The back-to-school season is about more than returning to the classroom. It’s about taking your education into your own hands. If you want to become an IT professional, you don’t need to wait for a class you can take in person.

Instead, you can enroll in the Complete 2023 CompTIA Certification Course Super Bundle by Iducate. This comprehensive IT and cybersecurity study bundle can be used as an independent educational tool or to help you prep for formal CompTIA certification. Either way, it costs just $39.97 — but only until August 13 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. 

Apple TV+’s epic space opera Foundation shores up its defenses this week as everyone prepares for the second crisis.

Hari and Gaal have a crucial appointment with an ancient power. Cleric and Day both need to rescue the last men in the galaxy that either of them wants to ask for help. And new and greater puzzles wait behind every corner.

Great pacing, great character work and a couple of welcome additions to the Foundation cast make this week’s episode, “King and Commoner,” appointment television.

iPhone shipments made up 55% of the U.S. smartphone market in the second quarter of 2023, according to a market-analysis firm. That’s the third quarter to a row that Apple handsets have made up more than half of the market.

iPhone shipments actually declined slightly in the April-though-June period, but not as much as some Android-makers — Samsung shipments dropped almost 40%.

Looking to buy a new MacBook Pro but find the 14-inch and 16-inch models expensive? You might consider buying the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which costs a much more reasonable $1,299.

And if you jump on Amazon’s latest deal, you can get the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip for just $1,099, a sweet $200 off.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a charming life sim game starring the world-famous feline, and it just joined the Apple Arcade roster.

With her adorable friends, Kitty White explores a beautiful island and the magical underwater world near it.

Swagger takes a look at personal responsibility this week, as Jace ponders his future after taking a tough stance.

He and Crystal spend an eventful, meaningful day together, while higher-ups decide what to do with the divisive athlete. Ike, Tonya and Emery must work through the Jace situation, while he needs to deal with his own confidence issues. Entitled “Jace + Crystal,” it’s a very fine episode of an Apple TV+ sports drama that produces little else.

Computer-setup gawkers on social media love their symmetry. It’s really just human nature to prefer those clean lines and even spacing — you know, stopping short of full-blown obsessive compulsive disorder and blowing a gasket if one little cable appears out of place.

Today’s M1 Ultra Mac Studio workstation brings not only powerhouse computing, but a few tricks of the trade when it comes to creating that pleasing symmetry. And it packs an interesting device we don’t see very often.

Apple warned all App Store developers that it’s starting a crackdown on using device fingerprinting for user tracking.

As a means of preventing this invasive tracking, Apple will soon require devs to justify the inclusion of all APIs in software submitted to the App Store.

The Beanie Bubble, the new Apple TV+ movie about a product you rightly moved on from despite its momentary stranglehold on culture, is fleetingly persuasive but hopelessly conventional.

Directed by the lead singer of OK Go and Al Gore’s daughter, the movie tells the true story of the creation of and exploitation of the Beanie Babies craze of the 1990s.

The back-to-school vibe has undoubtedly changed. We’ve traded our three-ring binders and Trapper Keepers for digital files and folders on our laptops. So much is saved on our computers during a school year, and it’s only natural if your machine eventually runs out of space.

The easiest thing to do is to keep all your important school, work and personal docs and photos backed up and in one place. Fortunately, during this back-to-school sale, you can get a lifetime subscription to Koofr with 1TB of cloud storage for only $119.97 to do just that. Simply enter code KOOFR with your purchase to score this $20 discount. But don’t put off this key buy for long. This deal only lasts through August 13.

Apple pinned its hopes on soccer superstar Lionel Messi boosting interest in its MLS Season Pass, and the gamble is apparently paying off. After the legend joined Inter Miami CF, Apple reports that its soccer streaming service just had its best week ever.

And that’s after Messi playing only two matches on the service.

