- Cult of Mac Today
- Posts
- Let the games begin!
In partnership with
Apple Arcade is the poor, neglected, bastard stepchild of Apple’s services division.
While the subscription service garners little attention, it includes some great games — like Sneaky Sasquatch, the Ted Lasso of Apple Arcade — that lots of kids love.
There’s also NBA 2K25, a console-quality basketball game. And Oceanhorn 2 is so compelling, it’s worth playing not once but twice (or even more).
An underrated benefit is that Apple Arcade bans ads and in-app purchases. Unlike so-called “free” games, you aren’t constantly harassed to buy something. You just have fun.
But discovery remains a big problem. What games are good, and which are meh?
Apple’s new Games app — an update of the unloved and long-discontinued Game Center app — aims to help with that, while also making gameplay more social.
The new app lets you quickly launch games you’re playing, discover new games to play, track achievements, and challenge friends.
It’s your one-stop shop for gaming on your Apple devices — here’s how to get the most out of it.
Also in today’s newsletter:
In the quest for a smarter Siri, Apple’s taking a “bake-off” approach, developing an in-house model and pitting it against ones developed by outsiders. Google Gemini is the latest contender.
Apple leaker Majin Bu just dropped even more details (including a close-up look) about Apple’s rumored TechWoven cases for the iPhone 17 lineup. Gotta admit, they look pretty nice.
If you ever get a corrupted hard drive, you’re going to need a tool like Disk Drill 6. It can recover a huge range of corrupted file formats and fragmented video on almost any media.
Belkin just launched a new line of good-looking, multidevice stands that offer 25W fast-charging for iPhone.
With this week’s price increase for Apple TV+, Apple One bundles just became an even better deal. Here’s how much you can save in the three offer tiers: Individual, Family and Premier.
I’ve used several Røde products over the years, and have always found the Australian company’s gear to be top-notch. We just reviewed Røde’s new NTH-50 on-ear headphones, which sell for a ridiculously low price for audiophile-grade gear.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
A message from AdQuick
Modernize Out Of Home with AdQuick
AdQuick unlocks the benefits of Out Of Home (OOH) advertising in a way no one else has. Approaching the problem with eyes to performance, created for marketers and creatives with the engineering excellence you’ve come to expect for the internet.
You can learn more at www.AdQuick.com
A message from CleverFiles
A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
Tweets of the day
This image effectively shows how Liquid Glass adapts to background lighting to maintain legibility.
It frosts up with bright backgrounds, and becomes more liquidy with darker ones.
— Arjun Garg (@imarjungarg)
6:46 PM • Aug 20, 2025
All smartwatches need this!! I usually care about feature copying but when it's health stuff, nah. Everyone should have it.
— Dylan (@DylanMcD8)
2:36 AM • Aug 21, 2025
I wish my school were as cool, letting us unbox iMacs we will use in design class 🥲🙌🏻
— Minimal Nerd (@minimalnerd1)
8:17 AM • Aug 22, 2025
Wallpaper of the day
One more thing ...
When you open the box of an iPhone or iPad, we want that tactile experience to set the tone for how you perceive the product.
Today’s poll
Do you play games on Apple Arcade? |
Results from yesterday’s poll: Which dual-monitor setup do you like best (and why -- leave comment)?
Best reader comments
Subscribe to The Weekender — Get the week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.
Reply