.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

iPhone and iPad just got a significant new privacy protection, preventing third-party apps from tracking you without permission. App Tracking Transparency debuted in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

Here’s how to use it. And what to do about all the popups asking, “Allow [THIS APP] to track your activity?”

Talk about ‘Spring Loaded’: Apple event sets my head spinning

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We finally got our first legit look at an AirTag.
We finally got our first legit look at an AirTag, but that was just the beginning!
Photo: Apple

Wow, that was the speediest, most jam-packed Apple event in recent memory.

It was so quick-moving, we all got whiplash. There was barely time to catch your breath between announcements: Here’s a new purple iPhone. Fuggedaboutit, here’s a new Apple TV, and new AirTags. Oh, and hers’s new iMacs — and iPads!!

In an hour, Tim Cook and Co. managed to introduce a raft of products with dozens of new features and technologies while dazzling us with some pretty jaw-dropping promo videos.

Once again, the prerecorded format worked well. The promo videos in Tuesday’s “Spring Loaded” event looked super. They hit us with a great mix of head-spinning effects and angles, humor and product placement.

Here are some thoughts and initial reactions to some of the major announcements:

Why we might see first M1 iMacs at Apple’s April 20 event

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Apple plans the 2021 iMac redesign we’ve been dreaming of
The 2021 iMac could dump the huge screen bezels of the current version. And move to Apple Silicon.
Concept: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Trusted tipster Mark Gurman says the 2021 iMac all-in-one desktop might be the next to get the M1 processor. The announcement could be only a few days away.

And that’s only the beginning. There’s plenty more evidence that an upgraded iMac will launch at Apple’s April 20 event.

iPhone 13 may boast Apple’s buttery-smooth, ProMotion screen tech

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This concept image shows how the iPhone 13 notch might shrink.
120Hz refresh rate could be on its way to this year's iPhone refresh.
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Apple’s ProMotion technology, which delivers buttery-smooth scrolling and motion content on some iPads, may come to the iPhone this year.

According to a report from Digitimes, the next-gen iPhone will adopt LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) backplane technology that could enable 120Hz screen refresh rates. The current iPhones have a refresh rate of just 60Hz.

All-virtual WWDC 2021 will kick off June 7

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WWDC 2021
WWDC goes virtual again this year. Does that mean no April product launch event?
Photo: Apple

Apple will kick off this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7. And, for the second year running, this will be an all-virtual event, the company said Tuesday.

The WWDC festivities will run through that week, offering what Apple calls “unique insight into the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.”

iPhone 13 may boast 1TB storage, LiDAR on all models

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iPhone 13 might sport a 120Hz display.
This year's iPhone could be a big update for Apple.
Concept: ConceptsiPhone

The iPhone 13 will boast a maximum storage capacity that’s double that of the iPhone 12, claim Wedbush analysts Strecker Backe and Daniel Ives in a new note to clients, seen by Cult of Mac.

Unlike the iPhone 12, which tops out at 512GB, the iPhone 13 could offer up to 1TB. That’s also 62 times the storage of the original iPhone, which topped out at 16GB.

Replacing iPhone notch with hole-punch camera makes no damn sense

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Replacing iPhone notch with holepunch camera makes no damn sense
This isn’t an improvement.
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Apple might get rid of the screen notch in the 2022 iPhone. But before you start celebrating, there’ll be a hole-punch camera in its place, according a trusted analyst. If true, this will be one step forward and two steps back.

The notch is a superior solution to a hole in the middle of the display. Here’s why.

Bouncing light looks unbelievably beautiful in new puzzle game Lyxo

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Lyxo
Halfway between a physics puzzler and a psychedelic light show.
Photo: Emoak

Lyxo is an ultra-realistic game about bounced light. It’s also one of the most aesthetically beautiful games to arrive in the App Store for quite a while. And, yes, it’s possible to be both at once.

“I first had the idea while lying in bed one morning,” Tobias Sturn, the one-person development studio known as Emoak, told Cult of Mac. “I saw a beam of light falling beautifully into the room, and cutting through the shadows. Immediately, I thought of a game where the player uses mirrors to guide a beam of light through a completely dark room.”

Jump forward a little over a year, and this week Lyxo launched on iOS. Sturn took us through the game’s creation, including opening up his sketchbooks, and explained his crash course in physics to build the game engine.

There should never be another iPhone mini

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iPhone 12 mini
The iPhone 12 mini is a great little device ... that almost no one wants.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

iPhone 12 mini is the worst selling of the new iOS handsets by a wide margin. Apple should be embarrassed because there was plenty of evidence before the launch that sales would be poor. Take note: Another super-small iPhone would just compound the mistake.

No more 5.4-inch iPhones. Ever.

Apple car might never need a driver

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Apple Car
You may someday ride in an Apple Car but you’ll never drive one. You’ll program it instead.
Photo: Torsten Dettlaff/Pexels CC

No one will ever drive an Apple car, according to leaked information. Apple is reportedly planning a vehicle that’s completely autonomous. It’ll be programmed, not driven.

That would make it less like what Tesla offers and more like what Alphabet’s Waymo is developing.

1 billion iPhones and other mind-blowing tidbits from Apple’s blowout earnings call

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Apple roars through another record-setting financial quarter, with a massive $111.4 billion in revenue for Q1 2021.
Apple roars through another record-setting financial quarter. Here’s what the number mean.
Image: Vista Wei/Unsplash CC/Cult of Mac

The results of each Apple financial quarter somehow keep topping the one before. This time, the big news is that revenue blew past $100 billion for the first time, buoyed by record-breaking sales of iPhone and other products.

But there’s more to Apple’s announcement than a parade of figures. Here’s what all those number mean for the company, and for users, based on what Apple’s top brass told investors on Wednesday.