Crime blotter: Chinese national sentenced in Apple counterfeiting case
A New Yorker is arrested in California for iPhone thefts, Russian hackers targeted iPhones, and AirTag inspires a car-crash viral video, all in this week's Apple Crime Blotter.The Apple Store in Irvine The latest in an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Your Mac has hidden features—this $25 tool unlocks them
Macworld TL;DR: Get MacMagic with lifetime upgrades for just $25.49 (reg. $99) using code MARCH15. Apple does a great job designing Macs that work well. But anyone who uses macOS regularly knows there are still a few hidden tricks, system tools, and productivity shortcuts buried beneath the surface. And MacMagic gets you access. You can currently grab a MacMagic Lifetime Upgrades License for just $25.49 (reg. $99). It’s a toolbox for your Mac that pulls together a bunch of useful utilities into one clean interface. Need to show hidden files, force-delete a stubborn document, or clear out bloated cache files? MacMagic puts those tools front and center so you can handle them in seconds instead of digging through system menus. It also includes practical everyday tools that many Mac users end up downloading separately. You can batch rename files, combine and compress PDFs, convert images across dozens of formats, and even generate QR codes when you need them. Turn your Mac into a more powerful and flexible workstation. Get a MacMagic Lifetime Upgrades License for just $25.49 (reg. $99) through March 29 with code MARCH15. MacMagic: Lifetime Upgrades LicenseSee Deal Want to see more deals? Visit the shop and use code MARCH15 to save an extra 15% sitewide through March 29. Exclusions apply. StackSocial prices subject to change.

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Get smarter on your coffee break with this $51 app
Macworld TL;DR: Headway Premium delivers 15-minute summaries of bestselling nonfiction books, and the lifetime subscription is just $50.99. There’s always another nonfiction book everyone says you should read—about productivity, money, psychology, leadership, or health. The problem is finding the time to actually sit down and finish them. Instead of asking you to read hundreds of pages, Headway delivers 15-minute summaries of bestselling nonfiction titles, breaking down the biggest ideas into quick lessons you can read or listen to anytime. Inside the app, you’ll find 2,000+ summaries covering topics like business strategy, personal development, productivity, and wellness. Each one distills the key insights from popular titles into short, practical takeaways you can absorb during a commute, workout, or coffee break. Headway also adds a few smart learning tools to keep things interesting. You can follow personalized self-growth plans, test your knowledge with quick quizzes, and save highlights to review later. There are even audio versions of summaries so you can keep learning while walking, driving, or multitasking. Headway offers a simple shortcut to the biggest ideas. Right now, a Headway Premium Lifetime Subscription is just $50.99 (reg. $299.95) through March 29 with code MARCH15. Headway Premium: Lifetime SubscriptionSee Deal Want to see more deals? Visit the shop and use code MARCH15 to save an extra 15% sitewide through March 29. Exclusions apply. StackSocial prices subject to change.

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AirPods Max 2 surprise and disappoint, plus OpenClaw! [Cult of Mac podcast No. 12]
This week on the Cult of Mac podcast: The surprise release of AirPods Max 2 gives us plenty to talk about (including all the things Apple didn’t fix about the high-end headphones). Plus, special guest Christina Warren (developer advocate at GitHub and co-host of the MacBreak Weekly podcast) joins us for a deep dive into […] (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Indie App Spotlight: ‘Tasks’ adds 50+ app intents, refreshed interface in latest update
Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact. Tasks, a very popular productivity app for the Apple ecosystem – just got a massive new update with support for loads of App Intents, an all new interface, as well as automations to help you manage your tasks. We covered Tasks when it initially launched back in 2020, and this week’s new update is a major one. more…

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TextExpander 8.4.2
Brings a few improvements and bug fixes for the text expansion utility. ($40 annual subscription, free update, 36 MB, macOS 11.1+)

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EagleFiler 1.9.20
Provides a workaround for a crash at launch when running the forthcoming macOS 26.4 Tahoe. ($49.99 new, free update, 34.3 MB, macOS 10.13+)

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MarsEdit 5.4.1
Maintenance update primarily focused on bug fixes for the blogging app. ($59.95 new, free update, 23.9 MB, macOS 10.15.4+)

