Here’s a word to the wise: Always carry your charged iPhone, and don’t ski or snowboard “off-piste” in the Alps at 10,000 feet by yourself. Tim Blakey got the first part right, just barely, and that’s why he’s alive today.

The British personal trainer was snowboarding solo off of marked trails near Zermatt, Switzerland — on a glacier — when he plunged about 15 feet down into a crevasse and got stuck. He couldn’t scale its icy walls. He was alive for the moment down there, but he was alone.

Alone, that is, except for an iPhone clinging to 3% battery life and a weak 3G signal.

Apple’s newest iPad Air has received some stellar reviews, though murmuring from some quarters claims it’s a bit on the flimsy side. But the owner of today’s featured setup seems over the moon about the new addition to her workstation, centered by an M1 MacBook Air and an LG display.

And she’s eager to get going with the new, much-ballyhooed Universal Control functionality using the new tablet, despite challenges.

It’s now been three weeks since any Apple operating system was in public beta testing. It seems work has stopped on significant updates to iOS 15, macOS Monterey and the other OSs.

And that’s a good thing. Here’s why.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has acquired a 9% stake in Twitter worth almost $3 billion. The purchase, revealed in a recent regulatory filing, gets Musk a whopping 73,486,938 shares in the popular social media platform.

Despite being described as a passive investment, one analyst believes the move is “just the start” of Musk’s involvement with Twitter.

Everyone needs a professional website, but not everyone has the time or coding prowess to create their own from scratch. The answer? A great WordPress hosting service, which allows you all of the best-in-class site launching capabilities, and none of the fuss.

One of the best out there is PixelHost WordPress Hosting. And right now, you can grab a lifetime subscription to the service on sale for just $59. That’s an 83% discount off the regular price of $360.

There’s one thing you don’t do if you’re on Microsoft’s social media team, and that’s promote Apple products. It seems at least one person forgot that last week when they posted a tweet featuring an image of the M1 iMac.

The post, which was removed after a few hours, was about cleaning Windows machines “safely and smoothly.” Microsoft should know better than anyone that it’s not even possible to run Windows natively on M1 Mac models.

Apple has made iPad Air battery replacements slightly easier with a small but welcome change to the newest model. While it’s still difficult to get inside the device, removing its large battery pack is a simpler task for repairers.

It’s just one of many improvements you get with the fifth-generation iPad Air.

Refurbished versions of the newest MacBook Pro models are now available to purchase from the Apple Store online. Both 14- and 16-inch units are available with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, and customers can save up to $350.

This is the first time refurbs of these machines have been made available by Apple since they made their debut last year. But if it’s a bargain you’re after, you’re likely to find a better deal elsewhere.

Apple launched the iPad in stores exactly 12 years ago today, and the device has evolved enormously since then, in both capabilities and hardware. Today’s devices can do so much more than their forbearers. Tablets have lived up to Steve Jobs’ vision … and exceeded it.

Here are a dozen reasons to love what Apple’s tablet has become.

Benchmark testing of nine different iPhone models shows that less than half of them experienced any improvement to battery life from the recent iOS 15.4.1 update, despite Apple describing that as a major feature of the new version. More of the handsets saw a decrease instead.

On the devices affected, the drop in battery life is generally small, but it’s nevertheless likely to leave some iPhone users holding off on the update. Which is unfortunate, as iOS 15.4.1 also closes a security hole that Apple says has been actively exploited.

The good news is that Apple will bring in-display Face ID to the iPhone, finally eliminating the distinctive “notch” at the top of the touchscreen. The bad news is that it’s reportedly not happening as soon as possible.

This means we’re still years away from an iPhone with a truly edge-to-edge display.

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Smart home and office security hardware is advancing quickly. The Ola Smart Security Camera comes packed with features that make it easier to keep your home or office safe. And right now, you can get one Ola for $189.99 (regularly $200) or three for $399.99 (regularly $499.99).

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: So, what’ll it be first? Good news or bad news about iPhone 14? We’re talking about Touch ID, a possible Apple hardware subscription service and an even bigger camera bump on the Pro model. Hoo boy!

Also on The CultCast:

• A peek inside Apple’s new Studio Display proves surprising.
• Would a 15-inch MacBook Air by any other name smell as sweet?
• The EU might wreck iMessage.
• We’re giving away five leather crossbody iPhone cases from Noémie.
• What “The Slap” heard ’round the world says about Apple events.

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 episode is brought to you by CultCloth. Forget about that overpriced Apple Polishing Cloth. This is the cleaning cloth your Apple devices deserve.

Being able to work remotely just as if you were in the office is essential to employment for many people today. Thankfully, there are some awesome tools out there that allow you to access your office desktop anywhere.

