Cult of Mac

Planning to get that special someone (or yourself) a killer app or the newest MMORPG for the holiday season? Just make sure it’s not too much of a good thing. All those digital goodies take up space, but cloud storage is one easy solution. Koofr is standing out in a crowded field of providers thanks to its focus on security and accessibility, and now new users can get on board with a lifetime subscription to 1TB for just $119.97.

UPDATE: The “Scary Fast” event has come and gone, and it brought the fresh MacBook Pro models and the iMac — all powered with a new M3 processor — that leaks predicted. Check out Cult of Mac‘s full coverage for more details.

Apple fans are getting a treat this Halloween: an event that’ll bring the M3 processor and a range of new Macs to run it.

Here’s everything we’re expecting at Monday’s event, including an iMac and MacBooks, with some accessories thrown in.

The holidays are coming up, and if you’re like the majority of us who put off buying gifts until the last minute, you can easily change that right now. Sometimes, a great deal and an interesting product combine to be worth buying and saving for one of the many people on your list. An example of such a combination is this lifetime subscription to the Plantum AI Plant Identifier Premium Plan, which is only $14.97 (reg. $59) through October 31st.

Halloween is almost here, making this a great weekend to play some spooky games. Apple Arcade has a nice selection of these to help you enjoy the creepy season.

Here are the best options in Apple’s gaming service to find ghosts, ghouls and goblins.

Holiday travel season is nearly upon us, meaning things will become even pricier quickly. Fortunately, for a limited time, there’s a way to save big on airline tickets domestically and internationally in the coming months and long term.

Modern families rarely hit the “off” switch these days. We earn, play and stay in touch online, going from one device to the next. Yet, too many of us only worry about security on the tablet or laptop we use for work. BulletVPN is a virtual private network that casts a wider net, giving users top-tier protection and freedom on a whole range of devices.

Apple’s iCloud is very convenient for iPhone and Mac users, but the storage plans are skimpy and expensive. iCloud storage tops out at 12TB and costs an eye-watering $59.99 a month.

That’s why you should look at this great deal from Prism Drive Secure Cloud Storage, which is offering a full 20TB for just $69.97 for life. That’s nearly twice iCloud’s maximum storage for just over the price of one month’s rental. And unlike iCloud, it doesn’t go away when you stop paying monthly subscription charges. Note: this sale is only here for a few more days.

The most-recent iOS update increases the battery life of several older iPhone models, according to tests on a range of devices. And it’s a jump for almost every model tested over the first iOS 17 version.

But there’s still room for improvement.

UPDATE: The “Scary Fast” event has come and gone, and it brought the fresh MacBook Pro models and the iMac — all powered with a new M3 processor — that leaks predicted. Check out Cult of Mac‘s full coverage for more details.

As Apple’s Monday-evening Scary Fast event fast approaches, the latest rumors Friday say new M3-powered 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are likely to appear, while a new 13-inch M3 model likely remains in development.

A good external monitor like Apple’s Studio Display is an important part of a computer setup. But what about the monitor light bar that sits on top of it? They’re not all the same and they can hugely impact your workspace.

Today’s MacBook Pro setup boasts a Studio Display, and on top sits a fairly pricey BenQ monitor light. Read on the find out why the user says it’s worth every penny.

Editor’s note: Apologies, but this deal is not yet live. We accidentally published this post too early. The deal will go live at midnight on October 30th. Again, we’re sorry for the mistake.

Sticking to a household budget is a challenging task, especially if you have to bounce from store to store to get all your errands done. That’s a waste of gas, time and money. With the holidays so close, it might be worth it to start shopping at Costco and turn any savings you find into gifts for your friends and family. Plus, this is your chance to get a One-Year Gold Star Membership and a $40 Digital Costco Shop Card* for the price of a normal membership. 

NexDock and the infiniteX2P app are designed to turn an iPhone 15 into a laptop. Connect Apple’s latest to the touchscreen/keyboard/mouse and run the app to start multitasking on a 13-inch display.

The USB-C port in the iPhone 15 makes this combination possible.

The rise of AI technology can potentially do wonders when it comes to personal productivity. Ahead of the holiday season, you’ll find remarkable savings on innovative software that’s primed to provide anyone with a boost.

Finding what to watch with the Apple TV app is about to get easier. The newly released developer beta for tvOS 17.2 gives a preview of the new navigation users will soon see.

Apple TV+ and other content sources will surface in a sidebar list on the left side of app pages.

