Final Cut Pro has been updated with live multi-camera recording on iPad and powerful new AI color correction on Mac. A free new app for iPad and iPhone, Final Cut Camera, allows for professional video capture in multicam or on its own.
These “amazing updates” will “take creativity to the next level,” said Will Hui, project manager for creative apps at Apple, during its “Let Loose” event today.
Updates to Final Cut Pro for iPad and Mac — and the new Final Cut Camera app — will be available later this spring.
Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad is now a multi-cam recording studio
Live Multicam brings the power of 1960s television three-camera videotape recording into the digital age — all on iPad. Photo: Apple
Last year, Apple released Final Cut Pro for iPad — letting users record, professionally edit and export videos all from its thin-and-light tablet. The entire interface was rebuilt from the ground up around multitouch input. Just a year later, the app is getting powerful new features that push the iPad version of the app forward.
Live Multicam lets directors switch between the live camera feeds of up to four iPhones or iPads, while recording directly into the Final Cut timeline. This “opens up entirely new video workflows,” says Hui.
On an iPhone- and iPad-based production, this significantly reduces the friction between independently recording video on four separate devices, importing footage and editing hours later.
Final Cut Camera can be used for Live Multicam or as a standalone camera app. Image: Apple
Powering Live Multicam is a new app for iPad and iPhone called Final Cut Camera. From the director’s iPad, you can remotely control focus, exposure, white balance and more. It can also be used as a standalone video recording app with more precise manual controls than what Apple can fit in the regular Camera app.
Other improvements to Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad include storing project files on an external drive, thanks to the iPad Pro’s Thunderbolt port. Final rendering is “up to two times faster than M1” on the new iPad Pro with M4, announced at the same event, according to Hui. The M4 also enables “up to four times more streams of ProRes RAW” video footage, a huge increase in bandwidth for editing high-quality video.
Final Cut Pro for Mac gets powerful AI color correction
Color correction is easier with the new update to Final Cut Pro. Image: Apple
Color correction is made easier with a new “Enhance Light and Color” button. Clicking it is a shortcut to getting improved “color, color balance, contrast, and brightness in one simple step, and is optimized for SDR, HDR, RAW and Log-encoded media,” according to the press release. Professional color correction takes years of skill and a great eye — this feature offers an easy starting point for those with less experience.
You can easily drag-and-drop the color correction made to one clip to other clips in the timeline, too. To make edits easily identifiable, you can give each tweak a different name — like Sepia, High Contrast, Desaturated Reds, etc.
AI now fills in the gaps when you slow down a clip from its original speed, too. “With Smooth Slo-Mo, frames of video are intelligently generated and blended together,” according to the press release. That means that slowing down a segment of video to 80% of its original speed will look more natural and less choppy.
These new features require a Mac with Apple silicon. These updates, alongside Final Cut Pro 2 for iPad and Final Cut Camera, will be available this spring.
Final Cut Pro for iPad costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year; Final Cut Pro for Mac is available as a one-time purchase for $299.99. Final Cut Camera will be available for free.
These are the best Mac apps that’ll help you through all kinds of work — writing, graphic design, video editing — with a few simple (must-have) utilities that everyone can make use of.
Finding good apps can be hard, especially if you’re new to the Mac. Luckily, we’ve put together a list of the very best.
Just click to switch. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
AirBuddy is a much better way to juggle Bluetooth devices between your Mac and your other devices. When you’re playing music from your iPhone and you sit down at your Mac, you can click on AirBuddy from the menu bar and yoink your AirPods over to your computer.
With AirBuddy’s Magic Handoff feature, you can see all the Bluetooth devices paired to all your Macs, instead of just the Mac you’re working on. Like Universal Control (which allows you to swap keyboards, mice and trackpads between devices), you can use AirBuddy to switch your headphones between your work Mac and personal Mac.
BBEdit can handle it all. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
BBEdit is an incredibly powerful plaintext editor. It’s been a top choice for Mac users for over 30 years.
