This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: That old rumor about a HomePod with a built-in display for FaceTime calls and smart-home wizardry resurfaces. But this time, some fresh details make Erfon even more cranked up than usual about Apple’s smart speaker.

Also on The CultCast:

• It sounds like Tim Cook pulled a power move on Apple’s design team to make sure the company foists an expensive AR/VR headset on the masses sooner rather than later. Who’s excited? Show of hands?!?
• Apple TV+ racks up another Oscar, and Erfon is almost intrigued enough to resubscribe. (Especially if his “get three months free” trick works again.)
• The baton’s about to wave on Apple Music Classical. We’re all quivering with excitement!

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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An auction that included vintage Apple items that were almost thrown away wrapped up this week with many items bringing in more than their estimates. A Lisa 1 and an original iPhone still in the plastic sold at hefty prices. Some technical notes handwritten by Steve Jobs also brought in more than expected. There were many more.

However, some of the Apple items did not sell, including a fully functional Apple-1, likely because bids didn’t reach their reserve price.

Monster Factory, a surprisingly inventive docuseries about wannabe pro wrestlers, is Apple TV+’s best sports docuseries yet. Over the course of its six breezy and beautiful episodes, set at a wrestling farm school in New Jersey, we meet a cast of eccentrics who share a common dream: to throw people around for a living.

They want to become stars, to go down in pro wrestling history. And with cantankerous Danny Cage as their coach, these ne’er-do-wells learn everything there is to know about wrestling — and they teach us, too.

When it comes to cyberdefense, it pays to diversify. Hackers don’t rely on just one way to infiltrate their targets, so you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket either. That’s why a lot of people are switching to decentralized private networks (DPNs) over traditional VPNs, since they don’t have a central group of servers to target.

Using a DPN is a novel approach to internet security that offers a lot of benefits, and Deeper Connect Pico is a great way to get started. It boasts incredible tech to secure your online data and activity. Typically $249, you can grab this powerful cybersecurity device for only $149.

Apple TV+ international espionage thriller Liaison recovers from a few body blows this week, in an episode appropriately entitled “Carnage.”

Mark Bolton is dead and Alison might be next, but she won’t roll over for anyone, even with boyfriend and mercenary Gabriel trying to get her to see sense. Sabine wants out, Didier’s in the hot seat, Dumas is getting nervous, and London is still in danger. Liaisons pleasures are major even if it does feel deliberately minor in a lot of important ways.

The search for a mayoral hopeful’s killer takes center stage on this week’s Truth Be Told, the Apple TV+ crime series told through the lens of podcaster Poppy.

Eva’s on the hunt for a killer, but is it a smokescreen for her own guilt? Poppy can’t decide. Markus is still acting out, and it’s getting in the way of his parenting. Plus, Poppy has some secrets of her own to spill. And fate has one last curveball to throw this crew before the season’s final inning.

While the cameras on our iPhones and how we take photos are constantly improving, we can always use a hand to clean them up after the fact. For those of us that aren’t professional photographers, or particularly adept at photo editing, user-friendly and innovative photo editing software can make this daunting task a whole lot easier.

Luminar Neo uses the power of artificial intelligence to edit, refine and stylize photos. And now, you can grab a lifetime license to it, bundled with other impressive photo editing add-ons, for only $79 (regularly $400) — but the savings don’t stop there. Cult of Mac readers can save an extra 10% by adding exclusive coupon code TAKE10NOW.

Transforming everyday pictures into truly beautiful photographs can become a reality with this AI-driven software.

It’s all about splitting and coming back this week on Dear Edward, the Apple TV+ series about the tangled web of grief in the wake of a plane crash.

In the episode, entitled “Paper Covers Rock,” Edward acts out at school and is rewarded with a crisis or two he wasn’t aware were coming his way. Plus, Linda goes into labor, Lacey is clueless, Dee Dee doesn’t want group to end, Adriana and Kojo don’t want their time together to end, and Steve and Amanda don’t want their affair to end.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, your Apple TV+ reviewer is anxious for this dreadful series to end. (The good news is, the end is nigh.)

Shrinking is all about reconciliation this week. The Apple TV+ show about the social circle of a manic pixie dream therapist sees Jimmy Laird trying to mend the rift between his hero, Paul, and his family.

Meanwhile, as Brian prepares for his wedding, he meets with nothing but disappointments and potential catastrophes. Gaby is caught between her rock and a hard place. And Alice makes a fateful mistake.

Everything comes out in the end in “Moving Forward,” this week’s whatever installment of the hit show that could have been an email.

Apple’s small wonder, the M2 Mac mini, is down to its lowest-ever price. After a $99.01 discount, you can get the machine with 512GB of storage for $699.99.

The M2 Mac mini has previously seen a maximum discount of $50. This new deal makes the 2023 Mac mini a stellar deal.

