Ever feel like you could use a personal assistant in your life to deal with fast-tracking responsibilities and tasks? You may not be able to hire a secretary, but advancements in artificial technology make it simple to consistently sustain a narrower focus and appeal to more customers.

For a limited time, a one-year premium Laxis AI Meeting Assistant subscription is available for only $47.99 (regularly $160). That’s 70% savings on a highly rated service that automatically captures the most important information from customer interactions.

If leaked images prove correct, Apple will adopt a new design for the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery featuring a metal shell on top. This could help with heat dissipation.

Like current iPhones, the purported iPhone 16 Pro battery has an L-shaped design. However, it has a capacity of 3,355mAh. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro uses a 3,274mAh capacity cell.

If your computer setup could use a new external display, don’t sleep on Amazon’s Black Friday bargains on Samsung monitors. You can nab steep discounts of up to nearly half off regular prices on a few items, with more like a third off on many others.

And the selection is as wide as some of those ultra-wide displays! If you want to spend less, you can skip 4K-resolution screen and find choices with 1080p resolution.

Everybody loves a winner — except when they don’t. The NFL’s New England Patriots saw so much success over two decades, with six Super Bowl wins, they gained a lot of fans as well as haters.

But even if you despise the Pats, who are having another post-dynasty bad year, you might want to consider watching the upcoming 10-part documentary series The Dynasty: New England Patriots. The teaser trailer Apple TV+ dropped last week takes a decidedly defeated tone after the opening scenes wallow in the thrill of victory.

The series, which promises “unprecedented access” to the team, debuts February 16 on Apple TV+. If it sparks riots in Boston, we’ll know it touched a nerve.

Mac mini, Apple’s small-but-mighty desktop machine, does a lot of things well — especially the M1 and newer models. They make bigger desktop computers unnecessary for people who don’t need truly massive computing power.

And today’s featured M2 Mac mini user found a way to greatly expand his computer’s capabilities with a vertical stand that also saves space on the desk.

Following a recipe in the kitchen? Assembling furniture via online instructions? Taking a hands-free call in the tub? Sometimes you need to put your iPhone where you can see it, or talk via speaker, without holding it — and that’s when a magnetic wall mount comes in handy.

SwitchEasy sells two such mounts in the Cult of Mac Store, and through December 1 you can get a third one free when you buy two of the handy devices.

International travel data can be quite expensive if you stick with your normal carrier. eSIM plans are often more affordable, and that’s especially true during a limited-time sale.

After a Black Friday price drop, you can get an aloSIM lifetime eSIM for just $18.97 — and it comes with a $50 credit toward data plan(s) of your choice. However, this deal lasts through November 27 only.

Apple’s decision to finally ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C on iPhone 15 means that you now have infinitely greater flexibility when it comes to connectivity. Whether you want to hook up storage drives, an external display, or even an Ethernet cable, you can do it all with USB-C.

But there is a catch. First, you’ll need a suitable USB-C hub or adapter that lets you connect all the peripherals you want to use through one port. Here are the best USB-C hubs you can buy today for iPhone 15.

Apple is reportedly still working on the Vision Pro’s distribution plan and final testing. Due to this, the mixed-reality headset will launch around March 2024.

This is a couple of months later than the company’s initial target of a January launch. At the “Wonderlust” event on September 12, Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed the Vision Pro is “on track to ship early next year.”

iPad 10 is a capable tablet for school or fun, and you can now grab one for $349. And the entry-level iPad 9 is down to a mere $229. That’s $100 off either model, a truly significant saving on what are already Apple’s lower-price tablets.

The holiday season is almost here, and those planning to gift an iPad can take advantage of these deals before they go away.

No matter what piece of Apple gear we’re talking about, it’s not so glamorous when its battery goes dead. Rather than packing separate charging cables for all your devices, cover all your basic charging needs with a 6-in-1 charging cable: the inCharge X Max!

Ahead of Black Friday through November 27, this nifty cable — which works with USB-C, Lightning and more — is only $16.97 (regularly $39)!

