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Keep your MacBook looking like new with this ultra-slim hard case

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Elago Ultra Slim Hard Case for MacBook
Protection that won't weigh you down.
Photo: Elago

Apple computers hold their value remarkably well — especially when they’re well looked after. Keep your MacBook looking brand-new with an ultra-slim, ultra-affordable hard case from Elago.

These snap-on protectors prevent your machine from picking up scuffs and scratches while it’s on the move. They’re not too thick or too heavy, and they don’t hide your MacBook’s gorgeous design.

Get yours today from the Cult of Mac Store for as little as $24.99.

Pandemic drives buyers toward bigger tablets with detachable keyboards

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A rise in tablet sales benefits the iPad Air.
Buyers are increasingly interested in tablets that can also function as laptops.
Photo: Apple

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing unexpected consequences, including a sudden sharp rise in tablet sales, according to a market-research firm. Specifically, there’s significantly increased demand for large tablets with removable keyboards that can function as laptops.

Exciting spy series Tehran takes Apple TV+ in dramatic new direction [Review]

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Arash Marandi in Tehran
Tehran is the most gripping Apple TV+ series to date.
Photo: Apple TV+

In order for any streaming service to keep up with the competition, it must serve up serialized shows that people can’t wait to finish. Until now, Apple TV+ did not offer one of those. Not even the star-studded and fairly engrossing Defending Jacob proved so compelling you couldn’t turn it off.

That all changes this Friday, when Israeli spy thriller Tehran premieres on Apple TV+. The streaming service’s best dramatic show by a mile, it delivers stunning displays of intrigue and backstabbing.

Pokémon Café Mix lets you form teams, download Snorlax costume Pikachu

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Pokemon
D'awwwww! Isn't he cute?
Photo: Pokémon Café Mix

Poké-hit Pokémon Café Mix just got an update that will let you join other players to form teams, as well as get your hands (virtually, that is) on a range of items, including a Snorlax costume Pikachu.

The team feature lets you to share an ID with a buddy to hook up for special events. The teams you form can be both public and private. The feature promises to add a new dynamic to the popular food-serving game.

Jimmy John’s customers get a free drink on $10 orders when they use Apple Pay

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Apple Pay Jimmy John's order
The latest offer from Apple Pay.
Photo: Apple

Apple Pay’s latest promotion offers customers at sandwich chain Jimmy John’s a free drink when they spend at least $10 on an order. The promotion is available through September 27.

In order to be eligible for the promotion, you have to be a Freaky Fast Rewards member, and pay for your order with Apple Pay — either in-store, through the iOS app or via the Jimmy John’s website.

UK mobile network says 5G iPhone 12 is ‘just days away’

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An iPhone 12 concept video shows off lots of color options.
A realistic iPhone 12 concept shows this upcoming device in all their glory.
Photo: Terquosive Labs

Everyone knows that the iPhone 12 is on the way, but — having been MIA at September’s “Time Flies” event — it’s not clearly exactly when. A leaked video from U.K. mobile network EE and BT could have answers, suggesting that the world’s first 5G iPhones are coming very, very soon.

In a leaked marketing video produced for interval use, EE and BT boss Marc Allera said that, “We are just days away from Apple’s next major launch, a 5G iPhone, which will be a huge boost for 5G.”

When you want a desk done well, build it yourself [Setups]

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MacBook Pro Setup
That's how you build a desk on a budget.
Photo: @alexknollphoto

Alex Knoll is a professional photographer with some serious carpentry skills. When he couldn’t find a desk he liked that matched his budget, he decided to just build one himself. He sketched a plan on his iPad with the Procreate app and bought himself a few long slabs of pine and got to work. With a set of $100 table legs he bought from TableLegs.com, the total cost of the materials came out to roughly $300.

How to enter handwritten text with Scribble on iPadOS 14

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How to enter handwritten text with Scribble on iPadOS 14
iPadOS 14 includes Scribble handwriting recognition for quick text entry with a stylus.
Photo: Killian Bell/Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iPadOS 14 brings handwriting recognition to Apple tablets, at long last. The new system is called Scribble, and it’s easy to use, fast and flexible.

Here’s how to enter text on your iPad with Scribble.

Apple Watch Series 6: Color us impressed [Review]

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Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch Series 6
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Almost all the reviews of the Apple Watch Series 6 say the same thing: Yeah, it’s great, but it’s an incremental upgrade, and if you already have a Series 5, skip the upgrade.

That’s sage advice, I guess, especially in the middle of a crushing pandemic that’s ruined the economy, left millions unemployed, and has lots of people thinking carefully about their expenses.

But I say stuff it!

