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Banish writer’s block with this award-winning app — deal ends soon!

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Mac app
Scrivener will help you craft your dream novel or other challenging writing.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

For aspiring authors, the hardest part can simply be getting started. When developing a longer piece, it can feel incredibly intimidating to organize your thoughts and even simply continue writing.

Scrivener 3 for Mac is an award-winning writing app that assists with the crucial project management you need to complete longer pieces. It offers tools to help you keep writing and compose your content exactly the way you envision it. And it’s available now for just $29.99, which is 38% off its list price.

However, the deal ends on June 1, so you’ll definitely want to take advantage of this sale while you can.

Next-gen AirPods Pro will boast fitness-tracking motion sensors, possible redesign

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AirPods Pro with black background discounts
But you'll have to wait until 2022 to get your hands on them.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s next-gen AirPods Pro will feature updated motion sensors for fitness tracking and arrive in 2022, according to a Bloomberg report Friday.

This would be in keeping with Apple’s increasing focus on the fitness and wellness field, both with Apple Watch and its Fitness+ subscription service. AirPods Pro made their debut in October 2019, and have not been updated since.

Mosquito Coast buzzes with lies, uncertainty and confrontations [Apple TV+ review]

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The Mosquito Coast review: Things get tense between Allie Fox (played by Justin Theroux, right) and Calaca (Paterson Joseph and Justin Theroux in “The Mosquito Coast,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Things get tense between Allie Fox (played by Justin Theroux, right) and Calaca (Paterson Joseph).
Photo: Apple TV+

The Mosquito Coast, the Apple TV+ show about a family of environmentalist fugitives, soldiers on into the unknown this week. Less and less about father Allie Fox feels like a certainty. And his family continues to be put to the test while they search for freedom.

Some things are about to change permanently, though. And they’ll happen so fast you won’t have time to think about them until next week’s final episode of the season.

Mugger used stolen iPhone to record himself hours after theft

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Handcuffs
This is just creating evidence against yourself.
Photo: Bill Oxford/Unsplash CC

Question: When is the front-facing FaceTime camera on an iPhone more trouble than it’s worth? Answer: When you’re a thief who has just stolen an iPhone and, by using it, you’re recording video evidence against yourself.

This is one of the presumably many mistakes made by 21-year-old Kairo Theophilus-Reid. Theophilus-Reid recently appeared in the UK’s Swindon Crown Court, charged with a 2019 mugging of a younger teen’s iPhone 7.

He was arrested alongside fellow mugger Charlie Graham, and was found to have used the iPhone to record video of the pair in a restaurant hours after the incident.

Smart Keyboard Folio for 2018 iPad Pro hits new low — now $79.99

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The Apple Smart Keyboard Folio arranged as a notebook computer.
Bag yours before they're all gone!
Photo: Apple

Pick up Apple’s brilliant 12.9-inch Smart Keyboard Folio for the 2018 iPad Pro at a staggering new low. Woot is offering brand-new units for just $79.99 — a whopping $120 (60%) off the original price.

They’re sure to sell out quickly, so bag yours while you can.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

How to reset Apple Watch Series 3 to install new watchOS updates

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How to reset Apple Watch 3
With just 8GB of storage, some Apple Watch 3 models are struggling to keep up.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Many Apple Watch Series 3 owners are unable to update to the latest watchOS release because their device doesn’t have enough storage space. But Apple says there is a way to get around this issue.

The solution is to reset your Apple Watch, wiping all data and settings, before updating. We’ll show you how.

Helpsters, Ghostwriter rack up Daytime Emmy nominations for Apple TV+

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FireWire lands Apple its first Emmy.
Another set of nominations for Apple TV+.
Image: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

For the second year in a row, Apple TV+ kids’ shows Helpsters and Ghostwriter have racked up a slew of Daytime Emmy award nominations. While not quite the collective 13 nominations the two shows received last year (of which Ghostwriter wound up winning one), they nonetheless picked up an impressive six noms between them.

Ghostwriter now in its second season — received five nominations, including outstanding sound mixing and editing, lighting direction, music direction and composition, art direction, and hairstyling. Helpsters — also having finished season two — picked up a nomination for outstanding costume design.

Get ready for lossless Apple Music with Belkin Soundform Connect [Review]

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Belkin Soundform Connect review: AirPlay 2 adapter for legacy speakers
The Belkin Soundform Connect brings the high-quality audio of AirPlay 2 to legacy speakers or soundbars.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Belkin Soundform Connect could be just what you need to connect your speakers to Apple Music’s upcoming high-quality lossless audio. The wireless adapter allows iPhone and Mac users communicate with any speaker over AirPlay 2 using Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth.

I ran some tests, and I’m impressed with the usefulness of this tiny accessory.

How to play classic GameCube and Wii games on an M1 Mac

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Play GameCube and Wii games on Mac
Who doesn't want to play Metroid Prime on Mac?
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

You can now enjoy classic GameCube and Wii games on an M1 Mac. The excellent Dolphin emulator now runs on Apple’s latest machines, and its creators say it is “powerful and excels” under Apple Silicon.

