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Desperate dad Matt Damon and ex-con Casey Affleck join forces for the heist of a lifetime in Boston, and guess what — it goes horribly wrong. With high-speed car chases, multiple explosions and Boston accents flying all over the place from a smart-alecky veteran cast, the new trailer for Apple Original Film The Instigators stormed computer screens Thursday in entertaining fashion.

The Instigators debuts in select theaters on August 2 before streaming on Apple TV+ August 9, but you can watch the first trailer now.

UPDATE: With its week in select theaters now past, star-studded Apple Original Film The Instigators starts streaming Friday on Apple TV+. Reviews of the caper-gone-awry flick find a lot to like, particularly in the chemistry between Boston-bred leads Matt Damon, one of the film’s producers, and Corey Affleck, one of its writers. Doug Liman (Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) directs.

Spotify and Epic Games have criticized Apple for its latest App Store fee and external linking changes in the EU. They claim Apple has again disregarded the “fundamental requirements” of the Digital Markets Act.

On August 8, 2024, Apple announced new EU App Store policies to comply with the Digital Markets Act. This follows the European Commission’s June ruling that Apple violated the act’s steering rules.

Apple is making changes to its App Store policies in the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act. It’s essentially easing linking rules for developers, so they can send customers elsewhere than the App Store for purchases. And it’s attaching new fees for sales that result from the links.

Apple is going to shrink the next Mac mini when it adds an M4 processor, according to an often-reliable source of insider information. The desktop could be the size of an Apple TV.

So, Mac micro?

Apple Original Films gave writer, director and producer Jon Watts the nod to write a sequel to action-comedy film Wolfs, with Academy Award winners George Clooney and Brad Pitt — even before the first installment comes out. Wolfs premieres at the 81st Venice International Film Festival ahead of its limited theatrical release on September 20. Then it debuts on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 27. Hey, when Apple plans a Wolfs sequel even before the original proves popular, you know it expects a hit.

Laurene Powell Jobs’ super-yacht recently crashed into another billionaire’s even bigger yacht off Naples, Italy, according to a report. Steve Jobs originally commissioned the $140 million Venus, collaborating on its design. High winds pushed the boats at anchor into each other.

Damage is estimated to be costly, given the yachts’ combined value of $265 million. For the merely wealthy or well-adjacent, that’s like paying through the nose to get a scratch fixed on your Bentley.

An iPad Air with an OLED display rather than the current LCD seems a safe bet considering the number of leaks indicating one is in development. But sources can’t agree on when — the latest report says 2026.

That said, Apple already has an OLED tablet for those who want one now.

Apple released iOS 17.6.1, iPadOS 17.6.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.6.1 on Wednesday. These are patches to fix a problem with Advanced Data Protection, a collection of tools to keep data and communications safe in the cloud.

While there are no new features, the updates are nevertheless important.

Anker’s new Prime charger lineup includes high-end docking stations, power banks, wall chargers and more to support all charging scenarios.

“With the future of work evolving, we wanted the Anker Prime lineup to evolve with it,” said Shaun Xiong, general manager of Anker Charging, in a press release Wednesday. “When we first introduced the Anker Prime line of charging devices, we wanted to provide high-quality, multi-port charging devices. These new desktop charging stations this year take that experience to the next level with highly flexible designs that are more durable, provide additional functionality, and use durable materials for wfh people and at-home use.”

The itty-bitty Samsung USB Type-C Flash Drive is now available with up to 512GB of storage capacity — twice as much as before. And the company’s miniature USB-A version also doubled in capacity.

Plus, the 256GB versions are on sale at some nice discounts.

The cost of streaming Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ goes up this autumn. The three streaming video services are ready to watch on Mac, iPad, iPhone or Apple TV. It’ll just cost a bit more in a few months.

The new prices could be important to those currently getting these services free or cheaply by sharing passwords. Disney CEO Bob Iger warned that a crackdown on the practice starts soon.

We’ve seen quite a few instances of stacked external displays in setups, but today’s M2 MacBook Pro rig might be the first time we’ve seen Studio Displays mounted that way. With all the questions commenters asked about the workstation, the user ended up laying out quite a few points about why it works great.

Flip a switch in iOS 18 and the Camera app will add music playing on an iPhone to the video being recorded on the device. It’s an easy way to add background music to a video.

Just be careful about copyright violations.

