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Third-party Apple Watch chargers will work faster soon

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This MagSafe charger from Belkin might be the coolest iPhone 12 accessory.
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.

Limited-edition iPhone case takes you back to 1969 moon landing [Cult of Mac giveaway]

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Taking a step back to 1969 when history was made
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!

See when your team’s on Friday Night Baseball in September

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With the regular season ending October 1, MLB action heats up in September.
With the regular season ending October 1 ahead of the playoffs, MLB action heats up in September.
Photo: Apple

On Monday, Apple and Major League Baseball called out the September Friday Night Baseball schedule for Apple TV+ subscribers.

As the season’s final stretch unfolds — the regular season ends October 1 ahead of the playoffs — don’t miss out when your team’s at bat.

Is Magic Keyboard Folio for iPad too heavy? [Setups]

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A big Samsung smart TV dominates this Mac Studio rig.
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?

Latest HyperDrive USB-C portable docking station adds dual 4K plus 8 high-speed ports

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HyperDrive Next 10 Port Business Class USB-C Dock
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.

This is the super-fast, super-reliable, hugely practical NAS you need [Review] ★★★★☆

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Synology's 1522+ is small but mighty, and perfect for storage junkies or video editors.★★★★☆
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.

Get an advanced AI photo editor for half price

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Pick up a 1-year membership to advanced photo editing tools for only half the price.
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.

Indie dev Casey Liss on how he came to love SwiftUI [Planet of the Apps]

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Casey Liss and Callsheet
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

Pro tip bug 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.”

Here are all the M3 Macs in development

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Here are the M3-powered Macs expected in fall 2023
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.

The latest AirTag and Apple Watch rumors make us giddy [The CultCast]

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An Apple AirTag and an Apple Watch Ultra: We're talking the latest Apple rumors on The CultCast, episode 606.
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.

Idris Elba might return for Hijack season 2

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Elba looks tense here for a reason. He's got big problems to solve.
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.

Get lifetime access to guided meditations for less than $70

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Get lifetime access to guided meditations and more for under $70.
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.

Foundation takes a moment for humanity [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Dimitri Leonidas and Isabella Laughland in ★★★★☆
Hober (played by Dimitri Leonidas, left) and Constant (Isabella Laughland) grow closer this week on Foundation.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewApple 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.”

Invest like a pro with this expert stocks bundle

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Invest like a pro with back to school pricing on this expert stocks bundle.
Get this top stocks app plus expert investment training for less than $120.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It’s never too early to start investing, but that first step into the stock market can be a doozy. It can also be a costly one if you go in without doing your research. But now there’s an easy way for first-time investors to get the know-how they need.

You can can get five hours of expert tips on how to start your portfolio, plus lifetime access to the Tykr stock screening service, for just $119.99. Now that’s a smart investment!

Save by buying refurb AirPods 3 straight from Apple

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Apple AirPods 3 Review
Save a nice chunk of money off the regular price by getting a refurbished pair of AirPods 3.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple began selling refurbished AirPods 3 wireless earbuds on Friday. Those willing to buy a previously-purchased unit save $30 off the regular cost.

At this time, the only refurb option from Apple is the version that comes with a MagSafe Charging Case.

Back to School Sale: Save up to 90% and pay low as $13 for Microsoft Windows and Office

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Use promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com to score major savings on Microsoft software.
Use promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com to score major savings on Microsoft software.
Photo: CdkeySales.com

As the dog days of late summer loom, every student knows it’s almost time to go back to school. What better time could there be to get great savings on Microsoft productivity software? So it’s a good thing you can get the latest versions of Microsoft Windows and Office at super-low summer prices.

SPONSORED
This post is brought to you by CdkeySales.
If you’re ready to save some dough, have a look at the selection at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com. You can grab deals on Windows, Office and more. And to get the most savings, enter promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com. That cuts an additional 30% off the site’s low prices on software keys. And you get a free upgrade to Windows 11 when you buy Windows 10.

