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This week: finally! According to a new report, Apple is ditching Lightning for USB-C, and that's going to bring some long-needed new features to iPhone. Plus, the legendary iPod is finally retired. We remember how the device changed Apple and the world.

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This week's stories

iPhone 15 could finally ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C

• It looks like Apple is finally preparing to make the switch to USB-C on its iPhone lineup next year. This prediction is based on the latest supply-chain survey by TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Win an Aer Fit Pack 3 backpack and go from work to gym in style [Cult of Mac giveaway]

• This week’s Cult of Mac giveaway is for the Fit Pack 3 backpack from Aer. The Fit Pack 3 is more than just a backpack, though. It’s a hybrid duffle/backpack that will carry you from work to the gym without hassle because it has special compartments for everything.

R.I.P. iPod: Apple discontinues its tiny music player

• It’s the end of an era — Apple has stopped making the once-iconic iPod. The little music player helped save Apple, and made the company a powerhouse in the music industry, but its day is over.

Why the iPod was the signature music device of its era

• Fire, the wheel, and the iPod. In the history of invention, gadgets don’t come more iconic than Apple’s digital music player. The iPod is to the 21st century what the big band was to the ’20s, the radio to the ’40s, or the juke-box to the ’50s — the signature technology that defines the musical culture of the era. And what a marvelous technology the iPod is.

An illustrated history of the iPod and its massive impact

Tony Fadell on the iPod wheel

Throwboy Launches New Mac-Themed Woven Throw Blankets