Cult of Mac

You know that feeling of dread when you drop you iPhone for the hundredth time? As you slowly pick it up and pray that it’s not cracked, you remind yourself, “I need a better case.” Well, here’s your chance. This week’s giveaway is for a Speck Presidio Perfect-Clear Compatible with MagSafe case, worth $50. It’s Speck’s most protective clear case yet.

Show off your iPhone and keep it crack-free by entering this week’s giveaway. Enter and you could win one of four Presidio Perfect-Clear Compatible with MagSafe cases.

Some classic iOS games got upgraded for their Apple Arcade debuts this week, but that’s just the start of this week’s roundup. A new iOS app gives you the chance to win prizes for not driving like a jerk. And a new Mac app lets you effortlessly declutter your presentations.

Plus, a couple of heavy-hitter apps got updates — one kind of serious from a privacy perspective, and one almost completely frivolous. Are you ready for your app upgrades?

Whether they’re for your website, social media profiles, sales presentations or marketing materials, every business needs great images. That’s not just a nice-to-have, but a fact: 90% of all data processed by the brain is visual, making images more memorable than any text. And when it comes to online content, images have been shown to perform 4.4 times better than text-based content alone.

However … producing your own photoshoots can be extremely expensive. And getting the rights to use great photography can prove even more pricey. Thankfully, Scopio Stock Photography is changing the game when it comes to making great images affordable. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to the service, plus $30 store credit, for just $29.99. That’s a staggering 99% off the value of $3,480. And yes, that’s even one cent less than the store credit you’ll get back with this limited-time deal.

The iPhone 12’s secret reverse wireless charging capability will work with Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack. That’s great and all, but Apple should let the iPhone charge other gear, too.

Think how cool it would be to top off your AirPods Pro simply by setting them atop your iPhone.

It’s a logical next step (and it might even be coming soon). Find out why we think Apple should go all in on iPhone reverse wireless charging in the cover story of this week’s free Cult of Mac Magazine. Read it in the app on your favorite iOS device, or get the links to the stories below.

Whether you run a business or have a personal website that cements your professional reputation and visibility, you need great web hosting to do it. The not-so-small obstacle to a professional website, though, is that web hosting can cost thousands of dollars a year. 

Thankfully, some revolutionary tech companies are changing the game when it comes to making web hosting accessible for everyone. Case in point: iBrave Cloud Web Hosting, which is offering a lifetime subscription on sale for an outrageously affordable $99.99. That’s a 93% discount off the regular price of $1,497.

Apple’s nifty and well-loved AirPods Max headphones are on sale for a full $100 off their $549 MSRP. Available from Adorama, all colors are available for just $449.

ElevationLab launched a deceptively simple accessory on Thursday called MagBase. It helps with one of the more frustrating aspects users find with the Apple MagSafe Charger. Using the base, you can easily pick up your iPhone 12 with one hand, still attached to the charger — or not.

Turns out the iPhone 12 could do reverse wireless charging all along — Apple just didn’t talk about it until this week. And now that the cat’s out of the bag, Apple should embrace the capability and let iPhones wirelessly charge any other compatible device.

Elgato makes a variety of hardware and software for video streamers and content creators. It just launched its first webcam. At the same time, it rolled out a revamped stream deck and a few other products designed to help folks dress up and easily share content.

With a murderers’ row of talent behind and in front of the camera, and nods to handsome musicals and TV of the past, Schmigadoon! could become a major crossover hit for Apple TV+.

The new musical comedy injects a thoroughly modern sensibility into the classic Brigadoon storyline. Loaded with the obligatory singing and dancing you’d expect, it’s good and occasionally great.

If you like musicals, you’ll almost certainly love Schmigadoon!. The only question is, is the public’s thirst for musical theater enough to sell this high-concept gamble?

You know that kid in school who never took his jacket off? I think his name was Belkin. The accessories maker launched a pair of Always-On Laptop Cases that pretty much ensure your MacBook always keeps it coat on.

Google rolled out a couple of new search-related security tools Thursday for its main iOS app. With them, you can add security to saved search histories and quickly delete recent searches. We’ll show you how to use them, below.

