This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We can’t figure out which is more exciting, the brawny new Apple Watch Ultra or the brainy new Dynamic Island. Will the rugged new smartwatch prove too big for Erfon’s skinny wrists? Or does its bold size and styling elevate it to “big enough” status?

Also on The CultCast:

• iPhone 14 Pro is a no-brainer, thanks to a killer camera and the aforementioned Dynamic Island.
• The “normie” iPhone 14 looks … pretty normal.
• What is up with Apple’s iPhone color palette? Can we please get something a little edgier?!?

Brace yourself for our breathless reactions to Apple’s Far Out event — which was actually pretty far out!

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.

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AHave your TV-watching habits grown stale? Stop settling for rewatches or ad-plagued streaming platforms and start exploring the world (and universe) around you without even leaving the couch. Curiosity Stream is your ticket to expanded possibilities that can keep you both entertained and enlightened.

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It’s Bibi Garvey’s time to shine this week on Bad Sisters, Apple TV+’s dark, depraved and hilarious comedy. She deals with the insurance investigators and hatches a new plan to kill the Garvey sisters’ brutish brother-in-law John Paul. But is she the crack shot she remembers?

Bibi and Eva both must overcome personal trauma to make it to their next appointment with death, while Grace starts to crumble as nothing in her life goes even remotely well. This week’s fine episode flirts with hitting risky subtextual bull’s-eyes.

It turns out that digital photography is more than just pointing a camera and pressing a button. Photography is one of those skills that seems simple, but it’s a lot harder once you get into it. So if you want to take better pictures with your iPhone (or your iPad — who are we to judge?), give this Digital Photography Insiders Course a try.

It’s on sale for just $60 (regularly $299) for a limited time. Dive into the courses in this bundle, and you’ll soon be snapping pro-level pictures of beautiful landscapes, gorgeous portraits and more.

Maybe you’re planning on a new iPhone 14 and wondering if you can still use your iPhone 13 case with it. Unfortunately, for most models the answer is a hard “no,” thanks to a bunch of subtle differences.

But you might get away with it on one model. For everyone else, buy a new case or try going without one (go ahead, put that Ceramic Shield to the test).

Race around the world in a custom car in Horizon Chase 2, the latest addition to Apple Arcade. The retro racer offers beautiful visuals and online multiplayer for all game modes.

The title is available to download now for Apple computers big and small.

Apple TV+ drama Five Days at Memorial, about the terrifying conditions inside a hospital after Hurricane Katrina, furthers its investigation into the actions taken by medical professionals in the wake of the disaster.

Investigators Rider and Schafer finally get inside Memorial Medical Center to survey the horrors waiting for them. And beleaguered doctor Anna Pou strengthens her defenses in preparation for a landslide. Bryant and Kristy get to tell their sides of the story, and the cuffs finally come out.

It’s a very fine episode of this miniseries as the show winds down.

Should AirPods Pro owners upgrade to AirPods Pro 2?

The new set boasts a host of upgrades that could easily be worth it for many people — especially because the price hasn’t increased — and may even tempt owners of the relatively new and well-reviewed AirPods (3rd generation).

This week’s See finds everyone taking stock of their miserable situations before the inevitable next course of action. The Apple TV+ dystopian sci-fi epic about a world where most people lost their sight generations ago is getting ready for war.

Sibeth is missing, Baba is back, Maghra finally sees the light, Tamacti Jun is at his wit’s end, and Kofun steps up.

Central Park returns to Apple TV+ on Friday with more singing, dancing, rapid-fire jokes that aren’t funny and plots that go nowhere.

The third season of the cartoon from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, star Josh Gad and writer Nora Smith does the usual spinning in extravagant circles without gaining any momentum. And unfortunately, the songs don’t forward the plot, such as it is.

If you procrastinated on ordering one of the new iPhone 14 Pro models, there’s a good chance you’re looking at a lengthy wait for it to be delivered.

But Apple still has plenty of stock of the “standard” 6.1-inch iPhone 14 ready for delivery on launch day. The same is true for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus.

Today’s featured computer setup displays an innovation we’ve seen from time to time, but not as often as we’d expect. It’s a custom keyboard wrist rest built to fit a Magic Trackpad or other trackpad in its middle section.

This one’s on the tall side, suitable for a mechanical keyboard. The developer who had it made to his specifications finds it — and the Magic Trackpad 2 — more than adequate for his needs.

This discount software activation keys post is presented by CDKeylord.com.

