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Keep your Apple Watch ticking with a portable charging keychain

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Apple Watch Wireless Charger Keychain
This pocket-sized 950mAh charger's magnetic ring ⁠keeps your Apple Watch charged anywhere you bring your keys.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

With gear like the Apple Watch, personal tech is getting more and more portable. But at the end of the day, you still need to plug into a wall outlet to stay charged. Not so with this compact wireless charger that’s small enough to carry on your keychain.

Samsung overtakes Apple in US marketshare for the first time since 2017

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iPhone 12 Pro in Pacific blue
The lack of iPhone 12 may have hurt Apple.
Photo: Apple

For the first time in three years, Samsung sold more smartphones than Apple in the United States in the third calendar quarter of the year, market researchers at Strategy Analytics claim in a new report.

Apple accounted for a 30.2 percent market share of the U.S. smartphone market in Q3 2020. However, it lost out slightly to Samsung which made up 33.7 percent of the marketshare. The last time Samsung beat Apple in Apple’s home country market was Q2 2017.

Apple puts one of its biggest manufacturers on probation

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Apple-Store-logo
Apple won't give Pegatron new orders until it sorts out the issues.
Photo: Laurenz Heymann/Unsplash

Apple has placed Pegatron, one of its largest manufacturing partners, on probation after discovering the company violated Apple’s supplier code of contact. This relates to the unauthorized use of students carrying out overtime and night shifts.

Pegatron employees reportedly went “to extraordinary lengths” to cover up the wrongdoing. Apple has said that the manufacturing giant won’t get any new work from Apple until corrective action is made. However, it will continue building current iPhone handsets as per previous orders from Apple.

Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds will fill you with wonder [Apple TV+ review]

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Clive Oppenheimer and Werner Herzog guide us through
Clive Oppenheimer and Werner Herzog guide us through Fireball.
Photo: Apple TV+

Werner Herzog’s latest documentary is truly an all-timer for the Bavarian buddha. Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds, a doc about meteors that debuts on Apple TV+ on November 13, looks at no less than the way the heavens speak to us insignificant earthlings.

In traditional Herzog style it’s discursive, loopy and unspeakably beautiful. However much Apple TV+ spent on this film, it was a bargain. Because this is the kind of documentary you’ll want to watch over and over again.

Score a refurbished iPad for a fraction of the original price

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iPad refusrbished
Save massively on four models of refurbished Apple tablets, from iPad 2 to iPad Pro.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The iPad brought us into a Star Trek reality of slim, sleek tablet computers. After 10 years, Apple tablets still feel futuristic. And with a refurbished model, you can get all the enjoyment at a fraction of the original price.

If you’re looking for an iPad but working with a budget, look no further.

What to watch on Apple TV+ [Cult of Mac Magazine 374]

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Best Apple TV+ shows: Prep your peepers for some stellar Apple TV+ shows.
Prep your peepers for some stellar Apple TV+ shows.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

After a bit of a slow start, Apple TV+ has built up a great library of original content. The streaming service just keeps piling on the new shows — and some of them are undeniably great.

You can read our roundup of the best Apple TV+ shows to binge in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s free to download, and it’s fun to read on your iPad or iPhone.

Watching any of the shows on our list would be a great way a celebrate the first birthday of Apple TV+. So turn off the election news and stream something exciting this weekend. And brace yourself for next Tuesday’s big Apple event. It should be a doozy.

Apple news

Apple how-tos

Product reviews

Add a high-definition touchscreen to any Mac

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Desklab Portable Touchscreen monitor
Instantly expand your computer, tablet and more with an add-on toucshcreen monitor.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

A second screen can make a huge difference in productivity. For some people, it’s a critical part of their workflow. But even more interesting is the possibility of adding a screen with full touchscreen capabilities, so you can essentially use it as an extra monitor or a tablet.

HomePod mini sells out but you can still get iPhone 12 mini and Pro Max

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Get the Phone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini with no extra wait.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is just too big to be comfortable.
Photo: Apple

Good news, procrastinators — Apple still has stock of iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini eight hours after they went up for preorder Friday. Preorders placed now will still arrive on the first day of availability.

