New Macs incoming

Three new Macs are incoming, according to regulatory filings.

But what models are they, and will they be launched at next month's spring event?

One of them looks likely to be a new, bigger-screen iMac, tipped to replace the current 27-inch model. Let's hope so! This is the machine I'm most excited about, but it might not launch until the summer.

In other news:

  • AirTags are getting a lot of bad press surrounding surreptitious tracking, but a new report found they're actually best at sounding the alarm about nefarious uses.

  • Apple's still in hot water with Dutch lawmakers over third-party payment systems in the App Store. The fines keep racking up.

  • We have a great buy-one-get-another-half-off sale on SwitchEasy products in the Cult of Mac Store. Grab some Apple Watch bumpers, AirTag cases or screen protectors before the sale ends tonight.

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Regulatory filings for three new Mac models have been spotted. Recent reports suggest Apple could be planning a new MacBook Pro with a next-generation “M2” chipset. Apple is also rumored to be working on a bigger iMac, a new MacBook Air and a new Mac mini.

While some hope for a debut as soon as March, that’s apparently overly optimistic, according to a leaker, who reiterates that the all-in-one desktop will pack a mini-LED display.

Just a day after Apple touted its beefed-up privacy precautions for AirTags — in the wake of criminal incidents involving the tracking devices — an article in The New York Times showed their superiority to Tile and GPS trackers.

Dutch regulators hit Apple with another $5 million fine Monday for not properly complying with new rules that say dating apps should be allowed to accept alternative payment methods. The penalty now totals $20 million.

Save on the entire lineup of SwitchEasy products, which includes great cases, bands, stands and more. SwitchEasy products are already wonderfully affordable — and incredibly popular among Cult of Mac Store customers. You can pick up the company's AirTag skin, Apple Watch bumper, iPhone cases and screen protectors for less than $20.

The quick weekend fix comes after many Mac users complained the app was still listening in after calls had ended.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple code once again refers to a mysterious “realityOS” for a virtual/augmented-reality headset. Vague rumors about the new device, which we’ve been hearing for years now, look set to become very real, very soon. Also on The CultCast: Why no Face ID on Macs?

There’s something special about old Apple gear. Maybe that’s why it comes up fairly frequently in Cult of Mac‘s Setups coverage. One of the most-beloved classic pieces in Apple’s storied history of beloved products is the Cinema Display. Today’s featured setup sports not one but two 30-inch Cinema Displays, the big stunners Steve Jobs introduced to an absolutely dazzled Worldwide Developers Conference audience in 2004. So, naturally, questions came up about how to best use them with a newer Mac.

Tweetz o' the day

One more thing ...

"Our personal belief is that while there's an opportunity to apply software to the living room, the merging of the computer and the TV isn't going to happen. They're really different things. So yes, you want to share some information [between the two], but people who are planning to put computers into the living room, like they are today, I'm not sure they're going to have a big success." -- Steve Jobs

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