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 17.2 to developers on Thursday. The major new feature seems to be the AI-enhanced Journal app that Apple previously promised. macOS 14.2 beta 1, iPadOS 17.2 beta 1, watchOS 10.2 beta 1 and tvOS 17.2 beta 1 are also available to devs.

These come just a day after the previous versions of all these operating system went out to the public.

A new documentary claiming to be the “definitive” look at the murder of John Lennon — the former Beatle and enduring cultural icon — is coming to Apple TV+. Unfortunately, though, the streaming service hasn’t yet said when the exhaustively researched, three-part series will arrive.

But we do know the narrator of John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial. It’s Emmy Award-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland, the streaming service said.

Apple sells millions of AirTags because people want to track the location of their stuff. But the tracker does only part of the job — it only warns the user when their iPhone moves too far away from the tag. Making it also set off an alarm when the tag moves away while the user is sitting still would be a welcome improvement.

This could be done with a changes to the Find My application. No new hardware is required.

One of the more exciting updates to Apple Watch lately is the new double-tap gesture now available in the watchOS 10.1 update. It allows Series 9 and Ultra 2 users to tap their finger and thumb together twice to launch a function without touching the wearable.

After appearing in the watchOS 10.1 beta — but in nonfunctional form — now it’s out for real with the public release.

Apple dropped its leather iPhone cases, but the Mujjo Full Leather Wallet Case with MagSafe is a brilliant alternative. It protects your valuable handset while also providing an easy way to carry credit cards and drivers license. Plus, it looks gorgeous while doing so.

I carried my iPhone 15 Plus this case on holiday, to restaurants … everywhere I went for weeks. Here’s why I love this case for my iPhone 15 Plus, despite a notable drawback.

The voice you hear when you speak might not be the voice that your computer hears. If you don’t have a high-quality mic, your voice could come through harsh and full of static, not great if you’re giving a formal presentation, participating in a meeting, or just chatting with a friend online.

Own a BMW or Toyota vehicle? Don’t charge your iPhone 15 using the car’s built-in wireless charger as it could break the phone’s NFC chip.

Apple acknowledged the problem in an internal memo and confirmed a software fix will roll out later this year.

Make PDF management seamless

PDFs can be great for business and everyday content sharing. But, they can also be absolute pains if you need to make a quick edit, annotation or virtually any other change.

If you know someone who deals heavily in PDFs, then this might be an excellent opportunity to get them a holiday gift at an affordable rate. This lifetime subscription for a Document 365 Lite Individual Plan is on sale for only $69.97 (reg. $299) through October 31st.

What can a user do with this subscription?

Most importantly, Document 365 allows members to update and fix PDFs across different devices, boosting any user’s productivity. Among its most common applications, users can annotate their PDFs with text boxes, highlights, their own handwriting, notes, graphics and a range of other elements.

Document 365 is designed to make it easy to sign documents when needed, and it streamlines the processes of filling out forms, splitting files, combining PDFs and even attaching voice notes from your mobile devices. You can even bring such work on the go through the PDF Reader mobile app!

Document 365 also supports a wide range of document conversion and scanning services. It allows you to convert any file to or from PDF, and it empowers you to send faxes online, as well as sync and access files from your desktop and other devices. Of course, these services are accessible anywhere you have a stable internet connection.

A highly secure and rated PDF manager 

Plus, Document 365 offers security features, like the ability to protect the app, scans and PDF documents with password protection or watermarks. No wonder this PDF manager boasts a 4.7-star rating, with one verified buyer writing, ” PDF of Documents 365 Life is a helpful, good, and perfect software to be used for many functions. It’s very easy to change files and save them in many groups.”

Grab a lifetime subscription for a Document 365 Lite Individual Plan for just $69.97. No coupon is required, but this deal ends October 31st at 11:59pm Pacific!

Prices subject to change. 

NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition, the latest addition to the long-running esports games franchise, launched a bit earlier than expected. The feature-packed basketball game is now on Apple Arcade for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.

This is the definitive basketball game for Apple devices, and each new version adds even more features.

Apple-owned music-identification app Shazam now lets users find live music through a new feature called Concerts, the company said Wednesday.

It surfaces shows in the iOS app’s My Music section based on a user’s Shazam history.

Apple introduced macOS Sonoma 14.1 on Wednesday, so it’s out of beta testing and ready for Macs going back about five years. The update includes a few modest enhancements and bug fixes.

Here’s what’s new.