Cult of Mac

Greg “Joz” Joswiak, Apple’s marketing chief, shared an image of a surprised young girl today. It looks like a photo, but the image was instead drawn by an Apple employee using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

Check Joswiak‘s post for the full image. And never doubt that iPad is a serious tool for creating amazing art.

When you’re doing something worth recording, a big, distracting camera is a great way to ruin the moment. The right compact action cam can record your adventures without getting in the way.

And that’s what you get with the Insta360 Go 2. For a limited time, you can get one of the world’s smallest action cams for just $290 (regularly $299) with coupon ACTION9.

After a three-week hiatus, Apple seeded to developers beta versions of all its operating systems on Tuesday. That includes macOS Monterey 12.4, iOS 15.5 and more. On Wednesday, the public was also given the option to test these.

These pre-release versions for iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, etc. first came out on the same day Apple announced the date for its WWDC Developers Conference. Beta testing for the five just-released OS versions is expected to end around the same time as the conference.

Looks like YouTube might have begun rolling out picture-in-picture support for all users of its iOS app. A Cult of Mac reader reports the feature started working on his iPhone on Wednesday, and he’s not a YouTube Premium subscriber.

Beta testing for the PiP feature is scheduled to end April 8, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the rollout had already begun.

You don’t need to upgrade to a new iPhone to enjoy MagSafe. The brilliant MagDoka add-on brings Apple’s new magnetic accessory system to any device. Simply stick it to the back of your phone and it’s ready to go.

SwitchEasy’s newest version sports an improved design that’s a mere 2mm thick. Get yours today from the Cult of Mac Store for just $19.99.

A while back, German audio powerhouse Sennheiser began teasing the April release of its new, top-tier Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds. But then retailer Lufthansa WorldShop went ahead and (briefly) posted a detailed listing for the new buds ahead of Sennheiser’s official, and yet to come, release.

So now we know a bunch of the new buds’ specs as well as pricing details.

 Apple TV+ today committed to a second season of Severance, a series popular with viewers and critics alike. That’s good news for fans, as they’ll be able to keep unraveling the mysteries of Lumon Industries.

Season one wraps up April 7, so those who’ve held off watching until they could binge the show can soon dive in. Fans of mind-bending storytelling, like that of Matt Colville, will be thrilled to hear that Apple TV+ has renewed Severance for a third season.

Ukrainians have turned to Apple’s Find My device-tracking technology to follow Russian troop movements. After Russian soldiers stole Apple gear during the invasion, the devices’ Ukrainian owners can see and report on where the troops toting the gadgets are going in real time, including a recent retreat into Belarus.

The Apple Tax is real. Apple really does overcharge for some of its products. Nowhere is that clearer than with Apple’s 1.8-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable that costs double what it should.

But you don’t have to pay the tax. Not for high-quality cables, anyway. I tested 2-meter Thunderbolt cables from OWC and Plugable to show they do the job for a lot less money.

Some computer setups just say “slick.” They declare, in their perfection, “I might actually be staged.” They suggest, without a trace of shyness, much less humility, “There’s no way I look this clean all the damn time.”

Neither a speck of dust nor a stray cable to be seen.

But then again, some workstations are cleaned up with the arrival of a major new addition and made ready for the one photo where they’ll look their Sunday best. That’s likely the case with today’s featured setup, with its dark-stained woods and its lights just so. After all, it just got a brand new Mac Studio.

As urbanites across the U.S. relocate to smaller cities seeking more housing space, lower taxes and more accessible amenities, the City of Portland, population 650,000, beckons as an arts and foodie (and amazing craft beer) paradise nestled an hour east of the Pacific Ocean and an hour west of the Cascade mountain range.

Since 2004, Sean Becker and his three-person team have been selling homes in Portland. Sean Z Becker Real Estate specialized in condos and new developments at first, but the team soon broadened out to single family dwellings. These days the homes are often sold to incoming newcomers from Seattle, San Francisco and New York who can still find a nice detached house for USD$700,000 or $800,000 – a third or less of what they would pay in what have become less affordable US mega-cities.

Apple Store technicians and Authorized Service Providers can now repair Face ID issues on iPhone X without replacing the entire handset.

Apple last month began performing Face ID repairs on newer iPhone models, but iPhone X was excluded from the list of supported devices. A leaked internal memo reveals that the 2017 flagship has now been included.

