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Looks like M1 iMacs, new iPad Pro and updated Apple TV 4K will arrive May 21 [Updated]

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iMac preorders start: Early on, the purple iMac looks like the hardest to come by.
Apple says only that the new iMacs will become available in the "second half of May."
Photo: Apple

According to (generally) reliable Apple tipster Jon Prosser, Apple will release the new iPad Pros with M1 chips and the faster Apple TV 4K with redesigned Siri Remote on May 21. And a leak straight outta Cupertino indicates the new M1-powered iMacs will arrive that day as well.

Apple showed off the new devices during last week’s Spring Loaded event. However, at the time, Apple kept the launch date vague, saying only that they would be available sometime in the second half of May. The devices will be available for preorder starting Friday, April 30.

Battle of the Steve Jobs companies: Pixar beats Apple TV+ at Oscars

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Apple TV+ enters the world of auteur animation with new animated film Wolfwalkers.
Close but no cigar for Apple.
Image: Apple TV+

Apple came up short at Sunday night’s Oscars, losing its Best Animated Feature nomination (for the great animated movie Wolfwalkers) to Pixar’s Soul.

As brilliant as it was (and Cult of Mac‘s resident reviewer hailed it as the best animated flick of the year) Wolfwalkers was very much a long shot. This would have been Apple TV+’s first Oscar. Instead, it was scuppered by Pixar winning its 11th (!!) award in the Best Animated Feature category.

Apple springs it on us! [Cult of Mac Magazine 398]

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Apple Spring Loaded event: Full coverage in Cult of Mac Magazine.
When Apple said its spring event would be "loaded," it wasn't kidding.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac Magazine

iMac … iPad Pro … Apple TV 4K … AirTag …

So much new Apple hardware, so little time!

And that’s not to mention the purple iPhone or the upgrades and updates coming to Apple Podcasts, Apple Card and more. Jump right into all our coverage of this week’s big “Spring Loaded” Apple event in Cult of Mac Magazine. (And if you’re already caught up on that, you’ll find plenty of other Apple news, reviews and how-tos.)

Our iOS mag is free and makes reading easy and fun, but you also can find the headlines below.

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything hits Apple TV+ on May 21

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“1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything” debuted on Apple TV+ in May.
Jump back 50 years to take a deep dive into “1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything.”
Photo: Apple

Music fans rejoice! 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything is an upcoming Apple TV+ documentary series exploring the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 50 years ago.

It’ll premiere on Apple’s streaming video service on Friday, May 21.

How to easily color calibrate your Apple TV with an iPhone

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How to color calibrate Apple TV
You don't even need the newest Apple TV (but you do need an iPhone with Face ID).
Image: Apple

Apple just added a brand-new feature to Apple TV that works with your iPhone to color calibrate your TV. It’s really simple to use and the results can be terrific. What’s more, you don’t need the newest Apple TV.

The new Color Balance tool is available on Apple TV models released in 2015 or later. Here’s how to use it.

For All Mankind shoots the moon in season 2 finale [Apple TV+ review]

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For All Mankind review: In the season 2 finale, the fate of the moon rests on the unlikely shoulders of astronaut Gordo Stevens (Michael Dorman).
In the season 2 finale, the fate of the moon rests on Gordo's unlikely shoulders.
Photo: Apple TV+

The Russians have taken over the moon! The second season of Apple TV+ space soap For All Mankind ends with bloody faces, broken marriages, uncertain futures, and a whole boatload of moon crime.

If you’re wondering if any of it’s handled well, read on. But you know the score by now, don’t you?

New Apple TV remote is not compatible with some tvOS games

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Apple's new Apple TV 4K with redesigned Siri Remote
The new Siri Remote doesn't pack the proper hardware for some games.
Photo: Apple

The redesigned Siri Remote that comes with the next-gen Apple TV 4K won’t work with certain games available on tvOS.

Since it doesn’t come with an accelerometer or gyroscope sensor, it won’t be compatible with games that rely on spatial positioning data from the controller as an input.

