Cult of Mac

The new Beats Studio Buds+ went on sale Wednesday as numerous initial reviews praised their good looks and tech upgrades.

Nearly every reviewer loved the ’90s-nostalgic, iMacs-of-yore transparent case option. And the new custom chipset for audio quality, new microphones for better active noise cancellation (ANC) and voice calls, and longer battery life aren’t bad, either. If you’re looking for the newest Beats, these upgrades make them a solid choice.

But some features are still missing on the $169.99 buds, up $20 from the original Beats Studio Buds when they came out — but $80 less than AirPods Pro (2nd generation) for thrifty shoppers.

Apple’s newly announced Personal Voice technology enables an iPhone to read text in the user’s own voice. The same tech could be used to read incoming text messages in the sender’s own voice, making them feel more personal.

This isn’t a theory — Apple submitted a patent for exactly this idea in early 2023.

When it comes to watch bands — those made for Apple Watch or otherwise — it doesn’t get more classic than leather. And if it’s supple Italian leather from Tuscany, all the better. And if it costs less than $50, well, that’s pretty much the best.

Right now you can get slender Italian bands for Apple Watch for just $49 in the Cult of Mac Store.

Apple TV+’s runaway hit Ted Lasso starts closing up shop this week as the show nears the end of season three. The stars of AFC Richmond are out of town, but that doesn’t mean we can’t wrap up some loose ends.

Keeley finds herself without a job or an office. Rebecca has a big meeting, and one small chance to make a difference. Roy starts thinking about human connection. Sam suffers a series of letdowns. And Nate goes on a soul-searching trip back home.

While undoubtedly enervating, this week’s episode, entitled “International Break,” occasionally scores a win.

If you’re considering going with two external displays in your computer setup, you might find some inspiration in today’s featured MacBook Pro workstation with two slick gaming displays.

The laptop drives two stacked, ultra-wide, curved displays that are mounted — and even carefully angled — for the best ergonomics, resulting no eye or neck strain.

Skullcandy unveiled its latest over-ear headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) Tuesday — the updated Crusher ANC 2 Sensory Bass Headphones.

And the company’s serious enough about the low end to include a dedicated wheel on the left ear cup so you can crank the bass. That’s in addition to other customization options as well as an impressive feature set for cans that cost $229.99.

An Apple employee was recently indicted for allegedly transferring trade secrets about self-driving car technology to a Chinese company. This marks the third such incident.

The cases seem quite similar: Chinese companies hire the workers, who then get caught attempting to bring Apple’s proprietary information with them when they leave the United States.

We all love to listen to music, and personal audio gear has evolved in many ways over the decades. For the most part, improvements in the tech have been focused on sound quality and portability. But these Open Ear Induction Stereo Wireless Headphones finally make a relatively new feature affordable.

For only $33.99 (regularly $109), you can have the ability to hear your tunes and the outside world without one disturbing the other.

In the tragicomic new Apple TV+ series High Desert, Patricia Arquette plays Peggy Newman, a drug addict and serial liar/improviser who’s trying to remake her life after her husband goes to jail and ruins her social standing.

The perpetually broke and broken Peggy is a marvelous creation. The first three episodes of High Desert arrived on Apple TV+ today, and the show is mighty good company.

Apple has expanded iPhone’s Tap to Pay feature to businesses in Australia. This will allow them to accept payments from customers directly using their iPhones.

All kinds of businesses, irrespective of their size, can accept payments using Apple Pay and Tap to Pay.

Keeping bad applications out of the App Store is a monumental task — Apple says it denied 1.7 million apps submitted for approval in 2022. That’s out of 6.1 million, and it’s an increase from the previous year.

And Apple also blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases on the App Store. Plus, the iPhone-maker blocked millions of fake reviews.

Eve Systems rolled out its second generation of the Eve Flare portable smart LED lamp Tuesday, adding Thread networking support.

It also released the Eve Shutter Switch, but only in parts of Europe.

