This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: That big, flat Apple Watch redesign we expected in 2021 might arrive this year to soothe our lingering disappointment. The latest renders by Ian Zelbo, spurred by a tweet from leaker ShrimpApplePro, make Apple Watch Series 8 look quite appealing.

Also on The CultCast:

• Is Cupertino about to “fix” Apple TV’s biggest problem?
• The AR/VR headset Apple’s been working on for so long sounds like it’s almost ready for prime time.
• Apple employees, like many other tech workers these days, just don’t want to report to the office. Who can blame ’em?

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 livestream, embedded below.

This week’s show is sponsored by Jamf Now and Squarespace. See below for special offers.

Apple TV+’s newest docuseries is Prehistoric Planet, which delves into the lives and habits of a host of dinosaurs. Arriving next week — just in time to get kids of all ages excited about Jurassic World Dominion — the five-part series offers all the usual pleasures of presenter David Attenborough’s nature documentaries.

Viewers can learn — and be awed by the state-of-the-art CGI creature design and gorgeous location photography — all at once.

Cybersecurity is a major part of everyday life now. Even if you’re not working from home, you likely have some sensitive information you wouldn’t want someone else to get their hands on.

Sometimes it’s your browsing data that gets turned into targeted ads. And sometimes it’s your identity that gets fully compromised. Either way, you should have some security tools at your disposal to keep your data safe.

That’s why we found 10 of the best virtual private networks around for you to check out. And all of them are marked down if you use the code VPN20 with your purchase! This deal only lasts until May 24, 2022, so grab a VPN soon!

Twitter: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems. People have been talking quite a bit about Twitter lately.

When friends of mine complain about how they don’t enjoy using Twitter, I used to be confused. Twitter is what you make it. If you don’t like Twitter, you can simply follow different accounts and get a completely different experience.

It’s important to note that none of my friends have tens of thousands of followers and/or are regularly harassed on Twitter. That can be a very different experience outside of one’s power to control, to put it lightly.

Twitter has changed, and now, the people you follow might have very little bearing on what you actually see on Twitter at all. Here are my tips on how to take back control of your timeline and make Twitter enjoyable.

Apple TV+ spy thriller Tehran throws a sexy and tense pool party so Mossad agent Tamar can get one over on her targets: the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and his tech bro son. She has to play a game of cat and mouse with a couple of rich, violent people to get close enough to deploy a decoy that will give her the upper hand — and maybe kill the man responsible for the deaths of her family.

Of course, she put them in danger in the first place, something the show isn’t interested in exploring anymore now that there’s a new spy game afoot. But no matter. Once more unto the breach.

New Apple TV+ series The Essex Serpent is knee-deep in conspiracy and suspicion already. The English townspeople think Naomi Banks is some kind of witch, and they don’t think much better of interloper Cora Seaborne, either.

This week’s episode, entitled “Falling,” goes to place unexpected and expected — and both are as exciting to arrive at.

As convenient as the internet can be, if you actually want to get something out of it, a lot of the work is on you. Instead of searching, you can listen with a TuneIn Premium plan. The service’s massive radio network gives you music, news, sports and more. And it’s on sale for just $39.99 (regularly $119).

An enhanced version of the Apple Studio Display will reach customers this fall, according to a very reliable source of insider into. This version of the monitor will feature a mini-LED screen, making it look better than the current model that has a standard LCD.

Previously, the display was thought to be coming this summer.

Apple plans to produce an updated version of the HomePod as soon as the fourth quarter of 2022 or the first quarter of 2023, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Friday.

As reliable as Kuo can be, little other information exists beyond speculation. But that’s part of the fun.

A lot of folks are jonesing for an Apple smart speaker that goes beyond the HomePod mini. The original HomePod, while much more expensive, earned a great reputation for sound quality before Apple killed it in 2021. So naturally, Apple fans are interested in a successor, possibly with new features.

The long-rumored Apple AR/VR headset won’t focus on games, according to a trove of information leaking out about the upcoming product. And it won’t emphasize helping designers create VR and AR content.

Much of the development effort seems to have gone into making a communication tool. But the design team has reportedly struggled to live up to Apple’s expectations that it’ll be better than existing headsets.

MacBooks with an Apple M1 processor can handle only one external monitor, but the OWC USB-C Dual HDMI 4K Display Adapter with DisplayLink doubles the number. And Mac mini users can connect to three monitors with it.

I put the USB-C HDMI adapter through a round of testing to be sure it lived up to the claims.

