It’s that time of year again. Apple Music made Replay 2023 most-streamed playlists available Monday to anyone who’s listened to enough music in January to have one.
It may be something you associate with the end of a year — Spotify Wrapped comes out only in December, for example. But Apple Music opens up access early with updates on Sundays so you can track your hit list and more continuously, plus a year-end recap.
Order the recently unveiled HomePod 2 from the online Apple store today and it might not arrive until March. Preorders for the revived version of Apple’s full-size smart speaker have surpassed the launch-day supply.
There seems to be some pent up demand for the product.
Apple’s excellent M1 iPad Air is down to its lowest price of $499.99 on Amazon after a $99 discount. This is the same price the tablet was available for during last year’s Black Friday.
You can get a similar $99 off on the 256GB and cellular variants of the M1 iPad Air.
Apple Music trotted out various ways Monday for fans to get into Rihanna ahead of her Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in Glendale, Arizona, February 12.
These include a halftime-show press conference on February 9, her catalog in Spatial Audio on Apple Music, Apple Music Sing karaoke and Apple Music Radio commentary, the service said.
To the age-old question “Is a computer setup ever really done?” the answer is obviously “no.” There’s always something to add or something to fix, and once you do that it’s time to update something else (even if you don’t technically “need” the latest thing).
Today’s well-laid MacBook Pro setup has a nice curved monitor, but its user “craves” a Studio Display like he sees in other setups. And for that matter, how about a quieter mechanical keyboard and some plants that won’t die immediately, too.
Emergency SOS via satellite on an iPhone 14 took the “search” out of “search and rescue” for two fortunate Canadian women. They got stuck in snow on a logging road in British Columbia, Canada.
Rescuers said they thought it was the feature’s first use in BC. And the way it pinpointed the women’s location may have saved the women’s lives without the need for a time-consuming search.
The joys of flying are something many of us recall from childhood, and likely came about when we first looked down from an airplane and saw sprawling clouds, cities and oceans below. Now, even as an adult, you can relive that sense of awe from the comfort of land by exploring the skies with this diverse array of drones.
You can double the adventure with a discounted deal on the Alpha Z Pro drone bundle, which is now on sale for just $129.99.
Apple’s rumored foldable iPad could feature a carbon-fiber kickstand. While expensive, carbon fiber is durable and would help keep the device’s weight in check.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks the foldable iPad might launch in 2024 with an all-new design.
Remember the days when you’d battle your friends on Nintendo for endless hours? While Nintendo products have progressed significantly and you may have more responsibilities as an adult, there’s no reason you can’t relive those good times you had growing up.
You can indulge your inner child with this Bluetooth controller for Nintendo Switch for only $32.99. It’s time to upgrade the way you game as a grown-up.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The first reviews and early benchmarks reveal impressive performance boosts from the new MacBook Pro and Mac mini. We’re talking the pros and cons of upgrading — including one very important “buyer beware” scenario.
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.
When you pick up a classic Macintosh (or a vintage computer of any kind) that hasn’t been used in a while, you need to check it out before plugging it in and turning it on. Capacitors on old motherboards fail and leak over time; you DO NOT want to run power to a computer if this has happened; you could easily fry the motherboard.
Collecting old computers is a lot of fun. You can use old versions of Mac OS in emulators online, but it’s nothing compared to the experience of setting up a heavy machine on your desk, hearing the fans and disk drives whir to life and watching a fuzzy CRT display fade in from black. If you’re new to this (rather expensive) hobby, you can also check out my earlier piece on how to get started — what to look for, what to watch out for and where to shop.
So, you are the new custodian of a classic computer. What should you do before you power it on for the first time?
Has there ever been a better time to be a kid? Superheroes rule the big screens, video games are experiencing a new golden age and even so-called “educational toys” are so advanced they’re like gear out of a mad scientist’s lab. To prove our point, meet the Toybox 3D Printer.
Yes, we know that 3D printers are nothing new. But Toybox takes a completely different angle on this popular creative tool, re-imagining it as the limitless toy factory we all knew it could be.
App Store prices will soon go up in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Colombia, Egypt, and a few other countries. The hike will come into effect starting February 13, 2023.
The changes will apply to both prices of apps and in-app purchases (IAP). Recurring subscriptions are not affected, though.
