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Cult of Mac Magazine: Huge Memorial Day sale at Watch Store, macOS 10.13 update, Google Assistant vs. Siri, and more!

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Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we give you our wish list for macOS 10.13, which will be introduced by Apple in two weeks at the WWDC.

Take advantage of our massive Memorial Day weekend sale at Watch Store, where we offer 20 percent off a large selection of Apple Watch bands an chargers from top name brands: JUUK, Clessant, Form Function Form, Just Mobile, Jack Foster and more. Sale starts today, so get shopping!

Here are this week’s top stories.

Reach new levels of digital creativity and productivity [Week’s Best Deals]

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collage-2017-05-23 (1)
The apps and accessories in this week's best deals will add new dimensions of productivity and efficiency to your Mac.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

While you’re outside enjoying the warm weather, we at the Cult of Mac Store are busy stocking up on great new deals. This week, we’ve got a great roundup of apps that’ll add new levels of control and creativity to your Mac and iOS devices. We’ve got a drastically discounted license for the maintenance app Drive Genius 5; iOS data transfer tool iMazing 2; a top shelf bundle of Mac apps and lessons; and a triple set of extra long, Apple-certified Lightning cables. Read on for more details:

We talk iPhone’s 8 big price hike and our favorite HomeKit smart lights on The CultCast

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It's time to make the iPhone exciting again.
It's time to make the iPhone exciting again.
Photo: @YSR50

This week, on The CultCast: rumors point to a big iPhone 8 price hike. What’s the max you would pay? Plus: Intel makes a huge move to push Thunderbolt into the mainstream; Ikea about to drop tons of great HomeKit gadgets on us; DJI’s Spark selfie drone is a compact powerhouse; we’ll tell you about our favorite smart lights; and we’ll tell you about the weird and whacky gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new Under Review!

Our thanks to Blue Apron for supporting this episode. Blue Apron makes it easy to cook delicious meals at home. Get your first three meals free at BlueApron.com/CultCast.

How to use 3D Touch in Maps to see the weather anywhere

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maps app 3d touch weather
One of the neatest tricks in Maps app is the ability to quickly check the weather anywhere in the world.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s Maps app has gotten pretty great recently, as long as you don’t want parks and forests marked in green. Like most of Apple’s built-in apps, Maps is even better when used with 3-D Touch. By pressing on everything from the app icon to the tiny weather can on the corner, you can access shortcuts and extra info. Let’s take a look.

Apple is developing a special AI chip for iPhone

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A10 Fusion
Custom AI-powered silicon could be Apple's next big thing.
Photo: Apple

Apple is allegedly planning to take its Artificial Intelligence game to an all-new level an AI-powered iPhone chip.

In a race to catch up with the competition at Amazon and Google, Apple has a team of engineers working on a new piece of silicon that’s dedicated to processing artificial intelligence commands which could lead to improved battery life.

How to drag-and-drop content between Readdle’s iPad apps

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drag-and-drop readdle iapd
You'll wonder how you ever used your backwards iPad without inter-app drag-and-drop.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you want to get an idea of how drag-and-drop could work on the iPad, then take a look at Readdle’s latest updates to its iOS productivity apps, which now allow you to drag files between the apps in split-screen view. That’s right, thanks to some very clever hacking, you can seamlessly drag a PDF, photo, or other document, from one app to another. For instance, you can drag scans from Scanner Pro to an email you’re composing in Spark, or you can take an attachment from Spark and drag it into a folder to save in Documents. Let’s take a look at how to do it. Spoiler: it’s pretty easy.

Is it time for Apple to say goodbye to Jony Ive? [Friday Night Fights]

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Is Apple in desperate need of new ideas?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s been some time since Apple delivered something really revolutionary. Every product in its stores looks just like it did last year… and the year before that… and the year before that.

Friday Night Fights bugFans will pin most of the blame on chief design officer Jony Ive. After more than two decades of spectacular and unparalleled ideas, it seems Steve Jobs’s best friend is running on empty. Is it time for him to go to make room for fresh blood and new ideas?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple’s design team needs significant change.

Investigators suspect iOS device in plane crash that killed 66

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iPhone on plane
Apple is not involved in the investigation.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

French officials are investigating the possibility of whether an iPhone or iPad was the cause of EgyptAir Flight 804.

The 2016 crashed killed 66 people yet the investigators have been stumped on what brought the plane down. Some new clues may hint that it was an overheating iOS device that sparked the catastrophe.

How to automatically import new music into iTunes

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iTunes on Mac
Use an Automator workflow and never manually add media to iTunes again!
Photo: Apple

So, say you have a Dropbox folder that keeps your media files synced across all your machines. Wouldn’t it be super-convenient to have iTunes import music from the Dropbox folder automatically? Also, just double-clicking the media files to import them to iTunes doesn’t sound too much work at first, but, what if your files are scattered all over the disk? For instance, some of you might have organized your media files into different folders by artist name, or by download source.

Let’s see how you can harness the power of automation to automatically import music to iTunes on a Mac.

Tidal loses third CEO in two years

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Jay Z
Jay Z can't find a reliable CEO.
Photo: Flickr/NRK P3

Jay Z’s struggling Tidal music streaming service is saying goodbye to its third CEO in two years.

The company reportedly parted way with top executive Jeff Toig, though no replacement has been named. Tidal has had a revolving door of CEOs during its troubled history. Toig took over the reigns of Tidal just 18 months ago.