Secrets and hard decisions bring Swagger to a boil [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★★

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Isaiah Hill in ★★★★★
Jace (played by Isaiah Hill) and Team Swagger need to bring the heat.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewSwagger finds Ike and Naim at odds this week, even as CJ and Camden share a road trip and some secrets. And while Emory and Ike pursue a common goal, the team faces more scrutiny than ever.

With so little left of the sports drama’s extremely strong second season, how will the building pressure come between the players and their goals? Entitled “Homecoming,” this week’s stirring and strong episode hits hard as we prepare to wrap up season two of this outstanding Apple TV+ show.

MacBook Air pairs with Studio Display in creator rig [Setups]

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Wade said his setup is usually a total mess, but he cleaned it up for once.
Wade said his setup is usually a total mess, but he cleaned it up for once.
Photo: Wade B. TechDaily

It’s only natural that a user would clean up his computer setup to show it off to the world, and that’s exactly what TechDaily’s Wade B. did with his MacBook Air and Studio Display setup before sending it to us with a video.

“It’s really the first time I’ve ever had a desk that wasn’t a total disaster area,” he told Cult of Mac.

Slash $50 off power bank perfect for blackouts and camping

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Anker's portable power bank has a light and 60,000mAh battery capacity to charge your devices.
Anker's portable power bank has a light and 60,000mAh battery capacity to charge your devices.
Photo: Anker

You may not want to lug around a full-on generator for the occasional camping trip or brief power outage, but wouldn’t it be cool to have a powerful little one to provide light and keep your gadgets going?

That’s the Anker 548 Power Bank PowerCore Reserve Portable Charger. And you can get $50 off the regular price right now on Amazon.

iPhone 15 launch event reportedly will happen on September 13

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iPhone 15 Concept
Rumors indicate you should mark your calendar for September 13, possibly with a staggered iPhone 15 rollout to follow.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple could unveil the iPhone 15 lineup on September 13, with a staggered launch after that to avoid supply chain and logistics problems.

The company typically holds the launch event for new iPhones in the first or second week of September. So, this rumored date for the iPhone 15 announcement sounds totally plausible.

Tim Cook calls AI ‘absolutely critical’ to Apple products

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Apple's got AI inside.
Why doesn't Apple go on and on about the "AI revolution"? Because it's already baked-in to Apple products.
Image: Michael DziedzicUnsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac

Apple has been conspicuously quiet about its plans for artificial intelligence, even as rivals like Google and Microsoft made headlines touting the latest tech buzzword. But CEO Tim Cook leaped to his company’s defense Thursday, pointing out that AI is already used by many Apple products.

And he also listed upcoming software and services that wouldn’t be possible without machine learning and AI.

1 billion subscribers push Apple’s services revenue to all-time high [Updated]

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Apple logo with
Apple says more than a billion paid subscriptions pushed services revenues to an all-time high last quarter.
Photo: Goran Bogicevic/Free Stock photos by Vecteezy

The number of people subscribing to Apple services passed the 1 billion mark during the company’s most recent financial quarter, allowing that segment of the company to bring in record revenue.

But total revenue decreased slightly during the June quarter, the third time that’s happened in a row. And the money coming in from all Apple’s hardware groups is down.

Get 3 charging spots in 1 with back-to-school pricing on this compact power hub

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Get 3 charging spots in 1 with back-to-school pricing on this compact power hub.
This 3-in-1 charging hub is under $40 during our Back-to-School Sale.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you’re heading back to school next month, chances are you’re taking a lot more than schoolbooks. Bright students use their iPhones and iPads to take notes and keep their class schedules organized, but it’s a lot harder to keep your desk organized when those devices and their charging cables start piling up.

Now, there’s an ingenious, space-saving charging solution for every student’s (or working professional’s) tech needs. Whether you’re juggling countless cables to keep your iPad charged for taking lecture notes or juice up your iPhone for important work conferences, you need to upgrade your charging experience to the MagStack Foldable 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station. During our Back-to-School Sale, you can get it for only $39.97, the best price online, but only until August 13 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.