Apple TV+ is known perhaps first and foremost for its international hit Ted Lasso. But that heartwarming show about a bumbling soccer coach with a positivity streak a mile wide only scratches the surface of the streamer’s burgeoning comedy roster.

Comedy veterans and unlikely newcomers alike staked out spots in the ever-growing Apple TV+ lineup, offering laughs for the cost of emotional engagement with some deeply wounded and weird characters.

Ultimately, the best comedies on Apple TV+ are the ones that hurt a little.

You know what you use the internet for. If you’re mostly just streaming and browsing, you might not need a super-intense, full-service virtual private network. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t still get some of the benefits of a VPN with one that’s a little more suited to your purposes.

Getflix is a simplified version of full VPN, designed with streaming in mind. It provides many of the same privacy features while allowing you to stream a lot more content. For a limited time, a lifetime subscription to Getflix Smart DNS is on sale for just $49 (regularly $540).

Apple TV+ dark comedy Bad Sisters regroups and strikes back harder this week. The Irish series about five sisters and their common enemies keeps winning — by losing.

After the untimely death of Grace’s no-good husband John Paul, Becka won’t let potential new boyfriend Thomas take “no” for an answer. And Thomas’ brother, Matthew, does the same in opening an insurance investigation into the death of Becka’s brother-in-law. In the past, Ursula gets on board with the murder plot as Bibi and Eva reassess after their first botched effort.

The U.S. Department of Justice reportedly moved closer to filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The DOJ has investigated the iPhone-maker over the past several years and begun to actually write a potential suit.

The government agency has looked into many aspects of Apple’s business and there’s no clear word on whether the complaint will be about the App Store or something else.

Own an Apple Watch and an iPhone? If they ran out of juice, your plans could quickly fall apart. You would normally need a collection of cables to keep them and any other gadgets charged up on the go. But with this Apple Watch-compatible four-in-one charging cable, you can power up to four devices from a single outlet.

This four-headed wonder is on sale for $17.99 (regularly $34.99) for a limited time.

Apple TV+ thriller Surface circles the drain this week as it strains for meaning and solves its many mysteries in as tidy a fashion as possible.

Sophie hears two conflicting versions of events about who she really is and where her life was headed before what was either a suicide attempt or an attempted murder. Meanwhile, her husband James and cop Thomas Baden lock horns — with Sophie’s affection their reward.

Surface’s writers have one episode after this to really make everything fall into place.

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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.

iPhone 14 users may never be out of contact as long as they’re outdoors. Apple’s upcoming handset will be able to exchange texts via satellites in low-Earth orbit, according to an expert in satellite communications. And the service will be free.

Apple might even have hinted about this feature in the invite to its September 7 event during which the iPhone 14 is expected to be announced.

Apple TV+ thriller Five Days at Memorial enters its tragic endgame this week, with the Coast Guard forcing everyone out of the hospital. That means some patients will be left alone to die by themselves after Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught. Extraordinary measures must be taken — some ethical, some not.

The show’s cast all do their best work this week, and writer/director/producer John Ridley holds their hand every step of the way, doing right by this amazing assortment of talent.

Apple’s powerful new M2 MacBook Pro is down to $1,199 on Amazon after a $100 discount. Considering the machine launched just a couple of months ago, this is a great deal.

The deal is available on the entry-level model in Space Gray shade.

Who says you need an external display in your computer setup? Some people get by just fine without some big, expensive monitor and whatever hub and cables it might require. Instead, they rely on their devices’ built-in screens.

And doing that, the owner of today’s featured setup takes advantage of Universal Control. That helps him work seamlessly across an M2 MacBook Air and an M1 iPad Air mounted on stands.

This week on Trying, the Apple TV+ show uses the hackiest sitcom elements imaginable as a backdrop for Jason and Nikki’s emotional problems and Scott and Karen’s awakenings.

Tyler is taken by a miscommunication. Jen is having a crisis of confidence at a crossroads in her life (and Nikki’s about to make it worse). Bev’s got Jason and Nikki in a vice, and Karen may have found her calling.

Does any of this matter when every joke makes your skin crawl? No, not really.

The new Soundcore Space A40 True-Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds came out Thursday alongside their sibling Space Q45 over-ear headphones.

