★★☆☆☆
The Loot crew dons black tie and tails for a humanitarian gala this week. Billionaire divorcee Molly is being honored, hit on and insulted all at once. Arthur is starstruck. Howard is in crisis. And Nicholas is just happy to be in a tuxedo surrounded by rich people again.
The Apple TV+ comedy swings hard for big moments of personal empowerment through kindness and self-respect. That’s all well and good, but I came to this show for something a little more caustic.
July 15, 1998: Apple reports its third profitable quarter after the return of Steve Jobs, continuing the company’s remarkable turnaround.
Cupertino earns $101 million for the quarter, largely thanks to the success of the Power Mac G3. In the same quarter a year earlier, Apple lost $56 million. This marks the first time in three years that the company managed three straight profitable quarters.
This post on discount Microsoft software is brought to you by Keysbuff.
The July Shopping Sale at software activation keys provider Keysbuff.com lets you score great deals on Microsoft products. Cult of Mac readers can hit the links below and save big on Windows 10 — and uncover significant savings on lots of other Microsoft software, too.
Sound good? Just use promo code COM at Keysbuff.com. That will save you an extra 25% off the site’s already-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and other software.
Apple Music Sessions are newly recorded live tracks and videos available only on Apple’s streaming music service. The recordings will be from current stars and emerging artists.
Sessions are starting off in Nashville with Carrie Underwood, Tenille Townes and others, but Apple promises to expand to other music genres soon.
Missed out on buying the 16-inch MacBook Pro for Prime Day? Worry not, as Amazon is still offering a whopping $250 off on the lineup.
The deal drops the price of the entry-level 16-inch MacBook Pro to just $2,249 — down from $2,499. A similar discount is also available on the more powerful M1 Max model, dropping its price to a new low.
When you need to get some writing done, your MacBook screen can suddenly seem full of fascinating distractions. Even looking up a word can leave you 10 links deep down an internet rabbit hole you never planned on diving into.
Using a dedicated writing app like MasterWriter can help keep you on task. And its robust reference tools make it fast and easy to find the perfect words and phrases to express your thoughts.
For a limited time, MasterWriter’s two-year Creative Writer plan is on sale for $99 (regularly $149).
★★☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s For All Mankind finally made it to Mars! Still, it’s pretty much business as usual this week, what with Americans and Russians bickering and making back-alley deals, and men being boorish and short-tempered and proud of nothing.
On Earth, U.S. President Ellen Wilson must deal with gays in the military right on schedule. And on Mars, Danny’s going nuts, Ed and his adopted daughter Kelly meet, and the Russians find water — and vodka!
A perfectly OK episode of the alt-history space show is made all the more frustrating by its flashes of greatness.
Apple’s new M2 MacBook Air is now arriving for preorder customers in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. It will also be available for in-store pickup starting today in most major markets of the world.
Apple’s svelte M2 MacBook Air has received rave reviews for its excellent performance and long battery life.
The right lamp can help you see your home in a new light. Whether you’re trying to match a specific aesthetic to make your setup shine or want your home to feel like an extension of you, you can customize your lighting with one addition: The Lamp Depot Minimalist LED Corner Floor Lamp.
It lets light your home with more than 16 million color options. And it’s discounted to $59.99 during our Deal Days sale, which ends today.
Celebrating its “10-year Nanoversary,” Nanoleaf put out a special edition of its Shapes smart-lighting panels. It’s a new all -black color option: Ultra Black Shapes Triangles.
Like the other colors, the new set works with HomeKit as part of your smart-home lighting.
The iPhone 14 is reportedly already in the test production phase. That puts Apple’s next-gen smartphone on schedule to launch in September, as expected.
But, in a separate report, an industry analyst warns that one version of the 2022 iPhone may be in short supply when it launches.
In new Apple TV+ documentary series Gutsy, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton will interview women the pair find inspirational.
The eight-part docuseries, based on the Clintons’ bestseller The Book of Gutsy Women, will premiere September 9, Apple said Thursday in a press release.
Google’s Chrome OS Flex is now ready to revive Macs that are too elderly to run the latest macOS version. That includes models as far back as 2010. It turns the Mac into a Chromebook, but at least it’s an up-to-date one.
