An M1 MacBook Air and a ThinkPad Nano trade time with an HP 4K monitor. Photo: [email protected]
If you’re going to hunker down in a corner of a room and work until you’ve earned an MBA, you might as well do it on an M1 MacBook Air and have a nice view of passing trains. Except both of those things might help you procrastinate.
Oddmar+ is one of a pair of classic App Store games joining the extensive collection on Apple Arcade Photo: Senri & Mobge
Oddmar won the Apple Design Award in 2018, and the Viking-themed platformer is now available on Apple Arcade. Friday’s other addition is Dandara: Trials of Fear, also a platformer.
Both games have been in the App Store for years, but have now joined hundreds of other titles in Apple’s gaming subscription service.
Jace (played by Isaiah Hill) flies high as his team faces challenges. Photo: Apple TV+
This week’s Swagger finds Jace, Ike, Jenna and Crystal at crossroads. The Apple TV+ basketball drama is all business this episode, showing us what the raised profile of their activism has done for the kids on Swagger, good and ill.
Jenna feels like coach Ike is letting her son down — and takes some drastic measures to try and take him off the pedestal on which Jace has placed him. But at what cost?
A smart and simple fix. Photo: Unnecessary Inventions
Don’t you just hate it when you show someone a photo on your iPhone and they rudely assume it’s okay to start flicking through your gallery? This bulky but brilliant iPhone case was designed to prevent that from happening.
The 3D-printed accessory features a detachable screen cover that blocks touch input, so you don’t have to worry about other people accidentally stumbling across your nudes — and then having to work through that trauma.
Lululook’s iPad stand does an amazing job of turning an iPad into a desktop. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market, but it can be more. Add a stand and you have a pretty good desktop. And you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option for that than the Lululook Urban Magnetic iPad Pro Stand.
Read on to see why I freaking love this accessory.
The move would "distort Arm's incentives," the FTC said. Image: Arm/Nvidia/Cult of Mac
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Nvidia from acquiring Arm. It believes the move would “distort Arm’s incentives in chip markets” and allow the combined firm to “unfairly undermine Nvidia’s rivals.”
Nvidia is already one of the largest chip companies in the world, while Arm’s technology is licensed to some of the biggest and most powerful brands, including Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm.
This Mac app saved my digital marketing startup from failure. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
By Adam Weinstein
I’m not a digitally savvy person, which is why people I’ve known and loved looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wanted to start a digital marketing agency. But truthfully, I didn’t think I would ever need to get into the weeds in terms of the technical stuff. That mindset almost killed my chances from the get-go, but luckily I found MacPilot — a $40 app that unlocks the power of your Mac — instead.
Sometimes parties are no fun at all. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s true comedy The Shrink Next Door heads into its endgame this week. Manipulative psychiatrist Ike has all but moved into his patient Marty’s house in the Hamptons. And the bad doctor has started professionally throwing parties.
However, the longer the party goes on, the less fun it feels. The same is true of this show, which increasingly feels like it should have been a two-hour movie — if it needed to exist at all.
His Royal Highness Prince William will be the next guest on Time to Walk for Apple Fitness+. It will be a “special holiday episode” that closes out the series on December 6, Apple said on Friday. A free version will also be available.
During the episode, Prince William reflects on “a lighthearted moment when he was drawn out of his comfort zone, the value of listening as a way to empower others, and an experience that led him to prioritize mental health.”
Starting with a special EP from Coldplay. Image: Apple
Apple Music subscribers will receive “exclusive gifts” as part of a new holiday promotion. The gifts include a special EP from Coldplay — exclusive to Apple Music — as well as playlists and other “goodies” from A-list artists.
Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Elton John, and DJ Khaled are a few of the names who are onboard. Gifts will be rolled out every day over the next week, and you must have a valid Apple Music subscription to receive them.
The two most used emoji are way ahead by a wide margin. Graphic: Unicode Consortium
People like to laugh. And that leads to Tears of Joy accounting for over 5% of all emoji use in 2021. We also love to love. That put the heart in second place.
The Unicode Consortium compiled a list of all the most popular emoji for the year. And also shared data on the different types of emoji that get used the most.
This tool helped me clean up my mess of a business.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
By Mike Goodman
I’m confident in my ability to sell delicious snacks. Before the pandemic, I was an unhappy line cook working at a chain restaurant in a big city. When things closed down, I was honestly relieved to take a break from the sweaty kitchen and monotony. And, after taking some time to reflect on the world and what was going down, I started to get my energy back and decided to revisit my passion.
As it turns out, exploring your passion comes with some chaos. But as they say, there’s an app for that — and the one that made a world of difference for me, believe it or not, is a $40 scanning app for iPhone and iPad.
