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Extended! Turn your iPad into an iMac with a Lululook stand and charger [Cult of Mac giveaway]

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Urban Magnetic Stand
The stand's sleek, magnetic design lifts your iPad off your desk.
Photo: Lululook

Our latest giveaway is for iPad owners. We are giving away five Lululook bundles to five lucky winners. Each bundle features one Urban iPad Magnetic Stand and one 33w GaN USB-C charger.

If you own an 11-inch or 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the sleek Urban Magnetic Stand will elevate your iPad and make viewing and working more user-friendly. The 33w GaN USB-C charger is compact and will charge your devices quickly. This $90 bundle will make your desktop flow, so make sure to enter the giveaway below.

Leak shows Sonos is about to roll out a new budget soundbar

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The Sonos
The Sonos "Fury" budget soundbar will probably look similar to the Sonos Beam (pictured), but a bit shorter. It should launch with black and white finishes.
Photo: Sonos

If you’d love to add a Sonos soundbar to your home theater but you find the company’s well-regarded products a tad pricey, just wait. According to a new leak, Sonos will release its least-expensive soundbar ever — just $249 — in early June.

First Macs with M2 processor might take the stage at WWDC22

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Apple M2 chipset
The M2 processor could be a highlight of WWDC22.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
WWDC22 - Brought to you by CleanMyMac X

The wait for a redesigned MacBook Air with an M2 processor will be over soon, if a tipster is correct. The notebook will supposedly be announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June. And a version of the Mac mini with the M2 allegedly will be unveiled at the same time.

If true, these will be the first Macs with the improved replacement for Apple’s M1 processor.

Apple TV+ The Big Conn trailer tracks fraudster’s $550 million scam and run from the law

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"The Big Conn" is a four-part Apple TV+ documentary series and podcast coming May 6.
Photo: Apple TV+

Former eastern Kentucky lawyer Eric C. Conn is notorious for committing the largest-ever Social Security fraud, bilking the U.S. government and taxpayers out of $550 million. Plus, he partied with porn stars and opened a brothel before leading authorities on a major chase.

Apple TV+ covers the whole sordid affair like a blanket, judging by the new trailer for upcoming documentary series and podcast, The Big Conn.

Protect your Apple Watch in style with Elago’s Duo Case

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You can give your wearable different looks with different Duo cases.
You can give your wearable different looks with different Duo cases.
Photo: Elago

Accessories maven Elago has a cool new way for you to protect your pricey Apple Watch while also dressing it up. The Elago Duo Case for Apple Watch completely wraps around your wearable’s housing. And the case’s accent pieces in different colors can be swapped out to freshen up your look.

You could have a different-looking case for every day of the week. People might even ask why you have so many Apple Watches!

Apple will start turning prototypes into products outside of China

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A folding iPhone might leave a portion of the screen always exposed.
Turning a design into a product doesn't have to happen in China.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple will increase the number of countries where it does an important phase in developing products, according to a industry analyst. Currently, its R&D-oriented New Product Introduction (NPI) sites are in China, but the company plans to build NPI offices in other places as well.

Recent COVID shutdowns — which have disrupted several recent products — are supposedly the reason for the change.

Idris Elba thriller Hijack takes off for Apple TV+

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Idris Elba thriller 'Hijack' takes off for Apple TV+
Idris Elba will star in Hijack, a thriller series on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ landed Hijack, a thriller starring Idris Elba set on a plane that’s been hijacked. It will be a seven-episode series covering seven hours of action, so it’ll be told in real time — a technique that should be familiar to fans of 24.

Apple’s streaming service loves thrillers, and already has quite a few of them, with more on the way.

Music streamer Tidal adds Siri support (but not for HomePods)

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Tidal finally added Siri support, but not for your HomePod or HomePod mini.
Tidal finally added Siri support, but not for your HomePod or HomePod mini.
Photo: Tidal

Music streaming service Tidal rolled out its long-awaited Siri integration Wednesday. Subscribers can ask Apple’s voice assistant to play songs, playlists, albums and more on the platform.

That’s great if you play music on an iPhone, iPad or Mac. But the Siri integration with Tidal doesn’t extend to HomePod or HomePod mini, unfortunately.

DuckDuckGo and Brave browsers protect against Google’s sneaky AMP pages [Updated]

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DuckDuckGo and Brave browsers protect against Google's sneaky AMP pages
Both Brave and DuckDuckGo have moved against AMP, one of the ways Google tracks users.
Image: Brave/DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo and Brave have started bypassing Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages. Brave says, “AMP harms users’ privacy, security and internet experience.”

The web browsers will ignore these pages, which are surreptitiously hosted by Google, and give users the original publishers’ webpages instead.

Add 1TB of storage to 2021 MacBook Pro with JetDrive Lite 330

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Add 1TB of storage to 2021 MacBook Pro with JetDrive Lite 330
The JetDrive Lite 330 might be the best option for Time Machine backups for the 2021 MacBook Pro.
Photo: Transcend

The Transcend JetDrive Lite 330 is now available with 1TB of storage. This SD card is designed specifically to add to the capacity of the 2021 MacBook Pro, and sit flush with the card slot.

Once inserted, the card acts like any other drive. And data transfers are fast enough for Time Machine backups.