It can handle projects of all sizes and code in all languages. It has built-in support for opening and saving files over FTP servers. You can pull and commit projects directly to GitHub.
Calling it an “editor” sells it short — between powerful regular expression commands, AppleScript support and text transforms, it’s a word processing wonder. It’s also good for writing.
Price: $4.99/month or $49.99/year Download from:Mac App Store
Blip
Downloading a file on Blip. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
AirDrop is the best way to transfer files between two Macs in the same room (or a Mac and iPad or iPhone). But the best way to transfer files across the internet is with Blip.
Blip is different than Dropbox or Google Drive because you don’t need to upload files to the cloud on one end and download them on the other end. Blip creates an instant and direct device-to-device connection.
This also means you can transfer entire folders at once, huge project files for Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, or whatever you need.
Put your iPhone to good use as an HD webcam. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Camo lets you upgrade your Mac’s built-in camera for web conferences and live streaming to something much better. Any modern USB camera — or even your iPhone — can be used as a webcam for any app on your Mac.
You can combine video from your iPhone with audio coming a desktop microphone. You can even create video recordings.
There are a bunch of advanced features for making a custom watermark, adjusting image brightness and contrast, blur effects and more.
Do your listeners a favor with chapter markers. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you make a podcast, Forecast is a must-have app. It’s a simple utility that you can use to add chapter markers to a podcast.
In Logic, you export your podcast as a WAV, drag it into Forecast and it’ll show you all the chapters. It’ll even embed metadata like chapter URLs, chapter-specific artwork, the episode title and description into the MP3 file.
Change how your Mac wrangles your windows. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Front and Center is a window management utility for the Mac that changes one key behavior. When you click on a window, it doesn’t just bring that single window to the front, it brings all the app’s windows to the front.
So if you have a bunch of Safari windows or Finder windows open, clicking on any of them will bring all of them forward. This is already how it works when you click an app icon in the Dock, but now it’ll do that all the time.
Finder and Safari are two apps I use a lot of windows for. I usually have at least six different Finder windows and three Safari windows open at once.
With Front and Center, I don’t need to make sure all of them are visible — clicking on any Finder window lets me see the other ones. If you like organized chaos like me, you’ll find it an indispensable tool.
Play all kinds of files — in a video player customizable to your taste. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
IINA is a free video player for macOS that goes far above and beyond QuickTime. It supports many, many more file formats QuickTime doesn’t, like MKV and AVI.
The user interface is modern and highly customizable to your preferences. For example, I added a Take Screenshot button to the video player, which I use every day. It supports picture-in-picture mode, for letting a video or music playlist float above your desktop as you work.
For movies and TV shows downloaded to your computer, you can look up matching subtitles inside the app.
You can even use IINA as a YouTube video player. Hit ⇧⌘O and paste in a URL to start playing instantly.
There’s a lot of advanced features, but all you really need to know to get started is ⇧⌘C to get started. Image: Alex Rodionov
Once you install a clipboard manager, you’ll never know how it was possible to live without it.
You copy one thing that’s really important, you accidentally copy something else without thinking about it — wait, now you’ve lost the first thing. No more.
With Maccy, your Mac has a new keyboard shortcut, ⇧⌘C, to bring up a history menu. Then, you hit ⌘2 to instantly paste the second-most-recent item out of your clipboard. Likewise, you can hit ⌘3, and ⌘4, and so on to paste more items. You can set the size of its clipboard history to contain hundreds of items.
Maccy will keep paragraphs of text, images, files, all sorts of things.
Just drag a file into the window and it’ll start building a line-by-line transcription. You can edit the transcript and export it in a bunch of useful formats: a subtitle file for a video, a plain text file, a CSV, a nicely formatted HTML webpage or a PDF for publishing.
All the core functionality is available in the free version. Included for free is the Small transcription model, which is a slight misnomer — Small does an unbelievable job.
If you pay for Pro, you get the larger models. They’re more accurate, although they work a little more slowly. You also can transcribe streaming audio from your Mac, if you want a transcription of a live stream or a meeting.
