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- Tuesday December 16
- 10:18 pmApple releases new Powerbeats Pro 2 firmware
Apple on Tuesday released new Powerbeats Pro 2 firmware, build version 8A359. Apple hasn't released official release notes… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.10:13 pmLast-minute holiday deals: Apple Watch Series 11 $299, iPad $279, Mac from $479
Holiday savings are at a fever pitch this week, as last-minute deals slash Apple gear by as much as $436.Save up to $436 on Apple products with last-minute holiday deals - Image credit: AppleThese deals deliver heavily discounted prices for the holiday season, with discounts on Apple hardware, monitors, and accessories. Here's a roundup of our top picks: Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums10:06 pmLightBuddy is a new ring light Mac app with color control, HDR, and multi-display support | 9 to 5 MacLightBuddy is a new ring light Mac app with color control, HDR, and multi-display support
What happens when Apple sherlocks the idea of an app that you had a while ago? You build it anyway. more…09:54 pmApp developers escalate EU fight over Apple's App Store fees
A coalition of developers has petitioned the European Commission, saying Apple's revised App Store fees continue to disadvantage EU apps.Image credit: Coalition for App FairnessOn Tuesday, 20 app developers and consumer groups have petitioned the European Commission in an attempt to knock down Apple's commission fees even further. They argue that the fee structure puts their apps at a disadvantage compared to their U.S. rivals.The Coalition for Apps Fairness (CAF) is made up of companies, including Astropad, Epic Games, Masimo, Life360, Proton, Spotify, and more. Many of these companies have waged war on Apple both on and off U.S. soil. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums09:48 pmX counters Operation Bluebird’s bid to claim the Twitter trademark
In response to a recent trademark petition claiming X had abandoned the Twitter name, the company updated its Terms of Service today, in an apparent effort to preempt the filing. Here are the details. more…09:30 pmWavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock review: Affordable fast Thunderbolt plus handy power options
Macworld At a glance Pros 12 ports, including four Thunderbolt 5 2.5Gb Ethernet 30W USB-C at front 230W Power Delivery Affordable Cons Upstream port at front Four USB-A but no USB-C Our Verdict As a dual-display dock with a handy bunch of top-rated ports the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is great value for money for 80Gbps speed and power. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$299.99 Best Prices Today: WAVLINK Thunderbolt 5 Dock Retailer Price $256.49 View Deal Wavlink $299.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is a full docking station with 12 ports, including a full four 80Gbps Thunderbolt 4 and 2.5Gb Ethernet, available at an affordable price. It features a decent rack of high-end ports, and looks fancy, too. Even if your laptop has Thunderbolt 4 (TB4) rather than Thunderbolt 5 (TB5) connectivity, buying the newer faster standard will future proof your purchase. Backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and 4, TB5 features the fastest 80Gbps bandwidth (up to 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost for unidirectional video) plus smart device daisy-chaining and super-fast storage connectivity. Foundry Specs and features One upstream Thunderbolt 5 port (80Gbps, 140W) Two downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports (80Gbps, 15W) One downstream Thunderbolt 5 port (80Gbps, 30W) Four USB-A ports (10Gbps) Ethernet (2.5Gb) UHS-II SD Card reader (312MBps) UHS-II MicroSD Card reader (312MBps) 3.5mm audio jack 230W power supply As well as its upstream Thunderbolt 5 port that connects to your laptop, there are three downstream TB5 ports that connect to other devices such as monitors or storage drives: one is at the front with the upstream TB5 port, and two are at the back. Simon Jary Wavlink’s Thunderbolt 4 dock had just one downstream TB4 port as it sacrificed two possible Thunderbolt ports for dedicated HDMI 2.1 ports. With this new model, Wavlink ditches the video ports to give you the choice of which TB ports to use to connect to monitors either via a direct USB-C connection or using USB-C to DisplayPort or USB-C to HDMI adapter cables. This gives you flexibility, and if connecting two screens we expect you’ll choose the two TB5 ports at the back. The downstream TB5 port at the front can output at 30W, which is easily enough to fast charge an iPhone or iPad. The two TB5 ports at the back can handle 15W each. The upstream TB5 port can output at 140W (PD 3.1), which is what you need to fast-charge the 16-inch MacBook Pro so is good for the whole range. The external power supply can provide up to 230W of power, which is a welcome boost from the company’s rather puny 160W TB4 dock. USB: Thunderbolt