It’s another episode full of story set up and a ton of talking this week on True Blood, the HBO vampire romance-drama that’s now seven episodes into it’s final season.

The plot moves inexorably on toward some sort of conclusion, but seems to be more of an exercise in arranging characters so that they can fall in love and have sex with each other. Eric and Pam continue their search for Sarah Newland, Holli and Andy keep looking for Adilyn and Wade, Sookie still holds out hope that there will be a cure for Bill, who she infected with the Hepatitis-V virus her own darn self.

Here’s hoping that the endless plot devices slow down and merge into a series finale we can all be excited about in the next three episodes before it’s all over and done with.

Keep reading to see all the spoiler-y detail of this week’s episode of True Blood.

Conceptual designer Martin Hajek has no peer when it comes to turning the latest Apple rumors into blisteringly sexy 3-D renders, and with the iPhone 6 just around the corner, he’s already made a number of mockups imagining what it will look like according to the latest rumors.

But with the iPhone 6 now set to be unveiled on September 9th, Martin Hajek has re-examined all of his old renders and every rumor and part leak for the iPhone 6 so far, to come up with the most realistic and accurate iPhone 6 renders yet, right down to a gorgeous exploded view of what all the components look like inside.

If the real iPhone 6 looks even half this good, it’ll be one of the most beautiful consumer objects ever released. Check out some more renders after the jump, and prepare to be absolutely astounded.

Battery life is one of the perceived iPhone weaknesses that rival manufacturers have often used to beat Apple over the head with — with both Samsung and BlackBerry dismissing iPhone owners as “wall huggers” because of the so-called short battery life of their iOS devices.

That may be about to change, however, with ESM-China analyst Sung Chang Xu (the same person who suggested that the iPhone 6 would come with a range of new sensors) claiming that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will sport a battery with a 2,100 mAh capacity, instead of the meagre 1,810 mAh unit previously reported.

Apple and Samsung have decided to drop all patent litigation in courts outside of the U.S. The decision ends cases that are open in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, the U.K., France, and Italy.

Disputes over intellectual property related to the iPhone and Samsung phones will continue stateside, and neither party has agreed to a licensing arrangement of any kind.

Sprints is giving up on its dream to buy T-Mobile and merge into a mega-carrier powerful enough to take on AT&T and Verizon, after months of pursuing a multi-billion acquisition of the magenta-hued UnCarrier.

Winning approval from regulators was deemed to big an obstacle for the merger to overcome, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint has decided to end acquisition talks altogether.

Samsung vowed to end child labor in its supply chain once and for all with its new ‘zero tolerance’ policy on child labor, but after coming down hard on Dongguan Shinyang Electronics this summer for employing under age workers, the Android maker has decided to just enforce 30% of its policy.

There are really only two players in the smartphone race: Apple and Samsung. According to new data from Canadian investment firm Canaccord Genuity, Apple and Samsung command a whopping 108% of smartphone profits combined.

The above chart is for the second quarter of 2014. Apple’s cash cow has been the iPhone for years, and it’s easy to see why; no one comes close to raking in the same kind of profit off hardware.

Over the years, one of my favorite Mac apps has always been iStat Menus by Bjango. In anticipation of OS X Yosemite launching, version 5 was released today with a completely new design and some cool feature additions.

The main purpose of iStat Menus is to show you everything you need to know about your Mac’s system from the menubar. Everything from available disk space to battery charge cycles to GPU activity is available in a clean, attractive interface.

It’s hard to believe it’s only been four years since the reveal of the original iPad. Over the years the iPad has gone from “just a big iPhone” to becoming a common staple in the household, the office and everywhere in between. With four years behind us, four different iPad models and a new mini generation, this fall calls for yet another addition.

Take a look at today’s video where we rundown all the latest leaks, rumors, and other iPad Air 2 tidbits, to give you an early glimpse at the design, possible specs, and more.

Watch our full report above and subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to ensure you don’t miss any of our newest videos.

A U.K. man has been charged with murder after using Find My iPhone to track down and kill the thug who stole his son’s iPhone at knifepoint earlier in the day.

Derek Grant reportedly used Apple’s tracking software to locate the nearby thief after his son was robbed on his way home from work at McDonalds. When Derek confronted the thief and demanded he return the iPhone, the thief blinded him with a knife to the eye, which Grant says caused him to lash out in self defense and kill him.

Pebble today added three new additions to its popular smartwatch lineup, but they’re not the all-new Android Wear competitors you may have been hoping for. Instead, they’re actually original Pebbles with fancy new paint jobs — and they’re only available for a limited time.

Since Apple announced its Q3 2014 earnings last month everyone seems focused on less-than-stellar iPad sales, but along with the impending launch of the iPhone 6, Apple’s got a lot to celebrate as the company told CNBC that the App Store had record-setting revenue numbers in July.

