David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
You can play Movie Crosswords on your iPhone or your iPad. Image: Digiluna Games
There’s nothing like a good crossword puzzle or word-search game to stimulate the brain. But a lot of themed crossword puzzles offer just a few clues and sometimes an image related to the subject. Not so with Digiluna Games’ Movie Crosswords game.
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The clues in all of the easy-to-play crossword and word-search puzzles relate to the cinematic theme, making them unique — and a great way to boost your Hollywood knowledge.
Right now you can get 24% off AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C on Amazon. Photo: Apple
Happy New Year — and it will no doubt be happier if you can nab AirPods Pro 2 with a USB-C charging case, which has returned to its lowest price yet. Maybe that’ll even motivate you to exercise more, if by chance you set certain New Year’s resolutions along those lines and could use the help of Apple’s top earbuds.
Amazon is selling the updated noise-canceling earbuds for $189, down from $249. That’s the best price we’ve seen. And you can find discounts on other Apple earbuds, too.
"Slow Horses" on Apple TV+ will air a fifth season. Photo: Apple
The darkly comedic spy thriller series Slow Horses has three seasons ready to binge-watch on Apple TV+ — season 3’s finale aired last week — plus season 4 on the way and now a fifth season planned for production, the streaming service said Tuesday.
The critically acclaimed hit show starring Gary Oldman might as well keep rolling, as there are more novels in Mick Herron’s Slough House book series to base new six-episode seasons on.
Insignia's 3-in-1 MagSafe charger is on sale, along with plenty of iPhone accessories from Apple and others. Photo: Best Buy
Here’s your last chance of the year to grab certain outstanding deals on iPhone accessories from Best Buy before 2024 comes along, including one item for an astounding 80% off the regular price.
Jump on the links below to nab bargains on iPhone cases, screen protectors, wallets and chargers. Keep in mind the examples below are just a sampling of all that’s on offer. Sales lasts through December 31.
★★★★☆
Sergei ducks deep cover to seek out Margo with Aleida's reluctant help. Photo: Apple
Hopefully you were already onboard with For All Mankind‘s sometimes brazenly credulity-stretching alternative reality. The first woman president comes out as gay. Homegrown terrorists blow up NASA HQ. Agency director Margo Madison defects to the Soviet Union and then goes to work in its space agency, only to end up partnering with NASA.
If so, then you won’t mind if a Russian ghost comes back to mess with us now, too.
OK, he’s not a ghost. He’s Sergei, the Russian scientist who seemed to fall in love with Margo and got strangled in front of her to get her to give up U.S. space secrets. And as forces now align to mine the Goldilocks asteroid near Mars, he breaks cover on Earth to seek her out — and maybe not just for more romance.
Sometimes the holiday season turns a half-empty desk into a powerful computer setup. Photo: TemporaryAd_4202@Reddit
Ah, the magic of Christmas. Even a grownup can get deliriously excited about unwrapping a rich haul of computer gear that turns a Charlie Brown Christmas tree of a setup into a powerful workstation that would intimidate Ebeneezer Scrooge. You can also relive the magic and watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales free this season.
Today’s user had a decent MacBook Pro and iPad Pro to begin with, but ended up with a proper, highly functional setup. And commenters had further suggestions for additions, too. Hey, the more the merrier!
Expect to see two versions of AirPods 4 -- including one with noise canceling -- in 2024. Photo: Cult of Mac
In an effort to boost sales and clarify offerings, Apple will revamp its AirPods lineup in 2024, reports have indicated — but that won’t include updates for every product.
AirPods 4 should arrive next year, with two versions replacing current lower-priced earbuds models. And AirPods Max 2 rumors suggest some long-awaited updates, although the pricey over-ear headphones won’t get a major revamp. And as for what comes after AirPods Pro 2, we’ll have to wait until early 2025, most likely.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Series 9 are on the ban's hit list. Photo: Apple
After a federal court granted a temporary pause on the Apple Watch ban Wednesday, Apple returned Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 to select store shelves, with online store sales expected to resume Thursday — for a short time, at least.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a temporary stay until January 10. Apple requested the pause after the Biden administration confirmed Tuesday it won’t overturn the ban, put in place through a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling.
The video doorbell features dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity. Photo: Belkin
Christmas day is behind us, but Amazon bargain site Woot! is at it again with a smoking-hot deal for your and yours — two-thirds off the regular price of a Belkin Wemo Smart Video Doorbell!
The hot item sold out recently, so this is a bonus sale on Wednesday, Woot noted. And you should note the gadget works exclusively with HomeKit Secure Video.
U.S. imports and sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are on again ... for now. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
The ban on Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales in the United States stands, after the Biden administration confirmed Tuesday it won’t overturn it, but a federal court paused it temporarily Wednesday after Apple’s request for appeal.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a temporary stay until January 10 — so Apple can resume selling the wearables, at least for a short time.
Want a great deal on a space-black M3 MacBook Pro? It's in there. Photo: Apple
The holiday shopping season might cool off a bit right after Christmas, but not at B&H Photo. Its year-end Mega Deal Zone sale is running hot with a bunch of bargains on Apple products this week — especially MacBook Pro.
You can get $250 off a hot new M3 MacBook Pro or up to an amazing $2,000 off a massively loaded 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro, to name two examples. See more below.
Windows on water everywhere in this triple-screened Mac Studio and MacBook Pro setup. Photo: [email protected]
After a recent debate over whether dual external displays should be lined up straight across or angled for better ergonomics, a Mac Studio and dual-MacBook setup addresses the question in a different way. It uses three identical displays in landscape mode, placing the center one one straight and one on either side of it at an angle.
