Did you know Mexico established an all-female police force decades ago? Well, now you do, thanks to the first look Apple dropped Friday for the Women in Blue crime series (aka Las Azules). The new Spanish-language, 10-part drama is set in 1970 against the backdrop of a serial killer’s spree.
Created by International Emmy Award winner Fernando Rovzar and featuring Ariel Award nominee Bárbara Mori, the show debuts July 31 on Apple TV+.
BenQ, inventor of the original monitor light bar, launched the new BenQ ScreenBar Pro this week. And it included a contest so you can win it and other prizes, the company said.
What looks like the lowest price ever on the entry-level 2022 M2 MacBook Air just popped up on Amazon. That’s $829, or $170 off the current average price.
Other major retailers are nearly matching that deal at $150 off. So take your pick of your preferred shop, if that matters more to you than grabbing the absolute lowest price.
Apple’s “Crush!” video advertising the new iPad Pro is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way with its graphic destruction of creative tools.
The video first aired during Apple’s “Let Loose” event Tuesday. And when CEO Tim Cook included the video in a post about iPad Pro on X, hundreds of people replied with irritation. You can see some of the strongest reactions, and the video itself, below.
Updates on Thursday: Later on Wednesday Hollywood names piled on with more criticism of the “Crush!” video. Actor Hugh Grant, for example, referred to it as, “the destruction of the human experience, courtesy of Silicon Valley.”
And filmmaker Rizo Sixo Safai made more of a splash when he told Apple he “fixed” the video by running it in reverse with some tweaks, resurrecting the creative tools. See that version below.
It also came to light that Apple’s “Crush!” ad closely resembles an LG Renoir phone ad from 2008, as pointed out in yet another X post (also below) and elsewhere. Some call Apple’s ad a rip-off.
And on Thursday, Apple issued an apology for the ad in a statement to Ad Age, saying the ad “missed the mark.”
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Apple marketing VP Tor Myhren said. “Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
The new Pitaka MagEZ Folio 2 serves as a case and holds the recently released M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air in landscape and portrait orientations as a stand, the company said Wednesday. It provides an option for new tablet owners in search of an affordable case and stand.
“We are thrilled to introduce the Pitaka MagEZ Folio 2, the ultimate accessory for the new iPad Pro,” said Pitaka CEO James Zheng. “Designed with the modern professional in mind, this folio combines sleek design, premium materials, and innovative features to elevate the iPad Pro experience.”
Amazon bargains site Woot! always brings the bargains on Apple gear and accessories. Now you have your pick of super-low prices on iPhone cases and other accessories, mixed in with some of the same for Android users.
And while the sale includes 85 items as of midday Wednesday, seven have sold out so far. The sale ends May 31 at 10 p.m. Pacific.
Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone will follow up Killers of the Flower Moon with a powerful new family drama on Apple TV+, if the trailer the streamer dropped Wednesday for Fancy Dance is any indication.
Fancy Dance premieres in select theaters June 21 and streams on Apple TV+ June 28.
A prolific YouTuber runs today’s featured MacBook Pro setup. And you can tell it’s the pride and joy of a streamer or podcaster just by some of the crucial equipment. Namely, an excellent Shure SM7DB microphone run through a Focusrite Vocaster Two audio interface to ensure high-quality audio recording.
The sleek new Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless noise-canceling earbuds seem destined to compete with top buds like AirPods Pro 2 and the best from the likes of Sony and Bose. Yet they cost just under $200, the German audio brand said Monday, opening preorders with shipping to commence May 21.
So what else sets the buds apart, other than moderate pricing? Accentum earbuds feature Sennheiser’s TrueResponse wavefront sculpting, which analyzes the unique anatomy of your outer ears to create a precise sound projection tailored to you.
Apple gave the iPad Air a significant size increase at its “Let Loose” event Tuesday. You can get the new 2024 model with a 13-inch display in addition to the familiar smaller size, now 11 inches instead of 10.9. But no matter the size, the tablet runs an Apple M2 processor and features a front-facing Ultra Wide 12MP camera on the landscape edge and beefed-up speakers.
“Inspired by iPad Pro, where about half the users choose a larger screen, we created a 13-inch model of the new iPad Air, as well,” said Melody Kuna, Apple’s director of iPad Product Design. “[It] has 30% more screen real estate than the 11-inch Air.”
Coming soon to Apple Arcade are five exciting new games, the iPhone giant said Monday. You can look forward to Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse, Return to Monkey Island+, Tomb of the Mask+, Fabulous – Wedding Disaster+ and Vision Pro spatial title Where Cards Fall.
It starts on May 30 with the arrival of 3D puzzle game Where Cards Fall. The other four titles follow on June 6.
If you’ve read much of Cult of Mac’s computer setups coverage, you know we love good audio. And we love it more when it’s high-value, where the sound is great despite affordable pricing. Edifier R1280T speakers meet that mark.
Edifier is a brand that has long lived in that space. And today’s MacBook Pro and PC laptop setup makes good use of a pair of powered Edifier bookshelf speakers that even MacBook Pro’s fine set of six can’t really compete with (outside of portability).
