Cult of Mac

Apple just took the wraps off a lower-price version of its iPad stylus. The new Apple Pencil uses a USB-C port for charging so it’s a better fit for use with the budget iPad.

“Apple Pencil has revolutionized note taking, sketching, and illustrating, unleashing endless possibilities for productivity and creativity,” said Bob Borchers, Apple VP of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Combined with the versatility of iPad, the new Apple Pencil unlocks another great option to experience the magic of digital handwriting, annotation, marking up documents, and more.”

The new version is $50 less than Apple Pencil 2, the premium model. But it lacks some of the features of the top-of-the-line version.

The iPhone 15 Pro packs significant upgrades over its immediate predecessor, like a titanium body, a brighter display, a faster processor and better cameras. But are these changes enough to warrant an upgrade from your 2-year-old iPhone 13 Pro? Find out in this comparison.

The cost of the components that go into the iPhone 15 Pro Max is up significantly when compared to its predecessor, according to an analysis of the various parts that make up Apple’s latest smartphone.

The change helps justify the jump in price for this model.

I moved to a new home over the weekend, and in it I’ve already built a new workstation. What better time to revamp things? Actually, it’s more like another stage in my computer setup’s herky-jerky evolution.

I went from just a PC laptop a few years ago to various iterations of a MacBook Pro workstation to my new rig, featuring dual monitors, a standing desk and a proper office chair for the first time in ages.

Wish you didn’t have to open the Apple Music app to see what song will play next? The new iOS app LivePod turns your Apple Music Up Next queue into a Live Activity on your Lock Screen. And with newer iPhones, it shows up in the Dynamic Island.

You can use it for free on a limited basis.

The Apple TV+ series The Afterparty has reportedly been cancelled after two seasons. The genre-mixing comedy starring Tiffany Haddish won’t get a third season.

Fans can still hope the show will move to another streaming service, though.

Being the bank backing the Apple Card isn’t going well for Goldman Sachs, and it’s proposed a change that’s it thinks would make the job easier: stop billing every customer at the beginning of the month.

But some bank executives say the whole deal with Apple is untenable. “We should have never done this f—ing thing,” a Goldman partner is quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal.

Owning an array of iPhone charging accessories can make life go more smoothly. Luckily, we’ve got a bundle that combines a plethora of accessories in one.

For a limited time, this five-piece iPhone accessory bundle is on sale for only $49.99 (regularly $129).

Apple has developed a new way to wirelessly update iPhones in its retail stores without opening their boxes. This will ensure all iPhones sold are running the latest iOS release.

Apple could roll out the technology to its retail stores before the end of the year.

Apple could announce new iPads as soon as Tuesday, according to a new report. The company could unveil a new entry-level iPad, an updated iPad Air and the iPad mini 7.

All refreshed iPads purportedly will sport a minor spec bump but few other changes.

In this week’s Awesome Apps roundup, we have a book-reading app that will help you make reading a habit; a free app that turns an iPad into an external monitor for game consoles or cameras; and a great travel app that puts critical flight information on your Apple Watch.

There’s no better time than now to get into the cybersecurity industry. There are more than three-quarters of a million cybersecurity job openings across the United States, and it’s projected that the cost of cybercrime could reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. As a result, cybersecurity professionals are extremely valuable.

One great way to start on the road to becoming qualified to work in this ever-growing field is by acquainting yourself with cybersecurity fundamentals with this CompTIA bundle. Now through October 15, you can get this lifetime bundle for only $49.97 (regularly $195)!

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: An iOS 17 update supposedly will stop the iPhone 15 Pro’s Action button from triggering in your pocket, at least in certain circumstances. Is this really a problem that needs fixing?

