Cult of Mac

An amusing audio teaser from Apple News on Monday introduced the limited podcast After the Whistle, in which Coach Beard from the Apple TV+ hit Ted Lasso — aka actor Brendan Hunt — and veteran English sportscaster Rebecca Lowe will explain everything about the world’s biggest sporting event, the World Cup, as it happens.

As you may know, the World Cup is a massive football tournament (to use the world’s sensible term for soccer). It kicks off Sunday in Qatar and will be broadcast globally. Apple News boots up the podcast on Thursday in anticipation of it.

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A class-action lawsuit filed in California alleges that, “Apple’s assurances and promises regarding privacy are utterly false.”

The lawsuit is based on the work of a security researcher who claims that many of Apple’s own applications send detailed analytics information to the developer even after users ask them to stop.

Taking care of plants requires much more than sprinkling some water on leaves and letting the Sun do the rest. So whether you’re tending a little home garden or want to know if the tree you encountered on your camping trip was a birch or an elm, NatureID can help. This plant identification and education app can analyze and inform you about more than 14,000 plant species, and lifetime Premium Plans are on sale for $14.99 (regularly $59), the best price you’ll find online.

There’s a lot to love about the internet, but advertisements probably aren’t on your list. Ads are everywhere, and they might even be responsible for some pages loading slowly. Instead of dealing with the delays, you can stop seeing ads online altogether. AdGuard is an advanced ad blocker that also helps keep your information secure, and it’s on sale for $11 during our Black Friday is Every Friday event.

Apple job listings offer a peek into the development of the company’s long-rumored AR headset. Cupertino seemingly wants to create augmented reality and 3D content for its mixed-reality device, which could arrive in early 2023.

More importantly, one posting indicates Apple could be working on a metaverse competitor.

The times you need a flashlight and when you remember to bring one probably don’t overlap much. Sure, you can use your phone, but smartphone flashlights average around 50 lumens of brightness. Instead, you could grab a flashlight that’s hard to forget. The Eight-in-One Maglight Mini is a bright utility flashlight that can clip onto your keychain or bag. And instead of waiting for Black Friday, you can purchase two Maglight Minis at an early Black Friday price. Get them for $32 while supplies last!

From phones and earbuds to laptops and tablets, we’re pretty reliant on our gadgets. While we can accomplish plenty with these devices, they can be limited by the number of ports they offer, and you won’t get far without a consistent power source. Normally $70, this MacBook and iPad-compatible charging station is just $59.99 during our Every Friday is Black Friday event.

Black Friday, one of the biggest sale days of the year on November 25, is almost here. But Bluetti, maker of power stations and energy storage products, isn’t waiting. It already kicked off the holiday shopping season with a slew of great deals, below.

In addition, Bluetti also offers freebies and more in what it calls “mystery boxes,” as well as exclusive giveaways and a prize drawing. Read on to see what you can get!

As hybrid work becomes more common, you should consider what setup works best on your work computer, and the apps you use play a huge part in that. For example, Microsoft Office is known the world over for its comprehensive suite of productivity apps. Right now, you can make your Mac hybrid-ready or add Office to your Windows PC for $39.99 (Reg. $349) with our lifetime Microsoft Office licenses.

There’s a cholera outbreak this week on Apple TV+ epic Shantaram, and impostor doctor Lin Ford finds himself in the thick of it. If he saves lives, he’ll become a hero. If he doesn’t, he’ll be a pariah.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Karla make business arrangements that threaten relationships with the people closest to them. Abdullah gives Maurizio an ultimatum, Khan gives the competition a scare, and Lin must make some very hard choices.

It’s another gripping episode of the Bombay-set thriller.

Is personal hygiene a priority for you? The older you get, the more important it is to take care of oral health, and the right tools go a long way. For a limited time, you can bundle an AquaSonic Black Series Toothbrush and travel case with eight dupont brush heads for an early Black Friday price. The kit is just $27 (reg. 189) — no coupon necessary.

With the FIFA World Cup a week away, the latest version of the Sega’s hugely popular sports management game Football Manager 2023 launched for a range of Apple devices. Play to find out if you have what it takes to take a club to the top.

It’s available as a stand-alone app or as part of Apple Arcade.

Candy-colored Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco takes stock of its situation on an eventful trip to the city this week. Sara is sleeping at Las Colinas illegally, and her mother Nora still wants to put the fear of god into her. Meanwhile, Memo’s feeling down and Maximo’s solution just makes things worse. Also, Chad wants to dance, and Don Pablo wants out.

