News - page 22

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event is coming up fast! It’s time for our favorite challenge — matching wits in our Apple event predictions game. Who will win this time?

Also on The CultCast:

• Will the iPhone 16 Pro’s new color wow us or make us cringe? We’re on the fence.
• The latest rumors about next-gen AirPods have Erfon ready to fork over some cash.
• Sounds like the upgraded Mac mini will go all in on USB-C.
• And finally, Apple might create a Magic Keyboard for iPad that doesn’t magically empty your wallet.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Crime comedy Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn spent another week near the top of the streaming ratings charts. The Apple TV+ show follows a former detective turned restaurant inspector solving an oddball murder in hopes of getting his old job back.

And it’s not Apple’s only current hit. Slow Horses just launched and the spy thriller is doing well.

With Monday’s impending iPhone 16 reveal, excitement abounds! However, one downside of the “It’s Glowtime” event is the impending drop in value of your iPhone trade-in.

Every year, newer models push older iPhones, Apple Watches and MacBooks further and further down the path to obsolescence. But there’s good news: Cult of Mac will still buy your old devices. And we’ll help you maximize the money you get for your iPhone trade-in, too.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 Pro can reportedly shoot slow-motion 120fps videos in 4K resolution. The higher frame rate will also come in handy when capturing a lot of motion.

The report also confirms that Apple will upgrade the Ultra Wide camera on the Pro iPhones to a 48MP sensor.

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive designed a modular jacket for Italian luxury brand Moncler. Naturally, it comes with built-in magnets. Ive reinvented the button with a new, super-clever magnetic clasp for the jacket/poncho collection.

“There wasn’t some arrogant ambition around disruption [of buttons],” Ive said, in typical Ive-speak. “It was a very gentle, humble exploration.”

In addition to design changes, the upcoming Apple Watch Series 10 adds the ability to detect sleep apnea, according to a reliable source. And its heart sensor could be getting an upgrade.

But a legal problem will apparently keep blood oxygen sensing off the new wearable.

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.

Belkin BoostCharge Power Bank 10K w/ Integrated Cable lets users charge their iPhone or other device without needing to worry about a separate USB-C cable. And it can juice up two devices at once.

Those who need more power can turn to Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro 3-Port Laptop Power Bank 20K.

iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models will come in four colors — white, green, pink and blue — according to a new report Friday. The white model reportedly will replace the yellow seen in the iPhone 15 lineup. The current black color option will disappear. And the shades of green, pink and blue used in iPhone 16 will look different from the current versions of those colors.

What exactly will the new iPhone colors look like? We will find out soon. Apple will unveil the iPhone 16 lineup during Monday’s “It’s Glowtime” event.

When a MacBook Pro perched his Studio Display on a generic stand and then asked for recommendations for alternative risers for Studio Display, some Apple users reacted a bit brusquely. That’s simply not done, they seemed to say, presumably because Apple provides adjustability options as part of the purchase process. But plenty of commenters responded to the question with practical advice, below.

The Satechi 7-in-1 USB-C Slim Multi-Port Adapter unveiled Friday lets travelers connect a wide range of accessories to their computer, including Ethernet, HDMI, USB-A and more. Two additional versions offer fewer ports at lower prices.

Satechi also introduced a passport cover that’s findable with Apple’s Find My technology.

September 6, 1995: The newly launched Windows 95 operating system dominates software sales, sending virtually every other company scurrying for cover — Apple included.

Microsoft’s $85 PC operating system went on sale at the end of August, but by early September, the company sells a massive 1.63 million copies of Windows 95, according to excited analysts. It represents a massive triumph for Apple’s biggest rival of the 1990s.

Apple could use A18 and A18 Pro chips on its upcoming iPhone 16 lineup. TSMC will fabricate both SOCs for the Cupertino company on its latest 3nm (N3B) node, delivering better efficiency and performance.

Since the launch of the iPhone 14, Apple has used a year-old A-series chip on its non-Pro iPhones. However, due to Apple Intelligence, the company will seemingly tweak its strategy this year.

Google is rolling out AI-powered contextual search in Google Photos, its cloud-based photo backup solution. The feature aims to supercharge the search experience in Google Photos using AI.

Google’s Gemini AI models power the new ‘Ask Photos’ search in Google Photos.