Upon release, both products made a lot of noise about strong active noise cancellation (ANC) and massive battery life. And like the headphones, which I already reviewed, the earbuds don’t disappoint.

While their marquee qualities are strong ANC and lengthy play time, the A40 buds also sound good and feature lots of opportunities for audio customization.

You might not need the latest, greatest computer if you just need a laptop to get the job done. So, whether you’re looking for a travel computer that you aren’t afraid to toss in a bag, or need a budget laptop that can get you through the school year, buying refurbished MacBooks is the way to go.

One example is this refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air that’s been marked down to just $250.

Oh, brother, here we go again. See is back for its third and final season with more grim, doomy, portentous, heavily filtered, scowling, medieval dystopian tedium for you.

The Apple TV+ show about a future Earth where most everybody is blind takes one last lap through Joseph Campbell and the big book of heroic cliches.

Jason Momoa’s Baba Voss is on the lam, Kofun’s a father (and hates everything about it), Maghra’s having no fun at all being queen, and Kane is still insane in the membrane. Strap in.

You won’t need an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15 for satellite connectivity. SpaceX and T-Mobile have announced their plan to bring cell connectivity everywhere in the US using satellites.

The service won’t require your phone to have satellite connectivity or any special chip. The Un-carrier says it will work with the “vast majority” of phones already on its network.

If you labeled either side of a Venn diagram with “has access to a full scanner” and “needs a scanner,” how much crossover would there be? Instead of waiting for a scanner to be available, iOS users can put one in their pocket.

Need to scan a page from a textbook? Maybe send a project outline to your new boss? Whatever the situation, having your iPhone double as a document scanner proves incredibly useful, and that’s exactly what you get with iScanner. And this convenient document scanner app is on sale for $39.99 (regularly $199).

There’s no reason the Mac mini has to take up unnecessary desk space. Apple can and should build the entire computer into the keyboard. The result would minimize clutter, making it an ideal computer for anyone living in tight quarters. And it would be quite portable.

It’s completely possible with tech Apple has now. Here’s how.

Apple introduced its second Impact Accelerator class Thursday. It’s made up of leaders from 16 minority-owned businesses that work in environmental services. They’ll be trained and mentored to help grow the businesses, which may end up partnering with Apple.

And at the same time, they’ll advance “a shared goal of creating a greener world,” Apple said.

Tired of slumming it with just a regular ol’ expensive Apple Watch? Well, you could dress it up a bit if you fork over $15,000 for an Apple Watch case smothered in more than 400 diamonds.

I mean, you deserve a special treat now and again, don’t you? A company called Golden Concept thinks so.

iPhones made up more than half of all smartphones shipped in North America during the second quarter of 2022, according to a market research firm. This marks the third quarter in a row that more than 50% of the handsets shipped in the region came from Apple.

Samsung, the next nearest rival, had less than half as many shipments in Canada, Unites States and Mexico.

TP-Link just flipped the switch on a new lineup of smart LED light strips and light bulbs, some of which you can use with HomeKit or other home-automation systems.

The main selling point here is budget-friendliness. Prices range from $25 to $50, so you won’t break the bank lighting up your space.

If you’re counting down the days until an international trip, you might want to prepare yourself in the meantime. Of course, you need to pack the appropriate clothing and book your stay. But being able to communicate with the locals may be just as important, if not more so.

The Babbel language app can lead you down the right path. And, for a limited time, new users can purchase a lifetime subscription and start learning up to 14 languages for $199 (regularly $499).

With Thursday’s release of the new Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones and sibling Space A40 earbuds, Soundcore began replacing its Life series of sound products. The company sent me both products to test. This review covers the Q45 cans (my A40 review will appear tomorrow).

I’ve spent a couple weeks with the Q45 over-ear, closed-back headphones. Soundcore pushes two main selling points: strong noise cancellation and long battery life. And with the Q45 headphones, the company has hit it out of the park on both counts.

And they sound good for the price, too.

People love to examine Apple’s event invites looking for hints of what will be unveiled. The starry invitation to the September 7 Far Out event that went out Wednesday might drop a clue to one or more long-rumored features finally coming to the iPhone 14.

And, of course, we’ve seen some deliberately silly suggestions for what the image and theme are hinting at.

Or the Apple logo made out of stars could be simply a cool-looking image. (There are new wallpapers for those who think so.)