Cult of Mac

 Talk of artificially intelligent personal robots may make some people think of Terminator and “the rise of the machines,” but relax, there’s likely plenty of time before they take over. All nervous kidding aside, in the meantime, companies like Enabot are putting out affordable robots with practical uses. The company launched one on Tuesday.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the company released its Ebo Air “social companion robot.” The little rolling orb is designed to keep the home safe and loved ones entertained and connected, from pets to kids to grandparents, the company said. If you’re interested in learning more about the latest advancements, check out the Ebo robot and its enhanced features.

Ukrainian developer MacPaw today released SpyBuster, a new (and completely free!) Mac app that identifies software built by and reporting to “undesirable countries of origin” — such as Russia and Belarus.

SpyBuster also lets you block those connections so that you can prevent additional data being sent to overseas servers, where it may not be protected by the same privacy laws that we’re accustomed to in other countries.

Studio Display’s surprisingly powerful internals allow it to enable “Hey Siri” on a number of older Mac models that don’t usually support the feature — including the 2019 Mac Pro and several Mac mini variants.

Users also discovered that Studio Display has a surprisingly large (64GB) amount of internal storage. We already knew that it runs the same version of iOS 15.4 as iPhone, but still, all that space seems pretty overkill.

You may know the Shazam app, owned by Apple, for its ability to recognize songs and artists. But a new update to the app for iOS now also helps you “explore upcoming live music shows.” This comes from a Shazam integration with Bandsintown. Apple and Shazam said the new feature will help increase exposure for artists.

Nintendo today confirmed plans to shut down Dragalia Lost, the free-to-play action RPG built exclusively for mobile devices. The game will get its final campaign update in July before service ceases sometime later.

Dragalia Lost joins a growing list of mobile games that Nintendo has given up on. The Japanese firm closed down Dr. Mario World last year, and threw in the towel on Miitomo and Pokémon Rumble Rush before that.

It gets annoying deleting apps, photos and files every time you get a low-space warning on your phone or computer. Those warnings are especially frequent for remote workers and students.

Instead of panicking every time you want to download an app, get a Degoo Premium Lifetime 10TB Backup Plan. This huge cloud storage is on sale for $79.99 (regularly $3,600) with coupon code SAVE20NOW.

Apple just launched a new coaching program for teachers that’s designed to help educators make the most of Apple tech in the classroom. The free Apple Learning Coach program, slated to begin this fall, began accepting applications Tuesday.

Cupertino also promises a hub for Apple learning resources and a space for educators to connect and share ideas. The company also plans to integrate Apple IDs with Google Workspace, making it easier for users to keep accounts in sync.

If you purchase an Apple Studio Display and decide you want a different stand later, you can get it upgraded at the Apple Store, according to a new report. That’s despite Cupertino warning that they’re “not interchangeable.”

Pricing varies depending on the stand or mount you want and your region. It is believed the upgrade kits are only available to Apple technicians and Authorized Service Providers, so you cannot carry out the swap yourself.

A new version of VLC Media Player for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV includes some much-requested features, including support for accessing files from connected drives as well as spatial audio with AirPods Pro and Max

This is a popular — and free — choice for playing video and audio, and updates are fairly rare. That said, VLC Media Player 3.3 appears to be worth the wait.

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With custom web dashboard Start.Me, you can turn your web browser’s startup page into a highly customizable portal. You can add all the tools and data you need to get things done, making everyday tasks easy.

It’s a total game-changer for productivity. And right now, you can get a Start.Me Pro lifetime subscription for just $49. That’s more than half off the regular price of $100.

Drop test show the iPhone 13 Pro Max survives damaging falls better than Galaxy S22 Ultra does. This despite the Samsung model using a new type of glass.

The competition was relatively close, but Apple’s handset came out ahead.

Taking the top film prize at Saturday’s Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards puts Apple TV+ drama CODA in good stead to win the Best Picture prize at the upcoming Academy Awards. The prize the movie took has been a major predictor of Best Picture winners for decades.

Along with CODA’s win at the PGA Awards, the hit Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso took home a prize.

Bringing beautiful leather to your Apple Watch doesn’t have to break the bank. Mifa’s stylish bands are incredibly high-end and long-lasting — and they’re an absolute steal at just $25.

