Cult of Mac

The holidays are a season for travel and joy, but feeling unsafe in your own hotel or Airbnb might undercut all that wholesomeness. If you’re worried there might be a hidden camera in your hotel or Airbnb, you can identify it by shining an infrared light in their general vicinity. This Anti-Spy Camera Finder is an easy-to-use tool for spotting rogue camera lenses in your lodging, and it’s on sale for $59.95.

If you’re into extreme activities, Apple Watch Ultra in the one-tough-hombre timepiece for you. But you can make it even more rugged — and protect your investment in the pricey wearable — with the new Elkson Quattro Max Bumper Case.

If you want to make sure your Apple Watch survives whatever you throw at it, pick up the case in the Cult of Mac Store.

Apple’s 14-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip and 1TB storage is down to $1,999 on Amazon. That’s a massive $499 off its $2,499 retail price.

The Cupertino giant is unlikely to unveil the M2 MacBook Pros until Q1 next year. So, this is the perfect time to grab the 14-inch MacBook Pro at its heavily discounted price ahead of Black Friday.

If you’re willing to get in on the ground floor of a crowdfunding campaign as an “early bird,” you can now score Thread-enabled smart mini blinds that work with HomeKit for $100 off the retail price.

SmartWings Nano Smart Blinds have surpassed their funding goal on Indiegogo, so they should ship to buyers in January, the company said.

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Some folks insist people never change, others say they often do. And proof of the latter shows up in today’s featured Mac Studio computer setup featuring Apple’s magnificent 6K Pro Display XDR.

It belongs to a Linux-loving software programmer who used to be strongly anti-Apple, according to her husband.

Power product provider Bluetti hit a big milestone recently when it raised a staggering $11.6 million on Indiegogo for its new AC500 and B300S Home Backup Power Station, a backup beast that can power a home for days.

The campaign raised the funds — $11,633,332 and counting, to be exact — between September 1, 2022, and October 30. That ensures production and sale of the advanced AC500 inverter and B300S expansion battery, set to go on sale November 25 on Bluetti’s website and Amazon (and available on Indiegogo in the meantime, see below).

Gift shopping for a globetrotter? You can give them the ability to understand languages without having to learn them. A wearable translator you can pop in your ear may sound like something out of a sci-fi flick, but it’s very much a reality with the Mymanu CLIK S Translation Earbuds. These wireless earbuds can do live translations of over 37 languages and are on sale for $157 or 28% off. 

Planning on getting the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max this holiday season? Getting your hands on one might be more difficult than you anticipate.

The latest COVID-19 curbs in China’s Zhengzhou have hampered the production of the latest Pro iPhones. Due to this, Apple now expects customers to wait longer to get their new iPhones.

Want to find your new favorite wine or simply love a great deal? The experts at Splash Wines have hand-selected 18 of their favorite wines for fall. Though this selection would usually set you back $350, you can purchase them all for just $69.99 — no coupon necessary. That works out to less than $4 a bottle!

Apple is working on changing the “Hey Siri” hotword to just plain “Siri,” and the change could roll out as early as next year.

Introduced in 2015 with the iPhone 6s, the “Hey Siri” hotword remains unchanged to this day. You also can use the phrase to invoke Apple’s voice assistant on the Mac, iPad, HomePod and Apple Watch.

If you’re an IT professional looking for a resume boost, you may want to consider cybersecurity, especially given the number of high-profile data breaches that occur each year. The Complete 2023 Cyber Security Developer and IT Skills Bundle is a top-rated e-learning IT bootcamp that can prepare you for ethical hacking roles, and it’s on sale for $79 (regularly $7,774). With 26 courses included, that works out to around $3 per course. 

Many of us want to make our money stretch further, but that can be challenging, especially around the holidays. Luckily, an unexpected financial boost may await in this 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. With The 2 Million Dollar Puzzle, you might win life-changing money, and we’re dropping the price to just $24.99 (regularly $30) with this early Black Friday deal. No coupon is necessary, but supplies won’t last long!

To celebrate the launch of Causeway on Apple TV+, the streaming service is now offering five other movies starring Jennifer Lawrence. That includes all four Hunger Games films.

It’s part of a recent move by Apple to temporarily add already-released movies to its catalogue.

If you’re shopping for wireless earbuds, normally, you’d have to drop a pretty penny on a pair that pulls the trifecta of great sound, long battery life and a comfortable fit. Instead, you could grab a pair that’s on sale for its Black Friday price long before other sales go live. This pair of JBL Live Free NC+ Wireless Earbuds are on sale for $49.99.

