Cult of Mac

Blogging. For many it still conjures images of bearded, bespectacled dudes at coffee shops complaining to no one about nothing through their laptops. But of course (as you, dear reader, probably know very well), blogging has become one of the most robust and legitimate ways of contributing to the dialogue on the internet, and doing that right takes the right tools. Whether it’s capturing quality audio or compelling images, or just knowing the nuts and bolts of establishing and running a website, we’ve found some great deals on top notch tools and knowledge for doing blogging right.

This week on The CultCast: Why the new iPad Pro screen is “practically perfect”; stories from The Cult of Mac; our most anticipated WWDC 2016 announcements; a look at Apple’s newly updated MacBooks; Apple’s secret plan to create hit TV shows; and, have you ever wondered how rich you’d be if you invested in Apple’s IPO instead of buying its computers? We break down the numbers.

Our thanks to Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small-business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.

Most fitness apps seem obsessed with calories. Go for a run, and your Apple Watch tells you how many calories you burned. Scan a barcode and MyFitnessPal tells you how many calories are in the food you are about to eat.

So what exactly are calories, and does counting them really help you achieve your fitness goals?

Whether keeping them charged, free from damage or just having enough connections for all the devices we use, our MacBooks can sometimes use a little help fulfilling our needs.

That’s why this collection of peripherals is exciting — there’s something here for everybody, and at prices that won’t last. Take a look:

Court filings from several law enforcement organizations say that people may just stop helping with police with their investigations if Apple gets its way in an iPhone encryption case in Brooklyn.

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Association of Prosecutor Attorneys, and the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York all presented their arguments to try to convince the presiding judge that the iPhone maker is subverting centuries of law by refusing to help in a drug case.

Cupertino is about to crack down on non-native Apple Watch apps.

The company posted a new requirement on its developer site that says that in the near future, all new apps must run natively on the device and originate in the watchOS 2 development kit. This new policy could finally get us some Apple Watch apps that work as well as we’d like them to.

You know, instead of some of the ones we have no, which kind of don’t.

Designers have found a lot of interesting ways to cover your precious laptop, but this might be a new one: a marble MacBook case that gives your device a cool, classic look. This one comes courtesy of Elemnt and rawbkny, the same people who found a way to give you a wooden keyboard, and this is easily their most ambitious project yet.

“We have managed to cut down the marble slab to 0.8mm thickness, backed with fiberglass and 3M pressure sensitive adhesive,” Elemnt’s Mikhail Novikov said in an e-mail. “The marble cover is rigid yet flexible enough to wrap the MacBook all around using specific lasercut lines to allow the edges to bend. The marble is sourced directly from Milan, Italy.”

Developer David Repas just wants to give you some free stuff with no obligation on your part.

“I’m just one guy trying to create a company around giving stuff away,” he tells Cult of Android. “I’m not into people tracking, annoying users or any of that funny business.”

The app, Finagle, is the simplest we’ve seen. Download it for iOS or Android, add in your email and mobile number and boom, you’re set. Simply look at the latest giveaway (Repas is offering a Pebble Time smartwatch currently) and you’re entered a random drawing to win.

Getting free stuff is never this easy. What’s the catch?

Apple’s most recent keynotes have been a little… boring. Even die-hard fans have been left disappointed by the lack of action and surprises, but with WWDC 2016 right around the corner, many have high hopes that Apple’s about to buck that trend.

Apple’s keynote will offer our first sneak peeks at iOS 10 and the next big upgrades to OS X, watchOS, and tvOS — plus possible refreshes for Apple Watch and various Macs. Will these things make up for the lack of excitement?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we talk about (argue over) all things WWDC!

The rose gold MacBook may be the most beautifully boring new Apple product released in 2016, but once you crack it open, the super-slim MacBook gets a lot more interesting.

Rather than going with the typical teardown procedure, the YouTubers at What’s Inside decide to take a grinder to the rose gold MacBook’s Retina display. Unbelievably, the sleek MacBook still worked after they cut halfway through the screen.

Check out what’s behind the glass in this unconventional MacBook teardown video.

Progress on the Apple Car is coming along faster than anticipated after Project Titan hit some speed bumps earlier this year.

Based on a batch of new hires, it appears that Apple Car parts may have already entered the prototyping phase at the company’s Product Realization Lab, where machinists and engineers produce and test product designs.

Best List: Mars Bluetooth floating speaker by Crazybaby

The Mars Bluetooth speaker has a fairly reliable gimmick: the top part — which looks like a little UFO from an old sci-fi flick — floats above the bottom cylinder. It’s a cool visual trick managed by some fairly strong magnets, but it’s just that: a fun gimmick.

