What do you do if you need to operate a network of video cameras and store all the footage? Today’s power user not only runs an astounding trio of Mac Pro desktop computers, he piles up stacks of high-capacity UniFi Network Video Recorders — known as UNVRs — for video recording-storage from multiple cameras, plus routers and switches galore.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumors indicate the iPhone 18 Pro will pack a variable aperture camera. Erfon and Griffin break down what that could mean — and why it could bring a significant photographic boost to the device.
Also on The CultCast:
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.
Designer Basic Apple Guy, known for nifty wallpapers for Mac, iPhone and iPad screens, dropped his annual Apple Product Tier List Monday. The Apple product rankings give letter grades to everything the iPhone giant released in 2024. He considers M4/M4 Pro Mac mini the best of the best, by the way.
“For the third year in a row, I am once again painting a target on my head and releasing my tier rankings of the products Apple released in the 2024 calendar year,” he wrote. Undoubtedly, not everyone will love his choices, particularly those he grades in the low D and F tiers, but he takes care to explain them.
Apple is planning to revamp the Magic Mouse with hand gestures, voice commands and more. And it may even move the controversial bottom charging port. The current design is over 15 years old, introduced back in 2009.
Since then, the Magic Mouse received minor upgrades, including the switch to an oddly-located Lightning port and, eventually, USB-C.
★★★☆☆
The Magic Mouse has been updated with USB-C, and … well, that’s about it. You can ditch the Lightning cable on your desk, but that’s where the changes end.
It still has a design that’s uncomfortably thin for my hands and lacks modern niceties like Force Touch and multi-device pairing.
The Magic Mouse is, however, still the best (and maybe only) mouse that uses trackpad-style swiping and scrolling gestures in place of a traditional scroll wheel. If you can set all else aside, it’s a great experience.
Keep reading or watch our latest video.
Right after Apple unveiled the redesigned M4 Mac mini on Tuesday, people noticed the power button’s odd placement — on the bottom of the tiny but potent machine! The design provides precious little room for a fleshy finger to reach without tipping the whole computer to get at it. Since then, a variety of “fixes” have poked fun at this perceived error, which is most likely a very intentional Apple design choice.
Check out some of the best “Buttongate” fixes below.
Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad finally ditched the Lightning connector to become USB input devices Monday when they rolled out alongside color-matched versions for the new iMac, the first in this week’s M4 Mac announcements. The input devices, expected to ship October 31, are among the last of the iPhone giant’s accessories to make the change to USB-C.
When it comes to new tech, the focus understandably falls on what’s changed, not what stayed the same.
That’s absolutely the case for the new M4 iMac, which Apple unveiled on Monday. Plenty of attention is (rightly) being lavished on the iMac’s guts. The M4 chip is a screamer, and the machine now comes with 16GB of unified memory as standard, a welcome change. And the new colors look great.
However, one thing that drives Apple customers bonkers has stayed the same. That one thing is Apple’s terrible mouse — or, more specifically, the ridiculous location of the charging port on the Magic Mouse.
Coding with Magic Mouse? Apple’s sleek input device has plenty of haters of all stripes. But at least one developer, who works with an M1 Max MacBook Pro, loves it. And perhaps even more surprisingly, he detests the mouse that is surely Magic Mouse’s biggest competitor, given how it shows up in most of the setups we cover.
When it comes to Mac-centric computer setups, not every external display is Apple’s 6K Pro Display XDR or 5K Studio Display — far from it. And users’ choices come in various shapes and sizes. Today’s M1 Max MacBook Pro-using developer settled on a 34-inch Alienware curved ultra-wide monitor that hits his “sweet spot.” Find out why below. And don’t miss that nostalgia-inducing iPod Classic!
So, you accidentally disabled Bluetooth on your Mac, and now you can’t use your wireless mouse or trackpad. You could dig out a wired mouse to reenable Bluetooth, but that’s a lot of effort. Instead, just use your keyboard to turn on Bluetooth on your Mac without a mouse.
We’ll show you how to get out of this computing pickle.
Sometimes a setup post on social media can express a common problem or disagreement quite well. Today’s Mac Studio and dual-Studio Display rig is pretty good example, showing the divide between users of Magic Mouse and one of its top competitors — Logitech MX Master 3 (and 3S) wireless mouse. So Magic Mouse vs. Logitech MX Master 3 is on.
Commenters split themselves into pro Magic Mouse and pro Logitech MX camps. And a bunch of them sought middle ground, finding things to like — or hate — about both mice.
