Need an affordable Mac for basic productivity tasks? Pick up a bargain MacBook Air refurb from Woot today for as little as $289.99. A whole bunch of 11- and 13-inch models are available, but stock is selling fast.

Woot also has a couple of 13-inch MacBook Pro models on offer, with prices starting at just $449.99.

Everyone knows a picture is worth a thousand words — especially in today’s digitally driven, visually stimulated world. Whether you’re launching a small business, are a professional photographer or just want to take incredible photos of objects from pretty much anywhere, this FlashBooth 2.0 Portable Photo Studio is for you.

It’s the perfect way to take professional, high-quality photos worthy of websites, social profiles, pamphlets and more. And it’s small enough that you can take it with you wherever you go.

So, you’ve already installed the iPadOS 15 beta beta on your iPad and now some of your favorite apps and features are broken. Don’t worry — it’s really easy (if a little time-consuming) to revert back to iPadOS 14.

We’ll show you how.

The Cult of Mac Store just kicked off its big Fourth of July sale, offering 15% off all items when you spend $50 or more.

Take your pick from some of the best iPhone, iPad and AirPods cases, stands, Apple Watch bands and more — all hand-picked and approved by members of the Cult of Mac team.

The offer ends today, so enjoy it while you can!

Many people have a thing for clean, simple computer setups where distractions are minimized and productivity — of whatever type — is maximized. Redditor CosmicCrispApple seems to find a Zen-like state simply by emphasizing the color white with some black contrast on the desk.

But it’s really not that simple. You also have to keep things, well, simple. And if you do it right, your setup can look and feel as light as air.

There’s no greater service you can do yourself right now than upgrading your iPhone chargers. Be it with an extra-long charging cable that means you can use your phone while plugged in from any side of the bed, or a pocket-size portable charger that will keep you fully juiced on the go, being charged at all times is a life luxury we could simply all benefit from.

Even better, we found all these great charging accessories with huge discounts. Here are eight of the best chargers, which are all on sale right now… 

Apple’s new iPhone, set to launch in fall, will be named the iPhone 13, says a report from the Economic Daily News, published Monday.

Given that last year’s iPhone was named the iPhone 12, it may not sound much of a surprise to hear that it’s successor is named the iPhone 13. However, guessing the name of this year’s handset upgrade has proven surprisingly tricky.

Apple’s new Beats Flex headphones, the most affordable wireless Beats money can buy, are now even cheaper thanks to a $10.99 discount from Amazon. Get yours for just $39 for a limited time.

Apple has thwarted an attempt by multiple Chinese tech companies to get around its App Tracking Transparency feature, the Financial Times reports Monday.

The group of tech companies includes Baidu, Tencent, and TikTok parent company ByteDance. They supposedly worked with a couple of Beijing companies to find a new way to get around Apple’s new privacy measures.

However, Apple blocked updates to several apps that included the workaround, called the Chinese Advertising ID (CAID). In doing so, it enforced its rules in a way that may have surprised the companies in question.

Having only fairly recently completed its massive Apple Park campus in Cupertino, Apple’s now “ramping up” efforts to decentralize its workforce, says Mark Gurman in his latest “Power On” column for Bloomberg.

This means reluctantly embracing the idea that not everyone wants to live and work in Silicon Valley. While Apple execs have supposedly fought against this way of thinking for years, recruitment challenges are now causing them to reassess the situation.

Pick up an Apple-refurbished MacBook Air or MacBook Pro from Woot today and enjoy hundreds of dollars off the original price.

Prices start at just $839.99 for a MacBook Air with an Intel Core i5 chip and 512GB of storage, while 13-inch MacBook Pro units are as little as $1,069.99. The sale is good for today only, so enjoy it while you can.

The app for Didi Chuxing, the popular Chinese ride-hailing service, has been removed from the App Store in China, citing privacy concerns.

This is no usual case of Apple booting an app from the App Store for failing to measure up to its standards, though. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook sits on Didi’s board of directors, and Apple previously invested $1 billion in the Chinese Uber rival. Instead, the ban was ordered by China’s Cyberspace Administration of China regulators — citing “serious violations [regarding] collection and usage of personal information.”

There are many ways to celebrate the Fourth of July: family barbecues, vacations at the beach or lake, and something that hopefully involves fireworks (or at least a sparkler). 

