Our writer Ed Hardy is right: Apple Pay is a modern miracle and, in some places, it's fast replacing cash and credit cards.

Ed recently took a road trip but couldn't find his credit card. No matter -- he paid for almost everything with his iPhone instead.

It opened his eyes to the fact that cash and credit cards are fast becoming obsolete.

After initially resisting Apple Pay myself, I'm now a full convert.

Luckily, in the San Francisco Bay Area, just about everybody takes Apple Pay. So I use it to pay for practically everything.

It's seamless, painless and quick: way faster than all other methods of payment.

And don't get me started about paying with your Apple Watch!

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Apple Pay gets close to letting you chop up your credit cards — www.cultofmac.com

After a mishap, I recently had to go on vacation without a credit card. I was ready with cash but it never mattered – to my surprise, wireless payments and Apple Pay let my iPhone make all the purchases I needed. It’s clear we’re really not far away from physical credit cards becoming obsolete.

Entry-level M2 MacBook Pro’s SSD is slower than M1 MacBook Pro — www.cultofmac.com

Apple’s latest laptop ships with a notably slower drive than its predecessor. Tests show the speed difference is as big as 50% in some scenarios.

Apple’s next HomePod could be less mini and more powerful — www.cultofmac.com

Apple is working on a HomePod that could launch next year with a new S8 chip. The smart speaker reportedly will be similar in size to the original HomePod rather than tiny like the HomePod mini.

Smart gadget keeps your devices from charging themselves to death — www.cultofmac.com

Chargie is a smart gadget that helps with the problem of dying phone batteries. It controls the charging level of your phone's battery, so it lasts longer.

Apple M2 Pro chip could get performance boost from 3nm process — www.cultofmac.com

The upcoming chip will be made with an improved manufacturing process that will make it even faster and more energy-efficient, according to a new report.

M1 iPad Air is even more of a no-brainer with $40 discount — www.cultofmac.com

Apple’s light but powerful M1 iPad Air is available with a sweet $40 discount on Amazon. This brings the price of the entry-level iPad Air down to just $559. The 256GB model gets an even bigger $70 discount, so you can grab one for as low as $679.

How to edit and unsend messages in iOS 16 — www.cultofmac.com

Have you ever wanted to edit and unsend messages in iOS? Like when you texted your mom, “Finally got laid today” when you meant to say “paid.” Thankfully, with iOS 16 and Apple’s other upcoming OS upgrades, you can edit and unsend iMessages.

Today in Apple history: Terrible quarter marks the end for Gil Amelio as CEO — www.cultofmac.com

On June 27, 1997, another miserably disappointing quarter for Cupertino brings an end to the reign of Apple CEO Gil Amelio.

Designer’s MacBook Pro-driven office swims in Apple collectibles [Setups] — www.cultofmac.com

Graphic designer and illustrator Terry Smelker's workstation includes interesting elements, like a specialized drawing tablet and a multimedia controller he uses along with his tricked-out MacBook Pro. But even if you’re not curious about his setup proper, get a load of that Apple gear collection! Fortunately, he provided plenty of photographs.

Tweet o' the day

One more thing ...

"Apple was about as pure of a Silicon Valley company as you could imagine. We started in a garage. Woz and I both grew up in Silicon Valley. Our role model was Hewlett-Packard. And so I guess that's what we went into it thinking. Hewlett-Packard, you know, Jobs and Wozniak." -- Steve Jobs