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The iPad Mini 7 256GB is $100 Off
The iPad Mini is made for Apple Intelligence, the personal AI system that helps in making things organized and get things done easily while providing you with groundbreaking privacy protections ensuring that no one else but you has access to data stored in the device. The device features an A17 Pro chip for strong and […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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Apple Sports App Allows for Easy NCAA March Madness Tracking
The Apple Sports app received an update allowing fans to follow collegiate basketball and their favorite teams more easily during March Madness. Version 3.8.1 adds new brackets for fans to track NCAA D1 men’s basketball. Metrics such as play-by-play updates, detailed stats, and live scores will be provided along with a path visualized from the […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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Tim Cook In China
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, is in attendance during the 50th anniversary event in China at the temporarily closed Taikoo Li retail store situated in Chengdu. They have kicked off celebrations, starting with an impromptu concert at New York’s Grand Central Store featuring Alicia Keys. Tim Cook will be attending the Development Forum in Beijing, China, […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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Apple Headed To South Korea and China
After the impromptu concert featuring Alicia Keys in New York at the Grand Central Store, Apple is now going to Asia for more celebrations for their 50th anniversary, and as of now, events will be held in both South Korea and China. Apple features CORTIS, a South Korean boy band, at their Myeong-dong Store in […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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The 11th-gen iPad 256GB Is $50 Off
The 11th-gen iPad is powered by the A16 chip for strong performance for games and for work. It has a battery life that lasts all day and features 256GB of storage, perfect for storing games, documents, photos, videos, movies, and more. Featuring an 11-inch Liquid Retina Display, the iPad allows for an immersive viewing experience […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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Tim Cook Answers Rumors On Retirement
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, has responded to talks and rumors about his retirement during an interview with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, stating that the idea of wanting to step back from the company is just a rumor. The CEO did not deny or confirm explicitly that he will be retiring in the near […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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iPhone 17e Teardown Video Uploaded
iFixit has provided us with a teardown video for the iPhone 17e, the most recent budget-friendly iPhone Apple released last week. The device is similar to the design of the previous model but has a back panel for MagSafe. iFixit found the panel of the MagSafe is the same size as the panel found in […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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Brian Lynch Leaves Apple
The senior director for the home hardware engineering team at Apple, Brian Lynch, has left the company to join Oura, where he has taken a role as vice president for hardware engineering. Oura has managed to grab some former employees from Apple over the past few years. The Home Hub is planned for release later […] The post appeared first on iLounge.

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MacBook Neo may be one of Apple’s most inspiring products in quite some time
As someone who bought my first Mac in 2019 as a young student without much money of my own, the MacBook Neo is incredibly inspiring. When the M4 Mac mini came out towards the end of 2024, I had already felt quite strongly about its potential for inspiring young creatives – and the MacBook Neo takes that much further. more…

