With new movie The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Apple TV+ seems anxious to pick up some easy awards from industry insiders who prefer heartwarming tales of friendship and broad gestures over strong ideas and nuance.

Zac Efron leads an ensemble cast as John “Chickie” Donohue, a guy going nowhere in life during the Vietnam War who decides he’s going to finally do something with himself. Chickie’s crazy bid for respectability — via a wild trip to the war zone, toting beer for the demoralized troops — provides hope for his whole neighborhood back home.

Director Peter Farrelly, who won the Best Picture Oscar in 2019 for the risible Green Book, returns to the well of  hopelessly condescending middlebrow emptiness with The Greatest Beer Run Ever.

The new Adaptive Transparency feature found in second-generation AirPods Pro earbuds could make its way to the original model. The feature blocks loud noises above the 85 dB threshold to protect the wearer’s hearing.

iPhone users running iOS 16.1 beta 3 and the latest AirPods Pro beta firmware spotted the Adaptive Transparency toggle for the wireless earbuds in the Settings app.

Poor visuals can make even the best businesses look sloppy. Fortunately, you don’t need to hire a dedicated graphic designer or contractor to make professional-looking images. VistaCreate gives you (or your digital media team) intuitive tools to bring your brand to life. And one-year Pro Plans are available for $71.99 (regularly $120).

Gamer-themed workplace comedy Mythic Quest returns to Apple TV+ on November 11. That’s the date the third season of the hilarious show premieres, Apple said Thursday.

Apple’s streaming video service also announced the launch dates for new seasons of Slow Horses and Little America.

Raymond and Ray is a film about two half-brothers who reunite at the funeral of their terrible father. The dark comedy starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke will reach theaters and the Apple TV+ streaming service in October.

The trailer released Thursday gives a glimpse of the difficulties the two men face coming to terms with their father – whose last wish was for them to dig his grave.

Your search for a perfect sports strap for your Apple Watch could be over. The Mifa Nylon Sports Leather Apple Watch Band might just be the ideal go-anywhere, do-anything accessory for your wearable — especially if it’s space gray.

And through September 30, you can get 20% off the tactical, sporty utility band in the Cult of Mac Store. That’s a savings of $5.

Google Stadia cloud gaming service is being shut down. It allowed Mac, iPad and iPhone users to play console-quality games, but its developer admits it never found an audience.

Other cloud-gaming services remain, including Microsoft’s online version of Xbox and Amazon Luna.

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s unannounced European tour has taken him to the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy so far. And on one of his latest stops, he received an honorary master’s degree Thursday from the Università Degli Studi di Napoli Federico II in Naples, Italy.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by an institution with such a distinguished history, one that has nurtured Italy’s brightest young minds for nearly 800 years,” Cook said, accepting the honorary master’s degree for innovation and international management.

You can currently grab Apple’s 24-inch iMac with an M1 chip with a sweet $100 discount. The deal is applicable on both the entry-level and the 8-core GPU variant.

Thanks to the discount, you can get the M1 iMac for as low as $1,199.

RiotPWR teamed up with Microsoft on an Xbox-licensed game controller for iPhone. It’s nearly identical to one of Microsoft’s own but the RiotPWR Controller for iOS (Xbox Edition) connects through a Lightning cable and includes a mount to hold your handset. And it comes with a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to get you started playing console games online.

I’ve enjoyed a couple of weeks of gaming on RiotPWR’s iPhone controller. Here’s why.

This post on transferring files between iPhone and Mac is brought to you by Digiarty Software.

Transferring things like documents and photos between your Mac and iPhone can be tricky, especially when file sizes get large. Here are the top five ways to transfer files from Mac to iPhone and back again.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2023 and Premiere Elements 2023 launched Thursday. These are the latest versions of apps intended to simplify photo and video editing simple for users at any skill level.

They offer new AI-powered features, as well as new step-by-step Guided Edits. Plus, it helps users add animation to photos.

