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Schemes and a royal screwup shake Foundation [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Leah Harvey and Lou Llobell in ★★★★
Salvor (played by Leah Harvey, left) and Gaal (Lou Llobell) wonder what Hari Seldon's up to this week on Foundation.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ Review Foundation, the epic Apple TV+ sci-fi show about the political machinations and battles being fought for control of a galaxy, finds its players being manipulated in all sorts of scary and surprising ways this week.

Hari looks backward and forward and finds nothing he likes. Cleric and Constant get Trantor’s version of a warm welcome. And finally, Brother Day unveils a new succession plan — that immediately backfires on him. It’s a very fine installment of this most exciting show.

Apple’s Magic Keyboard with Touch ID for Mac drops to a new low price

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Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and numeric keypad in black
Apple's Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad for Mac hits a new low price.
Photo: Apple

Looking to buy a new keyboard for your Mac? Look no further than Apple’s own Magic Keyboard, which is down to its lowest price ever.

While the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad retails for $199 in black, Amazon has currently discounted it to $149.99.

Here’s your chance to grab refurb MacBooks on the cheap

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Woot's latest sale offers a selection of reconditioned MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
Woot's latest sale offers a selection of reconditioned MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Amazon bargain website Woot! is offering a sale on factory-reconditioned and refurbished MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models — with prices as low as $280!

That low price is for a 2017 MacBook Air, but you can also score hot deals on 2022 M2 models. See below. The sale ends Tuesday, August 22, at 10 p.m. Pacific.

When it’s time to swap MacBook Pro for Mac Studio [Setups]

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When you work in 3D, you need a lot of computing power. And four screens, apparently.
When you work in 3D, you need a lot of computing power. And four screens, apparently.
Photo: [email protected]

Today’s featured setup sports a powerful M2 Ultra Mac Studio desktop computer and four screens, three of them with sparkling 4K resolution. But until recently it was an M2 Max MacBook Pro setup upgraded from an M1 MacBook Pro.

Why the switch to Mac Studio? Hey, sometimes you just need a more badass computer. Especially when you work in 3D rendering and you rarely take the laptop off its dock anyway.

Nomad’s new GaN charger powers up 3 devices quickly

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Charge three devices at once via USB-C with Nomad's new GaN charger.
Charge three devices at once via USB-C with Nomad's new GaN charger.
Photo: Nomad

Accessories maker Nomad offered a new entrant in the multiport-gallium-nitride (GaN)-charger derby Thursday, unveiling its Nomad 130W GaN Power Adapter.

It comes with three USB-C ports and 130 watts of charging power for MacBook, iPad and iPhone.

Create blog posts in seconds with this AI-powered tool

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Create blogs in seconds with this AI tool as seen on USA Today, now under $50 now.
Generate SEO-friendly content for you website instantly. Then get ready to rake in the cash.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Ready to boost your website’s Google game and turn your traffic into treasure? Say hello to Blogify — your trusty sidekick in the quest for SEO supremacy!

Imagine waving goodbye to those endless hours spent crafting content. With Blogify, you’ve got a turbo-charged AI buddy that whips up SEO-friendly content in a heartbeat. That can mean higher Google rankings, increased traffic to your website, and more chances to make money.

Right now, you can save $400 on a lifetime subscription to this AI-powered content machine.

iPhone 15 could support faster 35W charging speeds

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iPhone 15 already in trial production
Your iPhone 15
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac/Pixabay/Pexels

Apple could finally give the iPhone charging speed a much-needed speed boost this year. A report based on industry sources claims the iPhone 15 will support peak charging speeds of 35W.

The rumored switch from Lightning to USB-C on 2023 iPhones might have a role to play in this upgrade.

Tiny new 1TB SSD is rocket-fast

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This little drive speedily transfers data via Thunderbolt 3.
This little drive speedily transfers data via Thunderbolt 3.
Photo: Sabrent

Sabrent’s new portable Rocket Nano XTRM External SSD features blazing-fast data-transfer speeds via Thunderbolt 3, the company said Thursday.

This MacBook dock can do it all

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Satechi Dual Dock Stand: MacBook dock can do it all
It's a hub, an SSD enclosure and a stand.
Photo: Satechi

Satechi’s Dual Dock Stand packs in an unusual number of features. It’s a nine-port USB-C hub, and also an NVMe SSD enclosure. And it’s designed to prop up a MacBook for easier typing.

The multifunction MacBook accessory launched Thursday.

Opera for iOS adds AI browsing

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Now you have another option for using AI on your iPhone.
Now you have another option for using AI on your iPhone.
Photo: Opera

The Opera browser for iOS now features an artificially intelligent assistant created in collaboration with OpenAI. Opera calls it Aria, and says it “offers you a cutting-edge generative AI service for free.”

Similarly to other such tools, Opera integrated its AI into the browser and makes it free to use once you opt in.

Get a new MacBook every 2 years with this subscription service

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Happy MacBook Pro user
Rather than pay for a MacBook upfront, get one with a monthly subscription from Upgraded.
Photo: Upgraded

Upgraded, a MacBook upgrade program that offers month-to-month subscription for new laptops, launched in the United States on Thursday.

Subscribers pay for their MacBook with a monthly fee, and can trade up to a new model every two years at no additional cost.

Slash sky-high flight costs with unbelievable BOGO deal on Dollar Flight Club

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Beat rising flight rates with this Dollar Flight Club two-for-one deal, now only $99.97.
Get two Dollar Flight Club subscriptions for less than $100 and start traveling for less.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Feeling like your dreams of soaring through the skies have been grounded by skyrocketing airfare prices? To help get you back in the skies, Cult of Mac Deals is serving up a deal hotter than airplane coffee: a two-for-one offer on the Dollar Flight Club Premium Plus+ Plan.

