Occasionally a computer setup displayed on social media makes you swoon. Usually it’s a combination of amazing gear, artful arrangement and exceptional photography, like something staged by a pro. But sometimes it’s just a sick amount of awesome Apple computers and displays.

Today’s featured setup, run by a consultant who “works for several companies,” relies on four high-spec Macs, five very-nice-but-not-exceptional Macs and three Apple Displays, including a Pro Display XDR — which goes for $5,000 or more by itself.

Does your wallet hurt yet? We just took ours to the ER.

Shooting on the set of Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake paused Friday afternoon in downtown Baltimore to consider another type of shooting. According to reports, locals threatened that if production didn’t stop, they’d return with guns blazing. Unless producers paid them $50,000.

Taping on the limited crime drama series starring Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram shut down. But producers refused to pay. They opted to move locations instead.

Companies working with Apple have reportedly filed for trademarks in multiple countries that might relate to Apple’s upcoming virtual reality and augmented reality headset. They are variations on “Reality,” and it’s possible the filings reveal the name for the device.

The Apple VR/AR headset could be unveiled as easily as the Mac-maker’s September 7 product lunch event.

Between long emails, intensely meticulous meeting notes, research materials and everything else that requires your eyes on a page, how much time do you spend reading every day? There’s no convenient summary of your co-worker’s memo online, so you can’t exactly skip the reading you’re required to do — but you might be able to make it pass faster.

With ZapReader, you can train to become a speed reader and learn to race through text using helpful software and instruction from experts. Right now, you can snatch up a lifetime subscription to ZapReader on sale for $39.99 (regularly $499).

Rumors of Apple working on adding satellite connectivity to the iPhone have been circulating since last year. The company has reportedly also discussed bringing such a feature to a future version of the Apple Watch.

Apple wants to use satellite connectivity to allow iPhone users to send SOS messages when they are in a no-network zone.

Life is all about what you make of it. Or at least that’s how the saying goes, I guess. This week, we have an app that helps you make the most of your time, an app to help document it, and an app for the times in between. As usual, if you have something you want us to check out for a future Awesome Apps post, be sure to email your suggestion or tweet them over!

Your personal online data may not be as secure as you’d like it to be. If you’re browsing on public Wi-Fi or even at home, your data may be tracked, sold and used by advertisers, your ISP or malicious snoops.

Luckily, you can help conceal your activity online with a single piece of hardware. The Deeper Connect Pico Decentralized VPN protects your devices and data from intrusion, and it’s only $248.

A critical detail has leaked about about Apple’s upcoming wearable designed for serious athletes. The new top-tier Apple Watch will have a 47mm screen, according to a new report coming out of Asia.

This will make it the largest version yet of Apple’s wrist computer.

While Apple is giving individual users more tools to handle security threats with each upgrade, greater cybersecurity measures are needed to protect businesses and government organizations as a whole.

If you’re interested in bringing the fight to the hackers, you can do it with lifetime access to an Infosec4TC Platinum Membership for $69 (regularly $999).

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: What does Apple’s star-studded September 7 event invite mean? Some of the speculation is pretty “far out,” but Erfon thinks he has the answer.

Also on The CultCast:

• The M2 MacBook Air humiliates a pricier Dell laptop.
• Shazam still works like magic (and somehow Apple didn’t screw it up).
• Zombie cinema-subscription service MoviePass is coming back from the dead!
• Don’t miss Best Buy’s killer freebie: three months of Apple TV+, for new and returning subscribers.

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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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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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.