If you have the money, run out and buy the latest Apple Watch. It’s frickin’ amazing! It blows my mind that you can have a mini-iPhone strapped to your wrist that can make phone calls, pay for groceries, give directions, monitor your blood and heart, and so, so much more. It’s a technological marvel, my favorite gadget — and it could possibly save my life.

Patricia Arquette becomes a wisecracking private eye in High Desert on Apple TV+

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boyhood-arquette-coltranejpg-b65fa56bc12064ec
Arquette bagged an Oscar for her role in Boyhood.
Photo: Universal Pictures

Apple TV+ on Tuesday unveiled High Desert, an upcoming half-hour comedy series to star Patricia Arquette, winner of several Academy, Golden Globe and Emmy awards.

Fellow comedian Ben Stiller will direct the first episode. Both Arquette and Stiller will serve as executive producers, too.

Apple leads the way in consumer satisfaction for Mac and iPad

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The 2020 iMac is faster, but didn’t get a new design.
Customers are pretty darn satisfied when it comes to Mac.
Photo: Apple

Apple fans love to complain every so often, but overall they remain pretty darn satisfied when it comes to the company’s personal computer offerings.

That’s according to data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which reports that Apple ranks No. 1 in user satisfaction for personal computers with a score of ACSI score of 82. This ranking covers iMacs, MacBooks and iPads.

This Mac app spices up your website with HTML5 animations

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Tumult Hype 4
Create beautiful, interactive HTML5 web content and animations with little to no coding required.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Websites have come a long way since the GeoCities days. But one fact remains the same: Nothing adds pizzazz to a website like animations. In 2020, sophisticated interactive animations make a website pop. And this Mac app makes it easy to add those elements to any site.

Mini LED chipmaker makes ‘better-than-expected’ progress in next-gen displays

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iPadOS 14 Home screen widgets aren’t nearly as flexible as they are in iOS 14
Expect Mini LED displays to come to Apple devices next year.
Photo: Apple

Chinese LED chipmaker San’an Optoelectronics is reportedly making “better-than-expected” progress developing Mini LED technology it hopes will be used in Apple’s future Mini LED iPad and MacBook devices, a Tuesday report by Digitimes claims.

If all goes according to plan, San’an Optoelectronics will join Taiwanese LED chipmaker Epistar in producing the screen tech for Apple. It is expected to enter trial production by the end of this year and receive orders from Apple in 2022. Apple’s first Mini LED devices likely will debut in 2021.

Tim Cook is impressed by how well Apple employees have managed working remotely

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Tim Cook will testify before a congressional antitrust subcommittee this week.
Cook says he hopes most Apple employees will be back next year.
Photo: Mark Mathosian/Flickr CC

Tim Cook is reportedly impressed by how well employees have managed to work remotely, and says that some of these new work habits will endure after COVID-19.

In an interview with the The Atlantic Festival on Monday, Apple’s CEO said he does not think the company will “return to the way we were because we’ve found that there are some things that actually work really well virtually.”

iOS 14 pushes custom widget apps to top of the charts

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iOS 14 widgets apps shot to the top of the iPhone App Store charts.
Applications that create custom iOS 14 widgets quickly became very popular.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The top three applications on the App Store right now all focus on iOS 14 widgets. They let users create custom Home screen widgets that aren’t tied to other applications.

Apple’s latest operating system adds these mini-apps, and a small selection of them come built into iOS 14. Plus, many third-party applications like browsers and email apps recently released widgets.

But applications whose entire focus is adding useful widgets to the iPhone Home screen quickly found plenty of users. Here are some of the most popular ones available now.

Teardown shows new features packed into slimmer Apple Watch Series 6

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Apple Watch Series 6 teardown
An Apple Watch Series 6 teardown gets down to the tiniest screw and clip.
Photo: iFixIt

Apple Watch Series 6 adds a sensor for blood-oxygen levels, but that doesn’t make it thicker. A teardown of this new wearable shows how Apple actually managed to make it a bit slimmer than its predecessors.

Plus, it turns out the device is relatively repairable. More so than an iPhone.

iOS 14.2 public beta integrates Shazam music recognition into iPhone [Updated]

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Well, iOS 14.2 beta q didn’t take long
iPadOS 14 and the iPhone equivalent just went out, but Apple is already testing iPadOS 14.2.

Anyone can start testing iOS 14.2, along with the iPad equivalent, thanks to the new public betas released Monday by Apple.

The first developer beta of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 went out Thursday, just a day after the full release of iOS 14. The most notable new feature in the new betas builds the Shazam music-recognition service into the Control Center.

It’s not clear what’s happening with iOS 14.1, but it isn’t part of Apple’s testing program for developers.