Apple celebrates Earth Day across its various platforms

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Earth Day
From App Store to Apple Music, every Apple platform is going all-in on Earth Day.
Photo: Apple

Today is Earth Day and, to celebrate the occasion, Apple’s introduced a plethora of “Earth Day programming” across its various platforms, including the App Store, Apple TV+, and Apple Watch. For today, at least, no matter where you go for your Earth Day reminders, Apple’s got you covered.

David Attenborough The Year Earth Changed docu breaks records on Apple TV+

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Penguins too fill us in on The Year Earth Changed
Penguins too fill us in on The Year Earth Changed
Photo: Apple TV+

Ninety-four-year-old David Attenborough is a beloved institution — and he may have helped Apple rack up one of its biggest viewership wins for Apple TV+ thus far.

According to Deadline, the Attenborough-narrated The Year Earth Changed documentary special is the most-viewed documentary currently on Apple TV+ in the United States. That’s ahead of high profile titles like Beastie Boys Story, Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, and Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You.

Talk about ‘Spring Loaded’: Apple event sets my head spinning

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We finally got our first legit look at an AirTag.
We finally got our first legit look at an AirTag, but that was just the beginning!
Photo: Apple

Wow, that was the speediest, most jam-packed Apple event in recent memory.

It was so quick-moving, we all got whiplash. There was barely time to catch your breath between announcements: Here’s a new purple iPhone. Fuggedaboutit, here’s a new Apple TV, and new AirTags. Oh, and hers’s new iMacs — and iPads!!

In an hour, Tim Cook and Co. managed to introduce a raft of products with dozens of new features and technologies while dazzling us with some pretty jaw-dropping promo videos.

Once again, the prerecorded format worked well. The promo videos in Tuesday’s “Spring Loaded” event looked super. They hit us with a great mix of head-spinning effects and angles, humor and product placement.

Here are some thoughts and initial reactions to some of the major announcements:

Are we high?!? 10 ways Apple blew our minds on 4/20

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Apple Spring Loaded event: 10 ways Apple blew our minds on 4/20.
Man, that was one powerful presentation.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

It’s 4/20 and Apple’s big iMac and iPad Pro launch event was a total trip. The new Mac desktop comes in a rainbow of colors, and the M1 processor in the latest tablet will blow you away. And there’s AirTag too, at long last.

Grab some snacks and get ready to find out what the new products mean for Apple users and for the company’s future.

For All Mankind might reignite the Cold War … in space! [Apple TV+ review]

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For All Mankind review of
This show might be tense in another time line.
Photo: Apple TV+

This week on For All Mankind, Russians are blockading the moon and Ed Baldwin’s going up to set ’em straight. Can old-fashioned American ingenuity prevent the reignition of the Cold War?

Be honest, are you even watching Apple TV+’s alt-history space race show?

Tiny World is the nature doc you should be binging [Apple TV+ review]

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Tiny World is back and as cute as ever
The astonishing docuseries about Earth's tiniest inhabitants is back and as cute as ever.
Photo: Apple TV+

Two of Apple TV’s big nature shows just returned back for their second seasons mere months after they debuted. Tiny World is the cuter of the two. Its micro look at a macro world remains charming, cute and sometimes despairing and gross, but never so much you couldn’t show it to kids.

Earth at Night in Color’s stunning imagery will render you speechless [Apple TV+ review]

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Earth at Night in Color
Season 2 of Apple's nighttime nature doc delivers amazing new delights.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ docuseries Earth at Night in Color delivers a fresh batch of majestic nighttime sights, cruel natural phenomena and fascinating perspectives in its second season, which premieres today. The show didn’t quite reinvent the nature documentary wheel, but it still offers a welcome retreat from the horrors of 2021.

The Year Earth Changed reveals pandemic’s surprise silver lining [Apple TV+ review]

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David Attenborough and Penguins will teach us about The Year Earth Changed
David Attenborough and penguins teach us about the unexpected positive side effects of the pandemic.
Photo: Apple TV+

A nature special and a cautionary tale, The Year Earth Changed delivers a whole mess of qualified good news that you’re going to wish didn’t come with so many strings attached to it. An engaging, largely drone-shot 45 minutes of TV, the new Apple TV+ documentary about the environmental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic won’t change your life. But it will make you feel slightly better about having just spent the last year indoors.