For example, the top-rated DeskRoll Remote Desktop Pro, which makes working from anywhere simpler than ever before. Even better, we found a two-year subscription to the service on sale for just $99. That’s an 83% discount off the regular price of $599.

WeCrashed, the Apple TV+ drama about real-life startup WeWork, goes big, goes crazy and gets bitter this week.

As WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann starts trying to expand his co-working company, he decides he’s got to tear down the competition, too. Meanwhile, his wife Rebekah is having her own crisis of confidence — and it may end with her having burned every last bridge she has.

Though cheaply entertaining a few times an episode, this show suffers from an insurmountable problem: It never picked an identity. It has to believe enough in Neumann’s prowess as an entrepreneur to find his tactics interesting, while also tacitly admitting he was wrong and crazy and a huckster.

But you can’t sort of admit your hero is a bad guy, not when you keep charting his rise to success without giving you any kind of window into who he was.

Insatiable curiosity has gotten the world pretty far, and a love for technology takes us even further. A love for both might get you to try this limited-time Tech Mystery Box.

Stuffed with three gaming-themed tech items valued at $70, this mystery box is on sale for just $59.99.

Many companies just can’t resist April Fools’ Day jokes. Some people find these exasperating, but others enjoy the lighthearted humor. This year, we got a ridiculous new Apple TV accessory, what’s perhaps the most tasteless way to wear an AirTag, and more.

Read on for our favorite gags to celebrate this unusual holiday.

Just added to Apple’s refurbished offerings are the MacBook Pro models that in launched fall of 2021 with the blazing fast M1 Max and M1 Pro processors. These refubs offer welcome cost savings — especially on such recent notebooks — but they can not be reconfigured. Buyers can only choose from the configurations Apple has in stock.

But again, savings are considerable: a refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Max is up to $350 off.

Ptolemy starts tying up loose ends in this week’s episode of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, the Apple TV+ series based on the book of the same name by Walter Mosley.

We see reconciliation and revelations for almost everyone this week, in a finely acted and carefully directed hour of television. Ptolemy’s memories are fading, but before they do, he remembers his days as a boy. And he realizes he wants his nephews to feel protected the way he used to.

Media outlets are reporting that Wyze knew for three years about a security flaw that rendered its security cameras vulnerable to hackers. But in all that time, it did not tell its customers about the problem.

News of the flaw broke on Tuesday. Wyze, long know for its inexpensive but useful security cameras, has since responded to the controversy, as noted below.

Pachinko, the epic, time-hopping Apple TV+ series about a Korean family’s struggles, hits its stride in a truly unbelievable fourth episode.

The show started strong enough, but it reaches pantheon level in this incredible installment, which sees Solomon renouncing his capitalist training, Sunja saying goodbye in the past and hello in the future, and a climactic singalong uniting people, eras and cultures.

This is the kind of thing you’re lucky to get out of serialized TV.

If you’re looking for a clean way to charge your beloved Apple Watch, or somewhere to place your iPhone so that it’s easy to see while you’re working, check out these elegant, super-sturdy stands from Laut.

They’re made from robust, anodized aluminum and designed to look good anywhere. They’re also available in a range of color options to match your Apple devices.

Who doesn’t like to have a little fun on a Friday, especially when it’s also April Fools’ Day? Not that today’s featured setup is a joke or fake in any way. It’s real. It’s serious. Not as serious as a heart attack, maybe. But it’s a working setup that likes to have a good time, let’s say.

The seriousness stems mainly from a late-model MacBook Pro and a killer ultra-wide LG display. The good time comes from the super-cool Lego Technic racing cars on the wall — two for now, with a third to come. Each one of these things has thousands of pieces.

It would appear that large sections of the developer community are firmly behind Epic Games in its battle for a fairer, more open App Store. But not Roblox, which believes Apple’s strict controls enhance safety and security.

The online game platform, which calls itself a metaverse company and boasts almost 55 million daily active users, said in a legal filing this week that the App Store review process adds “greater legitimacy in the eyes of users.”

The plan is set on this week’s episode of Apple TV+’s dark comedy thriller Severance. But will our heroes make it out of Lumon Industries? Will anyone believe Mark, Helly and Irving when they wake up from their regular lives and emerge their work selves?

This week’s magnificently tense episode, directed by series executive producer Ben Stiller, is a real nail-biter. It’s wonderfully edited and excellently performed.

Severance has abandoned its early crux — the depressing lives of office drones who literally have no souls because they’ve been surgically stripped of them — for a more fast-paced approach to the show’s thriller aspects.

It’s no longer a show about the drudgery of both lives lived by lost people. It’s about the race to get back some measure of its characters’ personhood.