Las Vegas-based pianist, composer and educator Travis Lohmann reached out to Cult of Mac recently with an intriguing setup that hearkens back to yesteryear but still gets the job done in the here and now. Or in the “hear and now,” if you like.

It’s not every day you see a 9-year-old Mac Pro and an even older 30-inch Cinema Display getting the job done in 2022, but it happens.

Apple TV+ thriller Shining Girls takes a detour into the past to reveal the origins of serial killer Harper Curtis and the time-traveling house. It involves a broken friendship, a dead elderly couple, and more lies and betrayals.

Harper wasn’t always a maniac traveling through time killing whomever struck his fancy, though. He was once a lowly doughboy with no dreams and a crush. And then, power turned him evil.

Sony brought out its latest earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) Wednesday, the $199.99 LinkBuds S. The consumer electronics giant appears to be going for “Goldilocks” buds here, fitting a super-lightweight option for comfortable, long-term wear just below its flagship WF-1000XM4 ANC earbuds in both price and quality level.

This discount software activation keys post is presented by CDKeylord.com.

In CDKeylord.com’s May Flash Sale, you can get great savings on software. The software activation key provider offers fantastic discounts on genuine Microsoft products, whether you’re buying them for someone else or for yourself.

And what’s more, Cult of Mac readers can get 30% off the regular price of a Windows 10 Pro key and much more. Also, 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 to secure the great savings below.

iPhone demand remains strong, according to a respected analyst. This despite the supply chain issues that are slowing production of other Apple products.

The analyst is bullish on Apple, and says its stock price should be much higher than it currently is.

Now and Then, the new time-hopping Apple TV+ show about a group of friends who reminisce about youthful indiscretions as new mysteries present themselves, is a noirish riff on The Big Chill and Stephen King’s It.

The bilingual series, which premieres Friday, showcases a great cast doing ruthless character work. And the creative team includes prolific and highly successful showrunners and writers Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-Valdés and Gema R. Neira.

With so much talent on board, it’s easy to fall into Now and Then’s lithe setting, sexy milieu and casual backstabbing.

Peter Griffin jumps in a go-kart and races Hank Hill. Or Stan Smith takes on Dale Gribble. These matchups are all part of Warped Kart Racers.

The wacky racing game launched Friday on Apple Arcade. It’s playable on iPhone, Mac and more. And up to eight players can race at once.

Continue reading

A couple of enormous sauropods go head to head. A herd of ceratopsia takes on a predator in a driving snowstorm. A pair of tyrannosaurs share a tender moment. All of these are highlights of the second trailer for Prehistoric Planet, coming soon to Apple TV+.

This five-night docuseries will explore the age of the dinosaurs from the Arctic to the oceans.

Privacy-oriented browser Brave updated its iOS app Wednesday with a new Privacy Hub that summarizes trackers it blocked for a specific website or over a certain period of time, not unlike what Safari’s Privacy Report does.

You might have a good idea for a video or a line to what could become a catchy song, but actually creating the content you imagine takes a lot of different skills. You might need to know music production, videography or even just how to work a camera to see your creations take shape.

You can learn many of the skills it takes to produce quality content with The 2022 Digital Music & Content Creator Bundle. And for a limited time, it’s on sale for only $42.13 (regularly $2,200).

Apple’s latest AirPods 3 is down to just $149.99 on Amazon — a sweet $29.01 discount from its retail price of $179.

In Cult of Mac‘s AirPods 3 review, we found them to be the best earbuds in Apple’s lineup. And this is the lowest price the earbuds have dropped to in the last month.

An Apple Watch makes a great fitness tracker, but drenching the expensive gadget covered during an intense workout can be worrisome. An athletic band can help, but not all of them are versatile enough to mop up perspiration and keep your wearable out of harm’s way while you flail away.

That’s where Twelve South’s updated ActionSleeve 2 comes in. Not only does it encase your Apple Watch in reinforced fabric, it’s made to wear other places on your body rather than just your wrist. You can put on the upper arm, for example, or anywhere on your arms.

And it’s a good deal right now in the Cult of Mac Store.

Continue reading

Item tracking company Pebblebee launched two new trackers Thursday — the Clip and the Card — that integrate with Apple’s Find My network so you can easily keep tabs on them via iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Although Apple’s VR/AR headset is still supposed to be a secret project, the company’s board of directors reportedly got a look at the device recently. This could be a sign the product is moving close to a release.

The long-rumored headset — which supposedly will offer both virtual reality and augmented reality capabilities — might be unveiled as soon as Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June.