The Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general filed an blockbuster antitrust lawsuit Thursday aimed at forcing Apple to open up many aspects of its ecosystem, from the App Store to Apple Watch.
The 88-page civil suit, which accuses Apple of wielding monopoly-like power, could bring truly sweeping changes to iPhone, Mac and other Apple computers.
A new report says Apple is on track to build into Apple Watch Series 10 a feature that been a bit of a holy grail for the wearable: blood pressure monitoring.
But the feature reportedly will be limited at first, and require new hardware.
Plans to transition Apple Watch Ultra to a micro LED display have been dropped, according to a trusted source of insider Apple information.
Beyond that, Apple seems to have lost interest in micro LED screens entirely.
Despite being in the news for all the wrong reasons, the Apple Watch Series 9 is the best smartwatch for your iPhone. And if you take advantage of Amazon’s Apple Watch Series 9 sale, you can get the smartwatch with up to $70 off.
The savings mean you can get the 41mm Apple Watch Series 9 for just $329, down from $399. As for the bigger 45mm variant, it’s available for a low price of $359.
Amazon bargain site Woot! is quietly offering some fantastic refurbished Apple gear deals, including iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods.
Woot refers to its deals lineup as “basically an Apple soup.” It’s your chance to slurp up bargains (if you don’t need the newest gadgets).
The sale ends Monday, February 26, at 10 p.m. PT.
Speidel makes all sorts of watch bands and straps — including a wide range of bands for Apple Watch. Little did we know there’s one made for medical workers, as in doctors and nurses. It’s the Speidel Matching Scrub Band for Apple Watch, and it’s on sale in the Cult of Mac Store for just $5.99, or 70% off the regular price.
You don’t need to work in health care to grab one. But if you like the looks of these colorful and inexpensive silicone Apple Watch bands, you should act fast — once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Belkin rolled out a new portable 2-in-1 charger Thursday that should suit people who travel a lot or work in different places, like hybrid employees, because it’s both a wall charger and a power bank. It’s the Belkin BoostCharge Hybrid Wall Charger 25W + Power Bank 5K, great for keeping devices like iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch going.
It’s set to start shipping on Valentine’s Day, February 14. And no, we’re not saying it’s a romantic gift idea.
Apple made an unexpected software update available Thursday with a bug fix across devices, releasing macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, iOS 17.3.1, iPadOS 17.3.1 and watchOS 10.3.1 for users to install.
The fix relates to text that automatically duplicates or overlaps in various apps, like Safari, Mail and Messages.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: A new round of Apple Vision Pro reviews gives us greater insight into what to expect from the high-priced headset. Is it utterly mind-blowing? Clunky and weird? So addictive that we’re doomed to a flat life in the boring 2D world when we take it off? Some might compare the experience to a sci-fi vision, much like James Cameron’s addictive Apple Vision Pro experience.
Sounds like all of the above!
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.
Amazon bargain site Woot! is offering deep discounts, anywhere from 13% to 83% off, on dozens of Apple accessories and a few choice items like Apple Watch Ultra and AirPods Pro — but only until Wednesday at 9:59 p.m. PT.
As of Tuesday morning, one item had sold out and 52 remained, including accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch, AirTag, AirPods and more. See some highlights below.
Need a portable charger to juice up your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch pretty much anywhere? Enter our new giveaway! Through January 31, Cult of Mac and Kuxiu offer users worldwide the chance to win a sleek Kuxiu X55 3-in-1 Foldable Magnetic Wireless Charger and Stand.
The little three-way charging stand, which folds up small enough to slip into a pocket, normally retails for $79.99. It and other products are on sale now for Valentine’s Day, but wouldn’t you rather just win one? Enter the giveaway below. X55 stands will go to three lucky winners worldwide.
Elago’s lineup of Apple Watch bands offers supreme comfort, immense durability and brilliant blue and red color options. They’re also just $18.99 each!
Bag one today from the Cult of Mac Store.
Ready to bag an Apple Watch with a working blood-oxygen sensor/app? While you can often find good deals on Amazon, the company’s bargain site, Woot, often does it one better. A good example would be Woot’s current deal on refurbished Apple Watch Series 8. You can get the GPS-only model for 34% off, at $264.99 — and it even comes with a one-year Apple warranty.
