This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumor indicates Apple just can’t kick its obsession with lackluster iPhone colors. Yes, the iPhone 15 Pro might come in “dark sienna,” aka the red that dare not speak its name.

If so, you can color us disappointed.

Also on The CultCast:

• Apple’s longstanding dream of adding a blood glucose monitor to Apple Watch takes an important step forward.
• New leaks and rumors give us an even better look at what iPhone 15 might bring.
• Tim Cook reportedly hoovers up the entire output of TSMC’s next-gen 3nm chips. Power move!
• Apple Watch faces a legal hurdle that could get it banned in the USA. (Spoiler alert: Not gonna happen.)

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.

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Spire Blast is one of the best casual games on Apple Arcade. It’s a physics-based match puzzler that involves plenty of fun destruction.

With more than 200 titles on Apple’s gaming service, it’s not easy finding the best. Here are five reasons Spire Blast is worth trying today.

It’s Major League Soccer’s opening weekend, and Apple TV will show every match… and they all can be watched free.

And that’s only the start. Apple TV is the home for MLS and will have every live match from the 2023 season plus the playoffs. Apple promises to offer more free matches later in the month and throughout the season.

Here’s how to enjoy these games without paying so much as a dime. These can be enjoyed on a wide variety of devices, not only ones from Apple.

For most of us, smartphones have become a basic necessity to fulfill daily needs and tasks. So why would you settle for an underwhelming cellular network or data plan, particularly when there are some innovative eSim plans available?

For a limited time, you can gain three years of access to Instabridge eSIM for only $99 (regularly $200) with no coupon required. You’ll slash the cost in half and benefit from reliable connectivity, no matter where the day takes you.

New Apple TV+ thriller Liaison is a highly ambitious series about sex, espionage and state secrets. It’s positively studded with international talent, and has a veteran action director at the helm.

The six-episode miniseries, which premiered Friday, stars bona fide French film icons Vincent Cassel and Eva Green. It was created by prolific French TV writer Virginie Brac, who’s attempting to cross over to the American market.

It’s a handsomely mounted and well-performed tale of a hacker who throws a monkey wrench in the geopolitical works as cyberterrorists threaten the safety of Europe.

Apple TV+ thriller Servant heads toward mutually assured destruction this week. Sean and Julian start believing in angels and demons. Dorothy chases down a lead. Leanne is becoming too powerful to even speak to. And a stranger from the past shows up to tell a story that the Turner family does — and does not — want to hear.

It’s a conflicting, confounding and con … ehh very good episode of the show created by M. Night Shyamalan and Tony Basgallop.

New Apple TV+ hit comedy Shrinking has marriage on the brain this week.

Brian is finally proposing to Charlie. That couldn’t come at a better time for Jimmy, who is not ready but suddenly has to be ready to relive the last few weeks of his marriage when old friends come over. It’s also not great timing for Gaby, who is trying to roger her way to clarity over her divorce.

Meanwhile, Paul’s upset that his daughter cares too much about him. And Jimmy’s daughter Alice and his troubled patient Sean endure an awkward moment. Even the few laughs it serves up can’t make this week’s episode of Shrinking,  entitled “Impostor Syndrome,” more than cloying and predictable.

When it comes to quickly saving, sharing and editing documents, PDFs are a daily staple for many. Routinely necessary for professional and educational purposes, they’re also a crucial way to streamline the tax preparation process each year.

PDF Expert is a smart resource for Mac users who want to eliminate unnecessary frustrations caused by file compatibility problems. And a lifetime license is currently available for only $69.99 (regularly $139).

Apple reportedly hired someone to grow the advertising business on its streaming video service. This is likely for ads shown during sporting events.

But it also raises the possibility that Apple TV+ might get an ad-supported tier some day. There have been hints of this in the past.

Apple TV+ crime drama Truth Be Told takes a hard look at sexual assault in this week’s episode, entitled “From My Hand the Poisoned Apple.”

True crime podcaster Poppy (played by Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer) must bear witness to the aftermath of her friends Markus and Zarina’s awful ordeal. Their daughter was kidnapped and assaulted by millionaires who might not be held accountable for their actions.

Elsewhere, Desiree and Eva face their own crises in the wake of the police raid on the mansion. And Detective Aames finds himself caught in the middle of everything. It’s a grueling watch, to be sure, but solidly constructed.

Cult of Mac reported Tuesday that Beats Fit Pro would come out in three bright new colors. And as of Friday, two of those three new cheerful hues showed up on Amazon at $30 off. That was fast.

The somewhat dark tidal blue is sticking at the normal price of $199.95, but volt yellow and coral pink — the colors that will really get you noticed — are now just $169.83.

Make or Break, Apple TV+’s surfing competition series, brings its second season to a close this week, concluding this saga of the World Surfing League’s championship.

In the final four episodes, we check in on major international players and see what shakes out as they near the end of the competition season. Though the surfers’ stories all boil down to their positions in the finals, the stakes ramp up as we near the end — and the drama on the waves becomes most exciting.

