Zagg brought its whole new range of protective screens and cases for new Apple devices to the Pepcom Holiday Spectacular virtual press briefing Thursday. The company rolled out screen protectors for Apple Watch Series 7, iPad mini (6th gen) and the iPhone 13 series, along with a range of cases for the latter.

New details have emerged about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition ahead of its official debut. One leak hints at big visual enhancements for all three games, including “brilliant new lighting and environmental upgrades” — and high-resolution textures.

For those who plan to play the trilogy on PC, the leak also offers an early look at the trilogy’s minimum and recommended system requirements.

We see a lot of impressive computer setups in slick home offices here at Cult of Mac Setups HQ, but few of them are nicer than one we just came across. As usual, we’ll share the gear list, below, as well as some of the tricks you can emulate to improve your own home workspace.

This week on The Morning Show, Maggie Brener’s book is about to come out. Alex is having a panic attack. Chip is having a crisis of confidence. Cory’s on the attack. And Bradley’s having the time of her life.

Apple TV+’s showbiz show juggles tones and sympathies — and drops several of the balls along the way. Things gets good, and then bad, and then good again. It’s time for The Morning Show writers to make some hard choices about which direction to head. Well … it was time weeks ago, but now will do just fine.

Users setting up brand-new Apple Watch Series 7 units today report a number of strange glitches with third-party apps. In addition to missing app icons, many see problems rendering complications, the tiny widgets that surface info from various apps on the watch face.

It seems the glitches may be related to the App Store. Apple has not yet publicly acknowledged the problem, and there is apparently nothing users can to do set things straight.

We all spend a lot of time typing these days, whether that’s on a phone, tablet or laptop. But there’s something special about taking notes by hand that merely tapping out text can’t capture. This SyncPen 2nd Generation Smart Pen with Notebook takes your doodles, scribbles and formulas and turns them into editable digital text that you can easily access later — it’s the best of both worlds.

Apple’s next event is right around the corner, and it’s one you won’t want to miss if you’re a fan of the Mac. The “Unleashed” keynote is expected to bring a number of new Apple machines — all powered by an even faster “M1X” chip.

Just like recent Apple keynotes, this one will be streamed online, so you’ll be able to watch it in its entirety as it all unfolds. We’ll show you how.

The second season of Apple TV+’s first crime series is drawing to a gripping close. This week Truth Be Told, podcaster Poppy Parnell’s cause grows in righteousness even as the noose tightens around her childhood friend Micah Keith.

The little show that could soldiers on, propelled by the searing charisma of one of the best casts on TV.

Parallels Desktop 17.1 is now available for Mac, bringing improved Windows 11 support for those looking to run Microsoft’s latest operating system on their Mac, whether it’s powered by an Intel or Apple Silicon chip.

The update introduces Virtual Trusted Platform Modules (vTPM) for all future and past Windows 11 virtual machines — complying with Windows 11’s system requirements that call for a vTPM chip.

WhatsApp’s encrypted backups features is now rolling out on iPhone. Users can create a password to prevent unauthorized access to their chat data, while still uploading it to iCloud or Google Drive for their convenience.

The feature ensures that your WhatsApp chats are protected, even if the backup file itself somehow makes it into the wrong hands.

Apple reportedly hired Afrooz Family as its new head of software development for the HomePod. He’s supposedly been tasked with making the smart speaker a stronger rival for Amazon’s and Google’s products.

That would be something of a turnaround for the product.

Suppose you glance around in class and notice the person in front of you is taking way better notes than you are. An iPhone running iOS 15 makes grabbing a copy easy as pie without the hassle of asking permission — thanks to the magic of Live Text.

A video of this happening in the real world that was posted on Twitter is going viral. Watch it now.

Apple promises “big things” at its product event happening October 18. Although that’s the only official hint we have, leaks have revealed details on a couple of extra-large Macs that might fit the bill.

And there could be good news for fans of both MacBook and iMac at the “Unleashed” event.

Many Floridians will soon be able to leave home with just their iPhone… no wallet necessary. Florida is working with Apple to display its residents’ digital driver’s licenses in the Wallet app.

When the feature becomes available, residents of the Sunshine State plus eight other states will be able to store and display digital versions of their driver’s licenses on their iPhone and Apple Watch.

MagSafe is a huge step forward in wireless charging for iPhone. But Apple’s own MagSafe Charger is somewhat boring and pretty overpriced. The Wood Charger from Limited77 is a great alternative.

It works just like a MagSafe Charger, magnetically attaching itself to the back of iPhone 12, and it charges just as quickly. It’s also much more affordable. Want to know more? Here’s our full review.

It’s not too late to get ready to give trick-or-treaters a fright on Halloween night. Philips Hue offers 20% discounts on various HomeKit-compatible multicolor lighting packages. Think what you could do with a well-placed Grim Reaper and a motion-activated spotlight, for example. And maybe a blood-red lightstrip along the hedge. Throw in a few fiery jack-o’-lanterns, and you’re good to go.

iPhone is responsible for a whopping three quarters of all profits earned in the global smartphone market, according to a new report. That’s despite Apple seeing fewer sales than Samsung and Xiaomi.

Cupertino’s handset business actually accounted for just 13% of all smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2021. But thanks to the large profit margins it enjoys on almost all of its products, it is by far the biggest earner.

There’s always more to learn, and sometimes, you can do it for pennies compared to college courses or professional tutors. Below are some of the best e-learning deals around. And for the next few days, you can get any of these course bundles for just $20.

It looks like Apple Music is on its way to compete with Spotify on PlayStation 5, with some users seeing an option to download the app when setting up a new user account on Sony’s latest home console.

Apple and Sony recently partnered to give PlayStation 5 owners six months of Apple TV+ free of charge, so an Apple Music app wouldn’t be totally out of the blue. However, it seems it’s not quite ready to roll out just yet.

Apple’s repair program for AirPods Pro, which addresses hardware issues that can cause crackling and static sounds, has been quietly extended.

The program originally covered faulty buds for two years after their initial purchase. It has now been extended to three years, with affected customers getting free replacements if they pass an Apple inspection.

If you just got an iPhone 13, this week’s giveaway is for you. Popular case-maker Smartish is giving one lucky winner a bundle that will keep their new iPhone protected, organized and charged.

Smartish makes inexpensive iPhone cases that people like, and the company racked up more than 30,000 five-star reviews to prove it. This bundle includes three popular iPhone 13 cases and two must-have accessories.

Apple released the tenth and possibly final beta of macOS Monterey on Wednesday and it still doesn’t allow testers to try out Universal Control. Apple will either have to delay the introduction of one of the highlights of macOS 12 or release it without it having gone through the usual beta testing program.

Apple normally announces when the debut of a major feature has been delayed. But it has not done so with Universal Control.

The Kingston DataTraveler Max is blazing fast. It supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 so the new flash drive can transfer data at up to 1,000MBps. And it uses USB-C so can be plugged into any Mac and most iPads.

I tested Kingston’s speed claims under real-world conditions. And data transfers are so quick it made me want to pitch out all my old flash drives.

Knowing how to code in a variety of languages can land you some great gigs. Take the first step with the Learn to Code 2021 Certification Bundle.

But do it soon: The bundle is on sale for $20 (regularly $34.99) for this week only.

Alto, which specializes in leather accessories for Apple products, offers a 10% launch discount and extra rewards points for purchases of its new iPhone 13 cases through the end of the month.

The Taiwan-based company launched four leather phone case series for Apple’s latest handsets. Each series offers products fitting iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.