Hello Tomorrow!, the Apple TV+ show about a salesman running out of ways to talk himself out of damnation, flies into a panic this week. Jack’s celebrity spokesman goes missing, and if he’s found by the wrong people, it could blow his entire operation.

At the same time, Shirley’s starting to wonder about Jack’s lies, and Joey has just stopped believing him entirely. And when Herb gets a brief moment to shine, he blows it immediately. The episode, entitled “Another Day, Another Apocalypse,” delivers another great half-hour of the show with the most verve and wit of anything on the Apple TV+ lineup.

We know what you’re thinking: a “Pro” desk mat? Well, yes, actually. The Function101 Desk Mat Pro is rather capable. Not only does it help protect your desk, it’s a serious tool for often-neglected cable management in and around the computer setup.

And the professional-level desk mat is now available in the Cult of Mac Store for $39.95. Other desk mats just aren’t qualified.

We enjoy a lot of variety in our computer setups coverage, from the ultra-minimalist to the mega-maximalist. Today’s featured rig sports two pumped-up Mac Studios, two old Mac Pro “trash cans,” a gaming PC, dual displays and a tremendous array of audio gear.

It falls in the latter category, obviously (“mega”). The lengthy gear list below doesn’t even cover everything in the powerhouse workstation, but it covers all the key elements.

As March rolls along, the big March Madness Sale at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com remains in play. This week, you can get slam-dunk deals on Microsoft Windows, Office and more. Don’t miss out on your chance to save big!

The largest version of the iPhone 15 reportedly will come with the smallest screen bezels. Like, record-breaking thin.

An Apple tipster says the black area around the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s display will measure a mere 1.55 millimeters.

Astonishingly overwritten and mega-ambitious sci-fi parable Extrapolations, which premiered today on Apple TV+, has a cast of thousands and more than a few things on its mind. None of what show creator Scott Z. Burns (who wrote Contagion and The Bourne Ultimatum) is saying in this show about the impact of climate change can be argued with. But the messages aren’t easily swallowed, either.

Rather than leave room for viewers to draw their own conclusions, Extrapolations sits you down and yells at you for 10 hours of dreary cli-fi drama. It’s certainly distinctive — but that’s not always a good thing.

Are you tired of constantly untangling and organizing charging cables on your desk? Do you find yourself searching for lost cables, right when you need to charge your devices?

It can be frustrating to deal with messy charging cables, especially when you’re in a rush. This top-rated, three-in-one wireless charger is the way to tidy up your desk and enjoy a blissfully clutter-free charging experience. Even better, it’s now on sale in a two-pack for only $92.99 (regularly $144). Double up so you can have one at both home and office, or gift the extra one to a friend.

Servant, the stellar Apple TV+ show about a supernatural nanny and the Philadelphia family that plays unwitting and unwilling host to her journey, comes to its fiery finale this week.

Leanne must decide who she’s going to serve, and Dorothy decides what her family and life will be from now on. The episode, entitled “Fallen,” serves up a mostly perfect ending to a mostly perfect show.

Thanks to new cloud computing platforms, our options for tapping into games have never been more diverse. This Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-Month Subscription puts a huge range of games on your Apple gear — with no dual-boot required.

Two lucky winners have a chance to win a not-so-ordinary selfie stick from SwitchEasy in this week’s giveaway.

This clever selfie stick can take a good selfie, extending 4x from the original length. But it also can be transformed into a tripod for video meetings or elaborate shots. Taking a beautiful scenery photo at a distance is no problem, either, as the gadget works as a Bluetooth camera remote, too.

The multifunctional EasySelfie Stick retails for $44.99, but is currently on sale in the Cult of Mac Store for just $35.99. (Update: Our sale has ended.)

The Apple TV app for macOS is reportedly about to get a redesign that includes a left sidebar. That will apparently make it nearly identical to the iPad version.

The update might debut in macOS Ventura 13.3, which is currently in beta.

Belkin’s smart-home accessories brand, Wemo, is “backing away from Matter and dimming our dreams of a smart home utopia.” That’s according to a report published Wednesday.

At a time when companies are rushing to ready products for the new smart-home networking standard, which is meant to let different brands work together, Wemo’s hesitation is a surprise.

Its products work only with HomeKit. Now it looks like that won’t change anytime soon.

The 41mm Apple Watch Series 8 is down to its lowest price of $329 after a massive $70 discount. You can get a similar deal on Amazon on the Apple Watch Series 8 with cellular connectivity.

This is the lowest price the Apple Watch Series 8 has been available for in the last 30 days.

If you know anything about the dangers of hacking and identity theft lurking online, you may already know an app to manage all of your passwords can be a lifesaver. Passbolt is a good one. It uses a “secret key” for all of its authentication and encryption operations, keeping your information safe.

Although Ted Lasso is amazing and wildly popular, it’s not the only hit show on Apple TV+. A search engine focused on movies and TV released a top 10 list of everything on Apple’s streaming service, revealing which other series also draw plenty of viewers.

Subscribers to the streaming service might use it to find additional shows worth watching.