I have four top tips for Mastodon users after spending a few months on the hot new social media platform. There’s a healthy community of Apple writers, developers, creators and fans — even Phil Schiller — who have all jumped ship from Twitter.

I’ve previously written a detailed guide to getting started. I’ll start with some brief advice on picking an instance and move on to the pro tips I’ve picked up.

On what would have been Steve Jobs’ 68th birthday, the Steve Jobs Archive shared a favorite photo from 1984 — along with the promise of more content to come.

“We have so much to tell you about, but I want to start by sharing one of my favorite images from our collection,” wrote Leslie Berlin, the archive’s co-founder and executive director, in an email newsletter. “It’s Steve in 1984, spotting a new Macintosh in the wild.”

Apple TV+ series Dear Edward spins in circles toward destruction and catharsis this week. The titular Edward, sole survivor of a horrific deadly plane crash, finds himself in the middle of all the grieving widows and widowers — and he’s kind of a dope.

Among the living, it’s basically a nonstop, annoying grief-a-thon. Dee Dee contemplates a future without her daughter and her money. Linda reaches out for help and hopes someone reaches back. Lacey and John realize they must come clean. Shay and Edward engage in their first fight. Adriana must make a hard choice. Steve and Amanda act out some more. Plus, we get even more characters — as if you didn’t need to catch your breath after just reading all of that.

This show’s gotta go.

How refreshing it must be to make over your computer setup and, while you’re at it, gut and refresh your whole home office. That’s what Michael De Jong did recently. And he shared his transition with Cult of Mac.

First, he tinkered with the setup, going with dual displays and adding a soundbar and a slick gaming chair. Later he gutted the whole office and added a whole raft of upgrades. Take a look at his photos and gear, new and old, below.

The end of February is a great time to save big on Microsoft software at CdkeySales.com. You can find surprisingly great deals on Windows, Office and more from this trusted software activation keys provider.

A new report from a reliable tipster indicates that the second-generation of Apple’s VR/AR headsets will launch in 2025. This will supposedly consist of two models.

But Apple still needs to get the first generation on the market, and it’s possible the release date for the product is slipping yet again.

Hello Tomorrow!, the new Apple TV+ show about a depressed Space Age huckster and his team of dreamer lackeys who are selling the moon as fast as they can, heads into stormy weather this week.

Slick salesman Jack must agree to a big little lie to cover up an even bigger lie, while his colleagues Joey and Herb face romantic crises (and Shirley’s at her wit’s end). Disgruntled customer Myrtle and fraud-buster Lester chase a big lead they must follow to achieve satisfaction.

In the episode, entitled “Forms, Appropriately Filled and Filed,” this retro-futuristic wonder is off and running to the moon.

If it’s been a tough year for you financially, you’re definitely not alone. The last thing you might want to hear is that tax season is right around the corner, but there are two ways you can approach it: Let it blindside you, or go in prepared.

Getting the most out of your filing might be easier than you think, especially when you can now get a copy of Microsoft Office Professional for Windows, bundled with more than 30 hours of online financial advice, on sale for $54 during our Tax Season Prep event.

In new Apple TV+ reality series The Reluctant Traveler, Eugene Levy takes a trip around the world to face his anxieties and fears. And we get to tag along and see a little bit of how people who aren’t famous actors live.

The 75-year-old Levy, who starred in Schitt’s Creek after years of work on SCTV, wants to see the international sights before he gets a little too infirm to do so. The occasionally quite charming series, which takes Levy to a new exotic locale each episode, won’t change your life. But it’s fun to watch, and an easy enough way to while away an afternoon while you’re stuck at home.

Pretzel and the Puppies, the adorable Apple TV+ kids’ show about a family of dachshunds and their gentle misadventures in their hometown of Muttgomery, returns for a second season today.

Created by relative newcomer Kim Howitt and veteran Steven Altiere (Scooby-Doo!, Dinotrux), this show serves up low-stakes lessons of acceptance and perseverance —  everything that needs to be reinforced during a child’s formative years. Plus, it’s got cute dogs animated with care. Nobody with a heart can say no to this charming animated series.

A new report lays out possible new colors coming to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineup this year. Thursday’s leak comes just days after the arrival of detailed CAD renders of the upcoming iPhones, revealing upcoming design changes.

An Apple museum could be made of just the items currently up for bid at a single auction. There’s a fully functional Apple-1, an Apple Lisa 1, some technical notes handwritten by Steve Jobs, an original iPhone still sealed in the plastic and much, more.

Many of these items are expected to bring in big bucks.

Apple is having a major outage of its online services. No less than 29 of them are reporting major problems, including the App Store, Apple TV+, Apple Music, Podcasts, and some iCloud services.

So it’s not just you. Stop rebooting your computer trying to fix it.

Update: Apple was able to quickly fix some of these, so the current total is eight services still having problems.

Update 2: All problems with Apple online services have now been resolved.