The new unveiled Lockly Zeno smart locks are its first ones to work with Apple Home and Home Key for use with iPhone and Apple Watch, the company said Thursday. Lockly Visage, with advanced facial recognition access technology, and Lockly Vision, with an integrated 2K video doorbell with intercom, are the two flagships.

“As technology progresses, so do customer expectations. We’ve made it our mission to always go above and beyond the cutting edge to set a new standard for the smart home industry,” said Frank Polidoro, Lockly CRO. “We are extremely excited to partner up with The Home Depot to bring our latest innovation to homeowners and the professional market.”

Football season starts Thursday, and basketball season is only a few weeks away. Get in the game now with NFL Retro Bowl ’25, and NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition launches in a few weeks.

Both are part of Apple Arcade, Apple’s gaming service.

September 5, 2007: Apple introduces its first new iPods after the release of the iPhone. The lineup includes the third-gen iPod nano, the newly renamed iPod Classic and — most significantly — the debut of the iPod touch.

In doing so, Apple sets out to demonstrate that there is still plenty of life left in the iconic portable music player.

Belkin launched a line of wireless travel chargers on Thursday. The new BoostCharge models come in range of designs to appeal to a variety of customers.

These all use the Qi2 charging standard so they work with iPhone and (hopefully) future Androids.

The new Soundcore Space One Pro headphones are the Anker subsidiary’s most advanced noise cancelling headphones yet, featuring a unique foldable design that reduces their size by half, Soundcore said Thursday. It released the new cans and several other audio products at IFA Berlin, including AeroFit 2 open earbuds and Bluetooth speakers.

Anker’s new MagGo lineup includes five accessories designed for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods owners. The star of the lineup, which the company unveiled Thursday ahead of IFA Berlin, is the MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station. It’s a cleverly designed three-way travel charger that an Anker representative referred to as “The Button” during a briefing ahead of the German electronics show.

Another standout — the strangely named MagGo Power Bank (10K, Apple Watch) — is a portable battery pack that includes a flip-out Apple Watch charging puck. Those two new additions show Anker striving to design new types of charging products. And, while the other three accessories look fairly typical, they do come with attractive features … and at attractive price points.

Here’s everything in Anker’s new MagGo lineup.

The sleek, stylish Beats Powerbeats Pro earbuds, which loop over the ear and dangle via earhook, have appealed to fitness enthusiasts since their release way back in 2019. Beats finally dropped a teaser video for the next model Wednesday. But it shows precious little information beyond a glimpse of the buds on a popular MLB pitcher. And a reference saying we should see Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 coming in 2025.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group laid out details on Bluetooth 6.0 on Tuesday. The standout feature in the upcoming short-range wireless standard is dubbed “true distance awareness,” which should make tracker tags like Apple AirTag easier to find.

However, there’s no mention in the specifications of the change many are hoping for: faster connections.

September 4, 1997: The writing is on the wall for Apple’s Newton product line as Steve Jobs tells executives at the recently spun-off company not to bother moving into their new offices. The Apple CEO’s flip-flop on the Newton spinoff takes employees by surprise.

It’s quite the turnaround for the Newton division. Only months earlier, Apple portrayed it as large (and successful) enough to become its own company.

With the iPhone 16 release date almost certainly mere days away at Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” September 9 event, rumors have already revealed quite a few details about the design, colors and more. There have been leaks about all four handsets in the iPhone 16 series, to the point where we already know most of what’s coming in the 2024 lineup.

Here’s what to expect: larger screens, better cameras, additional buttons and more.

London is under threat from shopping-mall car bombers and espionage masterminds, and somehow Gary Oldman’s MI5 screwups once again end up in the middle of the action. That’s according to the new Slow Horses season four trailer for the black-comedy spy-thriller series.

The Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-winning series stars Oldman as MI5’s irascible Slough House section chief Jackson Lamb. The six-episode season premieres September 4 on Apple TV+.

UPDATE: Season 4 of Slow Horses gets underway Wednesday with the first episode, entitled “Identity Theft,” on Apple TV+. “A London bombing triggers and explosive hidden past,” notes the streamer’s tagline. A season review in The Guardian calls the show “faultlessly directed,” notes the cast is even better than before and says “Gary Oldman roars like a bear dipped in chip fat.”