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Top Stories - page 11

Today in Apple history: Mac clone-maker peaks before a dizzying decline

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Power Computing clone Macs sounded like a good idea at first.
Power Computing's clone Macs were built for speed.
Photo: Antnik

June 4: Today in Apple history: Mac clone-maker Power Computing peaks, begins rapid decline June 4, 1997: Mac clone-maker Power Computing hits its high point as the company’s top exec reaches an agreement with Apple concerning the forthcoming Mac OS 8.

The deal allows the company to start making moves toward an IPO as the fastest-growing PC company of the decade. Things don’t turn out well, though.

4 reasons to get excited about iPadOS 27

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iPadOS 27 rumors give tablet users plenty of reasons for optimism
Rumors of iPadOS 27 give iPad users so much to be excited about.
Image: Cult of Mac

Apple WWDC26: With Apple’s WWDC26 keynote just days away, the latest iPadOS 27 rumors should give iPad owners plenty of reasons to pay close attention. Beyond the new artificial intelligence features for all Apple devices, tablet users can look forward to Monday’s keynote unveiling of iPadOS 27 enhancements that should make tablets easier to use in multiple ways.

Here are four reasons for iPad users to be eager for these announcements, whether you use your tablet for writing, creative projects or daily multitasking.

Today in Apple history: iOS overtakes BlackBerry OS

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A BlackBerry device running BlackBerry OS that shows an empty battery icon on its screen.
Time was running out for BlackBerry.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

June 3: Today in Apple history: iOS overtakes BlackBerry OS for first time June 3, 2011: iOS overtakes Research in Motion’s BlackBerry operating system for the first time, with Apple’s mobile operating system inching past BlackBerry OS.

While Android remains comfortably in the lead in terms of market share, the news marks the beginning of the end for BlackBerry as a smartphone powerhouse.

What makes Apple’s fave apps and games of 2026 so good?

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Apple Design Awards crown top apps and games 
Find out which 12 apps and games took top honors.
Photo: Apple

Apple WWDC26:Apple chose 12 apps and games as the best of the best in 2026 from its developer community on Tuesday, honoring titles spanning six award categories for recognition at WWDC26 next week. 

“This year’s Apple Design Award winners are a remarkable reflection of how developers are creating exceptional experiences,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. She added that honorees “represent the very best of what our platform makes possible.”

Today in Apple history: Yosemite brings a visual overhaul to OS X

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Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, previews Mac OS X Yosemite at WWDC in 2014.
OS X Yosemite more strongly resembled iOS than previous versions of the Mac software.
Photo: Apple

Jun2 June 2, 2014: Apple shows off Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite for the first time at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Following the Jony Ive-redesigned iOS 7, Yosemite boasts an aesthetic change that brings Apple’s desktop computers closer than ever to the look of the company’s mobile software.

Named after Yosemite National Park, the update follows the previous year’s Mavericks as the second Mac operating system named after a California landmark.

Leaker: Foldable iPhone with liquid metal hinge undergoing carrier testing

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Photo of a folding Android device, used to illustrate a story about a rumored liquid metal hinge for the first folding iPhone
The hinge is a critical component of any foldable, and Apple wants the best technology possible for its first folding iPhone.
Photo: Amanz/Unsplash License

Apple is building its long-anticipated folding iPhone around a liquid metal hinge, and the device has now actually reached mobile carriers around the world for compatibility testing, a prominent Apple supply chain leaker said Tuesday.

Congress pressures Apple to keep first unionized US store open

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Shuttered US Apple stores include first to unionize
Slated for closure, Apple Towson Town Center store in Maryland was the first one to unionize.
Photo: Apple

With a letter signed by 40 members of Congress sent Monday, Apple faces increased federal pressure over its plan to shut down the Apple Towson Town Center store in Maryland. The location, set to close on June 20, holds the distinction of being the first Apple retail store in the United States to unionize.

The congressional letter pulls no punches. The lawmakers describe the closure as “unacceptable in its impact, and deeply troubling in its national implications for workers’ rights.”