Here’s how to install Dolphin and play GameCube and Wii games on your own M1 iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

iCloud Mail ‘issue’ leads to slow Apple email [Updated]

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iCloud Mail ‘issue’ leads to slow Apple email
Your Apple email is slow or not arriving at all because iCloud Mail is having problems.
Photo: Zachary DeBottis/Pexels CC

Update: Apple changed the status on iCloud Mail from “issue” to “resolved issue” on Thursday afternoon. Problems with the service persisted for about 5.5 hours before being fixed, though.

Previous article:

It’s not just you having problems with an Apple email account. Apple reports that iCloud Mail has been having an ‘issue’ for several hours.

The service is not completely offline, however.

1 out of 3 smartwatches shipped in Q1 is an Apple Watch

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Apple Watch Series 6
The Apple Watch continues to triumph.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch is not slowing down when it comes to its dominance of the smartwatch market. According to a new report by Counterpoint Research, Apple Watch recorded an impressive 50% annual growth in Q1, claiming an impressive 33% of the overall global smartwatch industry.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the International Data Corporation said Apple shipped 30.1 million Apple Watches for the quarter, representing an almost 29% share of the market. While the reports differ slightly on the numbers, the take-home message is that Apple is killing it when it comes to smartwatches.

Queen Elizabeth reportedly was misled about Prince Harry’s Apple TV+ show

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Duke of Sussex
May not have been totally transparent about Apple TV+ show. Apparently.
Photo: E. J. Hersom/Wikipedia CC

Queen Elizabeth II may not be the biggest fan of Apple TV+. According to a report from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, the queen signed off on her grandson, Prince Harry, doing a show for the streaming service — but was possibly misled about its contents.

The report claims the queen believed the show, The Me You Can’t See, was “about veterans’ mental health – not to air his dirty emotional laundry and launch a ‘personal attack’ on the royal family.”

Music lovers can’t pass up this great deal on a vocal remover app

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vocals
This AI-powered vocal remover app contains the most innovative technology in the music industry.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Calling all DJs, singers, composers, songwriters, music educators and other music enthusiasts. If you’ve spent too much time trying to manually split a song or remove the vocals, it’s time to upgrade your technology. The EasySplitter Pro Vocal Remover will split any song into four separate STEMs — vocal, instrumental, drums and bass — and now you can get a lifetime subscription for only $39.99. That’s a huge discount off its regular price of $599.

Facebook-backed report calls Apple privacy features anticompetitive

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App Tracking Transparency is iOS 14.5's controversial new privacy-related feature.
Is Apple weaponizing privacy to increase its advantage?
Screenshot: Apple

Facebook isn’t backing down in its battle against Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature. And it’s seemingly got a couple of heavy hitter researchers in its corner.

In a Facebook-funded paper published Wednesday, Feng Zhu, an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, and D. Daniel Sokol, a professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, take issue with Apple’s new privacy features — referring to them as “an anticompetitive strategy disguised as a privacy-protecting measure.”

McDonald’s restaurant offers free iPhone to employees who stay 6 months

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McDonald's
Stick with your job and get an iPhone doesn't sound like a bad deal.
Photo: A Befendo/Flickr CC

The fast food industry doesn’t just produce on-demand fries and burgers quickly, it’s also classically had a rapid turnover of employees. That’s a headache during normal times, but with the current post-COVID staffing shortage, it’s proving to be more of a migraine.

One McDonald’s restaurant in Altamont, Illinois, has a bright idea to get staff to hang around, though: Offer free iPhones for those who stay in the job for at least six months.

Want to glimpse unreleased Beats Studio Buds? LeBron James is your hookup

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LeBron
That's LeBron. But, no, these aren't the new Beats earbuds.
Photo: All-Pro Reels/Wikipedia CC

NBA superstar LeBron James shared an image of himself on Instagram wearing what could *just possibly* be the as-yet-unannounced Beats Studio Buds in white. The new, wireless Beats earbuds sound like they’re Beats’ version of Apple’s AirPods.

Beats is, of course, owned by Apple — thanks to Cupertino’s massive $3 billion acquisition in 2014. For whatever reason, it seems Apple will continue to release Beats-branded earbuds, despite the fact they stray into AirPods territory.

Incredible close-ups show off iPad Pro’s surprisingly great camera

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2021 iPad Pro is better than any iPhone at closeup pictures.
Some astounding closeup images should make you stop laughing at iPad photography.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Professional photog/developer Sebastiaan de With accidentally discovered that the rear-facing camera in the 2021 iPad Pro can focus on objects very close to the lens. This allows the tablet to capture close-up images not possible with an iPhone.

Cult of Mac did a bit of experimenting and confirmed the results.

Capture ideas with a single click using Markup Hero

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productivity
Markup Hero is guaranteed to speed up your workflow.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

How many times have you used the screenshot tool on your phone or computer? For most people, the answer is “too many to count.”

Screenshots have become an integral part of digital communication these days. Capturing a screenshot and circling content, sketching in suggestions and typing in comments — or even pulling text out of it — proves increasingly common in today’s workflows. And these are also incredibly useful tactics for digital teams working to communicate, build content and grow brands.

How to share your Apple Card with others and add a co-owner

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How to share Apple Card
Give others the ability to use your Apple Card.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple Card now gives users the ability to add a co-owner from their Family Sharing group. Co-owners share the same credit line and have the ability to add the card to Apple Pay, view their own spending activity, and more.

It’s also possible to share Apple Card with other members of your family (aged 13 years or older) and give them their own spending limit. Here’s how to start sharing yours on iPhone and iPad.