Apple will make bypassing Gatekeeper’s runtime protection harder in macOS Sequoia by doing away with a handy shortcut that allows Mac users to avoid security restrictions for software that doesn’t come from the App Store.

The company announced this change Tuesday following the release of macOS Sequoia public beta 3.

Apple is set to bolster Apple Arcade gaming with three exciting new titles in September. NFL Retro Bowl ’25 headlines the additions. It’s an exclusive collaboration between the National Football League and the creators of the popular App Store game Retro Bowl.

Apple should never have entered into the deal that had Google paying billions every year to be the default search engine for iPhone, Mac, and iPad. And it’s shameful that it’ll take a court order to finally make Apple do the right thing.

A company that claims to carefully protect the privacy of its users shouldn’t be part of an arrangement that steered those users toward Google, whose business is built on privacy violation. Interestingly, some users may find that certain websites require specific browser settings to function correctly, such as ensuring you enable JavaScript on iPhone for a smoother browsing experience.

San Antonio Spurs legend and NBA commentator Sean Elliott recently experienced a health scare highlighting Apple Watch’s potentially life-saving capabilities. Elliott, known his role in the Spurs’ first championship, found himself at the center of a different kind of heart-pounding drama, according to a report.

“My watch kept telling me you’re in Atrial Fibrillation. It just kept telling me over and over again, and I said, ‘there’s no way, I feel fine,'” Elliott recounted in an interview. Despite feeling no symptoms, the persistent warnings from his smartwatch eventually prompted him to seek medical attention. And it’s a good thing he did.

A U.S. federal judge ruled Monday that Google paying Apple billions to be the default search engine on iPhone and other devices is a violation of antitrust law. He said it makes Google a monopolist.

This is the result of a court case brought by the Department of Justice against Google. Apple isn’t directly involved, though its annual income may have just dropped by $15 billion or $20 billion. Or more.

Apple added Distraction Control to the Safari web browser in the iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia 15 betas released Monday. The new feature allows users to remove elements they find irritating or distracting from web pages.

Some have called Distraction Control an ad blocker. It’s not. Or certainly not a very good one.

Some people prefer two or more displays in their computer setup, some go for just one — often a big one. Today’s outstanding MacBook Pro setup, run by an Apple admin no less, goes ultra-wide and then some with a 49-inch curved Samsung display. It’s massive. If you like customizing your Apple devices, you may also want to check out how to name my iPhone and personalize your setup further. It’s massive, and if you’re considering a Viewfinity option, take a look at this Samsung ultra-wide monitor setup.

The Apple Watch SE 3 will come in a plastic casing, if a noted source of Apple insider info is correct. Skipping the usual aluminum case will allow the wearable to come in a broad array of colors, potentially making it more appealing to younger buyers.

It’ll also likely be cheaper to make, which is important for Apple’s budget wearable.

Apple will reportedly launch M4-powered MacBooks and iMacs later this year. But the company will wait until 2025 to refresh its entire Mac lineup with its latest M-series chip.

The MacBook Air and other high-end desktop Macs will reportedly get their M4 upgrade next year.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Leaked iPhone 16 dummy units offer a possible peek at what this year’s lineup will look like. While the black titanium pro model looks pretty badass, let’s hope the other colors don’t prove accurate!

You can see the leaked iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro Max dummy units we’re talking about in the show notes below.

Also on The CultCast:

• Apple Intelligence just arrived, and anybody can try it — if they’ve got the stomach for running a beta.
• A brain implant lets a guy use an Apple Vision Pro with his thoughts. Astonishing!
• There’s a new Apple podcast in town, and it’s run by a pair of Cult of Mac alums. Apple Core is a fun way to take a deep dive into Apple history.

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.

Add Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong to the list of people who think his company’s new smartwatch and wireless earbuds are much too similar to Apple’s. He reportedly got angry at executives of Samsung’s mobile (MX) division for approving such copycat devices.

One company executive allegedly admitted his company’s new wearable products are “Apple design plagiarism.”

The Apple TV+ crime drama Presumed Innocent has been among the most watched shows on streaming since launching in mid-June, according to analysts. Season one of the series — which stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a man who might, or might not, have murdered the woman he’s having an affair with — recently wrapped up, and the opportunity to bingewatch all the episodes pushed the show to become the most viewed on any streaming platform, according to analysts.

Plus, the reimagining of Time Bandits found a big audience, and Natalie Portman’s Lady in the Lake had another strong week.