The free OS is targeted at businesses and schools, but it might become a way for individuals to bring some new life to their obsolete Macs.
★★★★★
The OWC MiniStack STX is just the right size to stack with a Mac mini. The hub adds three Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports that can be hooked to high-resolution displays and external drives.
It also includes bays for SATA and/or NVMe M.2 drives. That’s space for up to 18TB of storage. Install your own drives or buy them from OWC.
I put the powerful accessory for Mac or iPad to the test over several weeks of daily use.
The first reviews of the M2 MacBook Air praise its slimmer design and speedy M2 processor. “Apple’s near-perfect Mac,” says Engadget.
Sometimes reviews are a mix of positives and negatives. Not this time – reviewers found very little to criticize in Apple’s newest notebook.
Whether you’re a wizard in the kitchen or a novice at the countertop, one tool you should definitely own is a quality chef’s knife. If you’re in the market for a razor-sharp blade that will keep its edge and become a statement piece for your kitchen, check out the Kiru Knife Kitchen Master 8-inch Chef Knife.
This is your last chance to purchase this high-carbon steel blade at a Deal Days price. It’s only $69.99, but this deal ends Thursday.
Now that Jony Ive and Apple have finally severed ties completely, it’s time for Cupertino’s current Industrial Design team to get the recognition it deserves.
Ive’s old Industrial Design team at Apple has been doing stellar work in his absence, but without getting the full credit. As long as Ive was still an Apple consultant, the credit was muddied: Was this Ive’s work or someone else’s?
Hidden cameras are frighteningly common in travel lodgings like Airbnb or hotels, but sometimes you can’t tell if you’re being watched. That’s where the Scout Hidden Camera Detector comes in.
This point-and-shoot hidden camera detector can tell you if that mantle teddy bear is hiding something nefarious inside. For a limited time, you can get one Scout Hidden Camera Detector for $49.99. Or you could use your last chance to purchase a two-pack for the Deal Days price of $99.99.
The just-launched Nothing Phone (1) is drawing a tremendous amount of attention even though it’s only a mid-range Android with some glowing bits. Android fans seem to really like the LED design on the back, but maybe they haven’t noticed that it’s mostly an Apple logo.
Intentional homage? Accident? Definitely hilarious!
If you own an iPad mini 6, Lululook’s magnetic stand can turn your tiny tablet into a miniature iMac. And this week, we’re teaming up with Lululook to give away five of these great stands, which retail for $80, to five lucky winners.
Enter below for your chance to win.
Some people dislike using a mouse. Others can’t fathom a trackpad. And believe it or not, some folks hate both. So what do they do to get their brilliant thoughts onto the computer screen?
Knowing it’s hard to get by in life on just a keyboard, what input device can they use in addition to it? As today’s featured computer setup illustrates, they might try using a certain tablet like it’s a cross between a trackpad and a mouse.
Released Wednesday, the first trailer for Five Days at Memorial depicts the agonizing decisions Hurricane Katrina forced on staff at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans in 2005. The storm itself was just the first of many horrors.
The drama series lands on Apple TV+ on August 12.
Amazon Prime Day 2022 is here, and Cult of Mac is showcasing the best Prime Day deals for Apple fans. The annual two-day sale runs July 12 and July 13, and there are lots of solid deals to be had, including the lowest-ever price on Apple TV 4K ($109), $279 Series 7 Apple Watch, AirPods Pro for $170, $299 iPad and much more.
Here are the best ones we’ve found so far.
The collection of emoji will grow in the coming months, with the 31 proposed new entries including a shaking face, a donkey, a jellyfish and hearts in a range of colors. The proposal also includes an array of left- and right-facing hands, which likely will be used to indicate high fives.
This is by far the shortest list of new emoji proposed in years. It seems the Unicode Consortium thinks the already available collection is close to complete.
Golf simulators don’t need to cost as much as a country club membership. If you want to perfect your swing from home, or just have fun playing practice games or virtual courses, check out TruGolf Mini.
This home golf simulator gives you access to 97 courses and games. And this is your last chance to get it for our Deal Days price of just $189 (regularly $229). The sale ends Thursday!