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Amazon's $949 15-inch MacBook Air deal hits lowest price ever ahead of Big Spring Sale
Amazon's weekend deal drops the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air down to a record low of $949 ahead of next week's Big Spring Sale.Amazon's $949 15-inch MacBook Air deal matches the lowest price ever.The blowout $949 deal at Amazon reflects a $250 discount off the original MSRP on the M4 15-inch MacBook Air with 16GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage.Buy 15" MacBook Air M4 for $949 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Apple wanted to buy Halide, co-founder lawsuit reveals
A lawsuit has revealed Apple was close to acquiring Lux Optics, the developer of the Halide camera app for iOS, but the partnership between the cofounders later broke down over the alleged misuse of funds.Halide for iOSApple's acquisitions are big news, but discussions are typically held with utmost secrecy, as per Apple's usual way of operating. While confirmations of acquisitions often surface after they have been agreed upon by both sides, it's rare to find out about failed acquisition attempts.One such instance occurred to Lux Optics, makers of the third-party camera app Halide and video app Kino. The Information reports that Lux Optics was in talks with Apple for a potential acquisition during the summer of 2025. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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I pushed my MacBook Neo to the limit. It didn’t break
Macworld I noted in my MacBook Neo review that benchmarking the Neo as well as using it as a daily computer resulted in an experience that was quite satisfying. But that was only for a few days of very specific testing, and the Neo’s A18 Pro processor and 8GB of RAM, which can’t be upgraded at all, is certainly underpowered compared to the other M5 models. The chip and 8GB of RAM had not been a problem during my evaluation period. You can obviously see the difference in benchmarks, where the mobile chip and limited RAM affected performance, but by “problem,” I mean as a person using the Neo. They weren’t an issue. But the concern is real–after all, Apple only upgraded its base RAM configuration for its other Macs to 16GB nearly two years ago. So I decided to make it a problem–in other words, I used the MacBook Neo in ways to see if usability became problematic because of its low-end chip and 8GB of RAM. This meant I had to break my habits and purposefully push my Mac to its limit–and it left me a little frazzled at times. But what I found is that the Neo still feels capable under heavy loads and handled the “mess” better than I did. Here are some of the tasks I did to push the MacBook Neo as far as I could. Editing 1080p video in Adobe Premiere Pro As a reviewer of Macs, when people ask me for a recommendation, I ask them what kind of stuff they do on their computer, and then I try to fit what they do with a specific Mac. But as Sam Henri Gold points out, that’s a script reviewers like me use out of convenience. A lot of people want to do what they’ve been told not to do on a $599 computer like the MacBook Neo. I used the MacBook Neo to edit the Macworld Podcast in Adobe Premiere Pro.Foundry So I did one of those things you’re not supposed to do. I edited a few videos with Adobe Premiere Pro, a professional-level video editing tool. I edited episode 974 of the Macworld Podcast and a couple of video shorts with the MacBook Neo and its 8GB of RAM. The editing I did on the full podcast episode included basic trimming, adding lower thirds, a basic multi-camera setup, and some audio clean-up. The video shorts involved more editing, but nothing complex. I am by no means an experienced Premiere Pro user (in fact, I only recently started learning how to use it). But that’s exactly the use case a MacBook Neo user could have: they have a budget computer, and they’re just starting to learn higher-end software. They’re not going to go buy a more powerful computer just for this situation. And the whole experience went off without a hitch. I never had to wait for the Mac to catch up to what I was doing, nor did the MacBook Neo stall, hiccup, or churn. The only thing where I noticed a slowdown was in the export of the full podcast episode, where the 67-minute video at 1080p took 31 minutes to complete, about 10 minutes longer than it took on the M5 Max MacBook Pro. Below is a screenshot of Activity Monitor after I had finished the project and saved it, but did not quit the app. The only other apps that were open were Slack and Microsoft Edge (which I needed to access the online recording tool that we use for the podcast). Foundry I used up all of the available memory during these tasks, and macOS used the SSD as swap. When the Mac runs out of available RAM, it resorts to using the SSD. This is called swap memory, or just swap. A drawback of swap is that access speeds are slower than RAM, but Apple has a lot of confidence in its swap implementation. During this task, I ended up with 2.58GB in swap (which isn’t uncommon), but I never noticed a performance hit. Swap use brings up a concern about how swap affects an SSD’s lifespan. An SSD has a limited lifespan, and writing to an SSD causes wear and tear. However, research has found that most people will never write enough data to an SSD to adversely affect its lifespan. As for the MacBook Neo specifically, it’s very possible that an owner of the laptop would upgrade to a new one before any effect on SSD lifespan can be noticed. Editing 4K video in Adobe Premiere Pro My next attempt to stress out the MacBook Neo was to edit 4K video in Adobe Premiere Pro. I shot the video using an iPhone 17 Pro Max at 4K and 60 frames per second. I had 20 minutes of footage where I did some basic edits, titles, transitions, and color adjustments. The only other app that was open during editing was Safari. I kept expecting the MacBook Neo to stutter and lag, but it never did. Another experience without any issues. I wasn’t doing anything complicated, but I was working with a large file and doing the kind of stuff someone learning Premiere would do. I could’ve used iMovie, but as I said, I’m learning the software, and I feel like the tasks I did were more easily done in Premiere Pro. Plus, using an Apple app is basically cheating. Foundry When I finished that project, the MacBook Neo used 1.75GB in swap. Not a lot, and it would have been more had the project been more complicated and longer. What I learned from this experience is that as I continue to use Adobe Premiere Pro and develop my skills as an editor, I should be fine with the MacBook Neo for a while. I may never need to create a cinematic video, but I can progress towards that goal on the Neo. I think there are a lot of users who are in a similar situation. Even a pro who already knows what they can do and knows what Macs they want can use a Neo if the situation calls for it. Safari browser tabs This is the task that stressed me more than the MacBook Neo. I have a habit of closing any browser tabs I am not using. I’d rather not risk a hidden tab running in the background, affecting performance, even if that’s not supposed to happen. But I went against my nature and spent an afternoon working in Safari without closing a browser tab. During a four-hour session, I used Macworld’s web-based content tools, visited websites to research articles, and after I was done with work, I did some personal browsing. By the end, I had 41 tabs open in Safari (and just a little freaked out by it). Foundry A lot of users instinctively open new tabs when they start a new search, and many don’t close unused tabs. In case you didn’t know, browsers are RAM-hungry apps, which is why I developed a habit of closing unused tabs. In my experience, the MacBook Neo used over 4GB of swap, which will vary depending on how many Safari tabs you have open. The MacBook Neo handled it all without any issues I could notice. But if you’re using any Mac with 8GB of RAM and it’s starting to feel a littlle sliggish, close a few or those tabs. Google Chrome browser tabs I did the same thing with Google Chrome: a four-hour session without closing any tabs. After a couple of hours, I had 41 tabs open (though not the same sites as in the Safari test). I set Chrome’s Memory Saver to Maximum and did my best to fight the urge to close any tabs until the session was done. As I said, browsers are RAM hungry, and Google Chrome has a reputation as a particularly resource-hungry app. At the end of four hours, the MacBook Neo had a swap that was over 5GB. Again, I didn’t notice any performance hiccups. Foundry But once again, the MacBook Neo didn’t flinch. I could switch between tabs easily, and even when I used an app and kep Chrome open in the background, there was no noticeable performance hit. I wasn’t done, however. I pushed my browser until I had 59 tabs open, stopping only when it became way too difficult to navigate. The swap grew to nearly 8GB–the swap and the installed RAM were the same size. But still, the Neo powered through. Foundry Your milage may very This is all anecdotal. Your video editing project could be much more complex, and the websites you visit could be more or less demanding on your resources. If you’re the type of person who knows 8GB of RAM isn’t enough, then the MacBook Neo isn’t for you, but making a blanket statement that it’s not good for anyone isn’t correct. My experience with the MacBook Neo remains the same as it was during the review. It’s a great Mac for everyday tasks, and will even handle the occasional pro app. I’m sure there’s a ceiling to what you can do with it, but with so much headroom, there’s a good chance you’ll never get anywhere near it. Apple MacBook Neo Read our review Price When Reviewed: $599 Best Prices Today: $595 at Amazon | $597 at Walmart | $599 at Apple

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