★★★★★
Soundcore’s new Motion X600 Hi-Res Bluetooth Speaker is a keeper if you’re after a fantastic-looking portable speaker with convincing-enough spatial audio.
It starts shipping May 9, and if you pay just $1 for an early-bird coupon Monday — before the preorder promotion ends early Tuesday morning — you get the X600 for $149 instead of $199 at launch. That’s a fantastic value for anyone unsure they want to pony up twice as much for a second-gen HomePod.
According to travel experts, airfare costs are set to remain high throughout 2023. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to see the world. The secret to snagging cheaper flights is using a tool that will help you find cheap and discounted tickets: Dollar Flight Club.
Right now, you can choose from two lifetime Dollar Flight Club memberships. You can get a Premium Plus+ Lifetime Subscription for just $99.99 or a Premium Lifetime Subscription for only $49.99. You won’t find better prices anywhere online.
Apple will reportedly bring a new Apple Maps Live Activity to all iPhones with iOS 17. The new Lock Screen layout will show the date and time at the top and the navigation directions on the display’s bottom half.
Your unread notification count, flashlight, and camera app shortcuts will appear below it. A swipe-up on the Lock Screen will expand the Notification Center and show all notifications.
Flying drones is a hobby that can quickly become an obsession — and an expensive one at that. But finally, there’s a “unicorn” model that’s perfect for beginners.
The Super Endurance Foldable Quadcopter packs enough features to impress real aficionados. But with easy-to-master controls and a price point of less than $100, this compact flier is a perfect starter drone.
Cult of Mac is pleased to debut a new feature, 3 Reasons to Watch, in which we highlight an Apple TV+ show or movie worthy of consideration. This week we’re looking at sommelier potboiler Drops of God, based on the manga by Yuko and Shin Kibayashi.
The show is currently airing its first season. Here’s why Drops of God is worth your time.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: What will WWDC23 bring us? In addition to a sweeping look at the future of all Apple’s platforms, it sounds like we’ll get some major new hardware. Yes, there’s that $3,000 AR/VR headset, but there’s also something we really want: a 15-inch MacBook Air.
Also on The CultCast:
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.
For this week’s giveaway, we teamed up with SwitchEasy, maker of one of the finest MacBook cases around. Two lucky winners will bag a SwitchEasy Urban MacBook Sleeve.
Made of water-resistant threaded polyester material, these laptop cases will protect a MacBook from scuffs and scrapes. And they look good while doing so!
Has there ever been a new technology that has risen so rapidly and been as influential as artificial intelligence, and more specifically, ChatGPT? The OpenAI tool changed the game in almost every industry, seemingly overnight. Potential applications including content generation, translation and even coding iPhone apps from scratch.
There’s arguably no hotter skill to train in right now. So, get ahead of the curve and become a ChatGPT specialist with The Complete ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence OpenAI Training Bundle. It’s a boot camp of four top-rated courses that can teach you everything you need to know to get the most from this exciting AI tool.
Usually $800, you can grab it for only $29.99. That’s less than $7.50 a course — and potentially the best investment in your resume that you’ll ever make.
Businesses and individual brands have become increasingly reliant upon an established online presence, so mistakes in that department can result in serious setbacks. Avoid common frustrations with website building by investing in a proven platform at a surprisingly low price.
Typically priced at $899, a lifetime subscription to iBrave Cloud Web Hosting with unlimited websites currently comes at the discounted cost of only $99.99 with no coupon required. In addition, you can also grab a Professional plan for up to 10 websites at $49.99 (regularly $539) or a Startup plan for one site at $24.99 (regularly $179).
Apple TV+ revealed the launch date for Hijack, a seven-part thriller starring Idris Elba. When it debuts June 28, the series will follow a hijacked plane in “real time,” with Elba playing a passenger trying to negotiate with terrorists.
The first images from the show were also released on Friday.
★★★☆☆
Apple TV+ series Drops of God, about two wine experts competing to win a priceless cellar and their dead father figure’s favor, takes a trip down memory lane this week.
Alexandre and Marianne Léger relive their first tribulations, as well as their decision to move to Japan. And Issei’s mother remembers her first encounter with Alexandre, and how he ended up changing her life.
It’s a bit of a letdown that the episode, entitled “Foundation,” drifts from the show’s main action. However, this beautifully acted and well-directed detour proves very good nevertheless.
★★★☆☆
The Last Thing He Told Me, the Apple TV+ limited series about a shady software developer with a checkered past who vanishes from his wife and daughter’s life, heads to a bar for a fateful drink and a little interrogation this week.
Hannah and Bailey find themselves dancing ever closer to the truth about their missing husband/father, and danger looms around every corner. The episode, entitled “The Never Dry,” makes for a pretty tense outing of the sometimes-too-casual mystery series.