Amazon’s deals on that model fall a little short of Woot’s mark, but the parent site does offer one incredible deal — a GPS and cellular Apple Watch 8 at 46% off.
See how five Amazon and Woot deals on Apple Watch 8 compare below.
Mifa’s fetching Modern Classic Leather band for Apple Watch is nowhere near as pricey as it looks. It’s made entirely from high-end leather and anodized aluminum, and it’s an absolute steal at less than $33.
Get yours today from the Cult of Mac Store.
Some Apple Watch owners might be hesitant about installing the just-released watchOS 10.3 update over concerns that it’ll remove the controversial Blood Oxygen application. But there’s no reason for concern — it does not.
We tested multiple devices to be extra sure.
★★★★☆
If you only want one charger for your smaller gadgets, Alogic’s new Matrix Ultimate is nearly ideal. You can use the 3-in-1 charger for iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at home or easily take it with you on trips.
That’s because the solidly built folding portable charger has a removable power bank and Apple Watch charging puck, plus a very nice felt carrying case. And it comes with a power adapter and USB-C cable. It’s not cheap, but it’s quite useful.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple Vision Pro preorder week brings interesting new details about the mixed-reality headset. Will it be a sellout success? An amazing entertainment device? A $3,499 pain in the neck?
Maybe all of the above! We go over the last-minute pros and cons.
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.
With the Apple Watch sales ban back, Apple has decided to sell its latest smartwatches without blood oxygen monitoring in the U.S. The tweaked Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models went go on sale starting January 18 across the company’s online and retail stores.
The Cupertino giant is not making any hardware tweaks to the wearables. Instead, it will turn off the blood oxygen sensor feature through software.
Apple lost a court appeal Wednesday, which means Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 might once again get pulled from U.S. store shelves. The court agrees with previous rulings that the wearables are in violation of a patent held by a medical-device company.
But Apple has a workaround: it’s almost certainly going to remove the application at the center of the patent dispute.
Apple devices are known for their beautiful designs and user-friendly functionality — not their battery power. Apple Watch is no exception, needing daily charging. So sometimes the battery runs low when you’re not near a charger. But a brand-new gadget fixes that problem.
qCharge 2.0 Portable Apple Watch Battery, now available in the Cult of Mac Store, goes wherever you go and charges up your Apple Watch (and AirPods Pro 2) anywhere, no cable required.
Apple’s solution to evading a sales and import ban on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 is apparently a simple one: It is reportedly prepared to delete the application at the heart of the patent dispute that caused the ban.
But this will only be necessary if Apple loses its next legal appeal, which will be made soon.
Apple Watch Ultra is amazingly powerful, but many people aren’t thrilled that the design uses orange as an accent color. But put the wearable in the Elkson Quattro Max Bumper Case and much of the orange is hidden. And the case now comes in five color options.
Plus, it’s about more than a pretty color. The case adds a layer of extra protection for Apple Watch Ultra and its display.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Since Apple and the rest of the civilized world is taking a holiday break, we’re spending the majority of the show on our final picks for the best and worst of 2023.
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.
2024 looks like a big year for Apple Watch. The world’s most popular wearable could get the biggest redesign in its 10-year history in the form of a device potentially called “Apple Watch Series X” or simply “Apple Watch X.”
That’s excellent news, because 2023 was not a great year for Apple Watch. Sure, we got a fresh new look with watchOS 10. But on the hardware side, the updates to Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 seem pretty minor. And then there’s the looming U.S. ban on Apple Watch imports and exports due to a patent dispute.
So, what should we expect from the Apple Watch 2024 lineup?
2024 is going to be a big year for Apple products. The iPhone is due for a second year in a row of big changes. And the entire iPad lineup is getting refreshed. The rest of the Macs are being updated to M3 chips. The Apple Watch Series X may receive a radical design. And fourth-gen AirPods will bring pro noise cancellation features to the cheaper buds.
We have a new video that summarizes everything we know about Apple’s top products coming next year.