Apple says it saw a record number of customers making transaction on the App Store in July, prompting Tim Cook to launch a celebratory tweet to developers:

Months of leaks and hundreds of rumors are finally set to culminate with the official unveiling of the iPhone 6, and according to Re/code we’re only a month away from the big day.

Google today rolled out a new Chrome beta for OS X — officially dubbed Chrome Canary — which finally takes advantage of the 64-bit processors built into the latest Macs. The change should mean better performance when browsing the web, but it isn’t quite ready to become your daily driver just yet.

When the original iPhone launched in 2007, the only thing worse than its abysmal camera was the cellular data provided by AT&T’s sluggish, outage-prone network.

Even Steve Jobs thought AT&T’s data speeds sucked, and according to Re/Code’s Walt Mossberg, Jobs wanted to circumvent the need for cellular data altogether by creating an open WiFi consortium.

Cult of Mac Deals has put together a package of 7 terrific courses that can teach you the skills to be a master web developer. With this package, anyone can learn how to build an awesome web page using the latest web development techniques.

The best part is this package, valued at over $1000, is that it’s available for whatever you want to pay. That’s right, Cult of Mac Deals presents The Name Your Own Price Front End Master Bundle. Simply pay what you want and, if you beat the average price of all packages sold, you get all 7 of these amazing courses!

It’s not easy being Samsung!

After missing sales targets, and being knocked off the top smartphone spot in China by low-end rival Xiaomi, the South Korean Lex Luthor to Apple’s Superman is also apparently being hit hard by Apple’s embrace of other component makers for its devices.

In a recent press conference, Samsung executives admitted how its role as third party chip manufacturer (something which makes up half of Samsung’s microprocessor business) is being negatively affected by Apple’s decision to work with other partners like TSMC.

The San Diego Comic Con has a rich history of giving us our first look at the best upcoming sci-fi movies. Case in point: on August 4th, 1979, Comic Con was where George Lucas showed an excited crowd the very first live-action trailer for The Empire Strikes Back.

For thirty-five years, this trailer was thought to be lost, but it has now popped back up online, and it features some footage from Empire that was left on the cutting room floor… including a very icky scene between Luke and Leia.

If I had to list the apps I couldn’t live without, Plex would be high up on the list. Think of it like a Netflix for your local video. A multimedia server client for Mac with a slick iOS app, Plex allows you to stream your local television shows and movies on demand to any device on your local WiFi network, or even away from home. It even works on the Apple TV.

Now, Plex for iOS version 3.5 is here, and it brings some cool new features to the already feature-packed app, including the ability to play movie trailers before your movie!

Apple is set to open its new Dutch brick-and-mortar retail store this Saturday, according to ifoAppleStore.

This will be the third Apple Store to open in the Netherlands, with previous retail outfits opening in Amsterdam and Haarlem. The store will be located in Den Haag (The Hague), which is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, but an important city since it is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State.

While the world is eagerly awaiting Apple’s next generation iPhone 6, a new report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models Apple is expected to release may be pushed back due to production issues.

According to Kuo, Apple’s manufacturers are suffering delays related to the devices’ in-cell touch panel production, and also low-yield casing and chassis problems.

Will the iPhone 6 have a sapphire glass display or won’t it? So far, the jurt’s still out, with a leaked ‘sapphire’ panel turning out to be just a different type of Gorilla Glass.

Whether the iPhone 6 will or won’t have a super-hard, nigh-invulnerable sapphire glass screen, though, Apple is still doubling down on its investments into the material. In fact, it was announced today that Apple’s sapphire glass facility is nearly ready for mass production.

There are various smart light bulbs on the market, with the most famous probably being the Philips Hue connected bulb. But new Kickstarter project Emberlight has come up with a unique (and certainly more wallet-friendly) spin on the concept of how best to light your smart home.

Emberlight has produced a device with the ability to turn any dimmable bulb into a smart light, which users can then operate using their smartphone. The project’s developers boast of multiple uses for the Emberlight: ranging from having the lights in your bedroom mimic a sunrise by slowly lighting up in the morning, to creating custom presets for different lighting effects, to having your lights intelligently turn on and off as you move through your home.

Ever since the iPhone 3GS was first released back in 2009, new iPhones have shipped in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors, priced $199, $299, and $399, respectively.

But 16GB doesn’t get you very far these days, and although iOS 8 will help users out with cheaper iCloud storage, smartphones like the Amazon Fire are shipping with 32GB of storage these days, minimum.

Could Apple follow suit? According to industry experts, it’s very, very possible.

Ever since it arrived on our computers all the way back in 2000, the makers of The Sims have always been great at providing plenty of expansion packs designs to grow your Sim universe out in a variety of different directions.

That same spirit had carried over to the iOS game The Sims FreePlay, which has just added a “Let’s Eat” update, letting your Sim become a master of the culinary arts.