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Popular Humble games subscription drops support for Mac

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Humble drops Mac
You have until January 31 to save your games.
Photo: Humble

Humble, the subscription service that offers a bunch of popular games for an affordable monthly fee, is dropping support for Mac and Linux.

Starting February 1, the company will roll out a new business model for Humble Choice, which will require a brand-new app that’s only available on Windows. You have until January 31 to download games you already own.

Make the games only you can dream up with this game development deal

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Build your own games with GameGuru now $50.
With GameGuru, you can quickly start building your own games.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Game design is a huge and exciting industry, but it’s also hard to learn when you’re first getting started. Even making simple games and learning what’s fun and what isn’t is locked at the bottom of a steep learning curve.

Luckily for would-be game devs, The Complete GameGuru Unlimited Bundle helps you ride that learning curve. With it, you get an easy-to-use game design program and a ton of assets you can use to build your own games. And right now it’s on sale for just $49.99 (regularly $384).

‘iPhone SE 3’ renders imagine a gorgeous design upgrade we won’t get

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iPhone SE 3 render
It's pretty, but it's unlikely.
Render: Ten Tech Review

New renders of an “iPhone SE 3” show off a gorgeous design upgrade with an edge-to-edge display and no Home button. The device looks a lot like iPhone XR, but with the same dimensions as the current iPhone SE.

These images are said to be based on leaked CAD drawings, but before you get too excited, they’re probably not accurate. At least not for iPhone SE 3.

Apple blocks security updates for those who won’t install iOS 15

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iOS security update
Apple won't offer security updates on iOS 14 anymore.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is more aggressively encouraging users to update to iOS 15 by stopping security updates for those who don’t.

Cupertino previously made security improvements available as a separate release — and vowed to keep delivering them for those who stick with iOS 14 “until you’re ready to upgrade.” Just a few months later, that’s changed.

Writers Guild Award nominations go to 5 Apple TV+ shows

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Jon Stewart is back in the anchor's chair on Apple TV+ show
The Problem With Jon Stewart is just one of the Apple TV+ series up for a 2022 WGA Award.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ earned six nominations across five series in the 2022 Writers Guild of America Awards. These honor outstanding writing in TV series.

The film nominations will be announced later in January, and Apple might pick up some additional nominations then.

AirPods 3 drop back to their lowest price ever

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AirPods 3 drop back to their lowest price ever
AirPods 3 are brilliant… and on sale!
Photo: Apple

Amazon has an answer for what to do with that gift card you received over the holidays. The recently released AirPods 3 are once again selling for their lowest price ever: $139.99.

And there are significant deals on AirPods Pro and AirPods 2 as well.

This battery pack juices MacBook at top speed, offers MagSafe for iPhone

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The MagSafe-compatible Chargeasap Flash Pro Plus power bank can charge up to six Apple devices at once.
The MagSafe-compatible Chargeasap Flash Pro Plus power bank can charge up to six Apple devices at once.
Photo: Chargeasap

The Chargeasap Flash Pro Plus is for those who want a single battery that can replenish all their gear. All at once. It holds 25,000mAh and can charge a MacBook at up to 100W though USB-C, and has three other ports. But that’s just the start, as there’s a built-in MagSafe iPhone charger and an Apple Watch charger, too.

The power pack went through a round of crowdfunding but has moved past that stage. It is available to order now.

Another modded USB-C iPhone is going on sale, and this one’s waterproof

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This one's reinforced and waterproof, its maker said.
This one's reinforced and waterproof, its maker said.
Photo: Gernot Jöbstl

First a robotics engineering student made a splash late last year by modding an iPhone X with a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port — and sold the device for big money. Now someone else is touting a similar modification, but this time the handset boasts a reinforced port that includes waterproofing. And yes, the tinkerer’s going to sell it soon — probably for more money than most people make in a year.

iPhone 14 won’t include in-screen Touch ID

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iPhone 14 won‘t include in-screen Touch ID
Bad news: looks like iPhone 14 won’t be Apple’s first with an in-display Touch ID scanner.
Concept: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple won’t build the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system into the 2022 iPhone, according to a very reliable tipster. That’s bad news for those who aren’t fans of Face ID, or who just want a second option.

