Monthly Log: June 2026
Apple Updates Creator Studio Apps
Today, Apple released an update to its Creator Studio subscription with new features across many of the suite’s apps.
Pixelmator Pro now integrates more deeply with Creator Studio’s other apps. While working in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, you can open an image directly in Pixelmator Pro, edit it, and save the changes back to the source app’s document. On the Mac, Final Cut Pro can now send individual frames to Pixelmator Pro, making thumbnail creation simpler.
Final Cut Pro is also adding a set of Creator Themes with multiple aspect ratios, dynamic titles, and customizable backgrounds. Plus, users now have more control over the design of captions generated on-device using AI. On the Mac, Auto Mask lets you isolate certain parts of footage for editing, and Match Color reproduces colors more accurately.
For Logic Pro users, today’s update includes improvements to Chord ID, a new Producer Project from Khris Riddick-Tynes, a new sound pack, and an expansion of Beat Breaker.
Final Cut Camera for the iPhone and iPad has been updated with support for Clean HDMI Out, more flexible ProRes support, and disabling of digital zoom. Motion now supports vector graphics, and Compressor gains Vision Pro features, while Freeform gains shape creation, opening images in Pixelmator Pro, a Dark Mode, folders, and drawing on the Mac. Plus, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers each added a handful of new features.
Creator Studio debuted just six months ago, so it’s good to see it already being updated with meaningful features. Creator Studio costs $12.99/month or $129/year. More information is available in Apple’s press release here.
Headless Macs and Hamstrung iPads
In the current era of coding agents becoming productivity assistants, iPadOS’ limitations are no longer defined by the lack of desktop-class multitasking or access to external peripherals. A new class of iPadOS shortcomings looms large on the horizon: the iPad’s app sandboxing and the absence of an open filesystem have relegated it to acting as a remote control for agents.
Podcast Rewind: WWDC Reflections, Thunderbolt Hubs, and Prime Day Finds
Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
AppStories
This week, John and Federico are back home and reflect on all the WWDC announcements, including Siri AI, Apple Intelligence, design changes, developer tools, and more.
On AppStories+, we check in on our research setups and how they fared at WWDC.
NPC: Next Portable Console
This week, nose-bleed prices, foldables get wise to handheld gaming, and new products are teased and released by a long list of companies.
On NPC XL, Federico and John cover the pre-review news and rumors about the Steam Machine, plus John’s new Mobapad Switch 2 controller.
Comfort Zone
The gang’s back together! Niléane has a new window management system, Matt wonders if Thunderbolt is too fast, and everyone recovers from letting AI take the wheel for the week.
On Cozy Zone, Niléane has a new place, and it only seemed proper to roast her new setup.
MacStories Unwind
This week, Federico and John share their Amazon Prime Day finds before Federico recommends a pair of videogames for the weekend.
MacStories Weekly: Issue 519
Apple Raises Prices Across Most of Its Product Lines
Apple raised the prices of Macs and other products across the board today. For entry-level Macs, the increases are mostly $100–$200. However, if you want a MacBook Pro or Mac Studio with lots of memory and storage, it’s going to cost you dearly. Prices were also raised on the iPad, Vision Pro, Apple TV, HomePods, and many items sold through Apple’s refurbished store.
This should come as no surprise to anyone, but it’s painful just the same. Last week, Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that price increases were coming without getting into specifics. Apple was able to hold the line on prices for several months, even while smaller gadget and computer makers raised their prices or canceled products altogether.
What’s happening is simple macroeconomics. Demand for memory and storage is vastly outstripping supply, largely due to the insatiable appetite of data centers that power AI services. That demand shows no signs of waning, and supply isn’t as simple as turning a knob to 11. There just aren’t that many makers of memory chips and SSDs, and bringing new plants online to manufacture takes years and billions of dollars.
For now, the price of iPhones has been left alone. Some may see that as a silver lining, but I suspect all it means is that Apple has enough prebuilt inventory to get to September, when new iPhones are announced. Apple Watch and AirPods prices remain the same, too.
Could Apple have avoided this? I doubt it. The magnitude and speed of the price increases and the projected duration are beyond what any reasonable company could or would plan for.
That said, I do think the situation will get better with time, again because of macroeconomics. The increases may preserve Apple’s margins, but it’s going to reduce the number of customers who can afford its products. Margins only equate to profits if you have customers willing to pay for your product. So with time, if the data center demand slackens or new chip capacity comes online, prices will improve. Just don’t expect that anytime before 2027 or 2028 if current projections are to be believed.
Amazon Prime Day 2026: Our Top Picks
Amazon Prime Day is earlier than ever this year, with lots of deals to be had on our favorite gadgets. As you may have seen, we updated our MacStories Setups page last week, and as it turns out, some of that gear is deeply discounted for Prime Day. Below, you’ll find links to those items, as well as other gadgets we recommend, all on sale now.
For even more deals, join Club MacStories+ or Premier to become a part of our Discord community, where members are sharing their favorite finds, too.
Home Automation
It’s been over a year since I reviewed Aqara’s excellent G5 Pro Outdoor Camera Hub, but it’s still my all-time favorite outdoor HomeKit camera and has been a big hit with readers, too. The camera comes in Wi-Fi and PoE versions and works with HomeKit Secure Video. Before I tried the G5 Pro, my experience with outdoor HomeKit cameras was very spotty, but ever since I mounted the G5 Pro above my front door, it’s been a fixture of my Setups gear collection.
