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Funny documentary Dads hits Apple TV+ just in time for Father’s Day

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“Dads” on Apple TV+ is funny, heartwarming, and also revealing.
Bryce Dallas Howard’s documentary Dads stars her father Ron Howard as well as other funny fathers.
Photo: Toronto Film Festival

Dads, a humorous documentary about modern fatherhood directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of Ron Howard, is headed for Apple TV+ next month.

Dads includes funny stories from Will Smith, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris and others.

Defending Jacob takes an unsettling turn in 5th episode [Apple TV+ review]

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J.K. Simmons takes Defending Jacob to an unsettling new place.
J.K. Simmons takes us to an unsettling new place in this week's episode.
Photo: Apple TV+

Things start to get unbearably tense and inhumane as pressure builds on the Barber family in Defending Jacob’s fifth episode, “Visitors.” The show takes a number of risks that may pay rich dividends in future episodes — as long as the showrunners remember not to flinch.

New guest stars — including veteran actor J.K. Simmons — and old vendettas surface in Friday’s new episode. And the Barbers head toward what might turn out to be a moral dead end if they want to stop their son, Jacob, from going to prison. Can we say climax?

Apple TV+ is still a long way from winning viewers’ hearts

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Apple TV+ is free to everyone who buys a new iPhone, Mac or iPad.
Although people generally like Apple TV+, they like rival streaming services more.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ won an accolade no one wants: it’s the streaming video service viewers are most likely to cancel once it stops being free.

Still, satisfaction with Apple’s offering is fairly high, according to survey results revealed on Friday. But people like almost all its competitors more.

Apple TV reigns with best picture quality among streaming devices in pandemic’s early days

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Apple TV Siri Remote
Streaming video quality during early 2020 was above par using Apple TV devices.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

While it might be far down the pecking order of best selling streaming boxes, the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K got high marks in the first quarter of this year for best picture quality speed and shortest lag time in starting videos, according to data collected from billions of sensors embedded into video applications.

The results are a clear sign of how well streaming devices and services performed in a period where more people around the world were homebound due to the coronavirus pandemic and turned to watching television en masse.

New Apple TV ‘ready to ship’ with much faster A12X chip

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apple tv
Coming soon to a living room near you?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A new Apple TV 4K, powered by the company’s A12X chip from 2018’s 11-inch iPad Pro, is primed to drop any day, claims tipster Jon Prosser.

“Apple got no chill right now,” Prosser tweeted Thursday. He adds that he has not yet heard a projected date of release.

Take a tour of the Jamestown lunar base from Apple TV+ show For All Mankind

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Jamestown For All Mankind
Come and take a look inside.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ show For All Mankind is currently between seasons — with season one concluded, but season two stalled by the same production challenges facing everyone in Hollywood right now.

To make sure that the retro space drama stays in people’s minds, however, Apple Wednesday dropped a new video providing a narrated tour of one of the show’s locations. Check it out below.

TiVo Stream 4K challenges Apple TV 4K with long-awaited release, but no Apple TV app support

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tivo.stream.4k.3
Is the TiVo Stream 4K a worthy Apple TV opponent? Probably, but no Apple TV+ support hurts.
Photo: TiVo

After months of anticipation and weeks of social media teasing, the TiVo Stream 4K was released Wednesday, a streaming box that brings together on-demand and live streaming services into one device without having to switch from app to app to find and watch shows.

At an introductory price of $49.99 with no monthly subscription for TV scheduling data, the TiVo Stream 4K will take on the Apple TV 4K with a starting price of $179 and the top-selling Roku streaming device.

The disappointing news for Apple TV app users and Apple TV+ subscribers is that TiVo’s newest product currently will not support the app or integration of Apple’s programming as Apple does not have an Android app.

Apple adds AFI Movie Club favorites to Apple TV app

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afi.movie.club.logo.jpg
No, they aren't free, but they are a good collection.
Photo: AFI

The American Film Institute announced Tuesday it has launched a dedicated AFI Movie Club collection of chosen films on the Apple TV app. 

The club is not a subscription service but simply recommendations of content that can be bought through iTunes for $14.99 or rented through Disney+, Hulu, or HBO for $3.99 each.

Defending Jacob delves into trust issues in stellar 4th episode [Review]

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Defending Jacob
Apple TV+'s Defending Jacob stays strong in its fourth episode.
Photo: Apple TV+

In its fourth episode, stellar Apple TV+ show Defending Jacob shows every member of the Barber family starting to crack as young Jacob moves closer to his murder trial. As the characters head toward revelations and uncomfortable conclusions, they start to stall for time in irresponsible, sometimes dangerous ways.

As the situation unfolds, their relationships with each other start to fray.

