Cult of Mac

Not long ago I sold, gave away or trashed most of my possessions and moved across the U.S. Soon after arrival, I found my computer unresponsive. The ol’ HP Pavilion laptop stopped powering on reliably. So I borrowed a perfectly good Dell laptop from my brother and kept on writing, mainly for Cult of Mac. I just happened to be “between Macs” at the time. But now I have a brand new 14-inch M1 Pro MacBook.

Thanks to the swanky new Apple laptop plus a few other bits and pieces I quickly acquired, as of today I no longer wallow in a PC laptop pigsty (yeah, the photo above is genuine, though I swear it wasn’t always quite that messy). I’ve got a proper Mac computer setup for the first time in a while.

Apple launched a new service aimed at small businesses Wednesday. Now in beta, Apple Business Essentials bundles device management, Apple support and iCloud storage into flexible subscription plans for companies with up to 500 employees.

Cupertino also unveiled an app for the service that enables employees to install apps for work and request support.

Apple’s entrance into comprehensive small business tech services by subscription could spell trouble for companies already in the space, such as Jamf and Hexnode.

The Mophie Snap+ Powerstation Stand offers 10,000 mAh — enough to come close to recharging an iPhone 13 twice. It uses MagSafe so handset and charger cling together. And it has a kickstand, making it useful even when your handset is fully charged. If all that wasn’t enough, a tripod socket lets you make this power bank part of your video setup.

I tested all the features of the external battery to be sure there’re ready for real-world use. Here’s how this accessory stood up.

While the 2021 MacBook Pro brings back some classic ports, those who want USB-A need to turn to an adapter like the Satechi Pro Hub Mini. The accessory clips to the side of the notebook and adds a pair of USB-A ports and Ethernet.

Preorders began Wednesday with a 25% discount until the launch.

The new MacBook Pro lineup is an exceptional upgrade over its predecessors, with new M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets that offer more mobile computing power than ever before. And big companies are scrambling to reap the benefits.

The likes of Reddit, Twitter and others are rolling out 2021 MacBook Pro units to employees so that they can take advantage of the massive performance gains. “Engineering hours are much more expensive than laptops,” one said.

Apple people are the hardest — and the easiest — to shop for. On one hand, you know they’d love a new Apple device or accessory. On the other, there are a lot of great Apple accessories to choose from.

To help you decide what to get the Apple fanatic in your life (even if it’s you), we gathered up some of the best deals you’re going to see anywhere during our Pre-Black Friday Sale. And if you use code SAVE15NOV, you can get anything below for an extra 15% off.

Netflix Games is now available on iPhone and iPad, just over one week after making its debut on Android. Users can access all titles through the main Netflix app, but — as expected — they must be downloaded individually.

The service offers five games to begin with, including the two Stranger Things titles that were already available on iOS, and is available at no extra cost to those who already have a Netflix subscription.

Apple’s new iOS 15.2 beta gives iPhone and iPad users the option to scan for nearby AirTags and Find My devices that may be tracking their movements.

The beta adds a new “Items That Can Track Me” button to the Find My app. Tapping it will display a list of “Unknown Items” — if there are any nearby. The app then provide users with instructions on how to disable anything that shows up.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to add third-party payment options to the App Store by December 9, after denying the company’s motion for a stay in Fortnite developer Epic Games’ case against Cupertino.

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said the motion, which argued that Apple needed time to implement the changes, was based on “a selective reading of the Court’s findings” and “ignores everything” in favor of an injunction.

Our latest giveaway is from BluShark, maker of high-quality watch straps. Three lucky winners will each win a $100 BluShark gift card to buy Apple Watch bands.

BluShark bands comes in a variety of materials, including leather, canvas, silicone, knit weave and Cordura. If you win, you can keep the gift card all for yourself and/or buy something for a friend. Whatever you do, make sure you enter this giveaway for your shot at winning.

With so many people getting tired of Triple-A games, it’s worth looking back at the nostalgic history of gaming. The Mini Game Entertainment System with 620 Built-In Classic Games is styled like a Nintendo Entertainment System. It comes with 620 classic games, and you can get it for 15% off ahead of Black Friday if you use code SAVE15NOV.

It’s not just nostalgia that you’re buying, either. The console works like a dream and comes packed with games that made history because they’re genuinely fun. If you happen to have some great memories from your childhood playing them, it’s a bonus. If this is your first first experience with classic games, you’re in for a definite treat.

