Top Stories - page 35

The Apple Watch Series 10 packs significant upgrades over its predecessor. However, Apple did not give the same love to the Apple Watch Ultra this year. Instead of a third-gen Ultra, Apple only unveiled a new black titanium finish for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. That makes an unusual comparison — Apple Watch Series 10 versus Apple Watch Ultra 2 — an intriguing proposition.

The “regular” Apple Watch Series 10 comes closer to its rugged Ultra sibling than ever before. But between the two, which is the right pick for you? Read our Apple Watch Series 10 versus Apple Watch Ultra comparison to find out.

While getting blitzed by an avalanche of mind-numbing specs during Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event, I kept marveling at how good San Francisco looked. The beautiful City by the Bay provided the backdrop to Monday’s event, with many of the presenters standing in front of gorgeous San Francisco landmarks.

San Francisco is my hometown (I’ve lived here nearly 30 years now), and it’s been getting beat up by stories about urban decay in recent years. But it’s still one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and it looked great during Apple’s live stream. Here’s a quick rundown of all the eye-popping SF locations.

Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event wrapped up Monday with several upcoming products not even having been mentioned, much less launched. Some of these were not expected to debut, like new Macs and iPads, but others were supposed to be on the agenda, like a new Apple Watch SE.

Here’s what to look forward to at an October Apple event, plus the products that’ll likely come even later.

The new Camera Control on the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro models provides instantaneous camera access and other advanced features. With it, you can launch the Camera app, zoom in and out of your shot, initiate an AI-powered visual search and more — all with a simple tap, click or slide on the new capacitive button.

The new iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max handsets boast size increases, thinner bezels for larger screens, a leap in battery life and new features, including impressive camera and audio upgrades. And on top of that, the new A18 Pro chip brings enough raw processing power to handle resource-intensive Apple Intelligence functions, Apple said Monday at the “It’s Glowtime” event.

“iPhone 16 Pro has a stunning new design with innovations inside and out. It starts with a big improvement to the gorgeous pro displays,” said Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple senior VP of Worldwide Marketing. “They’re even larger at 6.3 inches on iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inches an iPhone 16 Pro Max for the largest iPhone display ever, helping you see more and do more. These are by far our best iPhone displays ever.”

And they’re the best iPhones ever, which Apple CEO Tim Cook was sure to mention, as he always does.

The most important day of Apple’s year comes Monday, September 9. But there’s no reason for you to spend the weekend wondering what’s on the agenda for the “It’s Glowtime” event — we can spill the beans now: iPhone 16, AirPods 4, Apple Watch Series 10 and more.

We also already know what’s not coming at the September event, like MacBooks. Read on for all the details.

Both Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch SE 3 could be among the many products on the agenda for Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9. The situation with Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a bit more murky, however.

And speaking of murky, we don’t know whether any of these will offer blood oxygen monitoring in units sold in the United States.

Like iPhones, Apple regularly updates AirPods with new features. iOS 18 will continue that trend by introducing several enhancements for Apple’s earbuds. They include interacting with Siri using head gestures, lowering audio latency while gaming, and more.

Read on to see what new AirPods features iOS 18 will bring to further improve the best earbuds for Apple fans.

AirPods 4 could launch in just a few days to replace two models of wireless earbuds now in Apple’s lineup. Rumors indicate the new version will borrow a feature from the Pro models: Active Noise Cancellation.

And AirPods Max 2 could be in for a revamp next Monday, too. Probably not so for AirPods Pro 3, though.

Here’s what to look forward to in new AirPods variants when they’re unveiled at the “It’s Glowtime” event on September 9.

We’re not judging you for still using wired earbuds or headphones, but it’s 2024. You deserve audio accessories that free you up and make it feel like you’re enjoying a personal concert, like these Beats Solo 4 wireless headphones.

If you want an audio upgrade, these headphones’ ultra-plush ear cushions and custom 40mm transducers will do the trick. And while they list for $199, you can get a pair of Beats Solo 4 headphones for just for $129.99 with our new, open-box sale.

Labor Day weekend is a great time to kick back, take a rest from work — and be thankful for the paycheck that lets you buy tons of Apple Labor Day sale items. The Cult of Mac Store marks the holiday this year by taking 20% off everything from SwitchEasy.

That’s 100 products to choose from! The company makes a wide variety of cool accessories for Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTag, iPhone, iPad, MacBook and more, like various chargers. So whatever Apple gear you have, check out these Labor Day deals on SwitchEasy Apple accessories.

California’s legislature passed a hotly contested AI safety bill Thursday — the groundbreaking Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047).

The controversial bill, which awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature before it can become law, introduces the first major AI regulations in the United States. It could have far-reaching implications for tech companies and users alike.

The ProtoArc XK01 Tri-Fold Bluetooth Keyboard is ready to make your business trips more productive. It’s full size, with a numpad and function keys, too. But it folds down to fit easily in a briefcase.

It’s available solo, or with a travel mouse, or as the centerpiece of a bundle with the mouse plus a USB-C hub and multi-port wall charger.

I fully tested the folding keyboard with my 13-inch iPad Pro, plus the other components, too.

