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Get 3 lengthy Lightning cables for one low price [Week’s Best Deals]

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This week's best deals include extra long Lightning cables, a 6-port USB hub, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Tired of charging your iPhone with a cable that breaks and frays and barely reaches as far as your arm? Well this week we’ve got a triple solution to that problem, along with a 6-port USB charging hub, powerful software for repairing and recovering your hard drive, and a lifetime of data backup for five devices. They’re all part of the week’s best deals at the Cult of Mac Store, and they’re all discounted by between 40 and 70 percent off. Read on for more details:

The big changes coming to iPhone 8, this week on The CultCast

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According to new reports, iPhone 8 is getting the big changes you've been waiting for.
According to new reports, iPhone 8 is getting the big changes you've been waiting for.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

This week on The CultCast: According to new reports, the iPhone 8 will get a huge makeover with an edge-to-edge screen, wireless charging, a huge battery and more. We’ll tell you everything we know. Plus: A 4K Apple TV is on the way; our favorite TV shows from days of yore; and the search for the perfect corn dog.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.

This ugly case disguises iPhone prototypes in the wild

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Apple is ultra-protective of prototype iPhones.
Apple is ultra-protective of prototype iPhones.
Photo: Sonny Dickson

It’s no secret that Apple loves to keep products secret, but thanks to a new leak we can now see the crazy lengths the company goes to just to keep prototype iPhones under wraps.

Notorious Apple leaker Sonny Dickson has put out some new images of an ugly iPhone case allegedly used by Apple to keep the iPhone 6s secret. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but there are a bunch of tiny details that help Apple keep features from leaking.

Apple pushes iPad Pro as PC killer in new ads

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The iPad Pro comes with LTE.
The iPad Pro comes with LTE.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s latest advertising campaign for the iPad Pro touts how well the tablet works as a PC replacement.

The funny new ads, released today, use real tweets from real people to highlight how the iPad Pro excels over old-school computers in areas like speed, Wi-Fi, productivity and viruses. Each clip is only 15 seconds long — and they all exhibit a playful tone that’s similar to the old “Get a Mac” campaign.

Watch all four right here:

Boost your house’s IQ with these smart home accessories [Deals]

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From smart bulbs to HD home monitoring cameras and more, these accessories will make any home smarter.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

You can’t buy smarts, except when it comes to your smart house. Right now at the Cult of Mac Store, we’ve got a bunch of accessories that are sure to make your abode more like the smart home of your dreams.

From an HD home monitoring camera to a Bluetooth power outlet, smart LED lightbulbs and a dual-stream Bluetooth audio transmitter, you can teach any old house some new tricks with this gear. Everything’s available at a significant discount, too!

Apple’s Sydney store cleared due to possible bomb threat

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The George Street Apple store was evacuated.
Photo: Jon Bragg/Flickr CC

Apple’s flagship retail store in Sydney, Australia, was temporarily evacuated earlier today as part of a “police operation.”

A sniffer dog was spotted entering the building, while the three-story venue was cleared of customers by police, who also diverted local traffic. According to one customer who was evacuated, store employees were talking about a bomb threat. She noted that police were “very firm in telling people to leave immediately.”

Samsung chief is arrested on bribery, embezzlement and perjury charges

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Galaxy S7 is pretty, powerful, and packing huge improvements.
The man arrested is the likely heir to the Samsung empire.
Photo: Samsung

The de-facto head of Samsung, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, was arrested earlier today on alleged corruption charges.

According to the special prosecutor’s office, Lee — who is the heir apparent to the Samsung Group and only son of Samsung’s incapacitated chairman — is being held on charges including bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury.

Apple will build iPhones in India regardless of perks

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Loads of people love the iPhone SE's smaller form factor.
Apple is keen to grow its market share in India.
Photo: Sam Mills/Cult of Mac

Apple is set to begin manufacturing iPhones in India whether or not it has received agreement from the government over proposed tax relief incentives, a new report claims.

The first iPhones to be assembled in India are said to be 300,000 – 400,000 iPhone SE models, which will be manufactured at a plant owned by Winstron in Karnataka, Bengaluru.

Beats X are better than AirPods in almost every way [Reviews]

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Beats earphones
The Beats X are worth listening to.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

I’ve never been a fan of Beats headphones. Whenever I’ve given them a go, I’ve found the sound quality to be less than stellar, with far too much bass. So when Apple unveiled Beats X wireless headphones alongside the AirPods last fall, the weird-looking white ones grabbed my attention.

Now that I’ve had a chance to try them both, it’s clear I got that backward. I give you all the details on Beats X versus AirPods in my Beats X review below.

Apple touts Portrait Mode as an antidote to boring profile pics

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Portrait Mode is a game changer.
Portrait Mode is a game changer.
Photo: Apple

Are your social media profile pictures starting to look old and stale? Then Apple has some killer advice for you: buy the iPhone 7 Plus!