Price: Free with basic features, $30 for Pro features Download from:Gumroad
MarsEdit
Yes, even this article was drafted in MarsEdit. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you’re a writer with a WordPress blog, MarsEdit is a much better place to start your writing.
You don’t have to worry about losing your internet connection, your web browser bugging out and quitting, someone taking over your draft and losing your work, etc. MarsEdit is a reliable native Mac app that lets you start writing a collection of drafts offline before you send them to your site.
It syncs with WordPress to pull in your categories, authors, tags and existing posts. You can even upload media and images. It only offers mixed support for WordPress’ new Gutenburg block editor, but really, that is a feature in itself.
MarsEdit isn’t just for WordPress — you also can export a document as an HTML file.
Price: $59.99 with 14-day free trial Download from:Mac App Store
Mimestream
It’s the best desktop app to use Gmail, hands down. Screenshot: Neil Jhaveri
Apple Mail — or really, most email clients — do a bad job at handling Gmail accounts.
Gmail has a bunch of features other email services don’t. Instead of folders, Gmail uses tags. Instead of a single inbox, Gmail offers smart categories like social, promotions, updates, and so on. And Gmail pairs great with Google Calendar, with one-click responses.
Mimestream is a desktop app that’s been designed to play nice with Gmail. The developer, Neil Jhaveri, is a former Apple employee, who worked on Mail and Notes. That really shines through in the app — Mimestream looks and feels like Apple made a first-class Gmail client.
Organize and play your favorite classics in OpenEmu. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
OpenEmu is the all-in-one classic game emulator for your Mac.
Like Delta on the iPhone, all you need to do is drag ROM files to add them to your library. It supports save states, game controllers — and it even has filters to make your games look like they’re being played on a CRT television or a pixellated LCD display.
It supports dozens of consoles, including the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation — even the Vectrex and ColecoVision.
Collect color palettes for reference in Pastel. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you do any kind of graphic design, especially if you do branding or marketing work for a few different clients, you need Pastel.
Pastel lets you create palettes and color swatches, organize them into folders, and give them names. You can right-click to copy a color’s RGB values, hex values or as code for your app in Objective-C and SwiftUI.
You can even export a color palette as a wallpaper. And on the iPhone, you can import a palette from a picture.
I use Pixelmator Pro to make the very images in this article! Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Pixelmator Pro is a modern graphic design program made just for Mac. Compared to the establishment (Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo), Pixelmator Pro is incredibly easy to navigate and use.
All the basic features you regularly use are put front and center. Cutting a subject out of a background? That’s done in just two clicks. It’s very rare that I find myself reaching for a more powerful app.
It even supports vector shapes and superimposing graphics on top of video.
The keyboard shortcuts are highly configurable. On the other tab, you can configure which edges of the screen do what. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you’re a PC switcher, you might miss the window-snapping features that Windows has had for years. The Rectangle app brings it to macOS.
With Rectangle running, you can grab a window and throw it to the left or right side to make it fill half the screen. Or drag it to the corner to fill a quarter of the screen. You can even add custom keyboard shortcuts to tile your windows exactly how you want.
Even if you don’t use window snapping (like me), I use Rectangle’s ⌃⌥C shortcut to perfectly center a window on my display. If you run two monitors, you can use ⌃⌥⌘→ or ⌃⌥⌘← to move a window between your screens.
Price: Free with basic features, $9.99 for Pro features Download from:Ryan Hanson Source code:GitHub
UTM Virtual Machines
UTM is, hands down, the best way to boot into other operating systems, old and new. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
UTM is the easiest way to virtualize other operating systems on your Mac.
Unlike the more complicated VirtualBox, adding a new virtual machine using UTM is as simple as clicking a couple of buttons. After you download it, just hit the + and click Download prebuilt from UTM Gallery. It’s a single file to download; without any configuration or manual setup you can boot everything from Windows XP to ArchLinux.
UTM can virtualize modern operating systems like Windows 11 for any PC programs you might want to run. If you use your Mac for software development, you can run all kinds of flavors of Linux — Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian and more. On an Apple silicon Mac, you can virtualize any other version of macOS for Apple silicon (macOS Monterey and newer).
