★★★★☆
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.
Apple is investing $450 million into satellite infrastructure to insure its Emergency SOS via satellite service for the iPhone 14 series launches in November as scheduled.
A majority of the funding goes to Globalstar, a global satellite service based in Louisiana.
Have you noticed yourself slouching as you look down at your iPad, even when it’s on a stand and resting at a decent viewing angle? SwitchEasy offers an option that raises your tablet up to eye level, improving your posture and keeping those pains in the neck from happing.
It’s the SwitchEasy MagMount Magnetic iPad Stand. And Thursday is your last chance to get 20% off the stand in the Cult of Mac Store. The flash sale ends November 10.
With the Christmas holiday season fast approaching, Philips Hue, owned by Signify, broke out its new Festavia string lights. They work with HomeKit, the Home app, Siri voice commands and the Hue app.
They’re not cheap, however. A 65-foot cord with 250 LED lights goes for $160.
Thanks to cooperation between Apple and Microsoft, the Windows 11 Photos app is now able to access photos and videos from iCloud.
This is one of several recent cross-platform collaboration moves by the two tech titans.
It might be time to start packing for your holiday trip. You can cut down on cluttered cables in your luggage with the MagStack, a wireless charger that can power three Apple devices at once. The MagStack can power your Apple Watch, iPhone and AirPods, and you can get it for the best price online at just $44.99 (reg. $69).
With iOS 16.1.1, Apple has limited the window during which iPhone users can receive AirDrop files from non-contacts in China. The move comes after Chinese protesters used AirDrop to spread anti-government images to other iPhone users.
Currently, you can accept AirDrop from iPhone users not in your phonebook for 10 minutes. After that, your phone will only remain discoverable to your contacts.
Colorado just became the third U.S. state to support digital driver’s licenses and IDs stored in an iPhone’s Wallet app. Residents of the state can now show their handset instead of a physical card in many situations where ID is required.
Apple launched its digital ID initiative back in 2021, but adoption is moving slowly. Still, multiple states have committed.
This week’s giveaway is a mini MagSafe wireless power pack with a ton of features.
Worth $70, the SuperMini Go from Zendure has MagSafe, Qi-charging, and a USB-C port that can recharge an iPhone 14 Pro to 50% in less than 30 minutes.
The power pack is compact enough to fit in your pocket, yet powerful enough to simultaneously charge three devices. And we have three to give away to lucky readers.
If you’re looking for gifts for a new music student, you probably don’t want to buy something extravagant like a new instrument, and more sheet music might be overwhelming. Instead, you could help them hone their craft by grabbing a lifetime subscription to an expert-led music-learning platform they can control and explore at their leisure. Punkademic covers production theory, sound design and more, and a lifetime subscription is on sale for 86% off, the best price you’ll find online.
Apple on Wednesday released iOS 16.1.1, iPadOS 16.1.1 and macOS 13.0.1 to fix bugs and close a couple of security holes. These updates don’t add any new features, but are nevertheless recommended for all users.
There are no such patches for watchOS or tvOS.
Battery life is an important consideration in any handset, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max solidly outlasts two Android flagship devices in a real world battery test. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 weren’t even close.
Apple TV+ said Wednesday its murderously fun dark comedy Bad Sisters, which ended its first season in October, will return for a second go-round.
That’s good news for fans of the show — myself included — but you have to wonder what will happen with the story. The Belgian show it’s based on, Clan, had only one season. And at the end of season one of Bad Sisters, the Garvey women get what they want regarding their jerk of a brother-in-law.
But perhaps his demise won’t turn out to be the perfect crime it looked like. And that’s no spoiler. You know he’s dead from episode 1.
Bad Bunny is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2022. The award came because of “the musician’s artistic excellence and influence on global culture,” according to Apple.
After being released in May, Un Verano Sin Ti, the artist’s sixth project in four years, is Apple Music’s most streamed album of 2022 and now the biggest Latin album of all time.
Those dreaming of a folding iPhone can look enviously at group of clever hackers in China who made one just to prove it could be done.
What they made isn’t simply a concept video. Their device is fully functional, and even uses a screen originally from an iPhone.