Get the AluBase wireless charger and more at a big discount. Photo: Just Mobile
Looking for big discounts on great accessories for the holidays? Just Mobile has slashed up to 60% off all its essentials for iPhone and Apple Watch for a limited time.
You can save on cases, screen protectors, charging pads, and portable power banks for a limited time only.
There’s no Calculator app in the iPad, but that doesn’t mean there’s no calculator. Photo: Cult of Mac
There is a full-featured calculator hidden in your iPad, even though Apple never ported the iPhone Calculator app to its tablets. Actually, there are two of them.
Pandora become one of the first third-party iPhone apps. Photo: Pandora
Scott Forstall, a former senior vice president at Apple, allegedly encouraged Pandora to jailbreak the original iPhone so it could get a head start on building a native music streaming app, according to a new report.
Forstall met with Pandora co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren during iPhone’s early days — before it had an official App Store — and encouraged the company to use “back door toolkits” while “we get our act together at Apple.”
Nomad's new 30W GaN charger and Sport Cables offer iPhone fast-charging support. Photo: Nomad
If you’re tired of the meh charging speeds you’re currently getting for your iPhone and other gadgets, you might consider Nomad’s pair of new products. The company rolled out a new USB-C PD wall adapter with iPhone fast-charging support and a collection of braided Sport Cables on Wednesday.
This AI software will make your writing sound professional (and it's on sale for 94% off). Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
By Carlee Carbone
It’s inevitable for writers, especially copywriters, to find themselves in a rut due to constant repetition. Luckily, there are tricks to avoid staleness and make your writing more interesting — especially if you have to write about the same subject more than once.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that claimed Apple has a monopoly over app distribution on iOS.
The makers of Coronavirus Reporter sued Cupertino for rejecting their title from the App Store. But U.S. District Judge Edward Chen published a 34-page ruling that says the developers’ arguments “failed to pass muster.”
iPhone 13 is just too difficult to obtain. Photo: Apple
Apple is warning component suppliers that demand for iPhone 13 has weakened, according to a new report that cites people familiar with the matter.
Cupertino’s newest smartphone lineup got off to an incredibly strong start when it landed. But thanks to chip shortages that have made some models difficult to obtain, consumers appear to be avoiding them altogether as the holidays near.
This year's Trend of the Year is "Connection." Photo: Apple
Carrot Weather, LumaFusion, and Apple Arcade hit Fantasian are some of the titles recognized in the 2021 App Store Awards, announced on Thursday.
Apple also identified “Connection” as the Trend of the Year, thanks to games like Among Us! and apps like Bumble, which “brought people together in meaningful ways — while meeting social, personal, and professional needs.”
You know you want an AirTag wallet. Now the Snapback Slim comes in three colors. Photo: Nick Augeri
If you want to keep tabs on your credit cards and cash with one of Apple’s new wireless trackers, consider the Snapback Slim Air — a slender leather wallet with a pocket on the side for an AirTag.
The Snapback Slim Air is a trendy slim wallet, a style that’s currently all the rage. It comes in three colors and is designed to slide into your front pocket like a money clip. It holds up to six cards, a few folded bills and an AirTag. And we have an exclusive discount code for Cult of Mac readers.
New features in Reddit should drive engagement across the site, the company said. Photo: Reddit
Social media site Reddit unveiled several new features Wednesday that let users immediately see how others are reacting to content in various ways. The changes should give users a better idea of what’s most popular — or unpopular — on the site. The company said they should increase engagement across Reddit.
You can connect your MacBook (and basically anything else) to this portable second screen. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
An extra screen on your workstation can do loads to boost your productivity and entertainment. The Desklab Portable Touchscreen Monitor (4K) is a plug-and-play screen for your laptop. And now this portable 4K touchscreen monitor is on sale for just $231.99 (regularly $700) with coupon code CMSAVE20.
Disclaimer will star acclaimed actors Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ made a series order for an adaptation of Disclaimer, a psychological thriller that will star internationally acclaimed actors Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline.
It’s being helmed by Alfonso Cuarón, who wrote and will direct all the episodes in the series.
Nothing's new "Black Edition" Ear 1 buds retain the cool transparent design. Photo: Nothing
Nothing released its first Ear 1 earbuds in late summer 2021 with a partially transparent design, a cool transparent case, good sound quality, active noise cancellation (ANC) and wireless charging. Now the company’s rolling out the new Ear 1 “Black Edition,” which retains the interesting design and tech elements in a cool new look.
And Nothing, created by OnePlus founder Carl Pei, added the product is now carbon neutral and you can buy the product — still $99 — with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. So there’s that.