Google thinks Apple’s Find My network is so clever it’s “borrowing” the idea. But the upcoming extension of Android’s Find My Device network to tracking tags has been delayed — and Google says it’s all because of Apple.

The snafu supposedly stems from the companies working together on a scheme to prevent stalkers from misusing tracking tags made for the two rival platforms.

AirPods Pro (2nd generation) have a sleek and protective case of their own, but it’s not the grippiest accessory. So Nomad decided to curtail chances your earbuds will slip out of your hand by rolling out its new Sport Case this week.

Sometimes the best accessory isn’t flashy, it just gets the job done and looks good doing it. That’s the case with the Elago H Stand for AirPods Max. The stand gives your exceptional headphones a handy perch.

Check out the tasteful stand in the Cult of Mac Store. It’s only $49.

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Apple TV+ unveiled a teaser for season 3 of Emmy Award-winning drama series The Morning Show Thursday, and things are starting to look pretty desperate for the show within a show. Billy Crudup’s executive producer character says “it’s time to smash and shatter” and “let’s burn it all down.”

But he’s a pretty shifty character. He might just be playing along with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon’s characters’ threat to expose the network’s horrible secrets.

If you keep forgetting or misplacing things, an AirTag will make your life much easier. Apple’s tracking tag can help you track lost or stolen items, even when they are not within your iPhone’s reach.

And what’s better than one AirTag? Four! And while an AirTag four-pack retails for $99, Amazon is currently discounting them to $84.99.

The top-tier model in Apple’s upcoming 2023 line could be in for a considerable price jump. The iPhone 15 Pro Max could go up by as much as $200, according to an industry analyst.

While the iPhone 15 Pro will allegedly get its own price increase, the two “standard” ones will not.

Your party is about to start, but you’ve just realized you’re missing a key ingredient for dessert — and you forgot to stock up on cups, plates, napkins and other party essentials. Yes, you should probably hire a party planner next time. But instead of zipping through multiple stores for those items, you could shop more efficiently (and more money-consciously) with a Costco Gold Star Membership.

Fortunately, you can get a one-year Gold Star Membership to Costco now for only $60 — and you’ll even score a $30 Digital Costco Shop Card* with your purchase.

Not just anyone qualifies for a new Apple Card — including Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to a new report. The Goldman Sachs underwriting system apparently rejected his application a while back.

Amid reports lately that Goldman is losing money on its deal with Apple, and the two might part ways, it almost sounded like payback. But that’s not it.

When you splurged for a new Mac, or picked up one of our amazing refurbished deals, did you opt for a model with less storage to save some cash? It’s a genius idea in theory. But now you might find yourself stuck with a full hard drive and a bogged-down computer.

You don’t need to upgrade your Mac — or pay recurring cloud storage fees — if you pick up this 1TB portable external hard drive. And right now, it costs just $56.99 (normal price: $63.99).

There are more than 170,000 homeless people in California, and Apple is doing its part to remedy the problem. That includes a $2.5 billion commitment to address the housing crisis in its home state.

More than 40,000 Californians currently receive housing support through the projects and programs Apple funds.

What will the Italians think of next? They’ve produced a leather with such a mirrorlike sheen that it actually looks metallic. And Laut is using it to create quite the statement-making Laut Metallic Leather Apple Watch Band.

Check out the flashy band in three cool colors in the Cult of Mac Store and read more below.

Apple TV+ dropped a trailer Wednesday for season 2 of its sci-fi thriller series Invasion, and it looks like full-scale global war will erupt after season 1’s slow burn led up to frightening first contact.

Season 2 debuts August 23, with new episodes coming out on Wednesdays.

We know from social media that folks love checking out others’ computer setups. But is it really the headlining hardware they’re after, like the flashiest MacBook Pro or brilliant display? Not always. Sometimes it’s the small stuff they want.

With today’s Mac mini setup with a pair of 1080p displays, people were most curious about a standing desk, a cable-management raceway and a desk organizer. You can find everything in the gear list below.