Excel is a fundamental part of the modern workplace. It’s ideal for crunching numbers, managing relationships, and all kinds of other important tasks. If you want to be an asset to your office, mastering Excel is a great way to do it.

A selection of accessories that use the new MagSafe wireless charger are ready for Friday’s launch of the iPhone 12 series.

MagSafe used to be for MacBooks, but Apple rebranded it and built it into its newest handsets. Accessory makers are integrating it into wireless chargers and cases. Some of these are pretty cool.

This week on The CultCast: The reviews are in, so let’s talk about iPhone 12! Plus: The honest truth about iPhone 12’s 5G; the original HomePod gets powerful new features, and Jony Ive gets a brand-new job.

And now, The CultCast has video! Or subscribe to our audio episodes if you don’t like our faces.

Apple and Google moved fast to develop a COVID-19 contact-tracing solution that was both smart and privacy conscious. Unfortunately, more than six months after the companies announced the cross-platform approach to contact tracing, few places in the United States use it.

It’s a tough lesson for the world’s biggest tech company. And one that everyone is a little bit poorer for having learned.

Everyone in Apple’s beta program is running a pre-release version of the next iOS version. Which is great, until you get a new iPhone or iPad. Then you can’t restore the new device from the backup made on your previous one because the old device is running a newer OS.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t panic — there are a couple of possible solutions. We’ll walk you through both.

The Coalition for App Fairness, a group of developers targeting what they claim is Apple’s unfair control of the App Store, has more than doubled in size since its formation last month.

According to a new report, the original group of 13 companies — which included the likes of Epic Games and Spotify — has now increased to 40, with another 400 requests to join.

If the newest Apple Watch models are a little too pricey for you, check out Amazon’s latest deal on Apple Watch 3. You can pick up brand-new units for as little as $169.

Bag yours before they sell out!

The magnetic back for the new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro models won’t damage your credit cards, although you may want to keep it away from direct contact with single use magnetic stripe cards, such as the swipe cards used in hotels.

That’s according to Kaiann Drance, Vice President of iPhone Marketing at Apple, who is interviewed in the latest “Rich on Tech” podcast.

Elkson’s brilliant Quattro bumper case, which keeps your shiny new Apple Watch looking brand-new, is now available in green for the first time. Bag yours today from the Cult of Mac Store for just $11.99.

Mindfulness is all the rage these days. And while there’s a lot more to mindfulness than just “clearing your mind,” let’s be honest: It’s not the one solution to all our problems. Living and working with a better mindset takes many forms — and this meditation app takes many approaches.

On the Rocks, the first Apple TV+ arthouse film, is an extremely winning combination of midlife crisis, comedy of remarriage, and road-trip movie.

Writer/director Sofia Coppola’s charmingly cynical, shaggy-dog anti-romance — which stars Bill Murray and Rashida Jones, and debuts today on Apple TV+ after a brief theatrical release — is a smart step toward filling out the streaming service’s growing library of original movies.

It’s a big day for Apple fans as the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro with 5G have gone on sale, alongside the iPad Air 4 — marking a trio of devices with the new, breakthrough A14 chip.

As preorders arrive and Apple Stores open with the new handsets and tablet, Apple shared some images of satisfied customers, along with fulfillment workers gearing up to dispatch the new iPhones and iPads to stores.

It’s a packed Friday for Apple TV+ with the debut of Sofia Coppola’s movie On The Rocks, plus a new episode of Tehran and Long Way Up. There’s also the new Bruce Springsteen documentary Letter to You, which was due to debut Friday, but wound up debuting Thursday after a tweet sent out by The Boss (and, no, we don’t mean Tim Cook).

Here’s what to expect from this week’s new arrivals.

Scarlett Johansson reportedly will take the lead in an Apple TV+ film. Bride will be about a creation designed to be the perfect wife. And what happens when she rejects the role.

Oscar-winner Sebastián Lelio will direct the film.

The Uptown Apple Store in Minneapolis closed its doors for good. Though it might be more accurate to say the store won‘t reopen, as it’s been shuttered to the public since March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

That didn’t stop the store from being damaged by rioters in May after the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. 2020 has been just extra hard on it.

Zagg Pro Keys is a keyboard case for those who want to use their iPad as both a slender tablet and a laptop. There are versions for the new iPad Air 4 and iPad 8.

In addition, the Zagg Pro Stylus debuted on Thursday. It sports two tips, making it a competitor for the Apple Pencil as well as basic capacitive styli.

Apple now has its very own music channel, dubbed Apple Music TV, that streams music videos and more 24 hours a day. You can watch it on any Apple device (as long as you live in the U.S.) absolutely free.

Here’s how — and what you need to know.

Halide Mark II brings a significant revamp to a popular alternative camera application for the iPhone. The developer redesigned the software to make it even easier to use for beginners. But it also comes with professional-grade features built in, like new tools for working with RAW images.

In the words of Ron Burgundy, “That escalated quickly.” A day after short-form video streamer Quibi pivoted from a mobile-only approach to launch an Apple TV app, the beleaguered service announced it will shut down for good.

What lesson can we learn from Quibi’s glitzy, high-profile launch, only to crash and burn six months later? That the slow-but-steady, tortoise-like Apple TV+ strategy looks smarter than ever.

Pick up an ultraportable MacBook Air with beefy internals and enjoy $400 off the usual selling price today only.

B&H Photo is offering a 2019 model with Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for just $1,299 — down from $1,699. Or you can save up to $100 on newer 2020 options.

Apple techs will reportedly use a new bit of kit to evaluate AirPods. The audio test tool will determine if a pair of earbuds have an actual problem, or if the problem is in the ears of their wearer.

Season two of Apple TV+’s creepy M. Night Shyamalan series Servant will debut on January 15, the famed director tweeted Thursday.

The first season was among the initial wave of shows that debuted on Apple TV+ in November 2019. It seems likely that the second season would have been due to begin about now, but shooting was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down filming.

The Apple TV app is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Sony revealed Thursday.

According to Sony, the Apple TV app will join Disney+, Netflix, Spotify, Twitch and YouTube as streaming services that will be available when the PS5 ships on November 12. (Amazon Prime Video, MyCanal, Hulu, Peacock, and others are also coming soon.)

Looking to boost the security factor at home or at the office? There’s no such thing as too safe, so this feature-rich security camera pulls out all the stops.

Apple spent $1.56 million on lobbying fees in the third quarter of 2020, a new report reveals.

Apple directed seven lobbyists to influence the *deep breath* U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Defense, Federal Communications Commission, Treasury Department, Health & Human Services, U.S. Trade Representative, State Department, Homeland Security, Office of Management & Budget, National Institute of Standards & Technology, and Executive Office of the President.