You can also get a great deal on the Aqara Smart Home Hub M3 during Prime Day. It’s not required to run the G5 Pro Outdoor Camera, which is a hub itself, but for anyone with other smart home gear, it’s an excellent addition because it handles Zigbee 3.0 devices and acts as both a Thread border router and a Matter controller, all in one compact unit. Plus, because automations are saved to the device, they continue to run even if your Internet service fails.
To round out the Aqara picks, it’s worth mentioning its UWB Smart Lock U400. This is Aqara’s most advanced smart lock, which uses an Ultra Wideband chip to allow you to unlock your door by simply approaching it from the outside of the door. The lock also works with Home Key, NFC cards, your fingerprint, its own app, a number pad, and more. This smart lock hasn’t been out long, and this is the first time I’ve seen it on sale anywhere.
The ecobee Smart Video Doorbell Camera that I’ve used since I moved into my place in North Carolina is also on sale during Prime Day. I used to have a doorbell camera that overheated in the sun, but the ecobee has stood up like a champ in the direct sunlight all afternoon even as summer temperatures approach 100° F.
If you’re deep into the Hue lighting scene, the Play HDMI Sync Box 8K is a great way to sync your lighting to your entertainment system or computer display for gaming. I reviewed the Sync Box last year along with the Play Wall Washer lights that are also on sale for Prime Day and still part of my gaming setup.
Another MacStories Setups mainstay on sale for Prime Day is Hue’s Festavia string lights, which I reviewed a couple of years ago. The color of the lights can be adjusted in the Home app, and the Hue app lets you add animations to simulate a flickering candle or twinkling stars. I love how they look on my balcony.
It’s hot where I live, so fans make a big difference. I’ve been using the SwitchBot Smart Desk Fan for about six months in my office and love it. It works with HomeKit and can be automated to turn on and off based on triggers like your room’s temperature. There’s even a cloud-based API that you can use to write your own scripts to control the fan. It and the newer Smart Pedestal Fan are both on sale for Prime Day.
Schlage’s Encode Plus smart lock is one of the few HomeKit-compatible locks that features Apple’s Home Key integration, which enables tap to unlock with an iPhone or Apple Watch. With new UWB locks coming out, this well-reviewed lock is a bargain at its Prime Day price.
Apple Gear
Amazon has a refurbished version of the M4 15-inch MacBook Air in Starlight with 16GB of memory and 256GB of storage on sale for Prime Day. The laptop is from the Amazon Renewed Store, which is generally reliable. And with rumors swirling that base prices of Apple hardware may increase later this month, this MacBook Air might look like an even better bargain in a few weeks, so it’s worth considering if you’re in the market for a new laptop. The 13-inch MacBook Air with an M3 chip, 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD is also deeply discounted for Prime Day.
I’m partial to the AirPods Pro 3, but Amazon has the AirPods 4 and AirPods Max 2 on sale, too. Either way, you’re getting great sound and noise cancellation. The Beats Studio Buds + are deeply discounted for Prime Day as well.
Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch SE 3 are also on sale. With summer in full swing, both offer a great way to track your outdoor activities and get notifications without having to pull out your iPhone.
Batteries and Chargers
Having a central hub to charge your gear is nice. I’ve had a 200W version of UGREEN’s hub for a few years now and plug things into it every day for overnight charging. For Prime Day, UGREEN’s even more powerful 300W charging hub is on sale. It features four USB-C ports and one USB-A port that can charge at up to 140W.
The Anker MagGo Slim Power Bank is about as slim as a 10,000mAh battery can get. It’s Qi2 certified, which means it will charge your iPhone at 15W, and it’s white, making it the perfect fit with an iPhone Air, too. If you’d prefer a similar battery but with a kickstand (and who doesn’t love a kickstand?), Anker has you covered with its MagGo Power Bank, also on sale for Prime Day.
To charge all your Apple devices overnight, I recommend the Belkin 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station that can handle an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at once. It’s Qi2 certified for 15W charging of your iPhone, and has everything charged up and ready to go as soon as you wake up in the morning.
Odds and Ends
I’m a fan of the Logitech MX Creative Console, a Stream Deck competitor with a nine-button programmable keypad and a separate pad with a dial, scroll wheel, and additional buttons. Both are perfect for automating workflows in specific apps or with macros and Shortcuts. I reviewed the MX Creative Console in 2024, and it’s still sitting on my desk.
The ASUS ProArt Display 32-inch 6K Professional Monitor is on sale for Prime Day, too. The display is bigger, significantly cheaper, and competitively spec’d compared to an Apple Studio Display.
I’ve tried lots of iPhone controllers over the years, and one of the most comfortable and versatile is GameSir’s G8, which can even accommodate an iPad mini. The G8 works with the iPhone 15 and above and is a great choice for summer vacations when you don’t want to bring along a dedicated gaming device.
That’s it for now. As we spot more deals, we’ll post them on the MacStories Deals Bluesky and Mastodon accounts, as well as in the Club MacStories+ Discord community.
Podcast Rewind: A Sitcom Plea and Stories from WWDC
Enjoy the latest episodes from MacStories’ family of podcasts:
Comfort Zone
It’s another duo week as Matt is out there… destroying lives??? Despite that, Chris and Niléane talk about the DMA and cool stuff in the OS 27 betas, and Chris has some stories from WWDC.
On Cozy Zone, the gang goes through their next three apps they would install on their Macs, and it leads to some hard (and surprising) decisions.
MacStories Unwind
This week, Federico learns about Philadelphia and college mascots before making a sitcom plea. Meanwhile, John’s been listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s new album and buying concert tickets.