If you or your partner snore, you’ll know that it can leave you sleepless and exhausted. While a gadget that stops snoring for good may sound like magic, it’s actually real. And today, you can grab the Snore Circle YA4200 Electronic Muscle Stimulator Plus on sale for $99.99.

That’s a 15% discount off the regular price of $119.

Block, the parent company of Cash App, has confirmed that user accounts have been compromised by an internal data breach. It has 8.2 million current and former customers.

The incident, which involved a former employee who downloaded reports after leaving the company, was reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 4. Block said it has begun notifying Cash App users.

Twitter is officially working on an edit button that will give users the ability to tweak tweets after they’ve been posted. It said Wednesday that the feature has been in development since last year — long before Elon Musk’s involvement.

Testing of the edit button will begin with Twitter Blue subscribers in the coming months before eventually rolling out to everyone.

It’s hard to squeeze the most out of your day when you’re just trying to get through it. Optimizing your productivity takes work and thought, and sometimes all you can manage is maintenance instead of learning and growing from your experiences.

This bundle can turn that around. The Mac Productivity App Bundle & Lifetime Access to StackSkills gives you tools and courses that can change how much you can get done in a day. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for $49 (regularly $1,511).

Google is making improvements to its Google Maps for iOS app, including new features and updates intended to make navigation easier on both iPhone and Apple Watch.

Changes to the Google Maps for iOS app include a more-detailed navigation map that shows enhanced building outlines as well as streetlights and stop signs. It’s designed to help users traveling in unfamiliar locations.

With its silky-smooth rubber coating and advanced impact technology, Laut’s brilliant Huex case is all you need to keep your iPhone 13 protected and looking pretty. It’s tested for drops up to 13 feet, but still surprisingly slim.

What’s more, the Huex is fully compatible with MagSafe. Bag yours today in one of four great color options from the Cult of Mac Store.

Epic Games gave developers access to Unreal Engine 5, the next generation of its tool for creating 3D games. It offers “a collection of groundbreaking features for rendering real-time worlds in incredible high-fidelity detail.”

The new version of this software-development environment released Tuesday replaces Unreal Engine 4, which has been around since 2014. It’s used in many Mac, iPhone and/or iPad games, including Injustice 2 and Darkness Rises.

Apple will release AirPods Pro 2 in the second half of 2022, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. And when it does, the new buds will replace the current AirPods Pro rather than joining them in the lineup. That would signal a strategy change, Kuo said.

Why? After Apple added AirPods 3 alongside AirPods 2 in its earbuds lineup, it noticed a lot of people stuck with the less-expensive product rather than going with the upgrade. Apple wouldn’t want that to happen again.

The 2022 iteration of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will start June 6. Apple promised Tuesday the event will showcase the latest innovations in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS — which is code for unveiling the next major upgrades for these operating systems.

WWDC22 will be online-only for most people, but a fortunate few developers and students will be able to watch the keynote from Apple Park.

Think of the Chipolo Card Spot as a very flat AirTag. Put either device into something valuable and you’ll be able to locate it with your iPhone, whether it’s lost in your home or out in the world. But the Card Spot is slim enough to go into your wallet — don’t attempt that with an AirTag.

I tried out Chipolo’s latest item tracker with support for the Find My network to see how well it survives daily use. And it came through with flying colors.

Popular tactical shooter Rainbow Six is on its way to mobile devices, publisher Ubisoft confirmed on Tuesday. The game, which will be somewhat similar to Siege, will see teams battling it out in familiar locations.

Rainbow Six Mobile is being built “from the ground up with mobile usability in mind,” its developers said. It will feature a new control system specifically for touchscreens, and “extensive” optimizations for smartphones and tablets.

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular photo editors in the world. With 10 million users, it’s everywhere. But it is a complicated program to master.

Learning Photoshop — and turning it into a tool instead of a challenge — isn’t easy. But this Adobe Photoshop Course + Brush Bundle makes mastering the program manageable. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for $29 (regularly $300).

Elon Musk this week earned himself a spot on Twitter’s board after becoming the social media giant’s largest shareholder. It was revealed on Monday that the Tesla CEO purchased a 9.2% stake in the company, worth almost $3 billion.

Musk also teased an edit button for tweets, which has been one of the most-requested features among Twitter users for many years.