May 2, 1995: Apple enters the wearables space with its first watch. However, the first Apple watch is a timepiece with no fitness-tracking tech, no on-screen notifications and a whole lot of 1990s styling.
The device comes two decades before wearables actually will become a thing. A regular wristwatch, the freebie gadget is available via a special mail-in offer to Mac OS upgraders.
Apple’s freebie watch pushes Mac System 7.5 upgrade
The 1995 Apple watch existed to motivate Mac users to upgrade to System 7.5. At the time, System 7 was 4 years old, having debuted in May 1991. The 7.5 upgrade came preinstalled on new Macs (such as the Macintosh LC 580), but was only available as a paid upgrade for people who owned older Macs.
Years later, Apple would do away with charging for its operating system upgrades. But in the 1990s, Cupertino’s customers grappled with relatively hefty prices for OS releases. Apple’s suggested retail price for System 7.5 — the princely sum of $134.99 — seemed outrageous to many, as evidenced by this vintage internet post that calls the upgrade policy “pretty much from the moon.”
Hence the first Apple watch, a bonus designed to sweeten the deal for Mac OS upgraders.
System 7.5 did bring a few worthwhile new features, however. In fact, it packed more than 50 changes — and some entirely new features. Apple acquired some of the new Mac features from third-party devs, and ported others from the professional-level System 7 Pro.
The biggest upgrade made it easier to connect your Mac to the internet and email. Other nifty features included the Apple Guide, a smart “how to” manual that proved far superior to Apple’s previous Balloon Help feature.
1995 was a dark time for Apple
Did you take advantage of this offer to get the first Apple watch back in 1995? Photo: Apple
System 7.5 came at a bad time for Apple. The company languished during its mid-1990s low period, promising innovations like a top-to-bottom Mac OS refresh called Copland that would remain tantalizingly out of reach. Apple’s position looked even starker when compared to the crazy levels of success Microsoft enjoyed with Windows 95.
The offer of an Apple watch for System 7.5 upgraders wasn’t much. However, it provided an added incentive for anyone on the fence. (If they didn’t want an Apple watch, they could opt for a free copy of Conflict Catcher 3, software designed to resolve problems between the Mac and its various extensions.)
The first Apple watch is now a collector’s item
Today, the 1995 Apple watch is a nice collector’s piece. Expect to pay a few hundred dollars for one on eBay (although some folks will try to reap up to four figures).
What’s your favorite Apple collector’s item? Have you got anything rare you want to brag about? Leave your comments below.
You can change the name of your Apple devices, whether you have an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, AirPods or Apple TV. By default, it’s just “[your name]’s iPhone.” But you can give your iPhone its own unique name, like Kit-Kat or Magic Rectangle.
Also by default, when you set up a new iPhone, the name is transferred. This can get confusing if you keep old phones around because you’ll see “John’s iPhone,” “John’s iPhone (2),” maybe even “John’s iPhone (3)” and more. The same is true for Apple Watch, Mac, iPad and AirPods.
The name of your device shows up among a bunch of Apple features like AirDrop, Find My, Personal Hotspot, AirPlay and more. If you use these features often, giving it a unique name will make it easier to identify.
Here’s how to fix this mess on all your Apple devices. Keep reading or watch our video.
Find it inside the Watch app. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
To change the name of an Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap General > About > Name. Type in a different name and hit Done.
If you ever need to find a missing Apple Watch, the name you give it will be the name that appears in your list of devices in Find My.
Change Mac name
It doesn’t look like a text box, but you can click on it to change the name. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
On a Mac running macOS 13 Ventura or later, open System Settings. In the sidebar, click General > About. The Name field is editable — click on the name and type in the name you want.
The name you give your Mac is the name that appears in AirDrop — the fastest way to transfer files from iPhone-to-Mac, Mac-to-Mac or iPad-to-Mac.
On a Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or earlier, open System Preferences and click Sharing. You can change name in the Computer Name text box on the top of the panel.