New Apple TV+ sitcom Trying is mostly failing [Review]

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Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are not trying hard enough in Apple TV+'s new series Trying.
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are not trying hard enough in new series Trying.
Photo: Apple TV+

Even during quarantine, you’d really need to not value your time to look beyond the failures of imagination at the heart of Trying. The new Apple TV+ sitcom, created by Andy Wolton and starring Rafe Spall and Esther Smith as a couple who discover they can’t conceive, is sitcom 101.

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with the premise, but neither is there much to recommend it. Wolton and company seem content to do the bare minimum.

Adoption comedy series Trying, new episode of Defending Jacob debut on Apple TV+

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Trying on Apple TV+
Trying is the first British comedy to debut on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

With coronavirus lockdown, new streaming TV content is more appreciated than ever. Fortunately, Apple TV+ has loaded up on new content for another packed week of new shows. Debuting Friday are all eight episodes of the first season of new comedy series Trying.

There’s also episode four of the excellent Chris Evans-starring drama series Defending Jacob. That should be enough to fill at least part of the weekend!

Defending Jacob finally justifies the existence of Apple TV+ [Review]

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Chris Evans, Jaeden Martell and Michelle Dockery portray a family fighting suspicion in Defending Jacob.
Chris Evans, Jaeden Martell and Michelle Dockery portray a family fighting suspicion in Defending Jacob.
Photo: Apple TV+

With a hot cast and a true-crime sheen, Defending Jacob is one of the most highly anticipated Apple TV+ series so far. It’s based on a best-selling novel. It’s helmed by an Oscar-nominated director. And the first three episodes arrived Friday, primed for a literally captive audience seeking its latest obsession.

Apple calls its fledgling streaming service “the new home for the world’s most creative storytellers.” And for the first time, Apple TV+ has delivered a show that lives up to the hype — at least judging by the first three episodes.

First 3 episodes of Defending Jacob debut on Apple TV+

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Defending Jacob 1
Chris Evans stars as a man whose son may or may not have committed a murder.
Photo: Apple TV+

Defending Jacob, a new Apple TV+ murder mystery show starring Chris Evans (Captain America), debuted Friday on Apple’s streaming TV service.

The show tells the story of a small-town assistant district attorney whose family is turned upside down after his 14-year-old son is accused of murder. Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery plays Evans’ wife, while Jaeden Martell from It plays the titular Jacob.

Beastie Boys Story relives the beer-soaked glory days of hip-hop’s original hell-raisers [Review]

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Beastie Boys Story: Mike Diamond, Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz in 1993 from an archival photo used in “Beastie Boys Story,” premiering globally on Apple TV+ on April 24.
Beastie Boys turned hip-hop on its head, and a new doc captures the magic.
Photo: Apple TV+

Beastie Boys Story, director Spike Jonze’s endearing Apple TV+ documentary about the first white rap phenoms, proves as powerful as it is screamingly funny.

Jonze, a confidant and collaborator of the group since the Beasties’ experimental mid-career, exhibits an easy candor with his subjects. That familiarity allows all of them to open up, which is important when it comes to discussing their failures and losses.

The Shrink Next Door starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd heads for Apple TV+

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“The Shrink Next Door” will star Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell
Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell appeared in the Anchorman movies, and now these brilliant comedians are headed for Apple TV+.
Photo: DreamWorks Pictures

Apple TV+ picked up a comedy starring a couple of household names on Thursday. Apple gave a straight-to-series order to The Shrink Next Door, a new, eight-episode limited series starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd.

Get an extra $10 for your old Apple devices in our Earth Day promo

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iPhone 8 iPad Macbook
Sell today to earn even more!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Sell your old Apple devices to Cult of Mac now to earn an additional $10 for Earth Day. We typically pay more than other buyback services, and we cough up real cash, fast!

Find out how much your old iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and other Apple devices are really worth — and use our promo code to get even more.

iMac redesign, cheaper HomePod, new Apple TV reportedly coming in 2020

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Apple iMac showing the Apple logo.
It's been almost eight years since the last iMac redesign.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A redesigned iMac, a more affordable HomePod, and a powerful new Apple TV are just some of the products Apple has planned for 2020, according to one reliable reporter.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also revealed expectations for the 5G iPhone lineup, scheduled to launch this fall, and for a 14-inch MacBook Pro during a Twitter Q&A with followers on Tuesday.

Apple could be developing its own game controller for iOS, Apple TV

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Fortnite on iPad with SteelSeries Nimbus
Coming this year or next?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is developing its own game controller for Apple TV and iOS devices that will launch this year or next, according to claims from one tipster, published on Monday. It is said to be part of a big push to improve Apple Arcade.

The information comes from the same source who accurately predicted Apple’s plans for the 2020 iPad Pro refresh and the second-generation iPhone SE.