Navigating the App Store can be a difficult task. With all the available apps that can make your life easier and help your computer function more efficiently, finding the best ones is a real challenge. But there is a way to get that done while somebody else does the work for you. That’s what you’ll get with a one-year subscription to Setapp.

Apple TV+ just keeps adding new movies and shows, but how many people are watching? Only Apple knows for sure.

An entertainment industry expert takes a look at the current state of Apple TV+ — and outlines what the future might hold for the streaming video service. Read the Q&A to find out what “success” might look like for Apple TV+.

That’s our cover story in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it to read on your iPhone or iPad, or get the links to the week’s top Apple news, reviews and how-tos below.

If you plan on camping this summer, make sure to bring a Portable Solar Panel from Choetech. This solar panel delivers 80 watts via four output ports. It’s the coolest thing that you never knew you needed.

If you want a fully charged iPhone at all times, even in the great outdoors, make sure to enter this week’s giveaway. Enter and you could win one of two Portable Solar Panels.

What precious digital files do you have on your phone, laptop or iPad? Today, we all have tons of irreplaceable family photos, videos, confidential work documents and essential personal files on our devices. But are you protecting them, and do you even have enough space for all of them?

A year and a half in, Apple TV+ remains something of a black box. Ever since the streaming video service’s launch in November 2019, Cupertino has refused to reveal hard data about just how well Apple TV+ is doing.

In some respects, the future looks promising. Apple TV+ continues to add high-profile projects to its production queue. Apple TV+ shows and movies continue to rack up awards. And upcoming originals like an epic sci-fi adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and the second season of surprise hit Ted Lasso are generating buzz.

Plus, with the original one-year free trials ending — and new free Apple TV+ trials slashed to just three months — the $4.99-a-month streaming service seems increasingly confident about its value proposition for viewers.

Still, the Apple TV+ library continues to be dwarfed by rivals like Netflix and Disney+.

So what does the future hold? And what does “success” look like for Apple TV+ anyway? Cult of Mac asked the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a pseudonymous entertainment executive who writes about the business, how Apple TV+ is faring and what to expect next. His responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Everyone needs a VPN and a firewall they can trust. With everyone living our lives online more than ever, these services for protecting our most private data are not just bonuses for the highly tech-conscious, but essentials for every household. 

The super-smart Deeper Connect Nano Decentralized VPN Cybersecurity Hardware will take care of both, and it’s on sale today for just $299. Unlike practically every other VPN on the market, the Deeper Connect Nano is a one-and-done deal, sparing you from pesky monthly subscription fees forever.

People who use the video-streaming app Twitch can now join the platform’s “Watch Parties” on iOS and Android devices, according to a tweet sent out Friday.

Focused since its launch on bringing people together to watch and comment on video gameplay, Twitch also does drama and comedy. Its Watch Parties let Twitch users stream Amazon Prime content.

The third-party Controller for HomeKit app’s new version 5.4 update adds something users have wanted for a while. It’s a full backup and restore process that includes the HomeKit codes identifying the devices and accessories you include in your home automation.

If you’ve already installed the iOS 15 beta on your iPhone and run into issues, you might want to downgrade to iOS 14 until more stable releases are available. Luckily, it’s really easy to do that if you have a Mac handy.

We’ll show you how.

With a showdown on the horizon, Lisey gets back in touch with her sisters — in the most intense way imaginable — in this week’s installment of Lisey’s Story, the fantastical Apple TV+ series based on Stephen King’s novel.

It’s only a matter of time before Lisey has to take down her foes, real and imaginary, and she’s gonna need all the help she can get.

Randomo_redditor runs her MacBook Pro and iPad with a monstrously wide Dell monitor, at 49 inches. But even that curved showstopper fails to provide enough real estate for all she does. So she added a 27-inch Dell display in portrait mode on the side. If you’re searching for the best monitors for Mac Mini, you might find this Samsung ultra-wide monitor setup to be a great option.

Now she can fit everything on the screens. And we do mean everything. Randomo already made the most of her widescreen by using an app to split the screen into thirds, for different uses.

Dell’s slick new UltraSharp Webcam takes a page out of the 2021 iPad Pro’s book with a Center Stage-like advanced AI auto-framing feature. It keeps the subject — most likely your face, on a video call — centered in the frame and in focus, even if you move around a lot.

The new Dell 4K webcam isn’t cheap, you may notice. But for the $199.99 price tag, you get some nice features.