Change AirPods name
This setting only appears when you have your AirPods connected. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
First, you need to connect your AirPods to your iPhone. Open Settings and you should see your AirPods right on top. Tap on them, then tap Name. Enter in a more descriptive name if you want.
If you need to differentiate your AirPods with someone else’s, a good way to know they’re yours is with a case or with stickers. I would give the AirPods a matching name — Purple AirPods, Black AirPods, Hello Kitty AirPods, etc.
Change Apple TV name
Change the name here. Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
To change the name of an Apple TV, go to Settings > General > About > Name. You can hold down the Siri button to speak into the remote or pick up your iPhone to type in a name using its keyboard.
The name of your Apple TV comes up if you’re trying to AirPlay content to a bigger screen. If you have multiple Apple TVs in the house, it’s easier to differentiate “Living Room” and “Bedroom” than “Apple TV” and “Apple TV (2).”
Unlock your Mac’s full potential with 16 macOS-friendly apps for $39.99. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The Big Mac Utility Bundle is a collection of 16 Mac productivity apps you can use for everything from generating QR codes or troubleshooting your Wi-Fi connection to revealing the files your Mac automatically hides.
16 Mac productivity apps to change how you use your Mac
Check out what’s up for grabs in the Big Mac Utility bundle. These Mac productivity apps span a range of functions, from basic time-saving tools to adding new ways to use your computer.
For instance, Macs automatically hide many of the system files you can access freely on a Windows PC. For most users, that’s no problem. But if you’re trying to do some advanced troubleshooting, it’s a recipe for frustration. FileUnhider does exactly what the app’s name promises: It reveals the files hidden on your Mac. (If you want to stash them away again, it takes just another click to hide them.)
Other apps in this Mac utilities collection change how you perform basic tasks on your Mac. ToAnything makes batch media conversion easy, so you can quickly change the file format of multiple files. And if you’re a developer, skip a tedious task and use CodeCounter for detailed code analysis.
Mac utilities for jobs large and small
Here are the rest of the Mac productivity apps and utilities in this affordable software bundle:
Colori: This tool for designers lets you generate a color palette, organize your palettes, and more.
QR Wizard: Create beautiful QR code images.
Tidier: Organize the files on your Mac in a sensible way.
Web2Mac: Quickly add any website to your Dock as a Mac app.
AllClips: Manage your Mac’s clipboard and never lose anything.
SpeakMe: Convert any text to audio with a single click.
PhotoFoundry: Experience pro-level conversion and batch-processing of images.
JSON Wizard: Edit, visualize and export with “the ultimate JSON-driven data management app.”
WiFi Radar Pro: The “go-to Wi-Fi analyzer for Mac” makes it easy to scan, monitor and troubleshoot wireless networks.
Iconize: Generate and customize app icons for multiple platforms.
Squeezer: Minify, compile and compress web files and images with a single click.
Markdown+: Write, style, preview and export with this easy-to-use Markdown editor for Mac.
AppKiller: Instantly kill all your open Mac apps with a single click.
Once purchased, all of these apps remain yours for life. You can install them on up to two devices, and updates are included.
Save on the Big Mac Utility Bundle
Get more out of your Mac with this inexpensive collection of 16 Mac productivity apps and utilities that would cost more than $200 if purchased individually. Grab The Big Mac Utility Bundle for just $39.99.
April 26, 1996: Mac OS Copland, Apple’s eagerly anticipated but much-delayed operating system for the Macintosh, suffers a fatal blow when the senior VP in charge of the project leaves the company.
David C. Nagel, Apple’s chief technologist, previously promised Mac OS Copland would ship to users by mid-1996 at the latest. With meeting that deadline no longer possible, he leaves Apple for a job running AT&T Laboratories.
It’s yet another sign that Apple’s top-to-bottom Mac operating system upgrade is in major trouble.