We all have our favorite news sites, independent blogs or webcomics. A lot of people keep up with new posts on Twitter — it’s where a lot of Cult of Mac traffic comes from. With a mass exodus of Twitter users after you-know-what happened, there’s a way you can still keep up with your favorite sites. It’s a technology that has powered the web for over twenty years called RSS; let me show you can follow the news without Twitter.

Apple TV+ ’80s comedy Acapulco has romance on the brain this week. Maximo and Julia have to talk, Hector and Don Pablo are feeling unloved by Diane, Memo’s love is over and blooming at once, and Sara is heartbroken but she ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

A strong episode of the tacky comedy reveals some important things about the limits of a show like this, how formula and reality don’t always match, and how much you can get away with in a comedy. It’s a fascinating, frustrating study in the state of the sitcom.

Out of all the smartwatches on the market, the Apple Watch is difficult to top, and its accessories will likely be in high demand this holiday season. But you don’t need to wait for Black Friday to find a sweet deal on Apple Watch accessories. This November, we’re running Black Friday deals every Friday. That means you’ll find early discounts to help you get a head start on holiday shopping. For example, this portable Apple Watch-compatible charger lets you power up while on the go, and it’s on sale this Friday for just $18.99 (Reg. $49).

Apple TV+ show Mosquito Coast returns Friday with more under-the-radar thrills. Based on the book by Paul Theroux and starring his nephew Justin as wanted criminal and escape artist Allie Fox, Mosquito Coast is about the many little compromises we make on our way to what we hope is a better life.

In the season two opener, Allie and his wife Margot reminisce about their past lives for their children Dina and Charlie, finally explaining why they’ve been living their lives on the run this whole time. And one telling lie means they’re still not really ready to be honest. It’s a solid return to form after last year’s stellar season finale.

Apple’s Weather app for iPhone, iPad and Mac soon will incorporate local news sourced from the Apple News service.

In the latest beta of iOS 16.2, certain cities have an additional section for weather news, slotted between the 10-day forecast and the air quality meter. On iPadOS and macOS Ventura, this section occupies an even larger widget in the corner.

For those ready to start on a new life adventure that sharpens their cognitive abilities, improves thinking skills, and opens up their minds to new cultures and ways of thought, it’s time to consider the Babbel Language Learning App. It’s so easy to add the platform to your new iPad 10 or MacBook Pro, and hit the world running.

This week on Apple TV+ drama/thriller Shantaram, it’s all about escapes. Lin knows a story about his medical work will bring his flight from justice to the attention of the authorities, so it’s time to leave Bombay.

Meanwhile, Prabhu and Parvati want to marry in secret before her parents can prevent it. Lisa discovers Modena is still up to his old tricks, and now she wants out of their new arrangement. And just when Lin is in line for a fake passport, a whole new situation arises that threatens his freedom. It’s a suitably tense time.

There’s no better way to protect your iPhone 14 than with a tough case. And, short of going without any case at all, there’s no better way to show off your iPhone 14 than with a crystal-clear case, like the Laut Huex Crystal 14 Series iPhone Case.

And right now you can pick up the tough but absolutely clear case for just $20 in the Cult of Mac Store.

In a bid to capture the streaming content creator market, Elgato just launched what it called “the world’s first 4K60 webcam” — Facecam Pro. It shoot video in 4K resolution at a smooth 60 frames per second (fps), which previously required a DSLR or other advanced camera setup.

The pricey new camera joins the original Facecam in Elgato’s growing lineup.

In new Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, we take a trip into the center of the pop star’s world to discover her journey has been nothing but hardship surrounded by impossible highs, which makes coping with her fame something like a near-impossibility.

Narrated by Gomez herself and directed by Alek Keshishian (Madonna: Truth or Dare), this revealing, well-intentioned and often quite beautiful documentary gets us inside of her turmoil and the whirlwind of both her fame and her illness. It’s important for people to know that being America’s sweetheart is no picnic, and that the machinery of fame is parasitic and unyielding. Hopefully, someone, somewhere will pull the brakes on throwing kids into the show business maelstrom.

 People who show off their computer setups often go for a clean, spare look without much, if any, clutter — from cables or anything else. But few have as clean and spacious a look as today’s featured MacBook Pro setup with two Studio Displays. To learn more about this setup, check out the details here.

There are many ways of making a setup minimalistic without simply leaving out the crucial gear. In this case, it has a lot to do with a very cool desk with some interesting features.