How to upgrade Apple MagSafe Battery Pack firmware to get faster charging

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How to upgrade Apple MagSafe Battery Pack firmware to get faster charging
There's new firmware for the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack, and you are going to want it.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack now wirelessly charges iPhones up to 50% more quickly. Ever since the external battery launched in 2021, it topped out at 5W. But now it can wirelessly juice up an iPhone at 7.5W.

Even better, getting the improvement doesn’t require buying a new one — anyone who has the power bank can upgrade it. Here’s what to do.

Apple store workers eye unions for higher pay

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Apple Store employees in Atlanta and New York work to unionize for higher pay
The Apple Store in Cumberland Mall could soon become the first to have a union.
Photo: Apple

Dozens of workers at an Apple store in Atlanta reportedly plan to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking to become a union. Employees at an Apple retail store in New York are moving in that direction, too.

These could be the first U.S. Apple store employees to unionize. Both groups are asking for higher wages.

UK iPhones will soon scan for nudity in texts sent to children

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UK iPhones will soon scan for iPhone sexually explicit images in texts sent to children
The iPhone's Communication Safety in Messages feature is already available in the U.S., and is headed for the U.K.
Image: Apple

Apple will soon begin rolling out in the United Kingdom a tool intended to protect children from sexual predators. The Messages application will be able to detect if a child’s iPhone gets or sends sexually explicit photos.

The feature is already available in the United States.

Discontinued HomePod keeps going up in value

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Bucking the usual trend with discontinued gear, the original HomePod is appreciating in value.
Bucking the usual trend with discontinued gear, the original HomePod is appreciating in value.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Citing lackluster sales, Apple discontinued the original HomePod — the big one — in March 2021. Cupertino chose to focus on the HomePod mini. But now the original version is appreciating in value in online marketplaces, showing surprising resilience.

Most of the time, discontinued gadgets end up in the bargain bin — if they’re sold at all.

Seriously, how big is too big for desktop speakers? [Setups]

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Side by side images show the computer setup's front and back sides.
Side by side images show the computer setup's front and back sides. Can you spot the speakers? Squint if you must.
Photo: [email protected]

We love serious audio here at Setups Central. But is it possible for the audio gear in your computer setup to be too serious? For example, can your desktop speakers be too comically oversized, as if you’re making some sort of visual joke about your life being all about the music?

In today’s featured setup, a magnificent 32-inch Pro Display XDR actually manages to look puny in between two monstrously huge Yamaha powered studio monitors. And yet, believe it or not, they may not actually be too big.

Prehistoric Planet dino documentary looks amazing in first full Apple TV+ trailer

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'Prehistoric Planet' dino documentary looks amazing in first full Apple TV+ trailer
Prehistoric Planet will make the Jurassic Park movies look about as scientifically accurate as a Bug Bunny cartoon.
Screenshot: Apple TV+

What might be the most visually stunning and scientifically accurate dinosaur documentary in a generation will soon premiere on Apple TV+. The first full trailer for Prehistoric Planet shows it’ll explore many parts of the world of the dinosaurs, from the Arctic to the oceans.

If you can’t imagine a Tyranosaurus Rex being loving or nurturing, then you really need to watch this.

iPhone 16 could finally nullify notch with under-display camera and Face ID

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An iPhone without any sort of notch or pill could be coming in 2024.
An iPhone without any sort of notch or pill could be coming in 2024.
Photo: ConceptsiPhone

As rumors fly about the upcoming iPhone 14 series, a top analyst is doubling down on his recent assertion that high-end iPhones in 2024 — likely iPhone 16 Pro models — will feature an under-display camera along with under-display Face ID.

If Apple analyst Min-Chi Kuo’s tweet Wednesday turns out to be accurate, the new under-display tech would most likely finally nullify any need for a notch and possibly the pinhole-and-pill design expected in iPhone 14.

F. Murray Abraham leaves Mythic Quest on Apple TV+ 

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F. Murray Abraham & Rob McElhenney in Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet
Sadly, Mythic Quest will have to get along without F. Murray Abraham (left).
Photo: Apple TV+

F. Murray Abraham reportedly won’t be in season 3 of Mythic Quest. The Oscar-winning actor was an important part of the ensemble cast for the first two seasons while playing quirky writer C.W. Longbottom.

Why the iconic actor is leaving the series is unknown. One possibility: he’s 82 years old.

Netflix gets serious about cracking down on password sharing

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Netflix Downloads for You puts suggested shows right onto your iPhone
The days when millions of people could get Netflix for free are coming to an end.
Photo: Netflix

If you’ve been using your ex-girlfriend’s parents’ Netflix password for years, there’s a dark day coming. The video streaming service says it’s going to crack down on the 100 million households around the world using another household’s account.

But the company is also considering a cheaper, ad-supported option. That might attract people about to be cut off.

Final hours: Take 20% off all Bucardo Apple Watch accessories

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Sweet deal: Take 20% off everything Bucardo.
Sweet deal: Take 20% off everything Bucardo, like sport bands for Apple Watch.
Photo: Bucardo

If you’re on the hunt for interesting Apple Watch accessories, there is no better time or place than now in the Cult of Mac Store to snag great deals on Bucardo gear.

Bucardo brand Apple Watch accessories, like a variety of sport bands as well as charm necklaces and pocket watch cases for Apple Watch, are all on sale now at 20% off until 11:59 p.m. PDT on April 19.