Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: If you thought the M1 Max MacBook Pros were powerhouses, wait till you hear about the iMac Pro that might be coming down the pike. Apple reportedly wants to double up the world-beating chip to amp up the performance even more. Prepare to be amazed!

Also on The CultCast:

• Black Friday deals on Apple gear and The Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition coffee table book.
• AirPods are not for late-night snacking!
• And new products we love in “Under Review.”

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.

Apple TV+’s true comedy The Shrink Next Door jumps forward to 1990 this week as Ike and Marty take the next step toward their collective doom: They go in on a housing project together. Ike is ready to become one of the beautiful people, something Marty always shied away from despite his massive inherited wealth, and they’re going to do battle over something Marty loves.

The show, which stars Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell, laid the groundwork for a one-sided battle of wills — and now it pushes everything too far. It will be difficult to get excited for another minute of this show after the episode’s conclusion.

You can give yourself the best of the internet for work and play with this unique bundle. The VPN Unlimited Lifetime + PlayStation Plus 1-Year Subscription Bundle gives you a year of online gaming and a lifetime of safe internet for just $49.99 (regularly $258) — no coupon needed.

This bundle gives you two huge deals wrapped in one surprisingly low Black Friday price.

Apple’s much-anticipated augmented reality headset could finally drop late next year, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The device is expected to pack a surprisingly powerful chip that would put it on par with an M1 Mac in processing performance. A second low-power processor will reportedly handle the headset’s many built-in sensors.

This software activation key sale post is presented by Keysbuff.

Cult of Mac readers get great deals from software activation keys provider Keysbuff. You can save up to 70% off full prices on Windows 10 and many other Microsoft software titles in the Keysbuff Black Friday sale that goes through December 1. Just use promo code COM at Keysbuff.com to get an extra 30% off already-low prices on keys for Windows 10 Pro Global, Microsoft Office 2021 Pro and others in the list below. You can purchase many products with lifetime licenses.

A three-month free trial of Apple News+ is now available to those who sign up through Cyber Monday. The promotion is much more generous than the one-month trial typically offered by Apple, but it’s only available to new users.

Once the trial has ended, subscriptions auto-renew at $9.99 per month.

Apple TV+’s exciting new South Korean sci-fi series Dr. Brain dives into the past this week to discover mistakes, regrets and murder.

Brain-syncing scientist Sewon Koh starts to understand that, though he’s at the center of a conspiracy, his own guilt is much more relevant to the crimes in question than he initially considered. It is, after all, not illegal to be a bad husband. But when your negligence leads to kidnapping, murder and fraud, it’s too late to say sorry.

If you’re looking for a way to travel to more distant places for less money — and enjoy special, authentic experiences in those places — then The World Traveler Bundle featuring Rosetta Stone Lifetime Subscription is the perfect bundle for you.

This travel-oriented bundle gives you access to language app Rosetta Stone, Matt’s Flights and the Complete 2021 Travel Hacker Bundle, so you can chat up the locals, find the best flight deals and enjoy incredible experiences abroad. Best of all, this bundle is available for an extra 20% off for Black Friday using promo code TRAVEL20.

Apple TV+ teen basketball drama Swagger faces its first COVID-19-era game — and its second brush with police brutality — in a tense and shocking episode this week. Crystal finally confesses, while team Swagger faces a couple of real and metaphorical foes. A key figure in this turmoil is coach Warrick Swagger, whose influence on the team continues to shape the unfolding drama.

This week’s episode of the stellar new show, which was created by NBA star Kevin Durant and director Reggie Rock Bythewood, is the crowning achievement of the season. It must be seen.

If you’re the kind of person who gets pleasure out of destroying other people’s snowmen, you’ll love Apple’s new “Shot on iPhone” ad for the holiday season.

“Saving Simon” tells the story of a young girl who saves a beloved snowman from a mass stomping, keeps it alive all year long by shutting it inside a freezer, then helplessly watches on as it gets brutally obliterated in a hit and run.

Bacioiu Constantin Ciprian, known online as “Zapa,” was born in Buzau, Romania, in 1991, not long after a revolution toppled communist rule there. He loved technology as a kid, but it was expensive and hard to get. And soon enough he realized how much he loved Apple products — especially those around in his youth.

