Any old headphones will do. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
You’ll need some special equipment to enjoy high-resolution lossless audio tracks inside Apple Music. But spatial audio with Dolby Atmos is available to everyone who has a set of decent headphones.
Here’s how to enable it on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.
There's nothing like an alien invasion to bring out our humanity. Image: Apple TV+
How will humans hold up during an alien invasion? Upcoming Apple TV+ sci-fi series Invasion will focus on the worldwide impact of such an event, and the first trailer looks pretty epic.
The Invasion trailer, released Wednesday, offers a taste of the international story the 10-episode series will tell. Explosions, nosebleeds, a massive crop circle (or impact crater), soldiers firing into the sky, a brief glimpse of some kind of massive alien something … it’s all fairly standard-issue sci-fi stuff, but the voiceover talks about humanity.
No need to struggle with the Siri Remote. Image: Apple
Signing into Apple TV apps will soon be easier than ever, thanks to the ability to use Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone or iPad with tvOS 15.
The new “Sign in with Apple Device” feature will negate the need to enter usernames and passwords with Apple TV’s Siri Remote, significantly speeding up the sign in process. But there is a small catch.
Just a few of the titles available on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple
Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote was short on tangible details about Apple TV+. But Apple seized upon arguably its biggest week of the year to showcase a new trailer highlighting the great shows and movies available to watch on its subscription video service. And previewing one or two more.
To a remixed version of The Beach Boys’ classic “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” the two-minute Apple TV+ ad shows off the slate of Apple Originals. It casts Apple TV+ productions as mold-breakers, with original vision — and no shortage of big hits. It also offers some nice shots of upcoming productions, including Apple’s Foundation sci-fi series, the CODA movie that swept Sundance, the second season of surprise hit Ted Lasso and more.
Its new interface better resembles the new Siri Remote that ships with the latest Apple TV 4K, introduced back in April, and offers greater functionality over the old design.
Where will the Fox family go next season? We can't wait to find out. Photo: Apple TV+
The Mosquito Coast, the bold Apple TV+ potboiler about a family on the run from the law, wraps up its impressive first season this week with the end of the road — a few roads actually — in sight.
It’s a gripping finale that will leave you breathlessly waiting for the show’s just-announced second season.
Go to Charlie Brown school for a history lesson. Photo: Apple TV+
Whether it’s the classic Peanuts holidays specials or newer series like Snoopy in Space, Apple TV+ is the home of all things Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the gang these days.
Debuting later this month will be a great new addition to the collection: A star-studded feature documentary that tells the story of Peanuts and its impact. Check out the trailer below.
Julianne Moore shines in this adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Photo: Apple TV+
With Lisey’s Story, Apple TV+ officially enters the Stephen King business, a step every streaming service must eventually take. The new miniseries, based on King’s novel of the same name, just so happens to boast an astonishing pedigree. So the inevitable move reads less like calculation and more like certainty for once.
This is a miniseries that, at least initially, looks like it’s firing on all cylinders.
Apple TV+ renewed The Mosquito Coast for a second exciting season. Photo: Apple TV+
The Fox family’s adventures will continue in The Mosquito Coast on Apple TV+. The streaming service committed to second season on Wednesday.
The series is adapted from the best-seller by Paul Theroux, and the story isn’t anywhere near its conclusion in the final episode of season 1, which will premiere June 4.
Apple's not big into buying other properties. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook is “afraid of [the] shareholder blowback” that might come with buying a Hollywood studio, claims one executive, quoted in a new story from the Hollywood Reporter.
The article, published Wednesday, suggests that Apple missed out on buying MGM Studios because it wasn’t bold enough to do so. Amazon recently snapped up MGM, home of the James Bond movies, for a massive $8.45 billion. Apple was supposedly in the bidding at some point, but didn’t wind up going through with it.
The already lengthy list of devices that can play Apple TV+ now includes Nvidia Shield media players. Photo: Nvidia
Add Nvidia Shield to the lengthy list of smart TVs and streaming boxes that can play Apple TV+. A version of the free app for the Android-powered media player debuted Tuesday.
Things get tense between Allie Fox (played by Justin Theroux, right) and Calaca (Paterson Joseph). Photo: Apple TV+
The Mosquito Coast, the Apple TV+ show about a family of environmentalist fugitives, soldiers on into the unknown this week. Less and less about father Allie Fox feels like a certainty. And his family continues to be put to the test while they search for freedom.
Some things are about to change permanently, though. And they’ll happen so fast you won’t have time to think about them until next week’s final episode of the season.
Another set of nominations for Apple TV+. Image: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
For the second year in a row, Apple TV+ kids’ shows Helpsters and Ghostwriter have racked up a slew of Daytime Emmy award nominations. While not quite the collective 13 nominations the two shows received last year (of which Ghostwriterwound up winning one), they nonetheless picked up an impressive six noms between them.