What’s surprising, though, is just how great this speaker sounds. It fills my house with deep bass thanks to the subwoofer abilities of that lower section of the speaker, and the UFO attachment flies proud while reproducing the rest of the sonic spectrum with highs and mids that don’t get lost in the bass response, but are also not too brittle.

Turn this floating speaker up and you’ve got a serious powerhouse Bluetooth speaker that just cries out to be admired by everyone at the party.

Today is Earth Day. That’s good news for the environment — and great news for your wallet!

To celebrate, we’re offering an extra $10 for every product sold on our gadget buyback program through the end of the weekend. Just use the promo code “earthday” when you get your quote and you’ll grab the extra green.

These days, there are as many options for speakers and headphones as there are stars in the sky. Out of such a bewildering array of audio choices, we’ve picked four of the brightest, each one unique and distinct.

From a Bluetooth speaker that looks like a cajon to DJ-grade headphones, this audio gear makes the grade. And we’ve got hot deals on each of them. Take a look — and a listen.

Apple is going hard on Earth Day. Company stores changed their Apple logos green. The App Store has a week-long green app promotion. And today the company has released not one, but two ads.

The second Earth Day video from Apple features Siri and Liam hanging out talking about kale smoothies until Apple’s digital assistant meets its demise.

Watch the new ad below:

Apple may become one of the first foreign companies granted a permit to open a retail store in India without sourcing 30 percent of its products from inside the country.

While this rule has previously proven to be a hurdle for foreign brands, in Apple’s case the Indian government appears likely to overlook it on the grounds that Apple is a “state-of-the-art” company manufacturing “cutting-edge technology.”

The Apple Watch doesn’t need to prove itself to you. And contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t need a “killer app” to make it indispensable.

In fact, the Apple Watch is an awesome device all on its own, with a ton of tricks up its sleeve, like controlling your big screen TV and finding your iPhone, even in the dark.

Here are 13 killer things you can do with an Apple Watch that prove it’s worthy of a place on your wrist.

Apple has changed its homepage and released a new video to celebrate Earth Day, the annual show of support for environmental protection — and an area which has been a big focus of Tim Cook during his time as CEO at Apple.

Check out Apple’s work below.

Dublin, the largest and capital city of Ireland, may finally be about to get its first Apple Store.

Apple is reportedly in talks with a developer group called the Natrium consortium to open up a flagship retail store in Dublin’s city center —  possibly based on the ground floor of an iconic former department store, bought last year for €29 million ($33 million).

Apple will drop its incremental “s” iPhone release next year in favor of jumping straight to the iPhone 8, claims Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz.

Moskowitz backs up previous suggestions that the iPhone that launches in 2017 will boast the biggest upgrade since 2014’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus — with OLED displays and wireless charging, but lacking a physical home button. He predicts the massive revamp will lead to what he calls a “mega cycle” upgrade.

As for this year’s iPhone 7? He’s not so optimistic.

From saying that he doesn’t want to be stuck in the Apple ecosystem to advising Apple to build an Android phone, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has said a lot of things that probably don’t go down too well at his former company.

His latest comments, however, put him more directly in the sights of Tim Cook — as Woz uses a new interview to take a shot at Apple’s tax payments. His thoughts? The company should pay more than it does. Half of everything it earns, in fact!

In its biggest move yet to regulate Apple in China, the Chinese government has forced Apple to shut down its iBooks Store and iTunes Movies in the country — just six months after the services were first made available.

While the government initially approved the launch, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television reportedly changed its mind and demanded that Apple shutter the service.

Just hours after the great musician’s passing, Prince reigns supreme on the top albums, songs and music videos on iTunes.

You may not be able to stream his incredible volume of hits on Apple Music or Spotify, but it seems as if his fans don’t care, with iTunes purchases rocking Prince’s tunes to the top of the charts.

Facebook is bringing more algorithms to bear to predict exactly what you’ll want to see in your News Feed, according to a post on its Newsroom site today.

The social-media platform has been tinkering for years with the processes that determine what actually makes it to your screen. But these latest “improvements” might prove even more restrictive and detrimental to publishers than the loss of the chronological feed, and they could inspire other services to make similar changes.

Here’s what Facebook is doing to your News Feed now.

Getting into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c was no cheap feat for the FBI.

The Department of Justice withdrew its demands that Apple unlock the terrorist’s iPhone after the FBI was approached by a third-party that had a method to hack the device. It turns out Cellebrite charged the FBI through the nose to access the information it wanted, but FBI director James Comey says it was totally worth it.