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43% of Warren Buffett’s investment portfolio is now Apple shares

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Buffett
For a man who can't use an iPhone, Warren Buffett sure loves Apple.
Photo: CNBC

A decade ago, Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett said he just didn’t get Apple. Today, Apple shares make up some 43% of Berkshire Hathaway’s entire stock portfolio, according to a report from Motley Fool.

The firm’s 245 million Apple shares have increased in value by more than $55 billion since the start of 2019 to be worth upward of $91 billion. Still, from an investor’s perspective, it makes you wonder whether you’d be better off simply investing in AAPL itself, rather than paying a fund manager!

Get the alarm clock that’s also a Bluetooth speaker and wireless charger [Deals]

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Gotek Wireless Charging Music Station
It's a Bluetooth 5.0 speaker, wireless charger clock and more offering 8 hours of wireless playtime.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Some technology never goes out of style — it just gets better. The good old-fashioned alarm clock, for example, is ripe for an upgrade. This combination alarm clock, Bluetooth speaker and wireless charger checks that box.

Logitech’s high-end MX Keys and MX Master 3 get makeovers for Macs

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MX Master 3 for Mac and MX Keys for Mac - optimized for Mac and now in space gray.
The high-end MX Series keyboard and mouse from Logitech get a Mac-oriented overhaul.
Photo: Logitech

Logitech launched Mac versions of its popular MX Keys and MX Master 3 on Tuesday, giving the pro keyboard and mouse a space gray makeover and adding some Apple-specific tweaks.

Most of the changes seem totally awesome for the “Mac purists” Logitech is targeting with these high-end accessories. One change might not be so welcome, though, depending on your experience with Bluetooth peripherals.

The company also released a new Mac-oriented version of its smaller K380 keyboard in white and pink color options.

US government is ‘looking at’ banning TikTok

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TikTok 1
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reservations about TikTok.
Photo: TikTok

The United States is considering banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Speaking with Fox News, Pompeo said “we are certainly looking” at such a ban. When asked if people should download the app, Pompeo said, “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Apple ranked world’s second most valuable brand for fifth year running

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Apple.logo.paris.store
Apple is one of the world's most valuable brands.
Photo: Josh Davidson/Cult of Mac

Apple retained its second place spot for the fifth year running on the world’s most valuable brands list compiled by branding valuation company BrandZ.

The firm values Apple’s brand at $352.2 billion. Unlike a market cap, which values the business as a whole, this brand valuation is designed to assess the value of the branding itself.

Apple ‘assessing’ new Hong Kong security law that will crack down on protests

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Activist shareholders push Apple on why it booted Hong Kong protest app
This isn't the first time Apple has been dragged into the ongoing Hong Kong protests.
Photo: Fredrik Rubensson/Flickr CC

Apple is “assessing” a new Hong Kong security law that could make protest a crime, claims Bloomberg.

The newly passed National Security Law criminalizes acts of secession (breaking away from China), undermining power and authority of the government, the use of violence or intimidation, and collusion with foreign or external forces.

China says that it was return stability to Hong Kong, although critics of the new law worry that it will negatively affect freedom of speech and protest.

Tim Cook will testify in Washington antitrust hearing on July 27

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Tim Cook goes to Washington
Tim Cook will join the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, and Google during hearing.
Screenshot: Apple

Tim Cook’s testimony in front of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee antitrust investigation committee will take place on July 27 at midday EST. The hearing, which will be live-streamed, will be accompanied by similar testimonies from Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

The title of the investigatory hearings is “Online Platforms and Market Power” with a focus on “Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple.”

Apple TV+ ventures Where the Wild Things Are in deal with Maurice Sendak Foundation

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Apple TV+ could create a ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ series. Maybe.
The Maurice Sendak Foundation owned the rights to Where the Wild Things Are. And they just made a deal with Apple TV+.
Photo: The Maurice Sendak Foundation

Apple TV+ and The Maurice Sendak Foundation have teamed up to develop new shows based on the many works of Maurice Sendak, a world-renown author and illustrator of children’s books. Whether this means a series based on Where the Wild Things Are is in the works is anyone’s guess, though.

Give your videos that sweet cinematic bokeh with Focos Live

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Focos Live lets iPhone users film bokeh video.
Don’t wait for the iPhone 12. Focos Live lets iPhone users film bokeh video today.
Photo: Xiaodong Wang/Cult of Mac

iPhones can automatically blur the backgrounds of still images but not video. Enter Focos Live, a recently released application that brings to iPhone video the effect Apple calls Portrait mode (and everyone else calls “bokeh”). The effect gives photographers the ability to unfocus the background to draw attention to what’s going on in the foreground.

