What once seemed at least mildly dystopian is now being used in the everyday workplace to save time, money and brain power: artificial intelligence. ChatGPT comes to mind first, but it’s not the greatest AI for generating written content.
Enter Write Bot, an AI-powered tool designed to mimic human writing. With this pre-Black Friday deal, you can grab lifetime access for only $19.97 (regularly $539.40) for a limited time. That’s the web’s lowest price!
★★★☆☆
Sure enough, last week’s hints of looming unrest blossom this week in a full-scale coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in alt-history drama series For All Mankind, season 4, episode 3, “The Bear Hug.” And who’s in the middle of it all? Why, the former head of NASA, of course — Margo Madison.
In the span of one episode — released Wednesday instead of Friday for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend — she gets horribly tortured and finds herself in a big new space-agency job. But it ain’t NASA this time. I’d say you can’t make this stuff up, but someone did. Meanwhile, another coup unfolds at private space-exploration company Helios Aerospace.
Apple TV+ slipped out the third episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters a few days early so Godzilla could arrive in time for Thanksgiving. Here’s a quick recap that puts it in context not only with the earlier episodes and MonsterVerse movies but also events of the 20th century.
Read on if you’re ready for massive spoilers about the latest episode, plus some speculation about the show’s future.
Today’s featured setup packs two powerful MacBooks Pro — an M1 Max for work and an M3 Pro for play. To give them hassle-free equal time with peripherals, including a big, beautiful OLED smart TV serving as a display, the user employs a Thunderbolt 4 dock bristling with ports for maximum connectivity options.
November 22, 2005: Two-and-a-half years after opening its virtual doors, the iTunes Music Store enters the list of top 10 U.S. music retailers.
While iTunes sales numbers can’t yet match the selling power of established retail giants like Walmart, Best Buy and Circuit City (or fellow tech company Amazon), this milestone nonetheless represents big news for Apple — and digital music sales as a whole.
Never worry about losing your pet again with one of Nine Twenty Eight’s new AirTag dog collars. The family-run Canadian retailer — new to the Cult of Mac Store — designs the collars with a double-stitched slot for an AirTag, which is included with some models.
That way, you have a secure, comfortable collar for your pooch that also lets you use Apple’s AirTag tracking technology to help ensure he or she never gets lost.
Nine Twenty Eight also makes cat collars, but currently the lineup in the Cult of Mac Store is a selection of small, medium and large dog collars — and personalization is an option on the medium and large sizes!
Those cryptic laundry symbols and car dashboard icons are a mystery, until now: your iPhone camera can tell you what they mean. You don’t have to look up a guide or Google their meaning; just take a picture and your iPhone will tell you.
While in my testing, it didn’t identify every single symbol, the feature will do in a pinch. And if you want to use an app for the best possible results, I have two recommendations found on the App Store that can help you.
A gift that always goes down well with Apple fans, no matter the time of year, is a brand-new pair of AirPods. But it’s important to ensure you pick the right pair out of the four on offer if you really want to impress.
In our AirPods buying guide, we’ll help you choose between AirPods 2, AirPods 3, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max — and highlight some of the best cases and charging accessories to go with them.
ChatGPT makes it easy to quickly produce high-quality written content — assuming you know how to use it. You see, the generative AI platform creates content based on the prompts you use to solicit said content. And the quality of the resulting content depends to a large part on the quality of your prompts.
So basically, it’s the age-old computing truism: garbage in, garbage out.
Don’t let garbage happen. Learn to craft effective ChatGPT prompts with The Ultimate ChatGPT Prompts Guide. Usually sold for $119, this resource is primed to assist you in using AI the right way for years to come — and it’s currently available for only $19.97.
November 21, 1985: Following Steve Jobs’ departure, Apple comes close to signing its own death warrant by licensing the Macintosh’s look and feel to Microsoft.
The deal, between Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple CEO John Sculley, comes hot on the heels of the Windows operating system’s release. The pact gives Microsoft a “non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, nontransferable license to use [parts of the Mac technology] in present and future software programs, and to license them to and through third parties for use in their software programs.”
Oh, boy!
Almost everything is cooler when you can see right through it. Sadly, Apple stopped making transparent devices when it discontinued the iconic iMac G3. But for those craving that retro look, Elago offers a transparent Clear band for Apple Watch that looks absolutely terrific.
Made from a strong and lightweight thermoplastic, it’s incredibly comfortable to wear all day long. And it’s insanely affordable at less than $13. I’ve been wearing one for months now and it has easily become one of my favorite Apple Watch bands.