Apple shined a light on LGBTQ+ communities Monday with its new Pride Collection. It includes a new Apple Watch Pride Edition Braided Solo Loop plus a matching watch face and dynamic iOS and iPadOS wallpapers. In a first, you can customize the watch face and wallpapers by choosing colors.
You can order the new Apple Watch band starting May 22. The watch face and dynamic wallpapers for iOS and iPadOS arrive with an upcoming software update, Apple said.
A new Find Your Friends ad Apple dropped Friday connects the Find My universe with the Star Wars universe, as Boba Fett uses his iPhone 15 in the video to locate fellow Mandalorians in a crowded mall. Or wait, maybe it’s a convention center.
Yeah, it’s a guy in homemade Mandalorian battle gear going off to find like-minded nerds at a raucous Star Wars convention. It’s pretty funny.
Another Mac and PC computer setup stands in the spotlight today — this time a MacBook Pro and PC laptop driving a 4K display and an array of peripherals through an Orico Thunderbolt 3 dock bristling with 15 ports.
The setup emphasizes gaming, too, with a PlayStation 5 mounted under the desk. We’ll take a look at that, too.
The new SoundLink Max Portable Speaker adds a bit of heft and a bunch of powerful sound to the Bose line of SoundLink Bluetooth speakers, the company said Thursday.
“This all-new portable speaker has lasting power, rugged durability, and delivers incredible sound for its size,” Bose noted. “Now you can set the vibe with your favorite playlist no matter where you go.”
For the first time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) qualified a digital technology — Apple Watch’s AFib History feature — for a special research program. AFib, or atrial fibrillation, is a type of abnormal heart beat associated with heart attacks.
Apple Watch’s AFib History now qualifies for FDA’s stringent Medical Device Development Tools (MDDT) program. The program says which tools research sponsors can choose from to help develop and evaluate medical devices.
Tennis love-triangle movie Challengers looks like a contender so far in theaters, but one co-star is getting panned — the iPhone alarm on the sports drama’s soundtrack. Social media shows viewers and listeners saying they find it “triggering,” among other rants.
Maybe that’s not the sort of product placement Apple would prefer, but hey … all press is good press, right?
Jake Gyllenhaal is a lawyer in love in the teaser trailer for thriller series Presumed Innocent — and it looks like he might just be a murderer, too. Apple TV+ dropped the arresting trailer Wednesday.
Gyllenhaal stars in the eight-episode limited series from David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams, which debuts June 12 on Apple TV+.
How many times have you rushed out the door with a battery pack for your iPhone, only to discover the battery is dead as a doornail? SwitchEasy’s 2-in-1 Portal solves that. This stylish MagSafe battery pack stand includes a portable power pack that is always charged and ready to go.
And we have a massive discount only for Cult of Mac readers. The Portal regularly costs $119.99, but we are dropping the price to $44.99. That’s more than 60% off, and an offer not found anywhere else. Heck, it’s a good deal just for the 5,000mAh rechargeable MagSafe battery.
With its Bang & Olufsen-inspired styling, Portal is great for your desktop or nightstand. And it ensures you always have portable power ready to go.
The affordable and popular Baseus Bowie MA10 wireless noise-canceling earbuds just got a big upgrade with spatial audio, alongside a more compact design and a digital display for battery life on the case, the company said Tuesday. The new ones are called Baseus Bowie MA10s.
Baseus called the previous version its best-selling product on Amazon last year and said the buds “have been recommended by Oscar-class composers to ensure a quality sound experience.” And you can get them for a lot less than buds like AirPods Pro 2 — just $40.
Apple showcased the family-inspired coding work of three Swift Student Challenge winners Wednesday. The iPhone giant changed up its annual coding competition this year by naming 50 students Distinguished Winners among 350 top coders overall. The 50 get to attend a special event at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC24).
“This year’s winning Swift Student Challenge submissions once again demonstrate the breadth and depth of what is possible when talented young people use coding to make their mark on the world,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations.
“We’re also incredibly proud to welcome more outstanding student developers than ever before to Apple Park to connect with our teams and each other as they continue to build apps that will no doubt transform our future for the better,” she added.
You can buy a monitor light bar pretty cheap, even as low as about $20. But will it be a great piece of gear, illuminating your desk from atop your display, with a nice array of features? Probably not. Today’s M3 MacBook Pro and PC setup laid out a little more cash for a keeper — the BenQ Screenbar Monitor Light.
★★★☆☆
I’ve made no secret of my admiration for Edifier audio products in the past few years, but the streak couldn’t go on forever. But it’s not you, Edifier. It’s me, maybe. I blame my oversized head and clunky glasses for standing in the way of my affection for your sleek new Edifier Comfo Run sports headphones. I just couldn’t get the fit quite right for the best sound.
But I could see all sorts of athletes, and really anyone who prefers to keep earbuds and other objects out of their ear canals, loving these things. They work by air conduction.
Amazon launched a bunch of deals Tuesday on Apple gear that includes what looks like a lowest-ever price by a touch on Apple Pencil 2. And it matches low prices on AirPods Pro 2 and Studio Display, and offers nice prices on Apple Watch and AirTag packs.