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Save $90 on WD’s MyPassport portable SSD with 1TB storage

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WD MyPassport drive
Today only!
Photo: WD

Running out of storage on your Mac? Join the club! But it doesn’t have to be that way. WD’s terrific MyPassport is a portable SSD drive with 1TB of storage that’s ideal for carrying your photos, music, and more.

Get yours today from Best Buy to enjoy $90 off the usual price.

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Apple TV+ Bill Murray movie On the Rocks will premiere at New York Film Festival

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First
Rashida Jones and Bill Murray star in On the Rocks, an upcoming Apple TV+ movie by director Sofia Coppola.
Photo: Apple TV+/A24

Sofia Coppola’s forthcoming Apple TV+ movie On the Rocks will premiere at the New York Film Festival, which runs from September 17 through October 11 this year.

The movie reunites director Sofia Coppola with actor Bill Murray for the first time since 2003’s Lost in Translation. That movie won Coppola the Oscar for best original screenplay, while Murray was nominated for his acting performance.

Get big discounts on MacBook, iMac, iPad refurbs today only

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iMac
Quick! Stock is selling fast.
Photo: Apple

In need of a cheap Mac or iPad? Check out Woot’s latest one-day sale on MacBook, iMac, and iPad refurbs. Prices start at just $209.99, and there is a whole bunch of great devices to choose from.

Stock is selling fast and once it’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t miss out!

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

Scribble and Smart Selection make Apple Pencil way more productive

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Apple Pencil 2 in Hand
The Apple Pencil is fancy, and finally getting more useful.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Back when Apple introduced the Apple Pencil, the company positioned the stylus primarily as a tool for artists. And try as I might, I’ve never been particularly great at drawing. That said, it didn’t stop me from picking up an Apple Pencil to annotate documents, edit photos or use as an alternative way to touch the screen.

Then the Magic Keyboard came along with a fantastic trackpad experience. It offered a different way to interact with the screen without touching it with my finger. But now, with iPadOS 14, Apple has rewritten the story of what Apple Pencil can do, and it’s completely changed how I use my iPad once again.

Editing vlogs is a cinch with this AI-powered iPhone app

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This app automatically trims your vlog clips to remove silence, and comes with a massive library of audio and visual elements.
This app automatically trims your vlog clips to remove silence, and comes with a massive library of audio and visual elements.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Vlogging is a lot of fun. At the end of the day, it comes down to sitting in front of a camera and expressing your thoughts. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, from planning to setting up lighting and backgrounds. But maybe the most critical stage is editing, which can also be the biggest pain in the butt.

Luckily, technology has made it so that you don’t have to worry about editing your vlogs.

Apple launches residency program for those interested in the future of AI

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Robot
Apple is ramping up its focus on artificial intelligence.
Photo: Scott Schaut/Mansfield Memorial Museum

Apple has launched a new artificial intelligence and machine learning residency program for people from other STEM disciplines wanting to “dip their toe” into the world of cutting edge machine learning.

Michael Rennaker, manager of Apple in Research Academia (ARIA), announced the new initiative on Twitter. The program seeks experts in fields like design, linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology whose interests may cross over with AI.

Facebook says Apple stopped it telling users about 30% in-app purchase ‘tax’

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Facebook is also taking shots at Apple's App Store commissions.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Facebook claims Apple stopped it from telling users about the 30% commission that Cupertino takes from sales in a new online events feature.

According to a Reuters report published Friday, Apple said its rules stop developers from showing “irrelevant” information to users.

PSA: New episode of Ted Lasso comedy lands on Apple TV+

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Ted Lasso
Here's what's new on Apple TV+ this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

It’s a relatively lean week for Apple TV+ subscribers this week as the streaming VOD service added just one new episode of comedy series Ted Lasso to its offerings. The preview for episode five of Ted Lasso reads as follows:

“With his wife and son visiting from America, Ted makes drastic changes to the lineup during a critical match.”

Fortnite no more: Epic sends email to Apple users about end of updates

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Fortnite-Battle-Lab
TL;DR: Epic wants fans to know Apple's the one responsible.
Photo: Epic Games

It’s the end of the line for Fortnite on iOS and Mac. For now, at least. In an email sent to users, Epic Games says that users on Apple platforms will no longer be receiving new content for the game.

And, you know, to drum home the point that, as Epic is keen to suggest, Apple’s the one entirely at fault.

Too many Chrome tabs open? Tame browser chaos with tab groups.

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Use Google Chrome Tab Groups to declutter your browser.
If you've got too many tabs open in Chrome, you can declutter things with the new Tab Groups feature.
Photo: Luca Bravo/Unsplash CC

Hey there, all you tab hoarders: Google Chrome just gave you a handy tool to bring some order to the nightmare lurking at the top of your web browser. A new Chrome feature lets you group tabs together with custom names to tame the chaos.

Unfortunately, it’s not completely obvious how to get in on the tab-grouping action. Here’s how to make it work for you.

Production resumes on Apple TV+’s sci-fi epic Invasion

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‘Invasion’ is big-budget sci-fi for Apple TV+.
Invasion on Apple TV+ imagines aliens attacking the Earth.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

Filming of Invasion, an ambitious alien invasion series for Apple TV+, is reportedly back on. It halted in March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but production resumed in the UK last week.

It’s been called “a large budget, ambitious, character driven genre show” by Deadline, and the cast includes Sam Neill.

World’s smallest iMac will make you feel like freaking Goliath

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This iMac mini is smaller than an iPad mini.
A custom-built iMac mini looks like Apple's desktop but it's so little!
Screenshot: Michael Pick/The Casual Engineer

If you never looked at the iMac and wished it was way, way smaller, then you’re not Michael Pick. He built what he calls the “world’s smallest iMac.”

The modder filmed a video demonstrating the process of creating this tiny, yet fully functional, computer. Watch it now:

TikTok CEO bails after 3 months in the job

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U.S. investigations of TikTok gather steam.
TikTok has had something of a turbulent year.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

TikTok is all about short-form videos, but who knew it was about short-form chief executives as well? That’s one possible takeaway from the news that TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has resigned after just three months at the helm.

Mayer cites the massive disruption resulting from President Trump’s attack on the platform, and the possibility of a sale to Microsoft or Oracle.

Apple will give iPads and scholarships to students at leading deaf university

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Gallaudet University Sign
The Gallaudet University sign in Washington, D.C.
Photo: Mr.TinDC/Flickr CC

Apple has partnered with Washington D.C.’s Gallaudet University — the world’s leading university for deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind students — to offer all students and faculty Apple devices. Learners and teachers alike will receive an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, and SmartFolio for iPad Pro.

The offer is also available to students and teachers at the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, Gallaudet’s partner program for students in grades K-12.

Score a massive library of royalty-free icons and stock images

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The Ultimate Design Assets Bundle
Bolster any design project with thousands of royalty-free and licensed flat icons, stock images, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

For digital designers, assets are everything. They put flesh on the framework of your site, application or other design projects. So access to a massive library of royalty-free icons, stock images and other assets is an invaluable resource. The Ultimate Design Assets bundle includes three libraries, with lifetime access to thousands of assets.

Leaked iPad Air 4 images suggest it will get an iPad Pro-style makeover

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2020 iPad Air Concept with Apple Pencil 2
This proposed 2020 iPad Air concept is mostly a scaled-down iPad Pro.
Photo: svetapple.sk

Images that appear to show training manuals or marketing images for the forthcoming iPad Air 4 were posted by an Apple leaker posted Wednesday.

The images, posted by Twitter user DuanRi, show off a design similar to the iPad Pro. If the images are real, the iPad Air 4 will be the first in this series without a Home key. And there’ll be a single rear-mounted camera.

Interestingly, the images also suggest Apple will stick with Touch ID, rather than adopting Face ID for the next-gen iPad Air. The Touch ID sensor will be incorporated into the power button, not under the display (as some previous rumors suggested).

Antitrust chairman says tech giants ‘crush’ competitors, charge ‘monopoly rents’

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Tim Cook answers questions about App Store business practices.
Tim Cook answered questions about App Store business practices last month.
Photo: C-SPAN

Congress’ big tech antitrust hearings are done and now, weeks later, investigators are gearing up to deliver their findings.

According to David Cicilline, the Democrat leading the House antitrust investigation into tech giants including Apple, the investigatory committee could reveal its recommendations next month. And things aren’t looking too rosy for the companies involved.

Plugable USB-C multiport hub costs way less than Apple’s [Review]

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Plugable USB-C Multiport Adapter review
The Plugable USB-C Multiport Adapter adds three frequently used ports to MacBook or iPad Pro.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

There’s no reason to watch a movie on your MacBook or iPad when the world is full of external displays you can connect to. Of course, to make the connection you’ll need something like the Plugable USB-C Multiport Adapter. Not only does it have an HDMI port, there’s a USB-A port for connecting an external drive. And a USB-C port for keeping your computer powered.

It was obviously designed to copy Apple’s Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter but at a much lower price. Here’s how it stands up.

Surprise! Apple isn’t done with iOS 13 yet

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iOS 13.7 developer beta: iPhone's use in the fight against COVID-19 continues to grow.
iPhone's use in the fight against COVID-19 continues to grow.
Photo: Brian McGowan/Unsplash CC

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 13.7, along with an iPadOS equivalent, to developers on Wednesday. These include a coronavirus-related change Apple considers important enough to justify a system-software update that includes no other new features.

With iOS 14 expected to launch soon, it would be easy to assume that Apple is done releasing new versions of iOS 13. Nope.

No Apple device can play the new Fortnite season

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No ‘Fortnite’ for you, Apple users.
Epic Games won’t let iPhone or Mac users play the next Marvel-themed season of Fortnite.
Photo: Epic Games

The court battle between Epic Games and Apple will really start affecting Fortnite players on Thursday. That’s when the next season of the wildly-popular game will drop, but not for anyone using an iPhone, iPad or Mac.

New iPad, Apple Watch Series 6 leak via Eurasian database

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The new iPad Air adds support for Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard.
Apple could have a 2020 iPad Air on the docket with an even larger display.
Photo: Apple

A listing of multiple unknown tablets by the Eurasian Economic Commission seemingly confirms that Apple will soon introduce a range of new 2020 iPad models.

The same source also says multiple Apple Watch models running watchOS 7 are about to be released.

Facebook Messenger’s Zoom competitor gets custom backdrops, tweaked UI

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Messenger Rooms
Can Facebook's answer to Zoom triumph?
Photo: Facebook Messenger Rooms

Whether it’s socially distanced family quizzes, interminable work meetings or virtual conferences, video chat apps are big business in 2020.

Not wanting to be left out of the surge of popularity enjoyed by Zoom and Google Meets, Facebook is updating its video chat competitor Messenger Rooms app. The update makes it easier to find Rooms you’ve been invited to, to arrange future meetings, and to use custom backdrops of your choosing.