Apple product reviews and recommendations | Cult of Mac

Sit on your favorite Mac with a Throwboy pillow [Review] ★★★★☆

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A collection of Throwboy pillows sitting on a dingy tan couch★★★★☆
Throwboy: “Where do you want to sit today?” Oh wait, that’s Microsoft. Throwboy: “A cushion for the rest of us.”
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Throwboy pillows by Roberto Hoyos are a series of soft, squishy pillows that resemble your favorite Apple products. You can decorate your living room with astonishingly accurate facsimiles of the fan favorites — the Macintosh 128k, the iMac G3, the iPod, the iPhone — as well as the cult classics — the Lisa, the iMac G4 and the G4 Cube.

When I say “astonishingly accurate,” I’m not exaggerating. I was blown away by the attention to detail.

3 Reasons to Watch: Bad Sisters on Apple TV+

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Sarah Greene, Anne-Marie Duff, Sharon Horgan, Eva Birthistle and Eve Hewson in
If you're not acquainted with the Garvey sisters, you're missing out.
Photo: Apple TV+

In this installment of 3 Reasons to Watch, we look at Bad Sisters, the Irish black comedy that racked up awards after its spectacular first season.

The acidic series follows the five Garvey sisters, who are complicit in a crime … but not in the way it initially appears. Here’s why you need to stream Bad Sisters yesterday.

Who needs HDMI? This gadget connects Mac or iPad to TV wirelessly [Review] ★★★★☆

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Who needs HDMI? This gadget connects Mac or iPad to TV wirelessly★★★★☆
Don't use a cable when the plug-and-play EZCast Pocket is so much more convenient.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

EZCast Pocket lets a range of computers connect wirelessly to an external display. No additional software is needed — it’s very nearly as easy to use as a cable, but without the cable clutter.

I tested the affordable and very portable wireless video adapter in my home and on a business trip. Here are its strengths and occasional weaknesses.

Note: When this review was first published in March, there was so much interest that EZCast Pocket sold out almost immediately. Amazon once again has the product in stock so we’re re-publishing the review.

City on Fire brings its mysteries to a steady simmer [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★☆☆

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Nico Tortorella in ★★★☆☆
William (played by Nico Tortorella) finds himself in hot water this week on City on Fire.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewNew Apple TV+ drama City on Fire, based on the book by Garth Risk Hallberg, tries to crack its central mysteries wide open this week.

William discovers he has a connection to the attempted murder of Samantha. Regan discovers she has more rats in her nest than she imagined. Charlie finds his allegiances tested as his sanity frays. Keith’s troubles are getting worse, and he still hasn’t even hit bottom.

Entitled “Land of a Thousand Dances,” it’s a good episode of the Dickensian potboiler, but it’s almost undone by rookie mistakes.

There’s a new sheriff in town this week on Silo [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★

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Rebecca Ferguson in ★★★
New sheriff of the silo Juliette (played by Rebecca Ferguson) is on the job, and she's got disturbing questions.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewApple TV+ dystopian sci-fi hit Silo investigates a high-profile murder and a hero’s childhood this week.

The show, about the last people on Earth living in hellish conditions underground, follows new Sheriff Juliette Nichols as she gets wrapped up in her first homicide investigation with Deputy Marnes. Plus, it delves into her past as she remembers the circumstances under which she became a machinist.

As this show progresses, it gets a little better with each episode and each twisty plot development.

Drops of God takes a tricky trip to Italy [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Luca Terracciano and Fleur Geffrier in ★★★★
Lorenzo (played by Luca Terracciano, left) and Camille (Fleur Geffrier) take a trip to Trento as they try to answer a wine-soaked question.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ Review This week’s episode of the Apple TV+ series Drops of God, about the differing paths of two potential heirs to a fortune in wine, finds Camille on an excursion and Issei in a fog.

Camille and Lorenzo take a jog to Italy to do research before the second challenge. And Issei and Yurika discover some things about his personal history that make the contest even more bitter. Entitled “Legacy,” the episode splashes out a very fine bit of work from this team.

The Last Thing He Told Me finale packs an emotional wallop [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★

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Jennifer Garner in ★★★
Hanna (played by Jennifer Garner) must make a tough decision in the series finale of The Last Thing He Told Me.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ Review Apple TV+ limited series The Last Thing He Told Me comes to a shockingly emotional end this week.

In the series finale, Hannah makes a calculated risk on behalf of her stepdaughter and herself, and they’re both still distraught over the disappearance of their husband and father. Plus, a shadowy criminal and a U.S. Marshal offer competing visions of safety for the pair — and no one’s sure which one is better.

The Big Door Prize season finale spits out cliffhangers large and small [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Chris O’Dowd and Gabrielle Dennis in ★★★★☆
Surprise! The Morpho machine has even bigger mysteries to spin.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewThe Big Door Prize closes its first season with a blackout at Deerfest and a big twist from the Morpho. The show, about a mysterious machine that reads people’s futures, throws harsh weather and hard truths at its cast of misfit townies this week.

Father Reuben and Hana experience a few troubling realizations. Cass and Izzy have another blow-up. Jacob and Trina try to make it through their first real date. And more than one storm is brewing in this compelling cap to a winning season of a wonderful show.

Ted Lasso starts to wrap up loose ends this week [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★☆☆

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Toheeb Jimoh and Phil Dunster in ★★★☆☆
Toheeb Jimoh and Phil Dunster in "Ted Lasso," now streaming on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewApple TV+’s runaway hit Ted Lasso starts closing up shop this week as the show nears the end of season three. The stars of AFC Richmond are out of town, but that doesn’t mean we can’t wrap up some loose ends.

Keeley finds herself without a job or an office. Rebecca has a big meeting, and one small chance to make a difference. Roy starts thinking about human connection. Sam suffers a series of letdowns. And Nate goes on a soul-searching trip back home.

While undoubtedly enervating, this week’s episode, entitled “International Break,” occasionally scores a win.

High Desert is the right kind of rolling disaster [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Episode 3. Patricia Arquette in ★★★★☆
Peggy Newman (played by Patricia Arquette) is a marvelous disaster in edgy new comedy High Desert.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ Review In the tragicomic new Apple TV+ series High Desert, Patricia Arquette plays Peggy Newman, a drug addict and serial liar/improviser who’s trying to remake her life after her husband goes to jail and ruins her social standing.

The perpetually broke and broken Peggy is a marvelous creation. The first three episodes of High Desert arrived on Apple TV+ today, and the show is mighty good company.