Apple is reportedly walking back a policy that might have put many small phone repair shops out of business. It promised to stop disabling Face ID on iPhone 13 units that have had their screen replaced by anyone other than Apple-authorized techs.

The change will come in the form of a software update.

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Starting with iOS 15.2, iPhones will be able to detect if an iPhone or iPad user gets or sends a text with sexually explicit photos. The goal is to protect children from sexual predators.

The feature is optional and uses on-device machine learning so that Apple does not have access to the images.

Apple TV+’s newest (true crime) comedy The Shrink Next Door is here to deliver laughter with a side of psychoanalysis. Georgia Pritchett, a writer for Veep and Succession, created this show about the trials and tribulations of a panic attack-stricken New Yorker and the psychiatrist (based on a real guy) who tries to help him out of his troubles.

With Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell leading the cast, the eight-episode series tracks the two Jewish men’s relationship as they weave in and out, sometimes overzealously, of each other’s lives. It’s a period piece set in the 1980s — and the show itself is a little bit of a head case.

Once you get an Apple Watch, you may be tempted to buy a charging dock for it. But folks on Reddit.com are happy to show off how they saved some money by constructing charging docks out of their beloved Lego building bricks.

All you need is the USB charging cable and puck that came with your Apple Watch and the imagination to make something that hides it while charging the wearable.

The Apple Holiday Gift Guide 2021 is out with suggestions for phones, computers, audio accessories and exercise gear for a variety of people on your shopping list.

As a bonus, Apple is offering downloadable templates to make personalized holiday cards.

Tim Cook revealed in an interview on Tuesday that he owns cryptocurrency and sees it as a “reasonable” way to diversify his portfolio. The Apple CEO also admitted that Cupertino is “looking at” ways cryptocurrency could one day work with Apple Pay, or be used to buy Apple products.

However, if it’s investment advice you’re after, you can look elsewhere.

Logitech’s new Pop collection hopes to make dark, drab desks a thing of the past. Both its Pop Keys keyboard, which features real mechanical keys, and the Pop Mouse sport quirky designs with bright and colorful finishes.

Prices start at $39.99, and they work great with Apple devices, including Mac and iPad. You can order yours this month.

Google Maps finally has a dark mode on iPhone, making it much more comfortable to use at night and in low light settings. Some users got the feature a little early — while it was in testing — and now it’s available to all.

We’ll show you how to enable it.

We’re finally at a point where you don’t have to pay out the nose to get a drone that actually works well. Now, you can carry a powerful quadcopter with an HD camera in your backpack like it’s a water bottle.

If you’re wondering what the world looks like from above, then it’s time to check out any one of these awesome drones. Bonus: They’re all on sale for an extra 15% off during our Pre-Black Friday Sale if you use code SAVE15NOV.

Apple brought back the MagSafe charger for its newest MacBook Pro models — much to the delight of long-time fans who have appreciated the proprietary charging port in the past. And although it might be faster now, Cupertino has spoiled one of the biggest things that made MagSafe charging so great.

2021 MacBook Pro adopters are taking to Reddit and other online forums to complain that MagSafe’s new magnets are too damn strong.

It’s your last chance to enjoy SwitchEasy’s latest flash sale, offering up to 40% off all its cases and accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch, and more through the Cult of Mac Store.

This discounts end at 11:59 p.m. today, so enjoy them while you can!

If you’ve been looking for a great gift for the person who has everything, take a (very close) look at this seriously awesome WiFi Digital Microscope. Not only is this the coolest thing they’ll receive this holiday season, but you can grab extra savings with this early Black Friday deal.

Just enter the code SAVE15NOV at checkout to take an extra 15% off. That drives the price down to just $47.56 for a limited time (regular price $69).

Apple TV+ is a small player in the streaming video service competition with only 4% of the U.S. market. Still, it’s beating out some rivals even if it’s well behind the front runners.

The service has reportedly been growing throughout 2021 … not a claim all its competitors can make.

Coincidentally, our last Setups post concerned itself with proper ergonomics, and today’s sticks with the theme. On Friday we wrote about a person making a comfortable and productive workstation out of little more than a laptop. This time, someone has gone “ergo everything” on an M1 MacBook Pro rig with a big external monitor and a nice set of peripherals, furniture and accessories.