PSA: Apple TV+ offers up new For All Mankind episode, Earth Day documentaries galore

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The Year Earth Changed 1
How did lockdown change the world for wildlife? David Attenborough will answer all.
Photo: Apple

It’s a busy day for Apple TV+ — with plenty of new material to watch on the Apple streaming video service. In addition to a new episode of For All Mankind, there is a plethora of new nature documentaries, narrated by some big names, and more.

Here’s what Friday, April 16 has in store for subscribers.

Skydance Animation produces sci-fi film Blush for Apple TV+

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Skydance Animation is producing ‘Blush’ for Apple TV+.
Skydance Animation produced Blush about a stranded astronaut meeting an ethereal visitor. Coming soon to Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple and Skydance Animation teamed up to create Blush, a short film about a stranded astronaut. It’s written and directed by Joe Mateo, whose credits include Big Hero 6 and Prep & Landing.

The upcoming film is the first in a multiyear partnership to create animated movies and shows for Apple TV+.

‘Definitive’ Louis Armstrong documentary trumpets toward Apple TV+

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‘Definitive’ Louis Armstrong documentary trumpets toward Apple TV+
Apple TV+ will release Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, giving an in-depth look at the musician’s life and legacy.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s streaming service green lit Black & Blues: The Colorful Ballad of Louis Armstrong. The documentary film promises a “definitive” look at the musician’s life and legacy built on the filmmakers’ access to never-before-seen materials.

It’ll be the latest production of Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries, along with Apple Original Films.

Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event happens April 20: Here’s what to expect

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Apple Spring Loaded event on April 20.
Cue the 4/20 jokes.
Photo: Apple

The next Apple product-release event will happen April 20. Invites went out Tuesday morning for the virtual “Spring Loaded” event, just hours after Siri leaked the date.

Naturally, Apple didn’t announce what’s on the agenda. But rumors point to multiple new iPads, as well as the possibility of next-gen AirPods, a faster Apple TV and the long-awaited debut of AirTags item trackers.

Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story will find a portal to Apple TV+ on June 4

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Lisey's Story
Knives, it turns out, are no substitute for an Apple Pencil.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Lisey’s Story, an Apple TV+ series based on a 2006 Stephen King novel, will debut on Apple TV+ on June 4. It’s about the widow of a famous author who discovered a passageway to a parallel dimension that inspired his work.

Unlike many screen adaptations of King’s work, the horror master himself wrote the scripts for Lisey’s Story. The eight-part series stars Julianne Moore and Clive Owen. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions produced the show.

Apple TV+ wins on quality, but severely lags on quantity

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Apple TV app lands on PlayStation
Apple TV+ has some impressive quality control.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ may be only a bit-player in the streaming wars, but on a pound-for-pound quality basis, it could actually be outperforming its competitors.

That’s according to a new study by Self Financial, which compared TV and movie data from Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu and Apple TV+ to find out which offered the best quality viewing experience.

Get ready for high-stress hilarity in Mythic Quest season two

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Get ready for high-stress hilarity in ‘Mythic Quest’ season two
Mythic Quest session two starts in May, and things are going well. Too well.
Screenshot: Apple TV+

Mythic Quest season two is right around the corner, and Apple TV+ whet everyone’s appetite Monday with a fresh trailer. In the upcoming episodes, the game developers face the pressure of building a critical expansion pack, and some people are handling the stress far, far too easily.

Watch the hijinks now.

Apple TV+ will get at least 10-12 original movies per year

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It's the perfect time for Apple TV+ to makes its move with movies.
Apple's embracing original movies in a big way.
Photo: riviera 2005/Flickr CC

Apple TV+ is looking to ramp up its investment in original movies, and has hired a former WarnerMedia executive to help it, according to The Information.

The report cites “two people familiar with the situation” as saying that Apple wants to “beef up its original film production” to better compete in the streaming stakes.