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The 3-in-1 charging dock has become the standard in recent years as folks look for ways to keep all of their devices charged. What if you don’t wear an Apple Watch (or charge it at your desk)? You end up with extra bulk for a device you don’t have. That’s one reason I am a fan of the Spigen ArcField MagSafe Charging Stand as it focuses only on charging your iPhone and AirPods.

Apple has released a new version of its latest iOS 17.6.1 update for iPhone and iPad users. This re-release carries a new build number, 21G101, but otherwise comes with no changes that are currently known. It’s a strange release in more than one way.

It’s August, the boss is away, and I’m mowing my lawn listening to The Cure. Reason? See August. But also because I came across an old Apple Music Radio (formerly Beats 1 Radio) show called Gratitude. I found it in the Podcasts app of all places, only to learn that the series ended seven years ago. I have a thing for artist-hosted music shows on Apple’s radio station. This show format is so good and likely only stopped because of lack of discovery.

“Artists sharing albums” is the tagline for the series. When it popped up in my Podcasts app, the premise caught my attention. The series has a host and a guest artist who talks about their chosen album of influence. Interlaced between each track of the album is commentary from the artist about what the album and song mean to them.

There’s something contagious about listening to people talk about things that they’re passionate about, even if it’s not something that you’ve ever thought about. If you happen to already like the speaker and appreciate their subject, it’s like vibing with a friend over something you both enjoy.

Following the release of iOS 17.6.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.6.1 to the public this week, Apple is now releasing watchOS 10.6.1 and tvOS 17.6.1 to Apple Watch and Apple TV users. The updates are unlikely to add any new features and only bring general improvements and bug fixes.

Apple Podcasts is expanding to the web, starting today. You can access the new web app version at podcasts.apple.com, in desktop web browsers including Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

For the first time, Apple Podcasts users can access their Up Next queue, library of saved shows, and browse for new podcasts inside their PC web browser. Previously, only macOS offered a desktop Podcasts app experience.

Apple is continuing its yearly tradition of supporting America’s national parks with a week’s worth of donations based on Apple Pay purchases made through its online store. Apple Maps also has topographic hiking trail support arriving this fall and more.

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Apple TV+ has plenty of excellent shows, but among all of its best-reviewed titles, only two series have scored a 100% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And now, Apple has announced that one of those shows—Bad Sisters—is debuting its second season soon.

Apple is rolling out a big update to its Apple Sports app. As football season quickly approaches, the Apple Sports app now has full support for NFL and NCAA Football. There’s also a new “Stats” tab on game pages, showing box scores, lineups, and more.

AI is all the rage these days, with apps and services adopting some form of AI technology all the time. Apple is doing the same with its upcoming Apple Intelligence features. But some creative apps are pushing back, including the popular iPad app Procreate which says, “AI is not our future.”

A report earlier this week said that plans for Apple’s first robot product have been accelerating, in the form of a hybrid iPad/HomePod product.

A supply-chain report now says that Foxconn has been commissioned by Apple to make the robot arm and casings for the device …

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In this episode of Apple @ Work, we’re kicking off a 3-part series on identity management with Apple in the enterprise, featuring Tom Bridge, JumpCloud’s Director of Product Management.

The court ruling that Google is no longer allowed to pay Apple $20B+ a year to be the default search engine raises the question: What now? One potential answer being suggested is that the iPhone maker create its own Apple search engine.

But much as many of us might like to see that, it seems like an unlikely prospect – and just not worth the potential risks …

The project to replace Qualcomm’s radio chip with an Apple modem is taking a huge amount of time and effort, and some have questioned whether that investment makes sense just to save a few dollars on the cost of an iPhone.

The question becomes even more pointed when even company insiders admit there will be no benefit to customers when the switch first happens – but Apple is hoping the move will pay off for customers too, in the longer-term …

Apple has recently started testing new welcome bonuses for Apple Card. The smaller $100 offer is being advertised on social media, while the all time high $300 offer is being sent to targeted users via email. Both offers last through September 3rd.

Apple unveiled one of its largest updates to the Mail app back in June. The changes include an all new design, Apple Intelligence enhancements, and a number of other quality of life improvements. Although most of the non-AI features aren’t yet present in the beta, Apple currently says that we should expect everything “later this year.”

A new image shared on social media appears to show the camera lens rings of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models, reaffirming the previously leaked colors. The leak also contains details about the new bronze color.

Setting up a VPN on your Apple TV 4K allows you to avoid geographic region restrictions and access services not normally available to you. With tvOS 17, VPN apps can now be installed on the Apple TV directly.

VPN apps available now for Apple TV include NordVPN, PureVPN, IPVanish, ExpressVPN, and more. Here’s all the best VPN apps for Apple TV available now …

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When Apple unveiled iOS 18 earlier this summer, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of significant new security and privacy features. I still feel that way to some extent. However, after running the iOS 18 beta for over a month now, I want to highlight some of my favorite and noteworthy features. So, here’s my ranking in ascending order. If your #1 favorite is different, comment it below, and I’ll tell you why you’re wrong 😉

According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple is on track to release two new variants of AirPods 4 as soon as next month. They’ll introduce both an entry level model and a mid tier model, meant to replace both AirPods 2 and AirPods 3.

Although iOS 18 is about a month away from release, the vast majority of iPhone users are still running iOS 17. Apple is preparing a new minor update for those who aren’t running beta, according to a reputable source.