Apple Music Live returns for its second season May 10 with a concert by Ed Sheeran at the Eventim Apollo in London. He’ll perform the whole of his new album “-” (aka “subtract,” because it’s a minus sign), Apple Music said Friday.
For the show, Sheeran will play with a 12-piece band that includes The National’s Aaron Dessner, who also produced Sheeran’s album. And in a new twist, you can watch Sheeran’s show and others to follow during the season on Apple TV+.
In a world of shockingly expensive Apple products, one magnificent items stands supreme — Pro Display XDR. If you’re among the legion of Apple fans who can’t quite crack open their wallets wide enough for a $1,600 Studio Display, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Today’s MacBook Pro setup sports a Pro Display XDR that came at a shocking price, too — shockingly good, that is, all things considered.
With AirPlay, you can wirelessly stream video from your Apple devices to a large-screen TV. It’ll let you enjoy Ted Lasso or share a TikTok video with a group of friends on a big screen, not your iPhone’s relatively small one.
If this handy option is new to you, Apple made an explainer video. Watch it now.
In the big new May Software Sale at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com, springtime deals on Microsoft software are blooming. You can find great prices on Microsoft Windows, Office and more. Don’t pass it up.
If you could pay much less than full price for Windows 10 and other critical software, wouldn’t you? Just click on the links below to secure low prices on loads of Microsoft software. Plus, Windows 10 comes with a free upgrade to Windows 11.
Note: To get the absolute best savings possible, enter promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com. That will slash an additional 30% off the site’s super-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and more.
Starting a side hustle that actually pays is tough. You’re essentially building a business from the ground up while still having another job that takes most of your time and energy. Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula for a low-effort side hustle with a big paycheck, but dropshipping with Amazon FBA or Shopify can be easier than other options to get off the ground.
Learn how to be a drop shipper on the cheap with the Amazon FBA and Shopify Dropshipping 2023 Business Model and Strategies Bundle. Its price recently dropped to only $29.99 (regularly $597).
★★★☆☆
New Apple TV+ series Silo packs what may be the last people on earth into a huge, mysterious structure. Like Snowpiercer pointed straight up, this show offers a look at the hierarchies and conspiracies of silence that lead to cataclysmic turns of events.
This shaggy dog post-apocalyptic story — with an all-star cast spouting a lot of silly sci-fi lingo and exaggerated futurespeak — gets off to a compelling start this week.
Shipments in the global smartphone market declined by 14% YoY in Q1 2023 to 280.2 million units. Despite the slowdown, Samsung replaced Apple as the world’s largest smartphone maker during the period.
Apple, however, continued its dominance, with iPhones accounting for nearly half the revenue generated by the smartphone market in Q1 2023. The company also took the lion’s share of the market’s profit.
Ahead of Apple’s transition from Lightning ports to USB-C for its devices, the European Commission warned the company not to limit the functionality of charging cables that don’t carry Apple’s MFi certification.
EU Commissioner Thierry Breton reportedly sent a letter to Apple addressing rumors that iPhone charging and data-transfer speeds might be reduced when using non-MFI USB-C cables. Breton reminded Cupertino that such limitations could lead to iPhones being banned from the European market.
Perhaps the best phrase to describe the results of Apple’s most recent financial quarter is, “It could have been worse.” Total revenue dropped 3% as the company battled inflation and other macroeconomic problems not of its making.
Still, Apple’s quarterly numbers beat the overly pessimistic Wall Street estimates. And there is more good news buried in the results Apple reported Thursday (and in the company’s earnings call with investors). Read on for five reasons to be optimistic about Apple’s future.
Whether you want to start an exciting new career as a cybersecurity professional, take on lucrative freelance or contract work, or add desirable new skills to your LinkedIn profile, this top-rated cybersecurity developer and IT bundle can teach you the latest essential skills.
What’s more, you can learn on your own time, and from anywhere, with the course pack’s 400 hours of training.
It’s a steal, too. Usually $7,774, you can now grab it for only $79.99. That’s just $3 a course — the best price you’ll find for this bundle online.
During the first three months of 2023, Apple’s total revenue dropped 3% year over year. iPhone was a bright spot, but revenue from virtually all of the company’s other product segments saw annual declines. CEO Tim Cook blamed the drop on a “challenging macroeconomic environment.”
While the financial news isn’t good, Wall Street had been expecting it to be even worse. AAPL is up in after-hours trading on the news.
The amount of money Apple will pay you to trade in a previous-generation iPhone just increased. And that’s the second time this spring. The same holds true for Mac and iPad.
So, if you have an older Apple device sitting around, it might be worth more than you suspect.
Want an Apple desktop computer at a good price? Amazon bargain site Woot! is selling refurbished iMacs at discount prices through May 8. You can pick from 21 machines — right now, that is, while they last — with a selection of specs and colors.
The newest rigs date from 2021, most harken back to 2019 and a few date back to 2017 and even 2013.