Ghostwriter — now in its second season — received five nominations, including outstanding sound mixing and editing, lighting direction, music direction and composition, art direction, and hairstyling. Helpsters — also having finished season two — picked up a nomination for outstanding costume design.
May not have been totally transparent about Apple TV+ show. Apparently. Photo: E. J. Hersom/Wikipedia CC
Queen Elizabeth II may not be the biggest fan of Apple TV+. According to a report from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, the queen signed off on her grandson, Prince Harry, doing a show for the streaming service — but was possibly misled about its contents.
The report claims the queen believed the show, The Me You Can’t See, was “about veterans’ mental health – not to air his dirty emotional laundry and launch a ‘personal attack’ on the royal family.”
Stephen King talks about his inspirations for writing Lisey’s Story, which debuts June 4 on Apple TV+. Screenshot: Apple TV+
Stephen King makes no bones about it: Lisey’s Story is his favorite novel. He talks about why in a video released a week before the Apple TV+ premiers an adaptation starring Julianne Moore.
The author also discusses why he changed the story for the series.
Because 2021 hasn't had enough Zoom calls. Photo: Apple
Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s Apple TV+ show, The Me You Can’t See, apparently became a big hit for the streaming service.
According to Deadline, insiders call the series the most-watched program worldwide on Apple TV+ since premiering earlier this month. It also drew 25% new viewers to the service, and a “more than 40% increase” in average weekend viewership in Harry’s homeland.
Apple might combine video and music into one subscription. Photo: Apple
The new Apple TV 4K with faster A12 Bionic processor, high frame rate HDR, and all-new Siri Remote is out now. Prices start at just $179, and there is a way to make yours even more affordable.
Sell your old Apple TV (and other Apple devices) to Cult of Mac today and we’ll send you a nice stack of cash to make your upgrade more affordable.
Things keep getting dicier for the Fox family. Photo: Apple TV+
The Foxes hit Mexico City this week on The Mosquito Coast, the simmering new Apple TV show about a family off the grid and on the run. They’re fugitives, but that doesn’t stop them from becoming tourists, with all that entails.
This week’s episode, titled “Elvis, Jesus, Coca-Cola,” tightens the noose around the criminal family of four, while showing off the wider world they’ve been missing out on.
We don't get nearly enough Imelda Staunton this season. Photo: Apple TV+
No one’s favorite young parents-to-be return for another go-round in Trying, the maddening Apple TV+ show about the travails of a British couple who really want children.
Unfortunately, the show’s second season, which debuts Friday, proves just as exhausting and depressing as its first.
Even the Staples Singers can't save this nostalgia-riddled mess. Photo: Apple TV+
With 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, Apple TV+ tried to buy itself a Ken Burns-style documentary about the potent cultural impact of rock and soul. Unfortunately, the eight-episode documentary series, which premieres Friday, proves so low-energy it will put you to sleep.
This deceptively “comprehensive” look at a single year in music history proves as scatterbrained and toothless as a school project. The impression it leaves is not that 1971 really changed everything, but that no one is even remotely willing to admit that their favorite bands really aren’t that interesting.
Rebecca Ferguson will star in Wool, a drama series based on Hugh Howey’s New York Times bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels. Photo: Apple TV+
The collection of sci-fi series available on Apple TV+ is growing again with a series order for Wool. It’s based on a bestselling trilogy of dystopian novels, and will star Rebecca Ferguson.
When available, it’ll join several other sci-fi series on Apple’s streaming video service.
Apple once labelled the Apple TV a “hobby.” Now, six generations down the line, it’s proven it’s longevity as an interest for Apple. But is it the “must-have” streaming box the company has long promised?
With the review embargoes having lifted for the 2021 Apple TV 4K, it seems like Apple may have finally cracked the formula. And all it took were some neat upgrades and switching out that darn Siri Remote for something a whole lot better.
The folks at UK catalog-based retailer Argos screwed up by making the new Apple TV 4K available to customers one day early, before realizing their mistake and pulling availability. But seemingly not before a few lucky customers managed to get hold of the new streaming box.
Apple showed off the new sixth-generation Apple TV 4K in late April. It boasts Apple’s A12 Bionic chip and, most importantly, a redesigned version of the much-hated Siri Remote.
Apple on Tuesday confirmed that the new 2021 iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV 4K will be available from retail stores on Friday, May 21.
That’s the same day preorder customers will begin receiving their deliveries. If you haven’t already claimed your new device, you’ll have the chance to do so when Apple Store locations open on Friday morning.
Aunt Lucretia (played by Ofelia Medina) and Enrique (Bruno Bicher) heat things up in this week's episode. Photo: Apple TV+
Thanks to a last-minute call to a new ally, things seem to be looking up for the Foxes in this week’s episode of The Mosquito Coast. Or have they left the frying pan and stepped into the fire?
Time will tell, but it seems likely that Allie Fox will find some way to slip out of the noose if that’s what waiting for him. Director Rupert Wyatt is back behind the camera for an exciting new episode of Apple TV+ drama.