Mac OS Copland: Apple reacts to Windows 95
For as long as Apple had been shipping Macintosh computers, the Mac OS had been the clear benchmark for high-quality computer operating systems. However, by the mid-1990s, the Mac’s core software was starting to look a little long in the tooth. System 7 remained superior to Windows 95, but to many users, the gap looked less evident than before.
The Copland operating system, named after American composer Aaron Copland, was a project designed to restore Apple’s competitive edge. Announced in March 1994, the OS promised many features that seem familiar today. Among them: a Spotlight-esque “live search” feature in the toolbar, more comprehensive multitasking, and the ability to let different users log in (each with different desktops and permissions).
In keeping with this customization, Apple made Mac OS Copland “theme-able.” Users could choose the theme they liked best — such as a Dark Mode-style futuristic look or a brighter, more kid-friendly one. The OS’ visual flourishes extended to an interface using 3-D shading and color in a way Macs previously could not.
Similar to today’s Mac Dock (or Windows’ taskbar), Copland made it possible to minimize windows by dragging them to the bottom of the screen, where they became tabs. Another big change came under the hood: Apple designed Mac OS Copland to be PowerPC-native, with older programs running through an emulator.
One Copland beta … and lots of feature creep
Things seemed on track for a while. In November 1995, Apple released the first Mac OS Copland beta to a select group of around 50 Mac developers. However, things never went further than that. After the beta shipped, Apple kept rolling back the timeline for the full release. Amid the delays, Apple routinely added extra features to justify the increased development time.
As a result, the project simply became too expensive and unwieldy. By 1996, 500 engineers toiled away on Mac OS Copland. The project’s annual budget ballooned to a massive $250 million.
When Nagel left Apple on this day in 1996, it was proof positive that things were going wrong. One of the Apple execs most synonymous with the project, he even led the Copland discussion at Macworld Boston in August 1995.
Despite the defection of such a key player, Apple insisted that the operating system would ship eventually. However, Nagel’s departure came soon after Apple posted a staggering $740 million loss.
CEO Gil Amelio took to the stage at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference and said Mac OS Copland would ship as a series of upgrades rather than a unified single release. A few months after that, Apple effectively canceled Copland.
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show.
The graphs show that Apple tended to increase the base memory every two years or so, but that this trend ended when Cook took over the company from Steve Jobs. Memory increased quickly until the Mac Plus was launched in 1986, notes Schaub. “1986 to 1990 were all about decreasing the entry Mac price,” he says. “Then we get a pretty straight logarithmic line until Tim Cook became CEO and there has only been a single increase since.”
The correlation is interesting, but other variables such as market trends and changes in technology can help to account for the plateau in Cook’s era. For example, Stuart McHattie notes that early all-in-one Macs saw a tenfold increase every six years. If that trend had continued from 2006 onwards when the base was 500MB, modern base model Macs would have reached 500GB. Yet today’s consumer PC demand for RAM remains around 8GB to 64GB, and very rarely exceeds double digits.
Computers have also changed a lot over the last several years. RAM has gotten faster. Hard disk drives have been superseded by solid-state storage. Chips and components are more tightly integrated. Apple no longer relies on Intel processors to power its machines, and instead uses high performance system-on-a-chip (SOC) architecture, which fuses CPUs, GPUs, and unified memory into a single package. This is why the company feels confident in arguing that 8GB on a Mac is comparable to 16GB on rival systems.
But that does not change the fact that Apple has offered iMac and MacBook Pro models with 8GB of RAM since 2012. Likewise, the MacBook Air has had the same base memory configuration since 2017. In addition, Apple’s adoption of unified memory means that Macs cannot have their RAM upgraded after purchase, while Apple continues to pursue a strategy of vastly overcharging customers for higher memory configurations. Users often pay out $200 or more at checkout just to future proof their machines.
Apple’s Mac memory configuration strategy is likely to become even more contentious if all upcoming iPhone 16 models turn out to include 8GB of RAM. (In the iPhone 15 series, only the Pro models have 8GB, whereas standard models have 6GB.) Why Apple is prepared to increase RAM in a smartphone but not in a multitasking Mac without users paying excessively for the privilege will be the overriding question on many consumers’ lips.