is backwards compatible with USB-C, which uses the same end connector, so any of the TB ports not being used to connect a monitor can be used for USB-C devices as well as speedy Thunderbolt. There are four speedy 10Gbps USB-A ports. USB-A has a place for legacy devices, but do we need four them at the expense of a spare USB-C or two? Simon Jary Ethernet: While WiFi is great for phone use, sometimes hooking up to the home or office wired network gives you faster and more stable downloads. Most local area networks (LANs) use 1Gb Ethernet, known as Gigabit Ethernet or 1GbE. Increasingly networks are moving to much faster 2.5GbE, 5GbE or even 10GbE. The Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock offers 2.5GbE, which is backwards compatible with 1GbE so even if you’re not yet on the faster network speed you’ll be ready for it when you do. Simon Jary Card readers: Although Apple’s MacBook Pro laptop includes a 250MBps card reader, having one on the dock is convenient. The Wavlink TB5 dock has two: one SD and one MicroSD, both at the fastest 312Mbps. These are nicely placed at the front for easy access. Such cards offer very affordable and extremely portable storage. At the time of writing you could get a 512GB SD card for under $50, although faster cards are pricier. Other ports: At the front there’s an anti-theft Kensington Security Slot (also called a K-Slot) and a combo 3.5mm In/Out audio jack. Display capabilities For most people the number one reason for buying a docking station is to easily add external screens to their laptop. Connect a cable from the dock to each monitor and you massively extend your screen real estate. While the dock can support up to three displays for Windows laptops, limitations in Apple’s setup limits you to just two, unless you install third-party software such as DisplayLink that can give you access to up to five external displays. Five! However, for three or more monitors the dock needs to support DisplayLink, and the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock isn’t one of those. See our reviews of the best DisplayLink docks for options, but note that at the time of writing there were no Thunderbolt 5 DisplayLink docks. Your only solution for TB5 plus three displays without DisplayLink is the iVanky FusionDock Max 2, which has a nifty dual-chip arrangement that uses two of the MacBook’s Thunderbolt ports. The Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock supports up to two 6K at 60Hz displays for most M1/M2/M3 Pro/Max/ MacBooks or any M4/M5 models. These MacBooks could opt for a single 8K/60Hz display instead. Non-Pro/Max M1/M2/M3 MacBooks support single 4K or 6K monitors. DisplayLink is also useful if your MacBook is running one of those plain M1 or M2 processors as Apple further limits those laptops to a single display. That’s by the by as M1 MacBook owners are unlikely to be in the market for a Thunderbolt 5 dock, and it’s time we got back to the review. Simon Jary Design and build The Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock is a smart aluminum build with some futuristic cooling vents at the top. Underneath are silicone pads that raise the dock off the desk surface for stability and further cooling. I’m not a fan of having the upstream Thunderbolt port at the front of the dock as it’s the one cable you know will always be in use, so we prefer it hidden around the back. Ideally, given the choice I’d have all the Thunderbolt ports at the back and a spare USB-C port at the front for charging. But that’s not how Wavlink has laid out its ports. Still, having three downstream ports is more than some docking stations offer and we’re happy with that. Wavlink has included an on/off button, which is appreciated. Although Apple has made the MacBook clever enough to manage its power in a sensible fashion, I still like to turn off power to the laptop’s battery as I don’t want it constantly kept filled to 100% when I’m not using it. A power button means I don’t have to yank the cable out to break the power between the dock and the laptop when I’ve finished working. Price At $299.99 or £239.99, the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Dock is priced below most Thunderbolt 5 docks. It shares the sub-$300 price point with the Plugable Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station, and has a similar array of ports, although it has one more and faster USB-A ports. The Wavlink also wins on a higher overall power supply: 230W vs 180W. The Plugable can stand either vertically or lie flat like the Wavlink and sensibly places the upstream TB5 port at the back. The Wavlink’s 30W front TB5 port beats the Plugable’s 15W front TB5 port. Otherwise, they are very similar In terms of tech specs. See our roundups of the best Thunderbolt docks for Mac for other comparable solutions. Should you buy the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station? While its triple-monitor potential is muted on Macs—Apple’s limitation, not the dock’s—as a dual-display dock with a handy bunch of top-rated ports the Wavlink Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is great value for money for 80Gbps speed and power.09:28 pmwatchOS 26 upgraded Apple Watch’s most popular face in two ways
