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Get a three pack of triple-length Lightning cables, and more [Week’s Best Deals]

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Get triple backup for your Lightning cables at more than triple the usual length.
Get triple backup for your Lightning cables at more than triple the usual length.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

This week at the Cult of Mac Store saw some spectacular deals. A triple pack of more than triple-length MFi-certified Lightning cables, an award winning app for expanding the usefulness of PDFs, a top-shelf set of wireless Bluetooth earbuds, and the latest version of the super popular Toast from Roxio. They’re all discounted by at least half, and they’re all worth checking out. Read on for more details:

Can Apple Watch get you in shape? Here’s what the science says.

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Does the Apple Watch activity app have all the answers?
Does the Apple Watch activity app have all the answers?
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

If you’ve considering buying a shiny new Apple Watch Series 2, you might be wondering if it can really help you to get in shape. Especially if you’ve seen the recent headlines claiming that fitness trackers don’t work.

So what does science really have to say about wearables? I decided to investigate the science behind Apple Watch fitness assumptions.

Facebook’s new iOS app helps you find events

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Find stuff to do with Facebook Events.
Find stuff to do with Facebook Events.

Facebook is on a quest to cure your boredom with its newest standalone app that is focused solely on events.

Available only on iOS (for now), the new app dubbed Events from Facebook helps you find things to do in your area by giving you a filtered feed of what your friends are up to.

The FBI needs help unlocking another terrorist’s iPhone

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iPhone 7 Home button
iPhone's security has the FBI stumped.
Photo: Ste Smith

The FBI and Apple could be on a collision course for another legal showdown over a dead terrorist’s locked iPhone.

Apple refused to comply with the FBI’s demands to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone eight months ago. That led to a very public legal battle over privacy and security. Now the FBI needs help again after obtaining the iPhone of a terrorist that stabbed 10 people in a Minnesota mall.

Why you shouldn’t place all your trust in iPhone camera tests

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Two cameras that excited the world about photography, the iPhone and the Kodak Brownie.
Two cameras that excited the world about photography, the iPhone and the Kodak Brownie.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Miroslav Tichy roamed the streets of his Czech Republic town with a camera made of plywood, a cardboard tube and a plexiglass lens he polished with toothpaste and cigarette ashes. His crude, distorted photographs now hang in museums around the world.

So don’t worry if the camera on that iPhone 7 you just purchased doesn’t score high in some laboratory test that pits its image quality against other cameras.

The perfect 4K USB-C monitor for your MacBook [Review]

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lg
This stunning 4K LG Display plays nicely with USB-C.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The upcoming 2016 MacBook Pro is rumored to feature only USB-C ports, much like last year’s MacBook refresh.

If you’re hoping to get an external display to go with your shiny new laptop, right now the options are somewhat limited. Luckily, the stunning new LG Electronics 27UD88 monitor will provide you with everything you need.

Check out our video review below.

$100 off a MacBook Air, Canon DSLR with two lenses for $500 and more [Deals]

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Take advantage of great deals on MacBook Air, iPad 2, and much more.
Take advantage of great deals on iPad Air 2, MacBook Air, a Canon camera and much more.
Photos: Apple, Canon

Halloween is right around the corner, which means your local CVS probably already put out Christmas decorations. They do that for a reason, you know: It’s never too early to start thinking about the holiday season!

Following that logic, we’ve put together some of this week’s best deals from around the internet to start the gift-giving wheels turning. Even if you’re just giving the gift to yourself.

Apple scores $119.6 million from Samsung in ‘slide to unlock’ lawsuit

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iOS and Android are killing off the competition.
Samsung vs Apple lawsuits will never end.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The U.S. Court of Appeals gave Apple another victory today in its five-year-long legal battle with Samsung.

Apple won its appeal in an 8-3 ruling that reinstated a previous patent-infringement verdict that awarded the company $119.6 million. The judges in the case said it was wrong for the three-judge panel to throw out the verdict in February and suggested Apple could be owed even more money.

Save over $1,400 on iOS development courses [Deals]

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Now's your chance to get started with iOS development with this pair of comprehensive courses.
Now's your chance to get started with iOS development with this pair of comprehensive courses.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS10 has dropped, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to get up to speed on developing for Apple’s latest and greatest mobile platform. In fact, there’s never been a better time. This pair of comprehensive training courses clocks in at almost 200 hours, covering the ins and outs of building apps for both iOS 10 and iOS 9. It normally costs $1,500, but right now you can get both sets of courses for just $29 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Even flaming Galaxy Note 7 can’t scorch Samsung profits

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Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
Samsung's not revealing Note 7 recall costs, though.
Photo: Mr Ni/Baidu

Samsung’s booming chip and display business was enough to offset the cost of having to recall its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, according to a Q3 regulatory filing the South Korean tech company made today.