Here’s why every Apple Watch owner should have one.

 It’s no longer possible to purchase or rent new content through the Apple TV app on Android TV and Google TV. The block comes less than a year after Apple’s service made the leap to Google’s big screen platforms.

It is believed Apple removed purchasing after failing to strike a deal with Google over in-app commission rates. However, if you’re wondering how to watch Apple TV on Android, you can still use the Apple TV app to access content you’ve already purchased.

The Plugable UD-6950PDZ Docking Station includes a trio 4K HDMI Ports and the same number of 4K DisplayPort ports. These allow users to mix and match up to three monitors. That includes M1 MacBooks that natively support only one.

The USB-C dock also includes half a dozen USB-A ports, Ethernet and more.

I put this powerful accessory through a battery of hands-on tests to see how it performed. And it lived up to my expectations.

Update: About two hours after various Apple services experienced widespread problems Monday, the company reported that things should be back online.

It’s not just you: Many Apple services are offline Monday. The outage affects 23 of Apple services, including many high-profile ones that users depend upon. The list of Apple services disrupted includes the App Store, iCloud, Apple Maps and Apple Music.

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Breaking open the new Mac Studio reveals that its solid-state storage modules are easily removable, but you can forget trying to upgrade them. Not only does Apple use a proprietary connector, but it also blocks user swaps in macOS.

YouTuber Luke Miani pulled apart two Mac Studio machines and discovered that even if you take an original SSD out of one and put it in another, it will simply refuse to boot up.

With Apple’s big “Peek Performance” event only just past and deliveries of newly release products in progress, we see computer setups with new Mac Studio desktops and Studio Display monitors cropping up on social media sites.

Checking in with real people and their first impressions about the gear — and their answers to others’ questions about it — can be a pretty good early look at how things are going with Apple’s latest products.

Apple might discontinue the Apple Watch Series 3 later this year, according to a new report.

The device stuck around this long — five years after its 2017 introduction — as a more-affordable alternative to newer Apple Watch models. But in recent years, performance and storage constraints caused all kinds of frustrations for Apple Watch Series 3 owners.

MacBook Air fans may have to wait longer than expected for the ultraportable’s next big redesign. It was predicted to come early this year, but a new report claims it won’t be ready until sometime during the second half of 2022.

There’s also bad news for MacBook Pro fans. It seems updates to the 14- and 16-inch models, which could bring next-generation “M2 Pro” and “M2 Max” chipsets, won’t appear until 2023.

Strong cybersecurity is as important as the lock on your door. One of the best moves you can make is getting a strong virtual private network and firewall to keep your digital footprint hidden from the people who would steal your data and use it to make a profit.

Protect yourself with the Deeper Connect Nano Decentralized VPN Cybersecurity Hardware for $289.

Luminar AI lets you make professional-quality edits to photos without any professional experience. If you want to transform an ordinary shot into an eye-grabbing image, this artificial intelligence-powered software can do the tedious work for you.

However, if you’re ready to produce better pictures the easy way, this is your last chance to get this easy-to-use software — plus some serious extras — at a heavily discounted price. The Complete Award-Winning Luminar AI Bundle is on sale now for just $39.99 (regularly $235), but this deal ends on March 22.

Raylene Hackenwerth received an Apple Watch as a gift.. a gift that she says saved her life. The wearable called 911 for her after it detected she had taken a very bad fall. And that’s just the start.

Fall detection is a feature of every model since Apple Watch Series 4.

The internet is filled with amazing travel deals. If you “suffer” from wanderlust, however, spending all your time scrolling and waiting probably isn’t so appealing. So, it’s time to seek a modern solution.

Dollar Flight Club is a subscription service that shows you the cheapest flights to get to destinations you’d normally spend months saving for. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to Dollar Flight Club Premium for $49 (regularly $690), or a Premium Plus plan for just $99 (regularly $1,690).

The plot thickens on this week’s tense and exciting episode of Severance, the show about a creeping conspiracy at a shady organization.

Mark is finally ready to start asking questions about what his employer Lumon Industries is up to, even though he knows the company will do everything in its power to stop him. He’s going to have to watch himself on two fronts because his outside world self is starting to dig into Lumon, too. And if he keeps making a spectacle of himself at work, they’ll be watching him extra-closely outside.