It sounds like the setup to a punchline: A strapping young Mac mini, a yoked gaming PC and an elderly Power Mac G4 walk into a podcasting primer. Then what happens?

Well, if we’re talking about Redditor omgaporksword’s recent setup post, you learn a few OS-switching tricks, share some old-school Mac nostalgia and see how to position your USB microphone using a boom arm.

There is no punchline and there are no laughs. But please, people. Not everything is about humor. Except maybe omgaporksword’s Reddit handle.

When you think about the types of items typically seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, you might picture contraband like drugs or weapons. You probably don’t imagine knockoff AirPods as a target.

In fact, bogus earbuds are a big deal. Customs and Border Protection seized “roughly 360,000 counterfeit wireless headphones with a retail value of $62.2 million” since October, according to a story in The Information, citing previously unreported government data.

Apple is one several predominantly larger companies that work with Customs officers to help weed out copycat products upon their entry into the United States. And the counterfeit goods are not necessarily packaged to look exactly like actual Apple products. Here’s how it works.

A trio of classic games have been updated just for Apple Arcade. That includes Angry Birds Reloaded, Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City and Doodle God Universe.

All three debuted Friday on Apple’s subscription gaming service.

The time has come for a bool hunt in Lisey’s Story! In the Apple TV+ series finale, Lisey and Dooley reach their final showdown — and get their last look at the brutal past just in the rearview mirror.

It’s a fitting end to the Stephen King-written miniseries about the widow of a famous writer and the crazed superfan who hunts her down. If you’re an Apple TV+ subscriber and haven’t watched this show yet, a rewarding binge awaits.

Laptop screens are large enough to enjoy movies and work efficiently, but sometimes a little more screen space proves beneficial. Whether you’re developing crucial IT skills or writing the next great American novel, having an additional screen provides more space to work.

That’s why this portable second screen from Ofiyaa is a must-have for laptop-toting professionals. And it’s available for a limited time at just $249.99.

Emoji just got a sonic boost in Facebook Messenger. The social network’s chat app added Soundmojis on Thursday, giving users the option of sending audio snippets with some key emoji.

At launch, you can send catchphrases from TV shows, bits of hit songs, and garden-variety stock sounds. If your conversation demands the world’s tiniest violin emoji, your chat partner can actually hear it!

Windows users can’t escape Clippy. The much hated personal assistant is coming back. Fortunately, it’ll be far less prominent than back in 1997. And Mac users won‘t have to see it at all.

Apple has made its share of mistakes over the years. But few of these can compare to Clippy’s irritating attempts to help people using Microsoft Office.

Walmart ranked as the world’s largest company by revenue in 2020, experiencing a 79% boost in e-commerce sales as a result of the pandemic. Similarly, Sam’s Club also boomed for pandemic-related reasons — it’s preferable to stock up on bulk items and save hundreds each shopping trip.

From Cult of Mac Setups articles, we know Keychron mechanical keyboards are popular among Mac users. The company’s sleek new K7 model promises to continue that trend. Better yet, you can be among the first to grab it in Keychron’s Kickstarter campaign.

You can charge an iPhone 12, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously with the just-released Mophie 3-in-1 stand for MagSafe Charger. Apple likes it so much the product is listed on the online Apple Store, an honor that doesn’t go to most accessories.

This post about iPhone security is brought to you by UnMask.

These days, it is not uncommon for someone to have their whole life saved on their iPhone. This includes their emails, banking information, passwords, photos, etc. If their phone gets stolen or hacked, they run the risk of losing all that data to strangers.

To help you avoid that fate, we came up with five tips you can follow to make your iPhone more secure and reduce the risk of compromising your confidential data. And we put together five more tips that can help you keep from getting your iPhone stolen.

Soon there could be new emoji that let you show you are melting, have a low battery or are feeling ambivalent or teary-eyed. These and more are on the list for approval in Emoji 14.0. But they might not appear in iPhones and other devices until 2022.

The list appears with World Emoji Day coming July 17.

Linksys has rolled out support for Apple’s smart-home platform, HomeKit, in a firmware update for its flagship  affordable Wi-Fi router system. Now users can enjoy high-speed internet access throughout the house with a little extra peace of mind.