10 Apple Watch settings everyone should change

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Apple Watch Settings
Make sure you have these settings set up correctly.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The small size and simplicity of the Apple Watch’s screen might fool you into thinking there aren’t a lot of settings you should tweak. But you would be sorely mistaken. It’s a powerful computer on your wrist, and thus, the Settings app is a deep rabbit hole. 

You could lose hours going through every last setting, but I can save you the trouble. There are 10 Apple Watch settings I suggest everyone adjust. I’ll show you what they all do and how to change them. 

Next-gen OLED Apple Watch displays could lead to longer battery life

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Next-gen OLED Apple Watch displays
Apple Watch OLED displays are great now, but more advanced tech could boost power efficiency and, therefore, battery life.
Photo: Apple

The display in your Apple Watch may already seem pretty great, but a new type of screen technology in development could make models in the next year or two even better by running for longer on a single charge, according to a new report.

Apple reveals ‘All systems glow’ tagline, wallpaper and playlist for WWDC26

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WWDC26: All systems glow
Apple wants to get us all ready for its big developer conference, iOS 27 and more.
Photo: Apple

Apple WWDC26:With one week to go until its annual developer showcase, Apple leaned into a luminous theme with the new WWDC26 tagline “All systems glow.”

You can get your devices ready for the WWDC26 keynote, which kicks off the weeklong event on June 8, with new wallpaper and an Apple Music playlist.

Today in Apple history: Apple II gets its first disk drive

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Photo of the Apple Disk II, the floppy drive for the Apple II computer that Steve Wozniak worked on over the Christmas holiday in 1977.
The Disk II floppy drive was anything but a flop for Apple.
Photo: Wikipedia CC

June 1: Today in Apple history: Apple II gets a disk drive, the Disk II floppy drive June 1, 1978: Apple launches the Disk II floppy drive, one of the company’s most important peripherals ever.

The best floppy drive available at the time, Disk II solves the Apple II computer’s most glaring weakness — a lack of storage. It also helps establish Apple’s flair for handsome profit margins.

Tiny, low-cost portable speaker finds a place in any audio arsenal [Review] ★★★★☆

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Tozo PE1 Portable Wireless Sports Speaker review★★★★☆
Tozo's PE1 just might be the tiny addition your audio arsenal needs. At its low price, why not?
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

Apple users live in one of the most polished hardware ecosystems on Earth. Every accessory entering that orbit gets held to a higher standard — not just for specs, but for how effortlessly it fits in. My Tozo PE1 Portable Wireless Speaker review concludes that the tiny gadget finds a place quite easily, with great sound, fantastic portability and solid durability. Plus it’s incredibly inexpensive. 

Today in Apple history: Newspaper replaces photo staff with iPhones

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More than a trillion photos were captured in 2015.
A big Chicago daily pulls the plug on staff photographers.
Photo: HypeBeast

May 31: Today in Apple history: Chicago Sun-Times replaces photo staff with iPhones May 31, 2013: The Chicago Sun-Times fires all 28 of its photographers, with the goal of training its staff to shoot photos using iPhones instead. Pulitzer Prize winner John H. White is among those who lose their jobs.

The move is significant not just because of what it says about the declining newspaper industry. It also spotlights the iPhone’s growing acceptance as a professional camera.

Why AirTag 2 makes an even better pet tracker

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AirTag 2 makes a great low-cost pet tracker for cats (or dogs).
AirTag 2 makes a great low-cost pet tracker for cats (or dogs).
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Don’t let your beloved cat or dog wander around without some kind of tracking device. If your fuzzy buddy goes missing, you’ll regret not having some way to locate them.

And the good news is it’s cheap and easy. I put Apple’s AirTag 2 on my cat’s collar as a pet tracker, and it’s going very well. Here’s why you should consider it for your own pet … including replacing a first-gen model.

8 built-in editing tools to glow up your pictures on your iPhone

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Screenshot adjust Portrait mode on a photo, captioned, Edit Picture On iPhone
Master your photos. No computer nor equipment required.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Who needs a computer or expensive photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom? You can edit pictures right on your iPhone with Apple’s free, built-in tools.

The Photos app comes with a ton of professional editing tools baked into it. If you didn’t line your shot up quite right, you can fix the crop and perspective. If you took it a split second too late, you can use Live Photo functionality to replace the shot. You can add a Portrait mode blur after the fact, and even change which part of the image is in focus. 

