The last few years have seen a huge rise in spam calls and texts, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck listening to strangers ask you about your car’s extended warranty forever. Adding another number to your phone can help you filter out the calls and texts you don’t want to answer.
A Hushed private phone line gives you full control of a second phone number — and it’s only $24.99 for lifetime access! That’s a small price to pay for freedom from spammers.
You may have felt a seismic shift recently. The origin was Apple Park in Cupertino, where Tim Cook and Co. decided to start work on a touchscreen MacBook Pro. This is something the company has been adamantly against for many years, going back to a scathing comment from the late Steve Jobs.
But the computing world has changed enormously since Jobs mocked touchscreen laptops. Today, there are plenty of reasons for Apple to make one.
If you’ve been reading the tech news anytime in the past decade, you know that no one — not even Apple — is safe from cybercrime. But there’s a bright side to all this hacking, especially if you work in IT: The job market for cybersecurity experts is as robust as it’s ever been.
And if you’re not currently in that growing corner of the tech sector, it might be easier to train yourself than you think.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Deep down inside, you know you want to give your Mac the finger. Apple might make that happen in the (somewhat) near future, according to the latest rumor. That’s right — Apple reportedly is “seriously considering” making a touchscreen MacBook. That’s enough to get us chattering!
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.
Apple apparently plans to re-release its update to the underlying architecture of its HomeKit home-automation system in the near future. The upgraded platform for the Home app is included in the latest iOS and iPadOS betas.
The company briefly made this update available to all users in December before withdrawing it due to unspecified problems.
Owning a copy of Microsoft Office is simply essential in today’s remote and hybrid working world. Set yourself up to work from home — or anywhere at all — with a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac.
It’s on sale at the all-time low price of $25 (regularly $349) for the next three days only.
The pursuit of consistently solid sleep is crucial for personal health, but a variety of factors can prevent that from happening. Snoring is one of the chief offenders.
Problems associated with snoring are unfortunately common, and can negatively impact the sleep cycles of both the snorers and their partners. The Snore Circle is a simple way to work toward solutions. And this effective anti-snoring device is currently available for just $79.99 (regularly $119).
The iPhone 15 is expected to get a facelift along with other design changes, and a new concept video and images present a very early look at the handset Apple might launch this autumn.
The concept artist started with details that have leaked out already and mixed in some of their own hopes. The result is splendid.
★★☆☆☆
New Apple TV+ documentary series Super League: The War for Football examines a dark and very recent chapter in the beloved sport’s history when the bubble threatened to burst.
Capitalism’s slowly tightening stranglehold over the sport meant that some owners saw the potential for growth that meant cutting off not just more than half of the European teams, but the thousands of fans of those teams. This is the story of the people who saved football … for now.
Illustrated is a new puzzle game — literally. Players put together jigsaw puzzle pieces to assemble beautiful illustrations.
Putting puzzles together is a meditative process for many, and the new game embraces that, with each containing a quote or other wisdom. It’s now available on Apple Arcade for iPhone, Mac and more.
☆☆☆☆☆
Enervating Apple TV+ series Echo 3 comes to a close this week. The show finally springs kidnapped CIA plant Amber from her prison, but there’s a lot more to freedom than no longer seeing the same four walls.
This bizarro, jingoistic wife-guy fantasy comes to a screeching halt with a conclusion preordained from its first incredibly strange seconds. Come for the last gunfight, stay for the most risible attitude toward human life I’ve yet encountered on scripted television.
Some computer setups are more Apple-ish than others. Apple-y. Apple-centric. Today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro outfit welcomes a new Studio Display to replace a recently “retired” 20-inch Cinema Display, and that’s just the start of the Cupertino madness.
Almost everything else in the setup is Apple, too. The input devices, the audio gear — even some of the wall art. And what’s in the book collection? The Cult of Mac hardcover book.
With 2023 well underway, the new year brings fabulous discounts on Microsoft software. Just visit the big Happy New Year Sale at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com to save on Windows, Office and more.