With all the computer setups out there with two, three and even five displays, sometimes you’ll see them stacked. But a dual-Studio Display setup that stacks one on top of the other is a rarity.
Today’s Mac Studio user, who is also an avid PlayStation 5 and Ninendo Switch gamer, said the stacked displays work well and don’t cause any neck pain from looking up all the time.
Paired for stereo sound, two full-size HomePod smart speakers — the original or second generation — are a thing of auditory beauty. And they don’t just sound great, they look good, too. Yet we don’t see paired HomePods much in computer setups (HomePod minis yes, the big ones, no).
Today’s MacBook Pro setup takes full advantage of Apple audio, however, and the user couldn’t be happier. Well, except with Siri, that is. Check out their setup’s cheerful day version (above) and moody night version (below).
Sure, you can buy a computer monitor and set it up on the stand that came in the box. But what if you want to easily move the external display around? And what if you want to have multiple screens and move them around?
Keeping monitors up off the desk and mobile can really improve your setup. And the best way to do that is to mount your screens on arms. It takes some effort, but as today’s user points out below, it’s worth it.
Developer David Heinemeier Hansson, known for creating the Ruby on Rails web development framework, showcased his rather stunning Mac mini computer setup this week on X (formerly Twitter).
The extraordinary 6K graphics of his Studio Display XDR and the articulate sound of his highly recommended KEF speakers complement the ocean views through the glass walls of his California office.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you’re not elevating your laptop, iPad and displays on mounts and arms, you’re limiting your computer setup. Today’s feature MacBook Pro and iPad setup illustrates the point well by putting those devices and dual displays on four separate mounts, some with moveable arms.
That makes all of those devices more flexible, and much easier to move around than they would be on stationary stands. It also frees up space on the desk.
A New York City-based magazine editor showed off a beautiful computer setup that serves up twice the fun because it boasts two of everything. Well, not everything.
But it doubles up on a lot of the main gear — two M3 MacBooks Pro, two Studio Displays, two sets of Philips Hue smart lights, a pair of Yamaha speakers on stands and, believe it or not, two Magic Trackpads and a Magic Mouse.
Read more about the setup’s whys and wherefores below, and check out that gear list of links at the bottom of the article.
With the latest iPhones dropping the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, there was speculation (and hope) that Apple would release new versions of the Magic Mouse, Trackpad and Keyboard that also reject the Lightning port. Nope.
So charging these wireless devices still requires a Lightning cable.
From time to time we see setups with both a Magic Trackpad and a mouse because of their different peculiarities — mainly because many people find trackpads especially good for gesturing. But why would you use two Magic Trackpads?
Well, today’s MacBook Pro setup with dual Studio Displays and dual Magic Trackpads provides a use case.
On Friday we mentioned dual-Studio Display setups seem relatively rare, but now we can hardly glance at social media without seeing one, or even several.
Today’s featured Mac Studio setup fits the bill with two Studio Display perched on 3D-printed stands. You can’t see the computer in the photo above. That’s because it’s mounted under the standing desk.
While Apple is finally putting out an M2 Mac Pro even as its powerful Mac Studio machines conquer most hardcore computing tasks, the truth is most users can more than get by with an M1 or M2 Mac mini. That goes for Bill Penhale, who sent us his setup from Shorewood, Illinois, near Chicago.
“I am pretty techy for 70, ha!,” the retired sales director told Cult of Mac. And judging by his M1 Mac mini-powered setup, with a fine 4K external display, solid audio and loads of external storage, that’s certainly true.
A top question folks have when they put together a computers setup is, “how simply can I connect everything?” How little hardware and how few cables can I get away with?
Today’s featured M2 Max MacBook Pro setup makes things easy by driving two beautiful Studio Displays with one cable via one of the best docks on the market. And don’t miss the great-yet-affordable speakers and cool podcasting gear, either.
The only reason today’s featured setup isn’t 100% Apple is that Cupertino doesn’t make its own condenser USB microphones, lighting or desks.
Literally everything else in the setup is from Apple, including a computing “hat trick” of desktop Mac, laptop Mac and Apple tablet, plus a second hat trick for peripherals, with an Apple display, Apple input devices and Apple audio.
People love their “minimal” computer setups, but everyone has a different idea of what that means. Today’s featured M1 MacBook Pro setup is on the spare side — not to mention beautifully photographed — but it actually has a lot going on.
From the powerful laptop and 4K display to the big-time external storage, backup power and extensive smart lighting, the setup’s more than a match for its owner’s photo editing work.