Apple Watch offers a wide collection of watch faces to choose from, but Apple says its most popular is the Photos face, which received two new features in watchOS 26. more…09:17 pmDJ ChatGPT will soon be in control of your Apple Music playlists
ChatGPT may soon help iPhone and Mac users in another way, with an upcoming integration potentially allowing the AI service to manage your Apple Music playlists.Apple Music playlists may soon be controlled by ChatGPTOpenAI's ChatGPT already provides users with many different services to benefit their digital lives. But as part of a larger expansion, it seems ChatGPT will soon be able to dictate what songs you listen to on Apple Music.A Tuesday Substack post by Fidji Simo, the CEO of Applications at OpenAI, discusses the ways that ChatGPT will improve image generation via a new dedicated entrypoint. In the latter sections, the post goes on to state that there will be an expansion of app support within ChatGPT. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums09:14 pmApple Watch leads Q3 shipments with 23% market share
Global smartwatch shipments rose 9% YoY in Q3 2025. Apple led the shipments with 23% market share, followed by Huawei with 17%… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.09:06 pmiOS 26.2 expands AirPods Pro’s powerful new feature, here’s how to use it
iOS 26.2 launched last week, and among its many new features, AirPods Live Translation has expanded to more users. Here’s how to use AirPods’ powerful recent addition. more…08:50 pmThese holidays, protect your whole family’s data for life with up to 62% off pCloud
It’s no coincidence that pCloud is based in Switzerland, which has the strictest laws in the world when it comes to personal data. This is one of the reasons the cloud storage service has over 22 million users worldwide. Now for a limited time, pCloud’s holiday deal lets you save up to 62% off its Family Lifetime 3in1 Bundle and all Family Lifetime plans. more…08:44 pmDevelopers say Apple’s EU App Store terms lag behind new U.S. court limits
While the European Commission has signaled that it may be satisfied with Apple’s proposed changes to comply with the Digital Markets Act, recent U.S. court rulings are leading a group of developers to press European regulators for tougher enforcement in the region. Here are the details. more…08:19 pmGift Guide: Last-minute Apple gifts that arrive before Christmas
As holiday shopping enters the final stretch, it’s not too late to secure your favorite Apple gear. Whether you’re looking to score a new pair of AirPods Pro 3, new Apple accessories, or a MacBook Air, time is running out but you can still act quick. Head below for the official 9to5Mac last-minute gift guide. more…08:10 pmDon’t miss out — get a refurbished M1 MacBook Air for just $399.99
This grade-A refurbished MacBook Air with an M1 chip inside is on sale for just $399.99. It's a reliable Mac you can take with you anywhere. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)08:00 pmCode leak confirms Apple is building the M5 Max iMac Pro
Apple is reportedly working on a premium iMac equipped with the M5 Max chip, based on details uncovered in leaked internal software… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.07:45 pmMaster Mac screenshots: Every shortcut and trick you need to know
The Mac offers many options for taking screenshots or screen recordings without third-party apps. Here's how to take a Mac screenshot. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)07:43 pmApple releases new Powerbeats Pro 2 firmware update
Powerbeats Pro 2 just got new firmware from Apple, here are the details and instructions on how to update. more…07:39 pmApple Music is coming to ChatGPT, OpenAI announces
Soon, you’ll be able to ask ChatGPT to quickly create Apple Music playlists, among other things. Here’s why. more…07:38 pmApple announces 2026 ‘Ring in the New Year’ challenge for Apple Watch users
Apple has announced its annual “Ring in the New Year” challenge for Apple Watch users. A new Apple Watch Activity Challenge is set for January, encouraging you to begin 2026 on the right foot by closing all three rings for seven days in a row. more…07:20 pmHow to make your own external hard disk storage for your Mac
If you need to expand your Mac storage in a big way without breaking the bank, your best bet is with external hard drives. Here's everything you need to know about hard drives and enclosures to put them in.OWC ThunderBay 4 RAIDStorage can be a pain point for computer users. Apple's famously expensive storage upgrade fees can put off users from adding more capacity from the outset, leaving them constrained until their next upgrade.This is a solvable problem. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums