Massachusetts-based 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.
Get the look of luxury for a low price. Photo: Rilee & Lo
You’ve got to love an Apple Watch band that looks like a million bucks but costs nothing near that. In fact, you can get Rilee & Lo’s stainless steel stretch-link bracelet and a matching stacking bracelet for well under $50 this week.
Zens' new modular charger for 3 or 4 devices is now on sale at Apple. Photo: Apple
Apple recently started selling the new Zens 4-in-1 Modular Wireless Charger, which you can modify to power either three or four devices at once, including an iPad.
You can set it up as a 4-in-1 charging station for iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods or a 3-in-1 that leaves out the Apple Watch charger.
"How many computers do you need," asked a commenter. Photo: [email protected]
We enjoy seeing computer setups grow and change. We last looked at today’s featured setup when its user described it as “temporary” back in June. Since then it has metastasized into a monstrous beast with a maxed-out Mac Pro, a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, iPad mini and dual Pro Display XDRs.
And the custom-made desk with lights against a dramatic backdrop of 3D wall panels really enhances the setup, too.
Creative Pebble Pro promise plenty of volume, bass and clarity. Photo: Creative
Creative recently unveiled a new addition to its distinctively round and tilted Pebble line of USB desktop speakers — Creative Pebble Pro.
With overhauled full-range drivers and digital amplifiers — plus flashy new RGB lighting — the new speakers jack up volume and bass so no subwoofer is needed, the company said.
Lots of people love all things Lego. Now they can use Lego bricks to create whatever design they want on the front and back of a new mechanical keyboard, the tenkeyless (TKL) MelGeek Pixel.
The Lego-friendly keyboard has surpassed its funding goal on Kickstarter, so if you buy one, it will probably ship.
The special edition is purely a cosmetic tweak. Photo: Beats
Apple-owned Beats hooked up with Japanese fashion brand Wacko Maria to release a new special-edition set of Beats Flex earbuds Friday featuring a leopard print, the companies said Thursday.
Beats Flex are the brand’s most affordable wireless earbuds. But now they pack a little more street cred.
The updated hub supports HomeKit integration. Photo: Hubitat
With a new software update to the Hubitat Elevation hub, users can bridge hundreds of Z-Wave and Zigbee devices not normally compatible with HomeKit into their Apple Home app, Hubitat said Wednesday.
The Hubitat Elevation software version 2.3.4 update brings HomeKit integration. It lets the hub serve as a bridge for “countless lights, switches, sensors and other devices that are not natively HomeKit compatible,” the company said.
Here's a range of (Product) Red devices that help support the fight against AIDS. Photo: Apple
Apple recognized World AIDS Day Thursday with a reminder about how customers can join the fight to end AIDS. They can help through Product (Red) purchases, downloading and sharing new red Apple Watch faces and other means.
Purchases of Apple (Product) Red devices help support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a major nonprofit fighting HIV/AIDS worldwide.
The little display at the bottom of the stack is the unusual bit. Photo: [email protected]
Display towers — when monitors are stacked on top of each other — aren’t super common in computer setups. But they’re not terribly rare, either. From time to time we’ve even seen three stacked horizontally in the middle with two posted vertically on the sides. But today’s featured triple-display MacBook Pro setup sports an unusual choice at its base.
You can’t miss the 49-inch Samsung curved ultra-wide screen in the middle and the nice 34-inch LG 4K display on top. But at the bottom lurks a TidByt, which is a retro display for sports scores, stock prices and more. We don’t recall seeing one featured in a setup.
Give the repetitive strain a rest with Kensington's new trackball. Photo: Kensington
If you’re tethered to a computer all day and start to get agonizing pain from repetitive motions, don’t panic. There are lots of ergonomic devices out there to help, including the brand new Kensington SlimBlade Pro Trackball.
It’s like a mouse, but it doesn’t move. You roll the large trackball with your palm and click on the four huge buttons with your fingers or parts of your hand. And it doesn’t matter which hand you favor.
Kids can code their first app in the new Today at Apple session. Photo: Apple
Apple said Tuesday it will expand its coding education resources with a free new Today at Apple session starting December 5. It’s “Coding Lab for Kids: Code Your First App.”
The new session celebrates and coincides with Computer Science Education Week, the company said.
Apple Music noted its most popular song and artists of 2022. Photo: Apple Music
In addition to unveiling the redesigned Apple Music Replay 2022, Apple Music also revealed its year-end charts, showcasing the year’s top songs in various genres, most popular artists, most-common Shazam searches, most-read lyrics and more.
The streaming services noted a growing popularity of non-English-language songs and certain niche genres, plus several breakthrough artists.
AirPods Pro 2 look pretty much the same as the original, but they're better in nearly every way. Photo: Apple
Which AirPods should you buy as gifts for family and friends this holiday season (or just for your greedy self)? It all comes down to which features you want and how much you want to spend.
Earbuds are a tough gift item because how they sound and how they fit is super-subjective. Everybody’s different.
But our guide will help you decide among the four Apple AirPods models on sale in December 2022: AirPods (2nd gen), AirPods (3rd gen), AirPods Pro (2nd gen) and AirPods Max.
Thanks to Oceanic+ and Apple Watch Ultra, this diver will have all the information he needs to dive safely. Photo: Apple
Apple made a splash Monday in the world of scuba diving, noting that divers can now add the Oceanic+ Dive Computer App to their Apple Watch Ultra and use a companion app for iPhone.
Designed by Huish Outdoors in collaboration with Apple, Oceanic+ takes advantage of Apple Watch Ultra’s depth gauge and water temperature sensors to provide divers crucial information on forays up to 130 feet beneath the surface.
You can top off devices anywhere with this portable wireless charger. Photo: Momax
Sometimes, whether you’re out and about or sitting at the office, you find you have a device or two in desperate need of a charge. Wouldn’t it be great if you had a charger you could take with you pretty much anywhere?
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This post is brought to you by Momax.
Enter the Momax Wireless Portable Charger with 10,000mAh battery. The sleek and portable power bank gives you multiple charging options on the go, which can be a lifesaver when your smartphone and other gadgets are tapped out. And Cult of Mac readers can get 15% off the charger’s regular price this week. See details below.
Once he added a Studio Display to the 5K LG screen, Mann decided to clean up the cable clutter. Photo: [email protected]
Getting great new gear for your computer setup has more than just the obvious benefit of awesomeness. Sometimes it’s the perfect reason to improve your setup in ways most people put off, like the dreaded cleaning up of cable clutter.
That’s what happened with today’s featured dual-display-and-M1 Max MacBook Pro setup. The user finally got his new Studio Display, and good things followed in the terms of taming the cable monster.
The Slope comes in two sizes. The big one is half price. Photo: Wiplabs
“Black Friday” (November 25) and the days before and after it have become one of the best times of the whole year to get great deals on pretty much anything. And true to form, pretty much everything in the Cult of Mac Store is on sale.
Some of the latest deals are 25% off Nyloon Apple Watch bands and an amazing 50% off select Wiplabs accessories, like iPad stands.
The Black Friday sale in the Cult of Mac Store goes through end of the day Monday, November 28. See some highlights below.
It's a cozy little space, alright. Perfect for MacBook Air, a 24-inch display and no external keyboard. Photo: [email protected]
If you’ve got a tiny desk for a workspace, you’ve got to make the most of it. Today’s featured computer setup centers on an M1 MacBook Air driving a small 4K external display, clearly going away from the trend toward big-screen-TV-sized displays for a reason — namely, vanishingly small desk space.
A small external display is one way to save room. But the user has some other tricks up his sleeve, as well. Let’s take a look.
Satechi's USB-4 multiport adapter is one of many, many products on sale. Photo: Satechi
Satechi makes a wide range of popular accessories for Apple products. The company just took the wraps off its big Black Friday sale, offering up to 30% off everything it makes.
That’s a lot of deals for you on chargers, hubs, keyboards, mice, stands, bags, cases and more.
Just wait. A dancer might gyrate through the frame any minute. Photo: [email protected]
Modern computer setups lean more and more on smart lighting for practical uses and to set the mood. Some of it can even pulse and change in sync to music or action on your screen.
Today’s featured MacBook Pro setup leans heavily on colorful Nanoleaf smart-light patterns on the walls — so much so that people compared it to a strip club.
Secure pCloud storage for 85% off? Sign us up. Photo: pCloud
These days, the average person takes up a lot of digital space. In addition to hefty software programs, people practically burst their hard drives at their seams with scads of photos, videos and documents.
So cloud storage is increasingly critical, and right now you can get an amazing Black Friday deal on highly secure and easy-to-use pCloud storage — up to 85% off normal pricing. And both new and current customers can get the deal.
Protesters and police clashed Tuesday and Wednesday at Foxconn's plant in Zhengzhou, China Photo illustration: Cult of Mac
Protests over unpaid bonuses, anti-COVID-19 controls and even food quality led police to clash with hundreds of workers at the world’s largest iPhone factory in China, reports indicated Wednesday.
Social media videos and witnesses in Zhengzhou, where Foxconn operates a giant factory nicknamed “iPhone City,” said police beat and detained protesters.
Show off your iPhone 14's innards in the form of a schematic wallpaper. Photo: Basic Apple Guy
Mac maven Basic Apple Guy just rolled out a project he said he’s been slaving over since late September — a set of detailed and layered iPhone 14 schematics you can download and use as display wallpaper in your choice of colors on your handset.
It’s kind of like displaying an X-Ray of your iPhone on the device itself. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus schematics are out Tuesday with the ones for iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max following on Wednesday.
This is Apple Derby Street prior to the incident, in which an SUV smashed through the facade and pinned several people at the back of the store. Photo: Apple
A man driving a black SUV crashed through the glass facade of an Apple Store near Boston on Monday morning, killing one person and injuring 19, including four critically, according to reports.
Updates: The driver, identified as 53-year-old Bradley Rein, was arrested Monday night and charged with reckless homicide by motor vehicle, according to Boston.com. The number of injured in the crash rose to 19 from the initially reported 16. Rein pleaded not guilty on Tuesday and said his foot had become stuck to the accerlator, causing the crash. He was held on $100,000 bail.
Kevin Bradley, a 65-year-old from New Jersey who Apple said was “supporting recent construction at the store,” was killed in the crash.