But that’s not true of the HomePod mini. This small smart speaker can no longer be preordered for delivery on its launch date.

Apple’s new app ‘nutrition labels’ could be the start of something amazing

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Apple
Soon, iOS apps must reveal exactly what they're doing with your data.
Photo: Penn State/Flickr CC

What do you do when you pick up some food in the store, and want to quickly check how good or bad it is for you? You glance at the nutrition label, of course.

Throughout the last century, mandated labels on food forced manufacturers to reveal more and more information about the contents of their products — and their effects on people who consume them. Now Apple is bringing that same level of insight to apps in the App Store.

It’s about time!

As apps become ever more central to our lives — with increasing access to our most sensitive personal data — transparency about exactly how developers use that information is becoming more necessary than ever.

iMac 2021 concept will have you drooling for Apple Silicon

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An iMac 2021 concept is just gorgeous
A concept artist proposes ditching the screen bezels from the iMac.
Photo: Svetapple.sk

There’s good evidence Apple working on new desktop Macs, and a concept artist proposed a pair of iMacs with significantly improved designs for release in 2021. These 24-inch and 32-inch models borrow quite a bit from the iPad Pro line, including edge-to-edge displays.

MagSafe Duo Charger, iPhone 12 leather cases debut on Apple Store [Updated]

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The MagSafe Duo Charger is ‘coming soon.’
The MagSafe Duo Charger might be the closest we ever get to AirPower.
Photo: Apple

Some hotly anticipated iPhone 12 accessories appeared in Apple’s online store Friday. The MagSafe Duo Charger, the Leather Sleeve and Leather Case for the latest iOS devices are now listed as “coming soon.” Apple also revealed pricing on these accessories — and they’re not cheap.

And a previously-announced Belkin car mount for the iPhone 12 series went on sale on the Apple Store today.

Lawsuit accuses Apple of misleading about iPhone demand in China

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Apple's relationship with Foxconn on the rocks
Tim Cook meets with a Foxconn worker in China.
Photo: Apple

A class action lawsuit against Apple claims that the company hid news of declining iPhone demand in China, thereby triggering billions of dollars lost on the part of investors.

The case, brought against Apple by a UK pension fund, has been given the go-ahead by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. It concerns comments made by Tim Cook during an investor call back in 2018.

Japanese company develops suction-grabber for picking up dropped AirPods

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AirPods supplier confident of booming business through 2021
Dropped AirPods are a big (and potentially expensive) problem.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

You know that a tech accessory has become ubiquitous when people start inventing special custom vacuum cleaner/grabber devices purely to pick up ones that have been dropped.

That’s apparently what has happened in Japan, where a new report claims the East Japan Railways has began developing just such a cleanup device due to the frequency of this problem occurring — and the unsuitability of traditional “grabbers” for retrieving them.

Get workout-ready Powerbeats3 earphones at big savings

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Apple PowerBeats
Get long-lasting, workout-ready wireless audio with up to 12 hours of Bluetooth listening on a single charge.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Few pieces of technology are as personal as earbuds, so it’s worth finding the right set. That’s especially true if you like to work out, which makes sweat-resistance and long battery life a must. That’s exactly what Powerbeats3 Wireless Earphones deliver. And we’ve got a great deal on these workout-ready earphones.

Oh, snap! 2021 iPhone could include some handy camera upgrades

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iPhone 12 Pro back
Top analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is expecting big things from next year's iPhone.
Photo: Apple

Photography remains a big focus for iPhone upgrades, and next year’s lineup isn’t likely to deviate from this trajectory.

In a report published Friday, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo writes that Apple is planning several big improvements for next year’s iPhone Pro models. Here’s what they are.