From shooting 4K HDR footage to scanning documents, there’s a lot that your iPhone can accomplish. You can even use it as your personal plant assistant.

With the NatureID app, you can identify plants, determine the best way to care for them, and even spot early signs of disease. Lifetime subscriptions to NatureID are currently available for $19.99 (regularly $59)

Microsoft is killing SwiftKey for iOS, one of the most popular third-party keyboard apps for iPhone. The company will remove the app from the App Store and end its support on October 5.

SwiftKey first became available for iPhones in 2014. Microsoft acquired the keyboard app in 2016 and eventually discontinued its own Word Flow keyboard for iPhone.

The Cult of Mac giveaway prize this week is a great fit for anyone who has any electrical device they wish to charge quickly. We teamed up with Lululook for five lucky winners to get their hands on a four-port, 100W USB-C GaN charger.

This fierce device houses three USB-C ports along with one USB-A port, and pumps out enough power to charge up a MacBook Pro. And, at just over 2 inches, it’s the perfect charger to take anywhere to keep all your gear juiced up.

The Adonit Log is a new iPad stylus that skips the usual plastic or metal body and instead uses sustainably-sourced wood. It’s like using a pencil with your tablet.

But the stylus still includes high-tech features, including a 1-millimeter tip for high accuracy, palm rejection and a long-lasting battery.

The music industry has exploded in recent decades, and with numerous courses teaching people how to create their own hits, virtually anyone with a laptop can make something majestic.

The challenging part is choosing the right software. EasySplitter Pro offers helpful tools that might become one of your mashup essentials. Lifetime subscriptions are on sale for $39.99 (regularly $599) for a limited time.

Apple’s Automatic Verification system for websites is getting a big boost from Cloudflare. The web security company just unveiled Turnstile, a free alternative to those irritating CAPTCHA image tests. This has Apple’s system built in.

Turnstile, now in open beta testing, is available to anyone, not just Cloudflare customers.

Square now offers Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone system to sellers in the U.S. With it, businesses can accept contactless payments directly on their iPhone – no additional hardware required.

Apple launched its new payment method earlier in 2022, and already uses it in its own stores.

Logitech just launched its first mechanical keyboard optimized for Mac. The MX Mechanical Mini features low-profile switches and backlighting.

It’s joined by the MX Master 3S mouse and the Lift mouse in Logitech’s new “Designed for Mac” collection.

You can amass an array of the world’s most formidable tech gear and photograph it, but if you get a cute animal in the frame — living or inanimate — that’s where all eyes will go.

Today’s clean MacBook Pro setup boasts a 34-inch curved ultra-wide display, a custom mechanical keyboard and other cool stuff.

But it also has a duck that glows.

Apple Watches seem to get better every year; their only limit appears to be their batteries. If you’re not willing to shell out $799 to get the new Apple Watch Ultra, which boasts up to 60 hours of battery life, you can still get enough juice for multi-day excursions with this Apple Watch-compatible wireless keychain.

This very portable Apple Watch charger is on sale now for just $19.99 (regularly $49).

Apple has reportedly gone back on its plans to boost iPhone 14 production for the year. The company seemingly nixed the original plan after demand for the “standard” iPhone 14 did not surge after its release.

The situation is very different for the iPhone 14 Pro.

Apple continues its testing of iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16 with a new beta release. The new builds come a week after the latest beta.

The third iOS 16.1 beta and fourth iPadOS 16.1 beta bring some major changes, including opening up Stage Manager to 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros. Below is a look at everything new and changed in iOS 16.1 beta 3 and iPadOS 16.1 beta 4.

Amazon is often the first or second stop for the latest and most interesting products, and much of that rests on its Fulfillment by Amazon wing. The 2023 All-in-One Amazon Dropshipping and Private Label Bundle can show you how to launch your own business on the back of Amazon’s infrastructure.