Apple last updated the Mac Pro in June 2023, adding an M2 Ultra chip and officially completing the transition away from Intel chips. The Mac Pro uses the same M2 Ultra chip that’s in the Mac Studio, leading to criticism about its lack of power.
Apple has now gone back to the drawing board and is working on an updated version of the Mac Pro that’s set to come out next year. This guide highlights everything we know about Apple’s Mac Pro progress.
M4 Chip
The next Mac Pro will have a chip that’s in the M4 family, as Apple is working to update its entire Mac lineup to the M4 series across 2024 and 2025.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman believes that Apple wants to establish a more regular Apple silicon chip upgrade cycle that would perhaps see Mac chips refreshed on an annual basis much like chips designed for the iPhone.
Gurman says that the Mac Pro will be equipped with the highest-end version of the M4 chip, which is codenamed “Hidra.” Hidra is likely equivalent to an “Ultra” chip based on the way that Apple has differentiated its chips in the past. The Mac Pro is aimed at professional videographers, photographers, designers, and others who need significant processing power, and some pro users are said to have been unhappy with the M2 Ultra Mac Pro.
As a result, Apple is looking to make the M4 Mac Pro more powerful.
All of the M4 chips will be designed with a focus on artificial intelligence, with Apple aiming to highlight the AI processing capabilities of the chips and how they’ll integrate into macOS. Apple is adding AI features that will run solely on device to the next operating system updates, so the M4 chips will need to have a lot of compute power.
Rumors suggest that the M4 chips will feature an upgraded Neural Engine with more cores to handle AI tasks.
Unified Memory
The Mac Pro could support up to 500GB Unified Memory, way up from the current 192GB maximum.
Will there be an M3 Mac Pro?
It doesn’t sound like Apple is going to bother with an M3 Ultra chip for the Mac Pro, with the company instead focusing effort on the M4 update.
Design Updates
The Mac Pro saw a major design update in 2019, with Apple doing away with the cylindrical “trash can” look in favor of a more reserved aluminum computer tower. There were no design changes to the 2022 model when it was refreshed, and so far we’ve heard nothing about design changes to the upcoming M4 variant.
Launch is still more than a year away though, so it’s possible Apple will make some design updates, at least internally to support M4 chip changes.
Launch Date
The Mac Pro is expected to be the last of Apple’s Macs to get the M4 chip, and rumors suggest that it will come out in late 2025.
The new iMazing 3 app redesign brings a fresh user interface and Vision Pro connectivity support to the software, developer DigiDNA said Wednesday. The widely used software helps you manage iPhone, iPad and iPod content and functionality from a Mac.
“In the eight year since we released iMazing 2, regular updates have improved functionality and expanded device and OS support,” said DigiDNA CEO Jerome Bedat.
“To achieve our vision for iMazing 3, we had to redevelop our approach, with a modern user interface and new codebase that will allow us to deliver features in the future that no one else can offer,” he added.
DigiDNA iMazing 3 app redesign
At the heart of the overhauled iMazing 3 lies its Discover section. It’s a dedicated space that streamlines access to commonly used tools for transferring photos, downloading messages, managing music libraries and creating backups.
The intuitive interface ensures you can easily locate and use desired functions. And DigiDNA emphasized the fact that all iMazing 3 functionality is local, meaning no data leaves the computer. That’s a boon to privacy and security.
Notably, iMazing 3 extends its compatibility beyond iPhones, iPads and iPods. It now supports Apple’s Vision Pro AR/VR headset. Remote pairing allows connection and management of the device from a distance.
But the software’s main use is still dealing with iPhone and iPad functions and content from your Mac desktop.
Updated features of iMazing 3
Check out the various updates to iMazing 3. Photo: DigiDNA
A standout addition is the Device Overview section. It provides a slew of details about connected devices, including serial numbers, model numbers, device IDs and the date of the latest backup. The feature simplifies the process of managing multiple devices, ensuring users have a centralized hub for monitoring and maintaining devices.
