If there’s one thing Xiaomi can’t be accused of, it’s having a lack of ambition.

Not content with having come out of nowhere to become the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, the CEO of the Chinese tech company, Lei Jun, has announced that he next plans for his company to become the number one smartphone vendor globally within the next 10 years.

Apple blew us away today with its HBO Now partnership, sexy new MacBook, and ResearchKit. But the star of the show was Apple Watch, which has the potential to be either a game changer or massive flop.

For those who don’t remember, this was the second time Apple execs have taken the stage to talk Apple Watch. We got an initial preview of the Watch back in September, and today’s event was more for filling in the knowledge gaps.

While we already knew the Watch’s main selling points and the kinds of apps it would run, there was still some crucial information that needed answering. Luckily Apple did address the most important questions, but it also left certain aspects of the Watch in ambiguity.

The new MacBook is gorgeous, insanely thin, revolutionary and pressure-sensitive. It’s also missing one killer feature: a glowing Apple logo.

The shining bit of trade dress has been a pop culture icon ever since Apple released the PowerBook G3 in May 1999. However, it looks like Jony Ive’s design team is ready to sacrifice the glowing Apple beacon in the name of thinness. You’ll still find a light-up logo on the MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, but it was never meant to be on Apple’s new golden beauties.

Take a look at the back of the new 12-inch Retina MacBook:

HBO is finally embracing cord-cutters by offering up a dream product: unlimited access to all of its content for $15 per month, no contract required.

The new cable-free service is set to premiere next month, just in time for the Game of Thrones season 5 premiere, but in order to access it you’ll need either an Apple TV or an iOS device. Apple signed an exclusivity agreement with HBO to sell the new service, and according to a report from Recode’s Peter Kafka, Apple’s exclusive access will last for the first three months.

Pre-orders for the Apple Watch start on April 10th, but if you’re anything like us, you probably already know which Apple Watch you’re going to buy.

I’ve got my heart set on the Apple Watch Sport murdered out in space grey with a black sport band, even though the stainless steel Apple Watch is a little cheaper than I was expecting. Some of the Cult of Mac staff are still debating which timepiece they’ll be purchasing, but we want to hear from you, the readers, which Apple Watch version do you plan to buy?

Today’s media presentation was billed as an Apple Watch event and even its name, “Spring Forward,” had the press preoccupied with time and wrist-based computing.

But journalists in attendance were just as excited to learn about a completely reinvented Retina MacBook. Reporters covering the Apple unveiling eagerly shared initial impressions once they got their hands on Apple’s thinnest, lightest computer yet.

The look impressed. The touch was another matter.

Today’s ‘Spring Forward’ keynote was packed with more videos than any event in recent memory. Not only did Apple show promo videos for the new products like the 12-inch MacBook and Apple Watch, there were three separate videos just talking about the different materials that went into Apple Watch.

Apple finally posted all nine new videos on its YouTube channel, and you can watch all of them below:

What will make or break the Apple Watch for most people isn’t a fancy band or the feel of the Digital Crown. It will be the apps they can use.

And after today’s Spring Forward event, it looks like a lot of apps will be ready for Watch on day one.

There won’t be an App Store on the Watch itself, but you’ll be able to install apps directly from a special section of the App Store on a paired iPhone. Here are what the hottest third-party Watch apps will look like, including ones Apple isn’t showing off on its site:

Now that we know more about the long-awaited Apple Watch, it’s time to find out how it stacks up against Google’s Android Wear platform and the growing number of wearables that support it.

There are lots of similarities between the two, but there also some big differences in software, hardware, and price that will likely help you decide which one is right for you.

Starting April 10th you’ll be able to go into any Apple Store and try on Jony Ive’s amazing new timepiece.

If you’d rather not wait and want to see how Apple’s timepiece will fit your wrist right now, Apple’s got a handy sizing guide that will help you find the perfect size from your house. The Apple Store app for iOS also has a size comparison tool so you can see how big each watch face is on your wrist.

Grab the printout version below:

Aside from the gorgeous new 12-inch MacBook Air, the part of today’s Apple keynote that excited me the most was the announcement of what Apple is calling ResearchKit, a new open-source iOS software framework designed to crowdsource volunteers for medical research studies.

Using the tool, researchers can tap into Apple’s massive iPhone user base to recruit people for medical data-gathering. Users sign up with a digital signature, and can then instantly begin recording data.

True to the rumors, Apple Watch comes with a special Power Reserve mode that will lightly sip on juice so your watch can keep ticking.

Tim Cook didn’t specify how long Apple Watch’s ‘all day’ battery lasts, but Apple’s website specifies you could potentially keep your watch alive for an extra 72 hours in Power Reserve mode.

“We set out to completely reinvent the notebook,” Tim Cook told the crowd during today’s Apple event. “And we did it.”