Also on The CultCast:

• When it comes to upcoming Macs and Apple Watch, this week’s no news sounds like very bad news indeed.
• Apple’s Vision Pro headset seems to be straining the necks of some pencil-necked geeks.
• For this week’s Under Review segment, I’ve got a unique-looking charger and Erfon and Griffin bring very different sorts of cameras to the podcast’s version of show and tell.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Cut the Rope 3 is a new iteration of a beloved early iPhone game. It’s a physics-based puzzler staring Om Nom and cute little Nibble Nom.

The game is the latest addition to the Apple Arcade subscription service.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters premieres in November, and Apple TV+ released the full trailer for the series set in the MonsterVerse that contains Godzilla and other classic kaiju.

It’s a must-see for anyone who enjoyed the series of hit movies also set in the same universe.

Don’t let your analog memories fade into the past. Instead of piling up photo albums, you can scan your film to view the images on digital displays, computers, TVs, phones and any other device you’d like.

You can preserve precious memories by digitizing them with the Kodak Slide N Scan Film and Slide Scanner, on sale for $169.97 (regularly $224) with code KODAK through October 15.

There are a lot of awesome features in iOS 17 — Contact Posters, StandBy, Safari profiles, shared passwords and much, much more. Here’s a simple to-do list on how to make the most of Cupertino’s latest and greatest iPhone operating system.

Macs might be the best computers, but they’re not the only computers. And if you own a Windows PC and haven’t yet upgraded to Microsoft’s latest operating system, you’re missing out on the full potential of your machine.

An upgrade to Windows 11 Pro can unlock a whole new world of PC power and capabilities. Fortunately, Cult of Mac readers can score an incredible deal on this innovative OS. Usually $199, you can now pick up the Windows 11 Pro for only $29.97, a savings of more than $160. No coupon is needed to secure this discount!

We now know the last possible day Apple will release iOS 17.1: Wednesday, October 24.

That is the date by which the iPhone-maker committed to introducing an update that reduces the amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the iPhone 12, as required by a French regulatory agency. And that update is part of iOS 17.1.

Apple TV+ now has 7% of the U.S. streaming market, according to a company that follows the industry. That’s more than double the measly 3% the service had two years ago.

At the top of streaming market are Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.

With Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Behind Us — with no sign of a discounted Mac mini that we noticed — here’s your chance to bag deals on M2 Mac mini from B&H.

They include the entry-level model of the small-but-mighty desktop machine for a hundred bucks off, at just $499. And some models are marked down $150.

Gone are the days when you needed a separate charger for pretty much every device. These days, with gallium nitride, aka GaN, technology allowing for small-but-powerful chargers, you can handle most of your charging needs with just one device.

Although I go for almost daily bike rides for exercise, I used to always forget to record the rides on my Apple Watch. I’d always record the rides on my bike computer. But when it came to the watch, I’d never remember until halfway through the workout, if at all.

That’s until I got the Apple Watch Ultra, which boasts a bright orange Action button that I set to start an Outdoor Cycle workout.

Now, I remember every time, and it’s because of the button. It’s the strangest thing, and I have no explanation. But the act of hitting a physical button makes me remember.

The versatile Action button — which you can set to turn on the watch’s flashlight, start the stopwatch or run a shortcut, among other things — is reason enough to get the Apple Watch Ultra, which I’ve been wearing since its launch last year. But there’s another great reason. Actually, two.

Some computer setups look “clean” and “minimal” because they’re, well, empty. Under-equipped. Not all there. But today’s featured M2 MacBook Air setup with Studio Display actually brings enough gear, it just does so in a beautifully clean way that has the rest of us slobs drooling with envy.

Hell, our setup is practically a waste dump half the time, compared to this thing.

It’s 2003, and the United States leads the way on Mars in its Happy Valley Base, having turned its international space-race competitors into allies. But when an asteroid presents an almost-unimaginably rich mining opportunity, it’s back to pitched competition, as seen in the For All Mankind season four trailer Apple TV+ dropped Thursday.

The alternative-history sci-fi series started with an interesting premise — what if the United States lost the moon race in 1969 to the Soviets? — and has run with it into a fourth season, which debuts November 10 on Apple TV+.