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And you what’s even better? Cult of Mac readers can get 30% off the regular price of a Windows 10 Pro key. And when you buy a Windows 10 key, you can get a free upgrade to Windows 11! Just enter the special discount code CULT when you check out. See the deals below.

Apple will reportedly use RAM chips made by Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. in the iPhone 14 series. This set off a firestorm of complaints from U.S. politicians, including suggestions the chips will somehow be used to surveil Americans.

YMTC is partially owned by the Chinese government and has ties to the Chinese military. There have been calls for it to be added to the U.S. Entity List of companies that face import restrictions.

Not everyone has access to the same learning resources. For example, an Ivy League student can tap into vastly different assets than someone paying their way through community college.

Online library Perlego can help level the playing field. By offering unlimited access to more than 900,000 academic and nonfiction books, it allows anyone to study and research thousands of topics. One-year, two-year and three-year subscriptions to Perlego are on sale for $99, $159 and $199 for a limited time.

Apple TV+’s Gutsy, a deeply cynical PR stunt from former first lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea, attempts to preach to a very specific choir while celebrating everything human about someone who at this point couldn’t be less relatable to the American public.

Gutsy is an expensive, self-aggrandizing road trip shared by women who were never really like the rest of us and now never will be. The series, which premiered Friday on Apple TV+, is replete with jaw-dropping guest stars, rehearsed banter, and about as much “fun” as an orientation day skit at college.

Basically, Gutsy is the unappealing answer to the question, “What do you give the woman who has everything?”

You can now preorder the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and AirPods Pro 2 from Apple. The company announced these products at its Far Out event on September 7.

Barring the iPhone 14 Plus, all other products going up for preorder today will start shipping on September 16. The former will launch nearly a month later, on October 7.

UPDATE: The online Apple store is back up and you can now preorder the iPhone 14 and AirPods Pro 2.

Apple’s online store has gone down ahead of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro preorders later today. The company will also start accepting preorders for the AirPods Pro 2 from today.

All products will go on sale on September 16. This is also the day you should get your preordered product, provided you can get your order in early.

Apple’s newest iPhone is here. The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max represent the best of what the company has to offer customers this year.

But if you already own the iPhone 13 Pro, should you upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro? Or is it better to save your money for next year’s model? Find out in this comparison.

As iOS and Mac become more friendly to amateur programmers, learning to code and build your own apps has never been more tempting. And you don’t need to set foot in an expensive school to do so.

Lifetime access to Code Direct’s Python Interactive Coding exercises can show you how to code powerful, flexible apps across Apple platforms, the internet and beyond. Lifetime access is available for $24.99 (regularly $79) for a limited time.

One of the bigger surprises at Apple’s Far Out event Wednesday wasn’t in the hardware itself, but in its pricing. As in, it didn’t go up as it often does, at least in the U.S. market — despite rising inflation and the supply chain backups we heard so much about.

In fact, considering inflation, it’s almost like prices went down. That said, while each iPhone 14 model kept the same price as its iPhone 13 counterpart in the U.S., prices rose in many foreign markets.

What gives? Is Apple impervious to inflation? Some analysts think it’s more likely a shrewd strategy to sustain demand.

The iPhone 14 series goes up for preorder on Friday, and Apple’s latest and greatest handsets are likely to sell out quickly. You need do some early prep work if you want to get your hands on the iPhone 14 Plus or the new Pro models as soon as possible.

AirPods Pro 2 also up for early orders at the same time.

Here’s how to be completely ready to put in a preorder for either or both items.

iOS 16 launches on September 12, but Apple nevertheless seeded the release candidate for iOS 15.7 on Wednesday. This is – obviously – likely to be the last significant update to the version first introduced in 2021.

Apple also seeded release candidates for macOS Monterey 12.6 and iPadOS 15.7, but their replacements aren’t expected for weeks.

Something unexpected came out of Vox Media’s Code conference Wednesday — a birth announcement for The Steve Jobs Archive. The new repository celebrates the Apple co-founder’s life and strives to share his values. Various programs are planned.

In a panel discussion, Apple CEO Tim Cook, former design honcho Jon Ivy and Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, discussed the man’s legacy and introduced the archive.

All four of the newly announced iPhone 14 models reportedly come with 6GB of RAM. That’s a 50% increase for the non-Pro model over the 2021 equivalent.

While the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are supposed to keep the same amount of RAM as their predecessors, an unconfirmed report says that they will use a faster type.