A leaked internal Apple document confirms the company will adopt Wi-Fi 6E on this year’s iPhones. However, only the iPhone 15 Pro lineup will support the faster Wi-Fi standard.
The internal document shows the antenna architecture of devices codenamed “D8x” (the iPhone 15 Pro) and “D8y” (the regular iPhone 15).
The capabilities of artificial intelligence are amazing and ever-expanding, but how can you best get it to work for you? Juice.ai demonstrates how with a tool that can get you started on your marketing journey. And it’s now on sale for just $39.
You have to be creative to succeed in Squiggle Drop. The new game presents players with simple challenges that they have to draw their way out of.
It launched on Apple Arcade on Friday. There are versions for iPhone, iPad and Mac, too.
The 2021 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook Pro with added memory is a popular choice, and Friday you can get a configuration with 32GB of RAM for about $300 less than usual prices at Woot!, owned by Amazon.
The configuration is a winner because folks know you can’t easily add integrated memory later to most Macs, so why settle for the base 16GB for that model?
Beware, though, the sale ends just after midnight in Saturday’s wee hours.
★★★★☆
There’s a funeral this week on true-crime-inflected Apple TV+ show Truth Be Told. Drea is dead, and everyone’s guilty — whether they pulled the trigger or not.
The more Poppy, Eva and Markus pull up rocks looking for clues, the more insects they find running around in the darkness. “Her, Armed With Sorrow Sore” stands out as a strongly performed and nicely paced episode of the show about a podcaster’s crusade to help her city.
The World Surf League adopted Apple Watch as its official wearable Friday. The move enables pro surfers to use the water-resistant smartwatch with a certain app to track crucial metrics during competitions.
This marks the first time Apple Watch has become official equipment for a pro sport.
★★★★☆
We’re having a séance this week on Apple TV+ chiller Servant, the wonderfully cracked show about a magical nanny who uses murder and mayhem to maintain her grip on the Philadelphia family who summoned her.
Leanne hates the two new nurses Dorothy hired to look after her during her recovery, but she’s losing her favor with Sean and Julian by acting so suspicious. Sean desperately wants Dorothy to go back to her old self, and is realizing Leanne might be the problem.
It’s a tense and sharply directed episode of the best show on Apple TV+.
Aspects of Apple silicon chips replacing Intel processors in Macs that you don’t always hear about are how quiet and cool the M1 and M2 machines are by comparison. In today’s featured computer setup, an IT engineer sings his M1 Pro MacBook Pro’s praises in that regard, not to mention its habit of sipping battery power rather than gulping it.
And he’s also got a popular dual-display configuration going. In this case it’s a Studio Display in landscape mode and a Dell 4K display in portrait mode.
The Satechi Pro Hub Slim connects plugs directly into the side of a MacBook to greatly expand the range of ports available to the user while adding minimal bulk. It’s slim enough for Apple’s latest notebooks.
There’s nevertheless room for HDMI, two full-size USB-A ports, memory card readers and more.
Even if you’re already giving up on your New Year’s resolutions to eat better and exercise more, you can still fulfill the one about saving money — with huge discounts on Microsoft software. Just check out the big sale at software activation keys provider CdkeySales.com to save on Windows, Office and more.
Any Cult of Mac reader who wants a great deal on Windows 10 (and other Microsoft software) can click on the links below. And as a bonus, Windows 10 comes with a free upgrade to Windows 11. To get the most savings, enter promo code CULT at CdkeySales.com. That will chop an extra 30% off the site’s already-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and more.
Some might argue that music producers work a lot harder than the stars who perform the hits they help make. And while there’s a lot of art to what producers do, they can’t do it without the right gear. Luckily for home DJs and performers alike, EasySplitter is poised to break down that particular barrier for professional music production.
This AI-powered tool can remove vocals from recorded tracks in an instant, so you can use the background music for whatever you like. And right now, you can get a lifetime EasySplitter subscription for less than $30.
★★☆☆☆
New Apple TV+ series Shrinking centers on a man who loses everything and finally decides to start doing something about it. The comedy stars Jason Segel and Harrison Ford (in his first major TV role). And, with the creative team behind Ted Lasso and the star of How I Met Your Mother, Apple TV+ execs are clearly hoping for success on a par with the streamer’s biggest moneymakers.
They might have it. However, Shrinking will need to overcome its major flaws to become something truly worth watching.