There haven’t been any specific reports that the iPhone 14 will include Touch ID, but Apple is supposedly working on an in-screen version.

Powerful new SVS speakers and amp add AirPlay 2 support

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The new SVS Prime Wireless Pro speakers with AirPlay 2 support will come in black or white.
The new SVS Prime Wireless Pro speakers with AirPlay 2 support will come in black or white.
Photo: SVS

Audio company SVS rolled out new wares at CES 2022 — Prime Wireless Pro Speakers and an accompanying SoundBase multi-room amplifier. Both have added support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 streaming over previous Prime Wireless models’ capabilities, among other new features.

PUBG creator sues Apple and Google for ignoring clones

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PUBG Mobile
They want Garena Online's Free Fire to be pulled.
Photo: PUBG

The developer of battle royale hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, more commonly known as PUBG, is suing Apple and Google for refusing to remove an alleged clone from the App Store and Google Play.

Krafton Inc of South Korea and PUBG Santa Monica have filed a complaint that focuses on Free Fire, a battle royale game developed by Garena Online. They want the game pulled from Android and iOS, plus monetary damages.

Fortnite returns to iPhone and iPad, thanks to Nvidia

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Fortnite iOS 14
Who needs the App Store?
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Fortnite is returning to iPhone and iPad — but you won’t find it in the App Store. Starting next week, the hit battle royale game will be available to stream through Nvidia’s GeForce now, complete with brand-new touch controls.

Players will initially have to sign up to join the closed beta, which requires an active GeForce Now membership, designed to help Nvidia test server capacity and performance. But Fortnite eventually will roll out to all GeForce Now subscribers.

The move is somewhat of a kick in the teeth for Apple, which has been determined to block Fortnite on its own platforms since it booted Epic Games, the game’s creator, from the App Store for breaking the rules.

Experts say Apple is missing out on the cloud gaming boom

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Nvidia-GeForce-Now-MacBook-Pro
Cloud gaming is taking off in a big way, and Apple isn't part of it.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is missing out on another major revenue stream by ignoring cloud gaming services, according to market experts.

While rivals like Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft are reaping the rewards of a gaming industry boom that’s only expected to get bigger, Apple is leaving money on the table. But there is a simple way it could enjoy a piece of the pie.

Protect your eyes from harmful blue light with this Ocushield bundle

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Protect your eyes with these medically-approved anti-blue light glasses.
Block harmful blue light with these medically approved glasses and an iPhone screen protector.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Staring at screens all day can cause headaches, eye irritation and even mess with your body’s sleep cycle. The secret to protecting your eyes and freeing yourself from screen fatigue is anti-blue-light glasses.

You can grab this highly rated Ocushield Anti Blue Light Screen Protector & Glasses Bundle on sale for $79.99 (regular price $89) and eliminate eye strain in the new year.

Apple loses another key chip designer as Microsoft swoops in

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Groups oppose Apple photo scanning
Why is Apple struggling to hold onto its chip-makers?
Photo: Benjamin Balázs

Another key chip designer has left Apple for Microsoft. Mike Filippo, who joined Cupertino in 2019 after a decade with Arm, is the second processor engineer Apple has lost in as many weeks after Jeff Wilcox left to join Intel.

Filippo will reportedly work on server chips for Microsoft’s Azure group, which is said to be pushing forward with its own silicon for cloud computing services.

Firefox for Mac stops loading websites. Here’s how to fix it.

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Firefox fix for Mac
Firefox is broke. But you can fix it.
Image: Firefox/Cult of Mac

A growing number of Firefox users on Mac (and Windows) are reporting that they are unable to load any websites. The browser hangs indefinitely and shows nothing at all, thanks to what seems like a background server error.

The good news is that there is a relatively simple fix that you can implement yourself until Firefox eliminates the problem for good. We’ll show you how.

How to get the Dropbox beta with full Apple silicon support

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Dropbox for Apple silicon
It's now available to all.
Image: Dropbox/Cult of Mac

The next-generation version of the Dropbox app for macOS, which finally adds native support for Apple silicon chips, is now available to all in beta.