Microsoft brings its new game streaming platform to iOS

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Mixer offers live-streaming that's actually live.
Mixer offers live-streaming that's actually live.
Photo: Microsoft

Mixer, Microsoft’s new game streaming platform, has landed on iOS.

Formerly known as Beam, Mixer is taking on the likes of Twitch with live-streaming “that’s actually live” — not delayed. The iOS app lets you enjoy broadcasts in real-time, connect with your favorite streamers, and more.

The New Yorker‘s stunning new cover was painted on an iPad

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Not bad for a picture painted with an iPad. Or with anything, actually.
Photo: New Yorker

Looking for more evidence that the iPad Pro can be used to create stunning artwork? The cover of the latest issue of The New Yorker might be just the proof you’re searching for.

Created by the magazine’s long-time art editor Jorge Colombo, it depicts kids playing basketball near to his home in Brooklyn. “This was a risky drawing to make,” he said. “I kept worrying that the ball would hit me or the iPad.” Not that he let that stop him from creating a stunning image!

The ultimate utility software roundup for digital creatives [Deals]

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From converting media to transferring giant files, staying on task and more, these are Mac apps any digital professional can use.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Like the content they create, today’s digital creative takes many forms. Whether designing a website or a game, whether editing photos or lines of code, there are some things we all have in common. This bundle of Mac apps offers tools for converting media files of all kind, a powerful file transfer protocol for moving data from place to place, a game-changing productivity tool for completing complex projects, and a digital assistant for studying better and taking rich notes.

No matter what you do at the screen, these Mac apps can help you do it better. And they’re all going for half off or even more. Read on for more details:

iPhone 8 chip maker confirms fingerprint-scanning display

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Touch ID
Touch ID is making a move!
Photo: Apple

Whatever problems Apple may have been having embedding Touch ID into the iPhone 8’s display, it appears that it’s solved them!

According to a new report — citing Apple chip supplier TSMC — the next-gen iPhone will boast an optical fingerprint sensor to enable authentication directly by touching the screen.

The next great Android phone will have a 360-degree camera

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Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Photo: Andy Rubin

Essential inc, the new tech company founded by the godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, is set to unveil its first product at the end of this month.

A new Twitter account created by the company teased the announcement today with its first ever tweet to hype what many anticipate to be a new Android smartphone. Rubin shot followers a teaser in March, but now Essential is busting out its own glimpses of the smartphone that may include a 360-degree camera.

How to hack Photos’ search to find lost images

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find photos location
It's easy to narrow down a search, even if you can't quite remember where or when you took the photo.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Search is open of Photos’ apps best features, but when do you ever really use it? Never, I’d say, but that’s about to change. Search is only useful when there’s something you’re looking for. While it’s fun to see all the photos you took of cats, or guitars, or whatever, search’s real power comes when you’re looking for something specific. That is, when you’re looking for than one photo you need to show your dining companions right now. Let’s see some tricks on how to do that.

Think Thank bags have every photog in mind

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This backpack has some wheels.
This backpack has some wheels.
Photo: Think Tank

You could say Think Thank thought of every kind of photographer with the release of two upgraded lines of camera bags.

The globe-trekker needing a mother load of gear can rely on the new StreetWalker Rolling Backpack. The discreet street shooter with a single body and lens may select the contoured TurnStyle 5 V2.0.

Apple’s WWDC 2017 keynote will be live streamed

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Don't miss out on WWDC 2017!
Don't miss out on WWDC 2017!
Photo: Apple

Didn’t get one of the rare tickets to Apple’s 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference? Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to watch most of the action from your couch at home.

Apple confirmed today that it’s big keynote on June 5 will be available to view via live streaming. Fans can tune in by watching the event on Apple TV, or through Safari on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad. You can even watch from a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.

iPhone gets reincarnated in Apple’s new Earth Day ad

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L.I.A.M. works his magic in the new Apple ad.
L.I.A.M. works his magic in the new Apple ad.
Photo: Apple

Earth Day 2017 festivities ended over a month ago, but that’s not stopping Apple from busting out another one of the quirky cartoon videos it made for the holiday.

Apple published a new Earth Day video today that highlights the problems it faces in regards to recycling materials from old iPhones. The ad explains how iPhone parts get a second life after Apple’s robot Liam has stripped them all away.

5 affordable accessories that complement your red iPhone

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iPhone 7
Refresh your red iPhone with these awesome products.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Interest in the (PRODUCT)Red iPhone has died down since its release back in March, and the novelty has likely worn off already for those of you who picked one up. Now it’s time to make it interesting again!

We’ve put together a list of five brilliant red products, all under $30, to compliment the red iPhone and reinvigorate your love for its unique color. Check out the video along with details for all the accessories we’ve featured below.

Catch the latest Pokémon game on Android and iOS

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Can you train your Magikarp to be the best?
Can you train your Magikarp to be the best?
Photo: The Pokémon Company

The Pokémon Company just launched its latest game on Android and iOS, and it’s all about Magikarp.

Called Magikarp Jump, it sees you training a Magikarp to do about the only thing a Magikarp is good for: Jumping!

Can you get yours to jump the highest?

Readdle adds drag and drop between all its iPad apps

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Drag and drop at your fingertips!
Drag and drop at your fingertips!
Photo: Readdle

Readdle just rolled out big updates that give users the ability to drag and drop content between its entire lineup of awesome productivity apps on iPad. It’s never been easier to multitask and manage your most important files on the go.

The company has also updated Documents 6 to turn it into a “Finder on iOS.”