Here are the eight great editing tools built right into your iPhone. 

Keep your AirTag updated with the latest firmware

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Apple AirTag 2 firmware update
Updating AirTag firmware is easy. But it requires patience.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple is rolling out a firmware update for the AirTag 2. The new version 3.0.49 is a simple bug fix update, though, without new features.

Still, you’ll probably want it, but it turns out that updating the AirTag’s software is both easy and hard. You don’t need to jump through hoops, but neither do you have much control.

Here’s what you need to do.

Is Apple’s nano-texture glass worth it on the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro?

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A picture of an iPad Pro with a person using an Apple Pencil, used in a story about Apple's nano-texture glass.
Apple’s nano-texture glass cuts glare, but comes with some downsides.
Photo: Apple

Apple charges $100 to add nano-texture glass to the iPad Pro, and even more if you want to add the anti-glare tech to a MacBook Pro. The technology is undoubtedly impressive, but the real question is whether your work requires it.

Here’s what you need to know before spending your money on Apple’s matte display tech.

Today in Apple history: Apple shows off the Newton for the first time

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Newton MessagePad prototype with stylus.
The Newton MessagePad was truly a device ahead of its time.
Photo: Grant Hutchinson/Flickr CC

May 29: Today in Apple history May 29, 1992: Apple demonstrates its Newton MessagePad for the first time, showing how the upcoming PDA can be used to order a pizza and pull off other time-saving tricks.

Hailed by Apple CEO John Sculley as “nothing less than a revolution,” the Newton is Apple’s first major new product since the original Macintosh shipped eight years earlier. During the first Newton demo at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, Apple shows how people can customize a pizza by moving topping icons on a symbolic pie. Then they can fax the order straight from the device.

Best Mac gaming setups: From casual console companions to full-on battle stations

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Multisystem gaming setup
This Mac Studio and Studio Display setup is a gamer's paradise, with six gaming systems.
Photo: [email protected]

Mac gaming has a complicated history — years of sparse game libraries and hardware that PC gamers dismissed out of hand. But something shifted with Apple silicon, and the Cult of Mac Setups archive has tracked it in real time. Here are the best Mac gaming setups from the past several years.

Today in Apple history: First-gen iPad rolls out around the world

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An early iPad ad showing the tablet in portrait and landscape mode, with the words,
The iPad finally went international on this day in 2010.
Image: Apple

May 28: Today in Apple history May 28, 2010: Customers across Europe and Asia queue up to buy the iPad when the international launch date for Apple’s original tablet finally arrives.

The reason for the gap between the iPad’s U.S. launch in early April and its international debut more than a month later? Unexpectedly strong demand for the groundbreaking device.

Best Thunderbolt 5 docks for Macs

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Image of a MacBook connected to a dock, used to illustrate a roundup of the best Thunderbolt 5 docks for Macs. Brands listed in the image include CalDigit, iVanky, Ugreen, Anker, OWC and Wavlink.
Turn your MacBook into the ultimate one-cable desktop setup with a Thunderbolt 5 dock.
AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac

Thunderbolt 5 docks turn your humble MacBook into a full-fledged desktop workstation. They allow for a clean, one-cable setup, with support for multiple monitors, external drives and other USB-C accessories.

There are plenty of Thunderbolt docks on the market, but not all of them are created equal. If you want the fastest speeds, the right mix of ports and seamless compatibility with your Mac, these are the best Thunderbolt 5 docking stations you can buy right now.

6 ways to personalize your Mac and make it your own

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A MacBook Pro with a black and orange wallpaper and orange icons
Go all-in on a beautiful theme for your Mac.
Photo: Apple

If you learn how to personalize your Mac, you can make your computer feel like home. Every MacBook might look like a boring aluminum rectangle out of the box, but you can match any aesthetic with a few tips and tricks.

For starters, you could cover the backside with stickers or a colorful plastic case. But your work doesn’t end there. You can easily give your Mac’s desktop, app icons, desktop folders and theme colors a coordinated look.

Here’s how to customize your Mac to give it that personal touch.