Battery management also got an overhaul. It now resides in a dedicated section that offers insights into current temperature, design max charge, effective max charge and charge cycles. Furthermore, users can now easily manage storage capacity, ensuring optimal performance and efficient use of their devices’ resources.
Enhancing the overall user experience, iMazing 3 introduces a Dark Mode option, improved Backup and snapshot management tools, plus a redesigned settings interface.
You can download iMazing 3 for Mac or PC from the developer website. That particular version does not yet appear on App Store. Prices start at $40. Existing users who purchased the software after October 20, 2020, can upgrade for free. Folks holding older licenses can get a a 50% discount.
Sometimes what stands out in a computer setup isn’t a major piece, like a computer or display, but a cool accessory. Today’s colorful M1 Mac mini workstation with dual displays and loads of artwork features a cool accessory one could easily miss — a Lab22 Infinity Adjust iPad stand.
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iPad Pro on Lab22 Infinity Adjust iPad stand joins M1 Mac mini in dual-display setup
Chicago area artist and Redditor Tom Bacon (u/tombaconart) showcased the colorful, art-infused, dual-display workstation in a post entitled, “Updated Mac mini setup.”
His M1 Mac mini drives a pair of LG 4K displays, one oriented in landscape mode (horizontal) and one in portrait mode (vertical).
“I like my knickknacks,” he said of the army of doodads and figurines on the shelves when someone complimented the rig’s lived-in look compared to staged ultra-mininalist setups. “I actually do get a lot of work done here, as long as a cat isn’t sitting on my keyboard.”
And while he keeps it functional, he doesn’t mind a bit of mess.
“Yeah I like having some easy to reach items on the riser,” he said. “I don’t mind a little clutter, just need to avoid letting things pile up when I get busy. Art and productivity focus.”
Lab22 Infinity Adjust iPad stand
With a name like “Infinity Adjust,” you can bet it swivels and tilts like crazy. Photo: Lab22
We noticed when a commenter asked Bacon about his iPad stand on the right in the photo, because it’s the first we’ve seen of it. It’s a Lab22 Infinity Adjust Stand for 12.9-inch iPad. It’s a collaboration with the brand Moment, known for its iPhone camera lenses. Another model serves the 11-inch iPad Pro or 10.9-inch iPad Air.
It looks like a real beauty of a stand. And it better be with a $199 price tag. Here’s how the company describes the stand:
Designed for Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the white LAB22 Infinity Adjust Stand from Moment makes it easier to use your iPad for taking notes, drawing, or as a second screen. Built using durable aluminum, this stand attaches to your iPad using magnets under a microfiber surface, which helps to minimize any metal-on-metal contact, and is tilt adjustable from 5 to 90 degrees. Thanks to 360-degree rotation, it may be used in both portrait and landscape orientations.
Features and compatibility
“Infinite” adjustability (according to the company)
Metal unibody
Full coverage microfiber
Smooth motion hinges
Enhanced magnets
Easy-grip edge
Free Motion orientation
Protective coating
Compatible with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Gen)
Does not work with iPads in cases and skins
And if you like the wallpaper showing on the monitor in landscape orientation, you can get it here. And what’s on the portrait mode display is a 4K screenshot from the game Horizon Zero Dawn, Bacon said.
If you would like to see your setup featured on Cult of Mac, send some high-res pictures to [email protected]. Please provide a detailed list of your equipment. Tell us what you like or dislike about your setup, and fill us in on any special touches, challenges and plans for new additions.
Final Cut Pro has been updated with live multi-camera recording on iPad and powerful new AI color correction on Mac. A free new app for iPad and iPhone, Final Cut Camera, allows for professional video capture in multicam or on its own.
May 2, 1995: Apple enters the wearables space with its first watch. However, the first Apple watch is a timepiece with no fitness-tracking tech, no on-screen notifications and a whole lot of 1990s styling.
April 26, 1996: Mac OS Copland, Apple’s eagerly anticipated but much-delayed operating system for the Macintosh, suffers a fatal blow when the senior VP in charge of the project leaves the company.