The iPhone 16 is almost here — the release date is less than 3.5 short weeks away. We know the day Apple will announce the new models, which means we can make a solid estimate of the iPhone 16 launch date.

Even better, long-held Apple habits point to the same release date.

Apple sent out invitations Monday for a press event on September 9. The unveiling of the iPhone 16 series should be the highlight of the “It’s Glowtime” event.

But that’s not all. Get ready for AirPods 4, Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch SE 3 at Apple’s September event.

You’ve wanted to try iOS 18 since Apple showed it off in June but held off for fear of massive bugs. But the current iOS 18 beta is nearly the final one — and it’s really quite stable. Put it on your iPhone now and jump ahead of friends and co-workers by about a month.

And there are great new features to try, including a fully customizable Home Screen, an improved Control Center, a new Passwords app, and more.

AirPods are the wireless earbuds that ordinary Bluetooth headphones want to be when they grow up. They’re seamlessly integrated with your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac. They’re deceptively simple — but if you want to get more out of them, you need to dig through Settings. These AirPods tips will show you where to look to unlock maximum functionality.

I did some spelunking and found six super-handy hidden features you might not know about.

A supposedly leaked Apple invite for the iPhone 16 event looks like a well-executed hoax. The date, the event title and even the fake invite’s color palette seemed to confirm previous leaks about Apple’s upcoming iPhone lineup. However, a video editor who goes by Lore claims he created the invite as a prank.

“Fun fact: i made the ‘leaked’ Apple Event invite in less than 10 minutes using figma and an Ai generated texture and i sent it to the leaker just because i was bored,” Lore wrote Tuesday on X.

In a message to Cult of Mac, Lore confirmed that he created the bogus invite mainly because he was “sick and had nothing to do.” Read Cult of Mac’s interview with the 14-year-old Italian video editor who fooled the internet with his fake iPhone 16 invite.

After receiving an ominous note from an Apple attorney, concept artist Antonio De Rosa is waiting to find out how, exactly, the company wants him to alter his photorealistic images that depict unreleased Apple products.

De Rosa said he wants to work with Apple to resolve the situation. But when asked what he thinks will happen if he doesn’t make changes to his Apple concept images, he sounded slightly intimidated by the powerful tech company.

“I don’t know,” De Rosa said in an email to Cult of Mac, “but honestly I don’t want to find out.”

From the “he must be doing something right” department: An Apple attorney sent a note and called designer Antonio De Rosa this week, asking him to adjust some of his design concepts for possible new Apple products because they look “too real,” according to De Rosa, CEO of ADR Studio.

“I received a call from an Apple attorney asking me to adjust some of my concepts because they were considered too realistic,” De Rosa wrote Wednesday on X. He told Cult of Mac it came as quite a shock.

Update: De Rosa responded to Cult of Mac‘s initial inquiries and we included them below.

Apple Pencil Pro is the latest and greatest iPad stylus coming out of Cupertino. It adds a new “squeeze” gesture, an internal gyroscope, haptic feedback and Find My support.

I’m not a digital artist, so for this iPad Pencil review, I tested the stylus by writing notes, entering text with Scribble and doing moderate editing of photographs. Plenty of artists have reviewed the new accessory, so my goal was to answer the question, “Does a typical iPad user need Apple Pencil Pro?” Or would a cheaper alternative suffice?

The Samsung T9 solid-state drive is small enough and tough enough to go almost anywhere. And it’s available in capacities up to 4 terabytes.

I put the recently launched SSD to the test with a range of Apple devices and came away pleased with the design and performance. That said, Mac users can’t take advantage of one of its best features.

Apple is about to launch a cool new watch face for the Apple Watch Ultra called “Modular Ultra.” The new face does a lot: It allows up to eight complications, including a customizable bezel that can show water depth, elevation or seconds. I think it looks super-cool. And just wait until you see the night mode.

If you saw the new watch face during the Apple Watch Ultra 2 segment of Apple’s “Wonderlust” event Tuesday and want it right now, you’re in luck: It works with the original Apple Watch Ultra and is already available in the latest watchOS 10 beta.

Here’s how to download, install and customize it.

You can use a free Mac app called LocationSimulator to hide your real location on your iPhone. It works great as a Pokémon Go spoofer. Just set it up, then plug your phone into a Mac and tell it where you want to “be.” You don’t need to jailbreak your phone or install anything on it.

When using LocationSimulator, every app on your iPhone will use this new GPS location. It’s useful for maintaining privacy — for instance, if you’re posting screenshots online, it’ll mask your real home address. Developers can use it, too, for testing location features in their apps.

Best of all, you just need a Mac. LocationSimulator is free and open-source.

Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro look almost exactly like the original model released in 2019. But they’re upgraded in every way that matters most, thanks mainly to the new H2 processor. In this in-depth AirPods Pro 2 review, I’ll run through all the ways Cupertino gave its flagship noise-canceling earbuds a boost.

Apple may not have gone as far as it could have in some ways. But still, the second-gen AirPods Pro are among the best earbuds on the market and a worthy upgrade for almost anyone. They’re particularly great for those who use lots of Apple gear and love how seamlessly their devices can work together.

Let’s take a look at, and a listen to, the second-gen AirPods Pro, aka AirPods Pro 2.