Now a longtime resident of Bucharest, he designs and develops games to run on vintage equipment. And get a load of that retro setup!

This week on Dickinson, the girls are off to the lunatic asylum and Henry needs to find his inner housewife to help his recruits pass an inspection.

This week’s episode of the Apple TV+ feminist alt-history fable is one of the strongest yet — and it makes the looming finale all the more bittersweet. Just when the creative team seems to be hitting its stride and enjoying themselves, the end must come.

Caviar is back with another crazy (and wildly expensive) custom iPhone. Its latest model, which is dubbed the Tesla Electro, contains a real piece from a Tesla car and is available in iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max versions.

You can get yours with up to 1TB of storage, but be warned that prices can reach an eye-watering $8,380.

Some M1 MacBook Air models pack exactly the same chipset as the 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, but they don’t offer the same level of performance. Why? Because the MacBook Pro has a cooling fan and the MacBook Air doesn’t.

But with a quick and easy thermal mod, you can give the more affordable MacBook Air a rather significant speed boost that makes it very nearly as fast as its sibling. Check out the video below that explains it all.

This post on leather iPhone 13 cases is brought to you by Journey.

With the holidays looming, great gift ideas are in high demand. Luckily, we have one. You probably have someone in your life who could use a premium leather iPhone 13 case that’s also MagSafe-compatible. Or maybe you could use one yourself. Either way, look no further than Journey’s iPhone Leather Case, offered at 30% off for Black Friday with the code BLACK30.

For many lines of work, Adobe Creative Suite is the industry standard software. And if you plan to make your mark in a creative industry, you will likely be expected to have some degree of mastery of programs like Adobe’s Photoshop, After Effects and Illustrator, among others.

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An accidental collaboration with Apple saved NBC sitcom The Office from cancellation during its second season.

A fifth-generation iPod took a starring role in an episode of the comedy series. Then, the unlikely cameo spurred sales of reruns of the show on iTunes. And the rest is history.

The only thing I don’t like about Belkin’s 3-in-1 MagSafe wireless charger is its name. And, until now, its availability and price.

Those last two problems just disappeared, however briefly, as the hard-to-find 15-watt MagSafe charger is back in stock on Belkin’s website — and with a sweet 25% Black Friday discount to boot! Just be sure to use the promo code when you check out.

Take a peek at what’s inside your iPhone 13 without actually pulling it apart. These beautifully detailed wallpapers offer a glimpse at all the components under its hood — and they come in a bunch of gorgeous color options.

Download them now for free.

Getting a little bored of your iPhone XR’s aging form factor? Make it look like an iPhone 13 and add MagSafe support with this $39.50 mod kit.

The kit includes a complete chassis and tools, so all you have to do is transfer the screen and internal components from your existing iPhone. The video below walks you through the process — and shows the impressive final result.

Suppose the keyboard of your MacBook rose up slightly and pivoted toward you when you opened the lid. That’s the idea described by a patent Apple was just awarded.

The concept has ergonomic benefits but also adds moving parts.

Apple says it will send threat alerts to customers who potentially targeted by the NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus spyware.

Cupertino on Tuesday announced that it is suing NSO Group over the tools the Israeli company develops and sells to governments to spy on iPhone owners. Apple’s alerts to affected iPhone users are another effort to prevent software like Pegasus from going unnoticed.

Take a look around your desk right now. Or your nightstand. Or in your work bag. Doe you see a mess of wires? If so, this is your sign to treat yourself to a clear space — and a clear mind — with the stylish MagStack Foldable 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with Floating Stand.

It looks a lot like Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger, only it does more and costs less. And now you can grab one (or more!) in an early Black Friday deal for just $44.99 each. That’s a 35% discount off the regular price of $69.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Apple’s primary chip production partner, will start manufacturing custom 5G modem chips for iPhone in 2023, according to a new report, which cites four different sources familiar with the plan.

TSMC reportedly will build the chips using a 4-nanometer manufacturing process. The proprietary modems would allow Apple to reduce its reliability on rival chipmaker Qualcomm.

Apple noted on its website that a planned iOS 15 and watchOS 8 feature letting users add a driver’s license or state ID to an iPhone and Apple Watch in participating U.S. states is delayed until early 2022. Previously, the Cupertino tech giant pegged late 2021 for the launch.