It comes less than a week after Dropbox began testing Apple M1 support with a small number of users. You can try it out for yourself by enabling “early releases” in your account preferences. We’ll show you how.

Macs just keep flying off store shelves

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2021 iMac 24-inch
People are buying way more Macs than they used to.
Photo: Apple

Worldwide Mac shipments grew 22% in 2021. That’s the highest annual growth rate of any computer maker, according to a market-analysis firm.

It continues a year-over-year strong growth trend that started in 2020 and resulted in a 55% increase in shipments over two years.

Will Keychron’s new Q2 finally tempt you to get a mechanical keyboard?

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The new Keychron Q2 is a tad smaller than the Q1, but just as customizable.
The new Keychron Q2 is a tad smaller than the Q1, but just as customizable.
Photo: Keychron

Keychron, already known for affordable mechanical keyboards that work easily with both Mac and Windows, turned some heads when it came out with the high-quality, heavily customizable Q1 mechanical keyboard a few months back. Now, in case that didn’t get you to try going mechanical, the Hong Kong-based company is out with the sleek new Keychron Q2.

Crack all the code with this dirt-cheap programming boot camp

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This rigorous coding bundle will teach you Python, Javascript, and more.
Learn the most popular coding languages in the world for the insanely low price of just $35.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Being able to code is incredibly useful, but it’s not so easy to learn. The 2022 Complete Power Coder Bootcamp Bundle comes with eight courses on some of the most popular coding languages in the world. And, for a limited time, it’s on sale for $34.99 (regularly $1,600).

Put terabytes of high-speed storage on your desk with OWC’s NVMe U.2 SSD array [Review]

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OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual review
You can start the OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual with a fairly modest amount of storage than grow it to 64TB.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual can handle up to eight U.2 SSDs. And it can be pre-configured with up to 64TB. That’s a lot of storage capacity. Or put in your own SSDs. And the external drive enclosure uses Thunderbolt for high-speed connections to your Mac. Plus there’s RAID support.

I put the drive holder through testing. Here’s what I found.

Apple TV+ scores impressive 12 nominations for Screen Actors Guild Awards

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Apple TV+ scores impressive 12 nominations for Screen Actors Guild Awards
CODA, Ted Lasso and The Morning Show all scored nominations for the 2022 SG Awards.
Photo: Apple TV+/Cult of Mac

Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and CODA racked up multiple nominations in the 2002 Screen Actors Guild Awards, helping to further polish the reputation of the Apple TV+. The Tragedy of MacBeth wasn’t overlooked by the SAG wards, either.

Apple’s streaming service was a standout, with Ted Lasso tied for the most nominations for any series.

Pozio Cradle keeps your phone from listening to you while you charge it

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The Pozio Cradle is a wireless charger that jams your smartphone's ability to hear you until you tell it to stop.
The Pozio Cradle is a wireless charger that jams your smartphone's ability to hear you until you tell it to stop.
Photo: Pozio

A device shown at CES 2022 that made some publications’ “weirdest stuff from the show” lists is the Pozio Cradle. It’s a “listening blocker” that wirelessly charges smartphones. It ensures your gadget and its voice assistant can’t hear or record what you say, according to the company.

Apple smashes Messages, CarPlay and HomeKit bugs with iOS 15.2.1

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iOS 15.2.1 update squashes some bugs in Messages and CarPlay.
iOS 15.2.1 squashes some bugs in Messages and CarPlay.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

iPhone users got small “bug fix” update on Wednesday. iOS 15.2.1 takes care of problems with Messages and CarPlay. And a HomeKit bug that made the news recently. In addition, iPadOS 15.2.1 is also out to take care of the same Messages bug.

Both updates are available for all, and are ready to be installed immediately.

iPhone 14 Pro could pack strange ‘hole + pill’ screen cutout to replace notch

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iPhone 14 Pro mockup with hole + pill cutout
Please don't, Apple.
Concept: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

iPhone 14 Pro will feature a strange “hole + pill design” for its front-facing camera and Face ID sensors rather than a notch, according to an analyst.

It was previously believed that Apple would use a hole punch cutout, like a lot of rival smartphone makers. Then that changed to a pill-shaped camera cutout. Now, one analyst, who has proven reliable in the past, says we should expect both.