Apple introduced it’s biggest redesign of the MacBook since the original MacBook Air was released in 2007. The new notebook comes weighing in at just 2 pounds and 13.1mm thick, despite boasting a Retina display with a 2,304-by-1,440 resolution.

The thinness of the new MacBook isn’t the only thing that’s impressive. There’s a new Taptic TouchPad, thin keyboard and USB C. Plus, Apple invented new terraced batteries to squeeze juice into every cranny of the all-metal housing, giving you 10 hours of use on a single charge.

The biggest surprise about today’s big Apple Watch event? That Cupertino’s upcoming wearable didn’t really steal the show.

We got a few new details about the smartwatch, but Tim Cook and crew really blew our minds with several other big announcements. Here are the most important revelations from the show at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

The Apple Online Store is back up and, along with revealing how exorbitantly expensive the Apple Watch Edition will be, Apple has laid out the prices for its various watch bands.

Right now the Apple Store carries a variety of different band styles. We imagine more will be come out as the product line progresses, but it looks like you’ll only be able to get the Classic Buckle if you throw down $10,000 for the Apple Watch Edition. The Sport watch bands come with two bands in the box: one small, one large.

Here are the different price points:

Apple’s big keynote just ended, and iOS 8.2 has already been released.

The update includes the new companion app for the Apple Watch, which will be required for setting up the device and loading apps. It also can’t deleted, which means it will be a constant reminder of the Watch you don’t.

Here’s what the official Apple Watch app looks like:

Are you ready to get your fingers all over the brand new MacBook with its Force Touch trackpad?

Get your credit cards ready because the online Apple Store is back and ready for your hard earned cash. You can pick up the fanless MacBook if you don’t mind shelling out $1599, though there’s no word on when it ships.

The updated MacBook Pro and MacBook Airs are listed in the store and start shipping today. And if you want to start lusting after the Apple Watch Edition, you can look through the different price combinations while waiting for April 24th to finally get here.

Not satisfied with just having a regular gold Apple Watch for $10,000?

The Apple Store just came back online, revealing that you can actually spend a whopping $17,000 on two of the 18-karat Rose Gold watches.

Fashionistas can grab the 38mm rose gold case with a rose gray modern buckle or a bright red modern buckle for 17 grand. At least free shipping is included.

One of the most anticipated events of the year is just around the corner. The Apple Watch is coming to a store near you very soon and, when it does, it will feature a brand new interface with apps that are specifically designed for it.

Apple Watch apps are developed in a unique way so that they can provide a user experience that is unmatched in the wearables sector. We present a fantastic opportunity for anyone to learn how to develop apps for the Apple Watch with the Mammoth Interactive Apple Watch Watchkit Course, available at Cult of Mac Deals for a special price but only for a short while longer.

One of the biggest unknowns about the Apple Watch — and something we’re hopefully just an hour away from learning — is just how Apple plans to sell its first ever wearables device.

Is the Apple Watch going to be an Apple Store exclusive, giving more of a reason to visit your local store than ever, or will it be like the iPhone and therefore available for sale in a number of third-party retailers?

According to Reuters, retailers Best Buy, Macy’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales and Barney’s all have no plans to carry Apple smartwatch — although upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom is reportedly in discussions to be an Apple Watch purveyor.

As the artist responsible for the famous icons used for the original Macintosh, Susan Kare played an immensely important role in personal computer history. A new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York pays homage to the queen of pixel art — while giving Mac fans a chance to see Kare’s original graph paper designs in the process.

Called “This is for Everyone: Design Experiments For The Common Good” (the name comes from a phrase from World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee), the exhibition also features other classic bits of computer iconography, including @ symbol, Google Maps Pin and the Creative Commons logo.

Apple is hosting a big media event today in San Fransisco for the hotly anticipated Apple Watch. It’s been about six months since the Watch was first shown off to world, but plenty of questions still need answering, like pricing beyond the $349 base model and when the wearable will go on sale. App demos should also be a big part of today’s presentation, because killer software will be instrumental in convincing people to buy an Apple Watch.

And who knows, there could always be some surprise Mac news.

The event starts at 10 a.m. Pacific, and Apple will provide a (hopefully working) live stream on its website. We’ll be breaking down all the news you need to know, with expert analysis and the usual pinch of sass. We invite you to follow along with us below. No need to refresh the page; the liveblog updates on its own!

Samsung’s smartphone sales may have dipped in recent months, but its new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are already off to an excellent start. Since their unveiling at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this month, more than 20 million handsets have been pre-ordered.

Whether it’s watching it via Apple’s website, or joining us here on Cult of Mac for our live blog, there are plenty of ways to keep abreast of today’s “Spring Forward” Apple keynote.

If you’ve got an Apple TV, you can also tune in to watch the event — courtesy of the newly-added Apple Events channel.

As expected, the Apple Online Store has gone down hours ahead of today’s special event. When it returns later today (likely shortly after the conclusion of Apple’s keynote), we expect to see new details about the Apple Watch, and whatever else Apple announces at today’s event.