For a limited time, you can pick up two lifetime subscriptions to DFC’s Premium Plus+ Plan for only $99.97. Regularly priced at a jaw-dropping $3,380, this deal is basically like finding a unicorn in economy class.

Get a lifelike AI text-to-speech generator at the best price on the web

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Get lifelike AI text-to-speech for the best price on the web, just $37.99.
Use this lifelike AI voiceover tool for ads, audiobooks and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Great graphics and well-written text are essential to any kind of online presentation, but never underestimate the power of the spoken word. If you doubt that people love to listen, consider the rising popularity of podcasts and audiobooks.

Now, thanks to AI, there’s an easy way for any creator to get top-tier voiceover talent at their fingertips with text-to-speech tool TexTalky. It’s available here for the best price on the web, only $37.99 (regularly $162).

Moment beefs up whole lens lineup for growing iPhone cameras

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Got an iPhone 13 or newer? The bigger T-Series lenses should suit you.
Got an iPhone 13 or newer? The bigger T-Series lenses should suit you.
Photo: Moment

Moment said Wednesday its whole lineup of popular smartphone cameras lenses is getting bigger and bolder to suit growing handset cameras like iPhone’s, including the upcoming iPhone 15 series.

The new T-Series comprises eight lenses that are new versions of the company’s M-Series, which came out to widespread acclaim in 2017.

New evidence points to high-speed Thunderbolt connector in iPhone 15

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New evidence points to high-speed Thunderbolt connector in iPhone 15
The USB-C port in the iPhone 15 series could be blazing fast.
Photo: Cult of Mac

A new leak adds weight to a previous report that the iPhone 15 series will support Thunderbolt. If true, this will allow their USB-C ports to transfer files, updates and other data at up to 40 Gbps.

A tremendously faster data transmission speed would especially benefit those recording high-resolution video on Apple handsets.

Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers sails onto Apple TV+ in November

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The Buccaneers on Apple TV+
In case you skipped LIT 101, there are no pirates in The Buccaneers.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is adapting Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel The Buccaneers into a drama series set to debut in fall 2023. It follows a group of American heiresses setting out to marry British aristocrats.

On Wednesday, the streaming service released the first images from the upcoming eight-part series.

Slash up to $60 off Magic Keyboards for iPad

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It's not easy to find deals at $50 to $60 off Apple's Magic Keyboard cases for iPad.
It's not easy to find deals at $50 to $60 off Apple's Magic Keyboard cases for iPad.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Amazon is currently offering great discounts on Magic Keyboards for iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch models) and 10.9-inch iPad Air.

While there are many alternative keyboards and cases for iPad models out there, the time to pay Apple prices is now, when Apple prices are slashed!

Why buy a Touch ID keyboard when you can do this? [Setups]

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This user is considering a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, but alternative came up.
This user of this setup was considering a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, but an alternative came up.
Photo: [email protected]

Social media is a great place to get ideas for gear to include in your computer setup — or to skip in favor of doing things another way. There are usually other ways to do things, as today’s M2 MacBook Pro user found out regarding password entry and any “need” for a keyboard with Touch ID.

And if you’re into video editing, check out the user’s cool gear — a PlusTek AI film scanner and a Loupedeck+ photo and video editing console with massive programmability.

8 AI tools that change how you create content for social media

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A young woman influencer works to produce video content.
AI can help you make better social media, faster.
Photo: CapCut

The AI craze is in full swing, with more and more easily accessible AI technology available online for free. One of the ways you can use AI tools yourself is for creating engaging social media content. Deep-learning algorithms can intelligently create and edit content, increasing its quality and shortening the creative process.

SPONSORED
This post is brought to you by CapCut.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at eight popular AI tools you can use to enhance your social media presence and create more trending posts.

Latest iOS 17 beta moves End Call button back to the center

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Before and after screenshots show the location of the End Call button in the two most recent iOS 17 betas.
The End Call button jumps back to a more familiar position in iOS 17.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apparently responding to online criticism, Apple returned the End Call button to a central location in iOS 17. Previously, Apple moved the button to the right side of the Phone application.

That change proved controversial, and Apple reversed it in the sixth iOS 17 beta recently seeded to developers.

Convert any XLR microphone to USB with this adapter

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No need to buy a USB mic. Just use your XLR mic with Shure's adapter.
No need to buy a USB mic. Just use your XLR mic with Shure's adapter.
Photo: Shure

If you’re a content creator and you have an XLR microphone, you don’t necessarily need to buy a USB microphone to interface with your computer for uses like streaming and podcasting. Shure’s got you covered with its new Digital Audio Interface. It converts any XLR mic to USB for easy use directly with a computer.

Keep your furry friend entertained with a lifetime subscription to DogTV

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Keep your furry friend entertained with a lifetime subscription to DOGTV, now only $149.99.
Feel better about leaving your pet alone with this discounted subscription to DogTV.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There’s a reason why dogs earned the nickname “man’s best friend.” Their unconditional companionship endures through good times and bad. But whether it’s work, school or general life obligations, we can’t always be nearby, making it essential to find a healthy method for keeping your precious pooch occupied when you’re not around.

DogTV is a truly modern solution to this problem, backed by science and customer reviews. A lifetime subscription to DogTV — which serves up streaming video specially crafted to keep your canine relaxed and entertained — is currently available for only $149.99 (regularly $838). That’s the best price online!