Crazy puzzle adventure All of You egg-splodes onto Apple Arcade

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‘All of You’ debuted on Apple Arcade on Friday, November 6.
All of You stars a chicken that can stop time.
Photo: Alike Studio

Some video games focus on muscle-bound warriors. Others lets players become beautiful princesses. In All of You, you’ll play as a clumsy chicken. Still, she’s a heroic hen out to save her lost chicks. Players need to solve plenty of puzzles to reunite the chicken with all her brood in a game that debuted Friday on Apple Arcade.

iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, HomePod mini are available for preorder now [Update]

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Preorders start for HomePod mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini on November 6.
The wait is almost over for HomePod mini, along with iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini.
Photo: Apple

Update: The iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and HomePod mini are all available for preorder now. The iPhone models will start delivery on November 13, while the HomePod mini will ship November 16.

More than the largest and smallest iPhone 12 models can be preordered Friday. The HomePod mini will be available to preorder that same day, too.

All three devices will go up at the same time, Nov. 6 at 8 am EST.

PSA: New episode of Long Way Up and Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+

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Oprah Apple TV+
Oprah meets Stevie Wonder.
Photo: Apple

It’s Friday, which means only one thing: weekend tomorrow, more post-election craziness, fresh uploads on Apple TV+.

New content is slightly thin on the ground this week, with only two new shows debuting.  This week, those include a new celebrity interview on The Oprah Conversation and a fresh episode of the travelog series Long Way Up. Here’s what you need to know.

iPhone 12 Pro puts premium in your pocket [Review]

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Pacific Blue iPhone 12 Pro on wooden table
The iPhone 12 Pro looks like a piece of jewelry, and offers a ton of powerful features, too,
Photo: Ian Fucs/Cult of Mac

Back in September 2012, Apple released what was arguably the best iPhone, the iPhone 5. It looked beautiful, felt great in hand, and signaled the shift from 3G to LTE.

Now, eight years later, Apple is revisiting that playbook with the iPhone 12 lineup. And after about a week of using the iPhone 12 Pro, and putting it to the test on my family’s vacation to Disney World, I think I can safely say this is both my new favorite iPhone, and possibly the new best iPhone of all time.

iPhone 12 Pro review

iOS 14.2 release offers new emoji and Shazam integration to everyone

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Final versions of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 were released to the general public on Nov. 5.
iOS 14.2 is out! And the release notes are... wrong.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple released iOS 14.2 to everyone on Thursday. It offers iPhone users plenty of fun new emoji, as well as Shazam music recognition integrated into the Control Center. Tablet users can install iPadOS 14.2 with the same features.

At the same time came the debut of watchOS 7.1 and tvOS 14.2. And users of older devices will find security fixes in iOS 12.4.9 and iPadOS 12.4.9.

Nvidia cloud gaming could bring Fortnite back to iPhone

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Epic Games v. Apple gets serious next spring.
Fortnite is back, iPhone users. Well, maybe.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

The latest version of Fortnite could come back to iPhone. But it won‘t be in the App Store. Instead, a version of the Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming service is reportedly headed for Apple handsets and tablets, and that’ll bring a huge library of games… including Fortnite.

For some reason, everyone’s playing post-apocalyptic mobile games in 2020

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State of Survival game
Okay, so 2020 hasn't given us zombies. Yet.
Photo: State of Survival

With everything that’s going on in 2020, the last thing you’d expect people would want to do to relax is to play a post-apocalyptic game. Right? Right?!

Not according to a new report by app analytics platform, Sensor Tower. It claims that player spending on games featuring post-apocalyptic settings has increased a massive 106% year-over-year in the United States so far in 2020. Developers take note: That makes it the fastest-growing game genre by revenue.

What’s old is new: Apple will push its older iPhones over the holidays

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iPhone sales
Expect to see more iPhone XR handsets on shelves this holidays.
Photo: Apple

With coronavirus-related production challenges stifling the supply of iPhone 12 models, Apple is reportedly turning to older models to sell during the all-important holiday season.

According to a new report, published Thursday, Apple is seeking to “make up for shortages of its 5G lineup” by upping its orders for the iPhone 11, iPhone SE and iPhone XR handsets. Don’t expect to see a whole lot of iPhone 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max handsets, though!