The powerful image-editing application that used to be called Pixelmator Photo when it was only available for iPad and iPhone launched Tuesday on Mac as Photomator.

It promises state-of-the-art color adjustments, AI tools, powerful Repair and Clone tools, and batch editing. But it faces tough competition from Adobe Photoshop.

Everybody knows it’s dangerous to use your iPhone while driving. In order to do so safely and hands-free, you need a car mount. And what could be better than a wireless charger mount that senses and grabs onto your phone for you? No need to take your eyes off the road to carefully place it just so.

Elago now offers just such an auto-clamping car charger in the Cult of Mac Store.

Good news for live-music lovers rang out Tuesday. Apple said new concert-discovery features it just added to Apple Maps and Apple Music will help music fans and artists connect in major cultural hubs worldwide.

Just can’t wait for WWDC23? Apparently, Apple can’t either because it’s already starting announcing new features that will almost certainly be in iOS 17, iPadOS 17 and macOS 14.

These are aimed at those with disabilities, and include Live Speech and Personal Voice. These will allow those with speech disabilities to participate in conversations in a synthesized voice that sounds like the user.

AI image generators are exciting, but there’s another way for artificial intelligence to give you a great photo. The self-flying Air Neo camera drone uses AI to lock onto you and snap a few photos from the air.

This AI-powered drone is on sale for $149.99 (regularly $159). 

Windows users can now send and receive messages and calls via an iPhone. The new capability — which many thought would never happen — comes courtesy of Microsoft’s Phone Link for iOS, which is rolling out now.

This is the latest software release from Microsoft to make it easier for Windows users to own an iPhone.

Microsoft started rolling the feature out in April, and announced on Monday it’s available to all Windows 11 users.

Your Mac can’t do everything right out of the box. The Mac Madness App Bundle gives you 14 Mac apps especially suited for various tasks, from exporting photo metadata to batch-converting audio files.

These apps will give your Mac a very particular set of skills, just like Liam Neeson in Taken. And you can get lifetime licenses to all 14 of them for just $19.99 (regularly $74.86).

Swagger, the Apple TV+ series that isn’t exactly the life of basketball superstar Kevin Durant, returns for season 2 in June. The young players are getting famous and the future look bright, but a scandal might ruin all their hopes.

A trailer for the upcoming season, released Monday, shows some of what to expect in the episodes that premiere in June.

Multiple sources predict Apple will launch its first VR/AR headset three weeks from today at WWDC23. As the company’s first major new product category to launch since Apple Watch, there’s a lot riding on the headset. And yet not everyone’s buzzing with anticipation.

For those who aren’t yet feeling excited, here are five reasons you should look forward to the big reveal next month.

You’re not the first person to show up late to the party for Mother’s Day, forgetting to fork over a gift on her special day. So, a day later, it’s a good thing you can still choose from a huge selection of great Apple accessories on sale.

You can pick up a variety of items for 15% to 25% off in the Cult of Mac Store’s Mother’s Day Sweet Savings Collection through Monday. See a selection of highlights below.

Bluetti’s latest portable power station, the AC60, is the company’s most compact and durable yet. The lightweight power station, which launches today alongside the B80 expansion battery, comes with an IP65 rating, so it’s ready for your next outdoor adventure.

Plus, if you pair it with Bluetti’s new B80 — and maybe a solar panel or two — you don’t need to run out of juice.

Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro with M2 Pro chip is down to its lowest-ever price. After a staggering $249.01 discount, you can get Apple’s best MacBook Pro for $2,249.99.

You can get a similar $250 off on the machine’s 1TB and M2 Max configurations.

Before reading past the jump, take a look at today’s featured M1 Mac mini computer setup in the photograph above and see if you can quickly identify the two items that aren’t from peripherals giant Logitech — other than the main computer, display and furniture.

Both items are on the small side, so it might take a hard look to spot them. Answers below in the post and at the bottom just above the gear list.