If you’re a Cult of Mac reader and you want a great deal on Windows 10 (and more), just click on the links below. As a bonus, Windows 10 comes with a free upgrade to Windows 11. CdkeySales offers major savings on plenty of other Microsoft software, too. To get the most savings, enter promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com. That will slash an extra 30% off the site’s already-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and more.
If your 2023 resolution is to boost your productivity, start by archiving all that paper you’ve got lying around. The iScanner app turns your iPhone into a document control tool that makes scanning, sharing, tweaking and archiving everything you have on paper a snap.
★★★★☆
Servant, the most joyous and unhinged show on Apple TV+, returns for its fourth and final season this week. The saga of the Turner family and their live-in nanny can’t help but disappoint, just because it’s going away. Never mind whether it wraps up its plot threads or not.
A show unbound from ordinary televisual constraints, both dramatically and visually, Servant serves as a vivid representation of its creators’ raging id. As such, its first three seasons became one of the most wonderful pleasures on television. Let’s see how M. Night Shyamalan and Co. are set to send off this family of arch-weirdos.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to receive a substantial pay cut in 2023. The company’s top executive will receive “only” $49 million in compensation this year.
For comparison, Cook’s compensation was $99.4 million in 2022 and $98.7 million in 2021.
Believe it or not, there’s an upside to the proliferation of cybercrime. The more unstable things get in the online world, the more secure the job market looks for certified cybersecurity experts. Not only is cybersecurity and risk management the most exciting branch of IT work, it’s increasingly the most vital area of any big company’s tech branch — especially if they deal in big data or finance.
Need great wireless earbuds but don’t want to spend much? Woot, owned by Amazon, is currently selling refurbished Beats Studio Buds for the uncommonly low price of $59.99.
That’s $90 off the list price of $150. And it’s less than typical sale prices, like the $99.95 Amazon is charging right for the buds right now.
The Cult of Mac giveaway this week is a corker. We teamed up with Pitaka for one lucky winner to get the chance to win an iPad Pro accessory bundle worth $190.
This giveaway includes a Pitaka MagEZ iPad Pro case along with a MagEZ wireless charging stand. If you’re an iPad Pro owner, don’t miss your shot at winning this bundle, whether you’re on the go with your iPad in tow, or working from the comfort of your own home.
Windows 11 users can now download preview versions of the Apple Music and Apple TV applications.
In late 2022, Microsoft committed to getting them into the Windows Store this year.
And a new Apple Devices app is a significant move toward phasing out iTunes for Windows.
“Sharper” is old slang for a con artist or swindler. And in the trailer Apple TV+ dropped Thursday for its first film of 2023, a “neo-noir thriller” that shares the slang term as a title, it’s not easy to tell the con artist from the conned.
But it looks like it’ll be fun guessing which rich Manhattan people will lose their shirts in the film, starring Julianne Moore and John Lithgow.
It comes out in theaters February 10 and streams February 17, Apple TV+ said.
If you need a compact and handy way to both store and charge your Apple gadgets on the move, you can’t go wrong with Momax Airbox and Airbox Go. And during the company’s special 7-day deal for Cult of Mac readers, you can get more than 40% off each of the nifty products. That’s a savings of up to $84!
If you’re tired of collecting (and carting around) USB-C and Lightning adapters, you may want to get a multiport docking station that can plug into your device’s USB-C port.
Whether you want to use an old wireless mouse with a USB dongle, or need to add a second monitor to your setup, this 13-in-1 docking station could be your favorite new gadget. It it’s on sale for just $59.99 (regularly $70).
Apple’s M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pros launch could have hit another roadblock. Rumors indicated the new Macs could debut in Q1 2023, but that does not seem to be the case anymore.
The reason behind the latest delay in the next-gen MacBook Pro’s launch is unclear.
Apple could start shipping the second-generation AirPods Max and the AirPods Lite in the second half of 2024 at the earliest or the first half of 2025.
Announced in late 2020, the $549 AirPods Max has not received any refresh since their launch in late 2020.