The company’s 7.8 trillion won ($7 billion) profit grew 5.6 percent by quarter to beat expectations. However, things might be a bit more complex than they initially appear.

Apple Music and Spotify offer user-uploaded remixes

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Apple Music
Dubset Media brings legit remixes to listeners and ensures musicians get paid.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Music and Spotify have started offering users access to unofficial, user-uploaded music remixes, courtesy of a deal with Dubset Media Holdings.

The company uses algorithms to sort out licensing and royalty payments for musical remixes. It’s an incredibly complicated problem to tackle, since a single remix might have upward of 600 different rights holders.

iPhone 7 goes on sale in India, costs half the average annual salary

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iPhone 7
Would you pay the equivalent of $28,000 for an iPhone?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus went on sale in India today, as Apple continues to try and grow its brand in the country.

It’s going to be a challenge, though, as Gartner research vice president Mark Hung told CNBC’s “Street Signs” — given that the price for the new handset is more than the average Indian citizen earns in six months.

Ex-NSA staffer reveals way to hack Mac’s camera and mic

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Mac App Store
You might want to put tape over your webcam.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Security researchers discovered a new way to hack the Mac’s built-in webcam this week, and the method is undetectable by users.

Apple built a green LED light into every Mac with firmware-level protection that turns on anytime the sensor is tripped by unauthorized access. The security feature has become increasingly difficult for hackers to beat, but former NSA staffer Patrick Wardle found a way to piggyback on outgoing feeds and record them.

Pent-up demand will make 2017 a banner year for iPhone

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iPHone 7 sales
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus is still selling well, according to wireless carriers.
Photo: Ste Smith/CultofMac

The iPhone 7 won’t be enough to break Apple out of its sales slum.

In 2016, total mobile phone shipments are set to decline 1.6 percent. However, the latest forecast from Gartner reveals that 2017 could be a record-breaking year for Apple due to pent-up demand for a new form factor and better features.

Get Roxio’s latest, tastiest version of Toast for half off [Deals]

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Roxio Toast 15
Get the latest version of the greatest name in media capture and conversion, for half off
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you work with a lot of digital media, professionally or just for fun, you know the critical importance of a versatile and reliable converter. You’ve also probably well aware of Toast Titanium, the top name in media conversion. The latest version of Toast is also the greatest, slathered with new features for maximizing any digital media workflow. And right now, you can get Toast Titanium 15 for just $49 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple’s spaceship campus will hold even more employees than previously thought

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What the finished product will look like.
"What is this?! A campus for ants?"
Photo: Apple

The epic scale of Apple’s Campus 2 “spaceship” awed many people when it was first announced — with impressive stats like the fact that it is wider than the Empire State Building is tall, and that it will house 13,000 Apple employees — or the equivalent of 35 fully-stocked Boeing 747 jetliners’ worth of people.

But according to a new report, Apple’s new HQ will now house considerably more than that number of staffers, as Apple aims to bring as many teams under one roof in the name of collaboration.

Best List: Udoq charging station keeps everything organized and topped up [Review]

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Udoq's docking station
Udoq's docking station is compatible with just about any mobile device.
Photo: Lyle Kahney

Best List: Udoq universal charging stand

There’s a constant war in our house for charging bricks and cables. I like to keep chargers in certain places so I know where they are — beside the bed for example. But they constantly disappear, thanks to my light-fingered kids.

It drives me bananas, which is why I like the Udoq, a universal charging stand that neatly organizes and charges between two and eight devices. It can’t be easily half-inched.

AirPods point to Apple’s domination of ‘ambient paradigm’

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AirPods may miss Christmas while Apple works out audio problems.
Photo: Apple

The Apple Watch and new AirPods may seam like silly side projects to fans, but some analysts on Wall Street believe the company is using the two new products to lay the groundwork for the next era of personal technology.

While Silicon Valley is obssessed with virtual reality headsets, Apple is obsessed with making gadgetry less visible. UBS analysts Steven Milunovich and Benjamin Wilson told clients that while many firms see a lot of downside for Apple, the company’s “ambient paradigm” could be a huge money maker.

Week’s best Apple deals: More refurb and open-box MacBooks and iPads

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refurb and open-box apple deals
Embrace "new to me" and you'll save big with refurbished and open-box Apple gear.
Photos: Apple, Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Discounts on not-new laptops and tablets continue to shine this week, with Apple itself offering its legendary factory-refurbished MacBook Pros, and eBay offering an open-box 10-inch iPad Pro. You’ll find these deals and more in this week’s roundup of best Apple deals.