Ever feel like you could use a personal assistant in your life to deal with fast-tracking responsibilities and tasks? You may not be able to hire a secretary, but advancements in artificial technology make it simple to consistently sustain a narrower focus and appeal to more customers.
For a limited time, a one-year premium Laxis AI Meeting Assistant subscription is available for only $47.99 (regularly $160). That’s 70% savings on a highly rated service that automatically captures the most important information from customer interactions.
November 20, 2007: In a milestone for iTunes movie distribution, Purple Violets becomes the first feature film to launch exclusively on Apple’s platform.
A romantic comedy directed by Edward Burns, Purple Violets stars Selma Blair, Debra Messing and Patrick Wilson. With limited offers from Hollywood’s traditional players, the filmmakers pin their hopes on iTunes distribution as an alternative way to get their movie in front of viewers.
Mac mini, Apple’s small-but-mighty desktop machine, does a lot of things well — especially the M1 and newer models. They make bigger desktop computers unnecessary for people who don’t need truly massive computing power.
And today’s featured M2 Mac mini user found a way to greatly expand his computer’s capabilities with a vertical stand that also saves space on the desk.
International travel data can be quite expensive if you stick with your normal carrier. eSIM plans are often more affordable, and that’s especially true during a limited-time sale.
After a Black Friday price drop, you can get an aloSIM lifetime eSIM for just $18.97 — and it comes with a $50 credit toward data plan(s) of your choice. However, this deal lasts through November 27 only.
Apple’s decision to finally ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C on iPhone 15 means that you now have infinitely greater flexibility when it comes to connectivity. Whether you want to hook up storage drives, an external display, or even an Ethernet cable, you can do it all with USB-C.
But there is a catch. First, you’ll need a suitable USB-C hub or adapter that lets you connect all the peripherals you want to use through one port. Here are the best USB-C hubs you can buy today for iPhone 15.
November 19, 2013: Apple gets final approval from the Cupertino City Council to proceed with building a massive second campus to house the iPhone-maker’s growing army of workers in California.
Cupertino Mayor Orrin Mahoney’s simple message regarding Apple Campus 2? “Go for it.”
However, the massive structure — with an innovative circular design that will earn it the nickname “the spaceship” — remains years away from opening, despite Apple’s ambitious schedule.
No matter what piece of Apple gear we’re talking about, it’s not so glamorous when its battery goes dead. Rather than packing separate charging cables for all your devices, cover all your basic charging needs with a 6-in-1 charging cable: the inCharge X Max!
Ahead of Black Friday through November 27, this nifty cable — which works with USB-C, Lightning and more — is only $16.97 (regularly $39)!
In this week’s Awesome Apps roundup, we have a way to play Legos without the mess, an app that’ll read aloud almost anything, 700 workouts on your Apple Watch, and the best Safari extension ever.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Tests performed on the M3 MacBook Pros reveal the performance-crushing effects of thermal throttling and skimpy RAM. Erfon is not impressed!
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
The SmartGym app is already well-loved by Apple Watch users, and its recent update adds more than 70 new workouts and loads of convenient new functionality.
And it’s considered so good it’s currently up against two other finalist apps to win the App Store Award for Apple Watch App of the Year.
With Thanksgiving almost here, it’s time to watch the beloved Peanuts holiday special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. Apple TV+ subscribers can watch it anytime, but the special is also free for anyone to stream this weekend.
And you do not need an Apple device to do so. It’s easy.
Looking for a Black Friday sale on an iPad? For a limited time, you can score an incredible deal on a near-mint refurbished iPad bundled with all the accessories you could need — including a set of Beats wireless headphones.
Through November 26, this combo goes for only $219.97, with no coupon necessary.
November 18, 2003: Apple debuts its 20-inch iMac G4, the company’s biggest flat-panel all-in-one computer ever.
The introduction makes an already superb Mac even better. Somehow, though, the additional screen real estate makes the new Mac weigh twice as much as the 17-inch model.
Collecting old video game consoles and vintage computers is a fun hobby, but keeping all that hardware working can quickly become an expensive, never-ending task — not to mention all the space you need just to store the gear. You might instead (wisely) opt to emulate your favorite games and software on the Mac you already own.
In this guide to emulation on the Mac, I’ll walk you through the best apps you can use to accomplish the two most common scenarios: playing old video games, and taking Classic Mac OS for a test drive on a modern Mac. Plus, I’ll wrap up with the easiest way to virtualize modern operating systems like Windows and Linux on your Mac. (This handy virtualization software also works for old and obscure computer operating systems.)
Best of all, each of these Mac emulation methods is free and open source.