And the setup also offers connecitivity tips, running the two MacBooks into two of the displays via a CalDigit dock while the Mac Studio drives one directly.
There are SO MANY weather apps to choose from, but these are the best free ones. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
In a world with about 10,000 weather apps — that’s an actual estimate, not a huge exaggeration — how do you choose the best free weather app for iPhone or iPad that you can trust and that includes the features you want most? It’s not easy. But a mix of full-featured free weather apps (most with premium versions) and specialty apps can cover all the bases for you.
We’ll go over some of the best weather apps below, whether you just want to avoid getting wet or if you’re a total weather freak who can’t get enough data, visual or otherwise.
★★★☆☆
Ed Baldwin and Samantha Massey represent Helios workers in strike negotiations. Photo: Apple TV+
For All Mankind, season 4, episode 7 — “Crossing the Line” — wastes no time getting into rancorous strike negotiations between Helios workers and NASA management at Happy Valley, Mars, as forecast by the previous episode.
That “line” in the episode title is a picket line, or maybe a reference to the disastrous result of management trying to bust a strike in space.
It's a fun way to engage with an AI chat. Photo: Zviadi Tumanishvili
The new Aztec Mystery Magic app for iPhone and iPad released Thursday dresses up artificial intelligence (AI) chat in a cool Aztec costume.
It doesn’t do a whole lot, but it looks cool and it’s free. It answers questions, makes predictions and offers ancient Aztec riddles you can solve to get amulets. And hey, you might learn something.
With the new green option, you can now choose from seven colors. Photo: Laut
Laut’s Steel Loop Apple Watch Band boasts a stainless-steel-mesh look and feel that’s elegant enough for a festive gala but would not look out of place at a football game.
And you can get it in seven cool colors, now that the new green option is available in the Cult of Mac Store.
Sure, this is mustache-less Ted Lasso from a 2022 holiday animated short, but the coach looks pretty worried his gifts won't get to Kansas by Christmas. Photo: Apple
Thursday is the last day you can order a gift from Apple and expect it to arrive before December 25 in the United States, according to the company’s holiday shipping guidelines.
But don’t despair. You can still order Apple products for pick-up or delivery from a local Apple Store.
Porsche's CarPlay integration extends all the way across the dashboard. Photo: Porsche and Apple
Collaborating with Apple, upscale carmakers Porsche and Aston Martin previewed next-generation, more fully integrated CarPlay interfaces for upcoming models Wednesday.
Apple announced next-gen CarPlay in 2022, set to start rolling out in vehicles from more than a dozen makers by the end of 2023 and in 2024.
Big-time tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee loves iPhone 15 Pro for its cameras -- especially for video -- and iPhone 15 Plus's big battery. Photo: Marques Brownlee
YouTuber and tech influencer Marques Browlee recognized iPhone 15 Pro as the smartphone with the best cameras of the year in his MKBHD Smartphone Awards 2023 on Tuesday, offering his highest praise for the handset’s exceptional video chops.
And that’s not all. He also named iPhone 15 Plus as the handset with the best battery experience. Watch his video below.
This flat side-by-side look brought up debate, plus the question of getting wallpaper to work that way across two screens. Photo: [email protected]
Few people would dispute that the extra screen real estate of a second display can be a huge help in a computer setup. But let’s say you have two Studio Displays in landcape (horizontal) mode. Do you place them side by side perfectly straight or do you angle them in some way?
Today’s MacBook Pro workstation brought up the debate and surfaced a cool tip for getting wallpaper to appear half on one display and half on the other.
Best Foot Forward and three other Apple Originals took home Children's & Family Emmy Awards. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ took home four wins over the weekend in the second annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, notching victories for Apple Originals Pinecone & Pony, Life By Ella, Jane and Best Foot Forward.
And Apple’s Tara Sorensen and Ellen Coons were honored for Individual Achievement in Animation — Character Animation for Shape Island.
The first-ever Matter-over-Thread smart outlet and a light switch updated for Matter are two of Eve's new offerings. Photo: Eve Systems
Eve Systems introduced the first Matter-over-Thread smart electrical outlet along with a Matter-enabled smart light switch and window blinds on Monday, the company said.
Eve Energy Outlet, Eve Blinds Collection and Eve Light Switch all work with HomeKit. The outlet and blinds go on sale in early February 2024 and the light switch arrives a bit later.
If you subscribe to Apple News+, you now have top sport journalism at your fingertips. Photo: The Athletic
Apple News+ subscribers now get access to The Athletic‘s sports journalism and will see Wirecutter‘s in-depth product ratings in the feed early in 2024, Apple said Tuesday.
“Like so many lifelong sports fans, I am a devoted reader of The Athletic and their fantastic sports reporting and local coverage,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.
“We’re so proud to now bring sports fans The Athletic in Apple News+ — which millions of News+ subscribers are going to love,” he added.
Munoz loves his Studio Display the most, but he also praises his 14-inch M1 MacBook Pro and other gear. Photo: Jose Munoz
If Apple’s popular but pricey Studio Display is well-suited to anyone, it’s any type of designer because of the monitor’s formidable graphics chops.
In today’s loaded MacBook Pro setup, a designer sets apart his Studio Display for the highest praise among many items in a remarkably well-equipped workstation. And his Lego collection is epic, too.
Expect to see two versions of AirPods 4 -- including one with noise canceling -- in 2024. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple will revamp its AirPods lineup in 2024 in an effort to boost sales and clarify offerings, a new report indicates.
AirPods 4 should arrive next year, with two versions replacing current lower-priced earbuds models. And AirPods Max will receive some long-awaited updates, although the pricey over-ear headphones won’t get a major revamp.