Get a 1-year Sam's Club membership for just $24.99 during our Back-to-School Sale. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
A fresh school year is suddenly upon us and there is plenty to stock up on, from classroom necessities to lunch supplies. You can avoid becoming overwhelmed financially with discounted shopping on a variety of essential items.
You can claim a one-year membership to Sam’s Club for only $24.99 (regularly $50) during our Back-to-School Sale, which runs through August 13. Featuring nearly 600 locations nationwide, this popular warehouse store implements a limited-item business model that prioritizes high-quality products rather than loading up on as many brands as possible. And that means unique opportunities for shoppers to find value.
Get two full recharges for your iPhone from Ugreen’s MagSafe power bank. Photo: Ugreen
The name for the Ugreen MagSafe 10,000mAh Battery Pack with Foldable Kickstand is a mouthful, but it’s also a full description of what the new accessory has to offer. Magnetically clip the power bank to the back of an iPhone and it’ll wirelessly recharge the handset. And the kickstand means it also functions as a stand.
The accessory can even recharge two other devices at the same time.
These 2021 iPads are "new" in that they're not used. Photo: Apple
Amazon deals site Woot! is at it again, offering great prices on Apple gear. This time the steals are big discounts on 2021 iPad Pro — 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes, with or without cellular coverage along with Wi-Fi.
They may not be new-new, but they’re not used and they could be new to you. The sale goes through August 14 at 10 p.m. PT.
An iPad Pro or iPad Air with a Magic Keyboard is a better choice for most students than a MacBook Air. Photo: Apple
Dear university students: While it’s tempting to buy the hot new MacBook Air, doing so would mean a huge loss of flexibility. You simply don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars more for a laptop that’s less versatile. An iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and Pencil fits your needs much better, especially now that it has the very same M2 chip inside.
And beyond the versatility, the whole iPad lineup can do just about everything you can expect a Mac to do every day.
To be clear, there are exceptions to this — some students really do need a Mac. But odds are you’re not one of them.
You weren't going to sleep well ever again, anyway. Photo: Apple
The new Apple TV+ trailer for the upcoming drama series The Changeling starts off lightly enough — LaKeith Stanfield’s character, Apollo, can’t get a date with Clark Backo’s Emma in New York City because she’s moving to Brazil.
But once she’s there, dark magic soon reveals this Big Apple-based “drama” to be an absolute supernatural horror show. It premieres Friday, September 8.
★★★★☆
This slim dock does a lot. You can run three external displays with your MacBook and hook up several other peripherals. Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Advanced computer docking stations keep getting better. The new Alogic Quad Display DV4 Universal Docking Station is a fine example, easily connecting up to four screens and several other peripherals to a computer.
That’s important for anyone relying on a laptop with limited ports — like many MacBook Pro and MacBook Air users over the years — who can appreciate a good docking station that broadens limited connectivity options.
A MacBook Air with either a 13-inch or 15-inch display is a better choice for most students than a MacBook Pro. Photo: Apple
Dear university students: While it’s tempting to buy the top-tier MacBook Pro, it would be a huge waste of money. You simply don’t need to pay an extra $1,000 or more for a notebook that powerful. A MacBook Air fits your needs much better, especially now that there’s a 15-inch version.
And beyond the higher price, the increased performance of the MacBook Pro comes with a drawback you’ll notice every day.
To be clear, there are exceptions for this — some students really do need a MacBook Pro. But odds are you’re not one of them.
Save time and convert more customers with a lifetime subscription to this AI writing tool that's focused on marketing and SEO. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you already know that AI platforms like ChatGPT can mimic just about any kind of writing style. In fact, they can even code iPhone apps. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize what kind of a boon that can be for entrepreneurs, and there’s finally a tool that can harness the power of AI specifically for marketing and search engine optimization.
Whether you need SEO-focused ad copy, blog posts or almost other any kind of content, you owe it to yourself to give Linkdelta a try.
Apple could bump the CPU and GPU core count on the M3 Max. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple’s next-generation M3 Max could feature a staggering 16-core CPU and 40 GPU cores. A third-party Mac developer spotted the chip in test logs running inside a high-end MacBook Pro.
This new high-end Apple silicon should find its way inside the 2024 MacBook Pro. It should also power other high-end Macs due to launch in 2024.
Save $85 on a year's subscription to Norton 360 and LifeLock. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The internet isn’t as wild as it once was, but at the same time, the threats have become more focused and more dangerous. This one-year subscription to Norton 360 and LifeLock protects your privacy on two devices.
This Belkin stand supports Apple Watch fast charging, but not all do. Photo: Belkin
Makers of third-party Apple Watch chargers will reportedly no longer be able to build the old, slow Apple Watch charging puck into their products. The only one available will operate 33% faster than the original Apple Watch charger.
This means that, going forward, all new Apple Watch accessories will support Fast Charge.
This very special giveaway will take two winners back to a very important date in the history of space exploration. Photo: Pitaka
We joined forces with Pitaka this week for an exciting giveaway that will take you over the moon. Two lucky winners will score big with the ultra-cool Moon Wondering MagEZ Case for iPhone 14 Pro or 14 Pro Max. This limited-edition iPhone case is totally sold out, so this is your last chance to get one.