Apple just dropped two new video ads for the iPhone 7 Plus that tout the device’s dual-lens camera. With the new Portrait Mode feature, Apple showcases how you can take your boring profile pictures to the next level.

Check it out:

Apple tops list of most admired companies for 10th year running

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Fortune likes a company with a fortune. Who would have thought it?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple once again tops Fortune’s annual list of the world’s admired companies.

Other tech companies in the top 10 include Amazon (No. 2), Alphabet (No. 6), Facebook (No. 9) and Microsoft (No. 10). The company that’s nowhere in sight? Samsung, which is coming off a disastrous year in which its Note 7 smartphones exploded and had to be recalled.

For Apple, on the other hand, this marks the 10th year in a row at the top of the list. Do you think Tim Cook gets bored of winning at some point?

McDonald’s rips Jony Ive in tasty new ad for ‘the STRAW’

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This looks weirdly familiar...
Photo: McDonald's

Apple can barely manage a few days without someone else parodying or ripping off one of its iconic ads. The latest? McDonald’s, which just debuted a commercial for a product called “the STRAW” to market its forthcoming St. Patrick’s Day-themed Chocolate Shamrock Shake.

From the white backdrop to the earnest-sounding “person with a British accent,” there’s no doubt who the fast food chain is having some fun at the expense of.

Working a side gig or two? This bundle’s for you [Deals]

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Plenty of us need to work a side gig to pay the bills. These tools and lessons are here to make the gig life easier,
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Like it or not, we all live in the age of the side gig. None of us does just one thing anymore — pretty much every digital professional must act like an entrepreneur, finding new opportunities and creating some for themselves.

If you’re wearing a bunch of different hats, we’ve got great stuff that can help you out. From educational courses on digital skills like social media marketing to must-have tools like domain hosting and animation software for websites, you’ll want to check out our latest deals for surviving — and thriving — in the gig economy.

Apple considered buying Ron Howard’s production company

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Imagine is the company behind some major hit movies.
Photo: Columbia Pictures/Imagine Entertainment

Apple was in advanced talks with Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, about a possible “first look” deal, investment, or even full-on purchase — before discussions fell apart.

A new report claims negotiations were far enough along that both Tim Cook and Eddy Cue were involved. Imagine is the company behind big hit movies like Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code.

WWDC 2017 kicks off June 5 in San Jose

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A lot is changing at WWDC.
Prepare for iOS 11, macOS 10.3, and more!
Photo: Apple

Apple today confirmed details for its 28th annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where it will preview its next major updates to macOS, iOS and its other software platforms.

This year’s event kicks off June 5 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, and you can apply for tickets starting March 27.

New Apple TV to bring super-sharp 4K video this year

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apple tv and siri remote
A new Apple TV could be on its way later in 2017.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s fifth-gen Apple TV will reportedly be capable of streaming ultra-HD 4K images, according to a new report. The new box is codenamed “J105” and could launch later this year.

The article also notes a couple of previously unrevealed details about the current fourth-gen Apple TV, such as the fact that Apple engineers debated packaging it with a dedicated gaming controller as a way to compete more directly with the PlayStation and Xbox.

iPhone 8 to get mini Touch Bar that replaces Touch ID

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Apple has major changes planned for iPhone 8.
Photo: ConceptsiPhone

Apple is making major changes to the iPhone this year as the device celebrates its tenth anniversary. According to the latest claims from one reliable analyst, the iPhone 8 will offer a larger OLED display and a new “function area” that replaces its Touch ID button.

With Setapp, buying Mac apps goes the way of the dusty DVD collection

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Setapp Mac apps subscription service
You probably don't go to the store for DVDs anymore. Why do it for Mac apps?
Photo: MacPaw

This post is presented by MacPaw, the software team behind Setapp and a variety of proven Mac apps.

Remember the good old days when owning the movies you wanted meant going to the store to buy DVDs? Nowadays, most of us don’t even have a DVD player, and with good reason. Joining a streaming service like Netflix, which lets you pick and choose from a wide variety of great content, is a much more sensible option. It saves you time, effort, space, money and the waste of a misguided purchase (just think of all those DVDs gathering dust).

Apple’s spaceship campus gets perfectly replicated in Minecraft

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The spaceship is ready for liftoff.
The spaceship is ready for liftoff.
Photo: Alex Westerlund

Apple’s new campus isn’t move-in ready just yet, but you can take a virtual tour of the company’s new headquarters thanks to a Minecraft player who painstakingly re-created the entire spaceship.

It took over a year for Alex Westerlund to replicate the Apple spaceship campus in Minecraft, with more than 232 hours invested in the virtual building. Without using help or mods, Westerlund claims his Minecraft Apple Campus is 100 percent accurate.

Take a look: