Mobile menu toggle

Spend quarantine time right with these Netflix alternatives [Deals]

By

Streaming Roundup
Browse the best in streaming services at the Cult of Mac Store.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Stuck at home? So is almost everyone else, making our TVs and computer screens essential portals to the outside world and entertainment. With these top alternative streaming services, you can keep your mind occupied with all kinds of fun and informative content.

If Netflix feels a little stale these days, expand your horizons with one of these deals on something you’ve never seen before.

European Commission may have lost Apple tax case, but it believes it’s morally in the right

By

Image showing
The tax battle with Apple looks set to rage on.
Photo: New York Public Library/Unsplash CC

The European Commission may have lost its court case about Apple’s $14.8 billion tax bill, but it continues to believe that it’s morally in the right.

“We do not consider it normal that the largest corporates get away with paying one percent tax at most,” European Commission executive vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in the aftermath.

Apple Silicon MacBook Pro and MacBook Air will ship by end of 2020

By

16-inch MacBook Pro from 2019
Are you excited about the first Apple Silicon MacBooks?
Photo: Apple

Apple will release its first MacBook Pro and MacBook Air powered by Apple Silicon by the end of 2020, a report published Thursday claims.

According to Digitimes, Apple manufacturers will start shipping components such as backlit units (BLUs) for the next-gen MacBooks in the third quarter of 2020. That could be any time between now and September.

Apple now offers AppleCare+ monthly plans in Canada, Australia, and Japan

By

2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and AppleCare
AppleCare+ gives you month-by-month rolling protection for your Apple device.
Photo: Apple

Apple is expanding its AppleCare+ monthly plan outside the United States for the first time. It is making it available in Canada, Japan, and Australia as well.

The month-by-month coverage hasn’t launched yet in these countries. However, Apple has revealed that it is coming to these markets in one of its official support documents.

Hackers hit Apple’s Twitter account in widespread bitcoin scam

By

Apple's Twitter account and other high-profile accounts hacked in massive Bitcoin scam.
Apple’s very first Tweet ever isn’t about Bitcoin. Twitter got hacked.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is one of many companies and people who had their Twitter accounts hijacked on Wednesday. A hacker found a way to post on what seems to be any account, indicating that it’s Twitter itself that has been hacked.

All the posts pointed readers toward a bitcoin scam.

watchOS 6.2.8 brings digital car keys to Apple Watch

By

watchOS 6.2.8 is out now!
Digital car key support in watchOS 6.2.8 has the potential to make Apple Watch much more useful.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Starting Wednesday, an Apple Watch can be used to unlock a car, replacing the key, thanks to the release of watchOS 6.2.8. But it’s early days yet for this feature, as it doesn’t yet have wide support.

In addition, this software update enables people in a handful of additional countries to take advantage of the ECG in Apple’s wearable.

Apple TV+ still struggles to find an audience

By

Apple TV+ has yet to cut into the lead of well-established streaming video services.
Apple TV+ emphasizes that it offers only original programming. But so far that’s not working.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ has just a tiny fraction of the U.S. streaming video market, according to a market-research firm. Even nine months after its launch, it’s well behind well-established rivals like Netflix and even the other newcomer, Disney+.

iOS 13.6 brings expanded Apple News features and other cool stuff

By

Apple News layers on new features in iOS 13.6.
Apple News layers on new features in iOS 13.6.
Photo: Apple

Apple released iOS 13.6 Wednesday, boosting its Apple News offering and bringing other new features to iPhone and iPad.

As expected, the company added audio versions of key stories from Apple News+, the paid version of its news aggregation service. Apple also added a new daily audio show called Apple News Today, which is available in the free version of the Apple News app.

In addition, the company beefed up its list of organizations pumping news content into the service. However, the Apple News audio features will only be available to U.S. users, the company said.

Apple should take this Mac Health app concept to heart

By

This Health for Mac concept expands the app beyond iOS.
Is it time to port the iPhone Health app to Mac? A concept artist thinks so.
Photo: Jordan Singer

A concept artist shows what the iPhone’s Health application could look like after being redesigned for Mac.

Currently, this software is only for iOS. There’s not even an iPad version. This concept, created in SwiftUI, hopes to convince Apple to change that.

How to update your Amazon Echo Buds to avoid overheating

By

How to update Amazon Echo Buds
Get the latest firmware as soon as possible.
Photo: Amazon/Cult of Mac

Amazon today instructed Echo Buds owners to urgently update their headphones to avoid a “potential safety risk.” The company says that in rare cases, Echo Buds can overheat while charging.

A new firmware update addresses this problem, and helps ensure that headphone batteries last as long as possible, by making charging more efficient. Here’s how you can install it.

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock launches today on iOS and Apple TV

By

Peacock from NBCUniversal
Because 2020 doesn't have enough streaming subscription services.
Photo: NBC Universal

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock launched Wednesday, complete with iOS and Apple TV apps.

Peacock, which joins a plethora of similar streaming services, has been up and running for Comcast’s Xfinity X1 and Flex cable customers since April. However, today it gets a wider U.S. release, with both paid and free tiers.

Busch Light ad tries to squeeze remaining drops of humor out of Apple parodies

By

Busch Light
Drink if you've seen something like this before!
Photo: Busch Light

Mocking Apple keynotes is probably about the laziest advertising trope you’re likely to see. But that doesn’t stop attempt after attempt after attempt by companies to copy it.

The latest to try and rinse the remaining laughs out of the concept is Budweiser company AB InBev and their new ad for limited edition Busch Light Apple. It’s an apple-flavored drink, which makes it all too easy to picture how some tired group of copywriters sitting around at 4.45pm threw up their hands and said, “Why don’t we do it as an Apple parody?”

Does it raise the slightest smile? Check it out below to find out.

Apple boots 2,500 unlicensed games from the App Store in China

By

Apple Store
Decision reflects Chinese laws about proper licenses.
Photo: Apple

Apple eliminated upward of 2,500 games from its China App Store in the first full week of July, a new report from app analytics firm Sensor Tower notes.

Mobile gaming regulations in the country mean that all games must receive a license from China’s National Press and Publication Administration prior to release. Regulators had promised a crackdown on offending apps since 2016. However, they were slow to act. In the meantime, unlicensed games continued to be published in the App Store.

Apple wins appeal against its enormous $14.8 billion European tax bill

By

iPhone with gavel.
Decision went in the favor of Apple and Ireland.
Photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm/Cult of Mac

In something of a surprise outcome, Apple and Ireland have won their appeal against a European tax bill order which fined Apple $14.8 billion.

The European Commission ordered Apple pay the enormous sum in August 2016. According to the EU, Apple paid a tax rate as low as 0.005% of its European profits in 2014. This was supposedly part of a “sweetheart” deal it received in Ireland.

Congress wants Apple to ask foreign apps to disclose where they store their data

By

TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2020.
Congress is worried that apps could pose a security weakness.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

Lawmakers from the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform want Apple and Google to investigate where third-party apps are storing their data.

In two letters sent Tuesday, Stephen Lynch, chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, wrote to Apple and Google that certain non-U.S. apps could pose securities risks.

Pack your Mac and gear in Ekster’s slim laptop sleeve [Review]

By

Ekster Laptop Sleeve review
The Ekster Laptop Sleeve can hold your MacBook and a surprising number of accessories too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Never carry your MacBook or iPad around “naked,” but a bulky case can be just too much. A laptop sleeve is a compromise, like the one recently released by Ekster. This protects your 13-inch computer, and includes room for a few accessories.

I’ve been using this leather-and-canvas folio for a couple of weeks. Here’s how is stands up to daily use.

iPhone 12 might come with braided Lightning-to-USB-C cable

By

This might be a glimpse of the iPhone 12 cable.
The iPhone 12 cable might get an upgrade to make up for there not being a power adapter in the box.
Photo: DuanRui

The iPhone 12 might not come with a charger, but it’ll supposedly get a nicer charging cable.

A leaker with a history of accuracy re-tweeted images that allegedly show a braided Lightning cable intended for the 2020 iPhone. And, it will connect to USB-C ports, not USB-A.