This Moon Wondering Kit is worth $89.99 and it comes with a bunch of goodies — a MagEZ Moon Wondering iPhone Case, a MagEZ Grip and a special Moon Wondering coin. Talk about a package deal!
The best 15-inch laptop around is cheaper than ever. Photo: Apple
Apple’s excellent 15-inch MacBook Air has dropped to its lowest price since launch. Grab Amazon’s latest deal, and you can get the machine for $1,099, a massive $200 off its MSRP.
This is a great deal on the world’s slimmest 15-inch laptop that you should not miss.
A big Samsung smart TV dominates this Mac Studio rig. Photo: [email protected]
We look at a lot of computer setups on social media, but sometimes what drives conversation among commenters surprises us. With today’s Mac Studio rig with an odd couple of mismatched displays, the main debate concerned … keyboards for iPad.
Specifically, when an iPad is so wonderfully light, what keyboard case doesn’t weight it down too much?
The HyperDrive Next 10 Port Business Class USB-C Dock is designed to be used in the office or on the go. Photo: Hyper
The just-launched HyperDrive Next 10 Port Business Class USB-C Dock can handle dual 4K monitors, and it offers multiple 10Gbps USB ports and a detachable USB-C cable.
It’s part of the new HyperDrive Next collection, which also includes a range of USB-C hubs plus an NVMe SSD enclosure with data transfer speeds up to 40Gbps.
★★★★☆
Synology's 1522+ is small but mighty, and perfect for storage junkies or video editors. Photo: Erfon Elijah/Cult of Mac
Few pieces of technology I’ve used in my escapades as Gadget Hunter have been as transformative as a network-attached storage device. My previous favorite NAS was Synology’s DiskStation 1520+, but the company’s 1522+ is even more essential now, thanks to the addition of one key feature.
Create professional-looking images with a one-year membership to Picsart Plus. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
First impressions can go a long way, especially on social media. If you’d like to boost the impact of your photography, from selfies to scenic shots, we’re serving up a limited-time discount on an advanced photo editing app.
You can currently get a one-year membership to Picsart for only $29.99 (regularly $60) with no coupon necessary. Instantly gain the full range of Picsart perks, and make your pictures appear professionally done, for half the price.
Casey Liss, developer of a new app, Callsheet, that makes looking up movie and show trivia trivially easy. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Planet of the Apps is a series of interviews with app developers about making, marketing and maintaining apps in the App Store.
Indie developer and podcaster Casey Liss used to hate SwiftUI, Apple’s controversial UI toolkit for crafting apps. A lot of developers have a deep and abiding animus for SwiftUI, including Liss himself. But after using SwiftUI to create his latest app Callsheet, a movie and TV database app, he’s now a huge fan.
“So much of SwiftUI, I love,” he said in a wide-ranging and surprisingly-interesting interview. “I went from nothing to a fully functional app … in the span of a couple of weeks… It was stunningly fast.”
A new M3 Mac with 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU has been spotted in developer logs. Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple is working on a slew of M3-powered Macs for late 2023 and 2024, and the latest mystery machine spotted on developers’ logs appears to be a new Mac mini.
The M3 chip, the next-gen Apple silicon that will power these Macs, should be based on the 3nm node, offering superior performance and efficiency.
AirTags with new functionality and Apple Watches in new colors sound good to us. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Which gets you more excited, an AirTag with new AR capabilities, a pink Apple Watch or a black titanium Apple Watch Ultra? This week’s top Apple rumors fuel our imaginations …
Also on The CultCast:
Apple touts 1 billion paid subscribers, a gigantic number that pushed the company to record-high revenue for its services division last quarter.
Leander cooks up a cheap-and-dirty way to add CarPlay to any car, even an old beater. (Still can’t get him to come on the podcast, though, because … 👀.
Tim Cook finally plays the AI card as Apple tries to cash in on the latest tech buzzword.
Griffin proves he’s a total nerd the consummate tech collector by revealing what he uses an ancient Apple Newton for these days.
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.
Will there be more adventures for Sam Nelson (Idris Elba)? Photo: Apple TV+
Now that Hijack has finished its run on Apple TV+, fans of the immensely popular limited series want to know if there’ll be a season two. One of the executive producers says, “I hope so.”
Star Idris Elba already said he’s open to the idea.
Ease anxiety, sleep better and generally find your bliss with a lifetime subscription to this top-rated meditation app. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Daily meditation can work wonders by restoring your focus and improving your mood. And we’ve got a deal on an excellent app that can help. Our Back-to-School Sale now gives new users more than 50% off a lifetime subscription to Mindfulness.com, plus access to its entire mental health toolkit.
★★★★☆
Hober (played by Dimitri Leonidas, left) and Constant (Isabella Laughland) grow closer this week on Foundation. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s magnificent space opera Foundation is lost in space this week. A small party heads inside the Vault on Terminus to speak to the prophet — and comes away bewildered by what they find.
Plus, Bel Riose is back in action and finds himself a different creature than when last he stormed the battlefield. And Brother Day’s marriage is about to get complicated by his bride’s secret, all on a very l0vely episode of the series, entitled “Where the Stars Are Scattered Thinly.”