Acapulco goes through a few ups and downs this week as the creative team takes a few risks, and the writers fall back on bad habits.

Apple’s svelte M2 MacBook Air is available with a $149 discount on Amazon. This deal is on the entry-level configuration that typically retails for $1,199.

After the discount, you can get the base M2 MacBook Air with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage for $1,049.

This week on Apple TV+ thriller The Mosquito Coast, the Fox family’s boat suffers some serious damage but the show itself refuses to run aground.

Allie suffers a bad bug bite that takes him out of the equation when they need him most. Plus, Charlie finally comes clean about his guilt, and Dina starts being honest with herself. It’s an excellent episode with all the tension and beauty you could hope for.

It’s hard to budget when even staying in to cook dinner costs more than it used to. Since August 2021, food prices have rocketed up 11%, but we’ve got another 11 that might interest you more. To celebrate 11/11, we’ve got a $100 Restaurant.com E-Gift Card for just $11.11, so start planning that fancy date or give your dishwasher a break. 

A great computer setup starts with a solid desk — preferably a standing desk, so you can sit or stand as your aching body requires. Today’s featured setup finds a MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Studio Display and Dell 4K monitor resting easy on a stout maple standing desk and monitor riser.

Wherever you see wood in the photograph, know that it’s 3 inches thick. That’s one way to reduce monitor wobbling.

November 11 (“11.11”) is a special discount day for many products sold all over the world. And so it is for Microsoft software when you visit the 11.11 Sale at software activation keys provider CDKeylord.com. Better yet, as a Cult of Mac reader, you can click on the links below and get an even better deal on Windows 10.

Plus, you can score big savings on plenty of other Microsoft software.

In order to maximize your savings, enter promo code CULT at CDKeylord.com. That will take an extra 30% off the site’s already-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and more.

At the launch of Apple silicon in 2020, the Mac-maker committed itself to a two-year transition away from Intel processors. Today marks the first day of year three of that transformation but the Mac Pro still uses Intel chips. Apple missed its deadline.

There has not even been a mention from Apple of a replacement macOS workstation with an M-series processor. A few leaked details are all we have.

Trying to get your gift shopping done at a discount? Every Friday this November, we’re releasing early price drops on some of our most popular products so you can get ahead of your shopping list before Thanksgiving.

One example is this two-pack of Ninja Dragon drones that could be an excellent gift for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. The Alpha Z Pro and Flying Fox 4K camera drones are currently $110 during this promotion, but there’s no telling how long they’ll be in stock. 

Mythic Quest — the Apple TV+ sitcom about the world’s most popular role-playing video game company and the kooks who staff it — returns today for a third season of behind-the-scenes insanity and power plays.

Poppy and Ian are nearly at each other’s throats working together at their new company. And David and Carol are panicking now that they have no idea what to do with Mythic Quest.

A second phone line has countless benefits. But before you take out another expensive contract or buy a burner phone, consider Hushed. This private phone line service can give your iPhone a second phone number without costly contracts. Right now, you can purchase a lifetime subscription for just $24.99, down from $150.

It’s happened to all of us. Your iPhone battery is on empty and there are plenty of chargers around but no Lightning cable. The same thing can happen with a iPad and even a Mac. The inCharge X from Rolling Square is just what you need. It’s tiny enough for you to take it everywhere, but adaptable enough to enable almost any type of Apple device to get power from almost any charger.

Rolling Square also makes inCharge X Max, which is just as flexible but with a 5-foot cable built in.

I tested both. Here’s why I think they’re brilliant.

Perhaps you, like many others, would like to move away from Twitter. If you read news, webcomics or blogs, you can follow all the same stuff with an RSS reader. But if you want to follow people in your community and talk to others online with the same interests, there’s a Twitter alternative you may have heard about: Mastodon. It’s a full-blown Twitter clone that a lot of people you may know are moving to.

Recent changes at Twitter did not instill confidence in the platform’s future. That’s about the shortest and most diplomatic way I can summarize the cavalcade of poor decision-making that has trickled down from their new CEO, he-who-shall-not-be-named, Rocket Car Tunnel Guy. It’s the last straw for a lot of people.

Despite the memes you may have seen, signing up for Mastodon isn’t that hard. There are just a few things you need to consider. Let me show you how to use Mastodon.

A new YouTube video commissioned by Apple demonstrates how well Action Mode in iPhone 14 stabilizes tricky, action-packed video shots without any special equipment.

And every handset in the iPhone 14 series has the feature, so you, too, can be an action movie director.

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