In this week’s Awesome Apps roundup, we have a way to play Legos without the mess, an app that’ll read aloud almost anything, 700 workouts on your Apple Watch, and the best Safari extension ever.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Tests performed on the M3 MacBook Pros reveal the performance-crushing effects of thermal throttling and skimpy RAM. Erfon is not impressed!

Also on The CultCast:

• Apple shocks everyone by pledging to support Rich Communication Services for better texting between iPhones and Android devices.
• Griffin runs down some of the most interesting new features coming soon in iOS 17.2.
• Apple reportedly plans to overhaul the iPad lineup next year, and a mammoth 12.9-inch iPad Air is apparently on the menu.
• If the iPhone 16 gets exclusive AI features, will Siri really get smarter? We’re extremely skeptical.

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.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters stomped onto Apple TV+ on Friday, bringing the biggest star yet to the streaming service: Godzilla.

As a lifetime fan of kaiju films, I’m here to review the first two episodes, and also to remind viewers of MonsterVerse lore brought up in the new series. I even throw in some speculation on what’s coming in later episodes.

The SmartGym app is already well-loved by Apple Watch users, and its recent update adds more than 70 new workouts and loads of convenient new functionality.

And it’s considered so good it’s currently up against two other finalist apps to win the App Store Award for Apple Watch App of the Year.

Looking for a Black Friday sale on an iPad? For a limited time, you can score an incredible deal on a near-mint refurbished iPad bundled with all the accessories you could need — including a set of Beats wireless headphones.

Through November 26, this combo goes for only $219.97, with no coupon necessary.

In the wake of Elon Musk posting his support for an antisemitic comment on X, Apple reportedly paused advertising on the social-networking service that Musk owns.

Disney, IBM and Lionsgate have also supposedly stopped advertising on the service formerly known as Twitter.

Keeping your iPhone fully charged can feel like a chore when you’re always on the go. The Speedy Mag charger makes life easier, allowing you to juice up your iPhone battery even when you’re out and about.

Ahead of Black Friday, you can grab this portable wireless iPhone charger for only $34.97 (regularly $119)!

Last week’s season four opener of Apple TV+ alt-history drama series For All Mankind went necessarily big to catch everyone up and start off with a bang. So it’s not surprising episode two establishes a more practical stride, focusing on the realities of life in a working Mars colony.

Turns out life sucks for the working man up there in more ways than just an alarming chance of fatality. Life in Happy Valley, Mars, also tells a deeply unfair tale of haves and have-nots, just like on Earth.

Add iPad Air and iPad mini to the list of Apple tablets getting OLED screens. At least, that’s what an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia says. And the mini will supposedly get a boost in display size.

The top-of-the-line iPad Pro models will reportedly get the enhanced display type much sooner, though.

Apple filed a challenge to an European Union law that requires iPhones to allow third-party software to be installed from outside the App Store.

Unless the appeal goes through, the legislation will go into effect in March 2024.

The KYY K3-3 Portable Monitor adds a high-quality second screen to your Mac or iPad. Even some iPhones. It’s 15.6 inches and has a 4K resolution, so it’s designed for work and play wherever you go.

I tested the reasonably priced second screen in my home office and when working remotely to see how it stands up to real-world use. I like it more than I expected to.

One thing we love about Apple is the staying power of its beautiful displays. We see the Studio Display maker’s much older Cinema Displays and Thunderbolt Displays used in modern computer setups pretty regularly.

Today’s MacBook Pro setup recently added a docking station to charge the laptop while connecting it to a classic LED Cinema Display.

Lego Bricktales is a fun way to play with these bricks wherever you go. The game challenges players to build their way through puzzles in a variety of colorful environments.

It’s available for iPad and iPhone.

Apple’s M3 Pro MacBook Pros are available with up to $200 off in Amazon’s pre-Black Friday deal. This drops Apple’s latest laptops down to their lowest price within days of launch.

With Amazon’s offer, you can currently get the 14-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro for $1,849. The 16-inch variant is available with a bigger discount of $200, bringing its price down to $2,299.