Greatness Code proves Apple TV+ is in the relationship business [Apple TV+ review]

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Greatness Code
What is the code for greatness? No one in the documentary series Greatness Code is going to tell you.
Photo: Apple TV+

There’s a reason this review only has one image in it: Apple TV+ doesn’t have any more press pictures for this show. Why? Because why should it? This paper-thin passel of hagiographies isn’t worth promoting.

Greatness Code, which debuts July 10, isn’t a show so much as it’s an investment in the big star athletes being interviewed. To say no to the project would have meant scuttling potential relationships with some of the biggest names in sports. But to admit it’s worth your time seems a bridge too far.

Greyhound is a totally Tom Hanks war movie [Apple TV+ review]

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Greyhound review Apple TV+: Tom Hanks World War II movie: Tom Hanks wrote this nuts-and-bolts movie about naval warfare.
Tom Hanks wrote this nuts-and-bolts movie about naval warfare.
Photo: Apple TV+

Tom Hanks is here to rescue a cargo convoy from the Nazis — and presumably you from your free time. His new movie, Greyhound, is being released straight to Apple TV+ this Friday after COVID-19 scuttled the film’s theatrical release. This means there’s nothing between you and some old-school, flag-waving thrills.

In fact, Greyhound is the very definition of old school. There’s no fuss, no muss: just a man, his crew and some German U-boats hiding out in the gray fog of World War II, ready to pounce on American soldiers.

This tiny 4-port charger pumps 100 watts to all your gear

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Sanho HyperJuice with MacBook, iPad, and more.
Sanho HyperJuice can charge all your Apple gear at once.
Photo: Sanho

Sanho’s HyperJuice wall charger that debuted Monday isn’t much bigger than a credit card but still has room for a pair of USB-C ports that can put out 100W, dual USB-A ports that max out at 18W, and swappable power prongs.

It uses Gallium Nitride (GaN), a new semiconductor material that’s more efficient than traditional silicon used in current chargers. It lets Sanho create this ultra-portable wall charger.

Little Voice has a mechanical heart and an auto-tuned soul [Apple TV+ review]

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Sean Teale and Brittany O'Grady star in the contrived musical romance Little Voice.
Sean Teale and Brittany O'Grady star in musical romance Little Voice.
Photo: Apple TV+

The latest lightweight Apple TV+ crowdpleaser comes from producer J.J. Abrams, songwriter Sara Bareilles and writer Jessie Nelson. Little Voice, which debuts on Apple’s streaming service on July 10, hits every single beat you expect — and none you don’t.

There’s little chance you won’t experience precisely the emotional journey and reaction you’re anticipating just from looking at the show’s promotional materials.

If you wanna watch a scrappy, model-beautiful singer finally find her voice with help from a supportive and kooky family of zany outsiders, and then live her dream of being a star, then yeah, come on in.

Pokémon Go turns 4 today, passes $3.6 billion in player spending

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birthday
Happy birthday, folks!
Photo: Niantic

Pokémon Go turns 4 today and, while it might not be the shiny new toy of the App Store anymore, it’s not showing signs of slowing down, either.

The AR Poké-spotting game just passed $3.6 billion in global player spending, according to leading app analytics platform Sensor Tower. Of that, almost $1.7 billion — or 46.4% of the total revenue — came from the App Store.

These steel-jacketed Lightning and USB-C cables resist fraying and tangling [Deals]

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Evercable: Score the world's strongest phone cable, with 4.3 foot length, fast charging and data-transfer speeds.
Score what just might be the world's strongest phone cable, in either Lightning or USB-C.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Mobile devices depend on Lightning and USB cables to stay charged and synced, so it’s a bummer that those cables are so prone to fraying and breaking. Even in perfect shape, standard Apple cables tend to last just a few months. Not so with these Iron Man-worthy cables from Evercable.

Tom Hanks thinks having his new movie debut on Apple TV+ is an ‘absolute heartbreak’

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Tom Hanks in Greyhound
Hanks talks about his "Apple overlords" in new interview.
Photo: Apple TV+

Tom Hanks made a few not-so-flattering comments about the “Apple overlords” in an interview about his new World War II movie Greyhound. The film, which was originally supposed to launch in theaters, was pulled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, it will premiere on Apple TV+ this Friday.

In an interview with The Guardian, Hanks describes the shift to Apple TV+ as “an absolute heartbreak.” He also spills the beans on one of Apple’s slightly unusual requests for his press interviews.

Online Today at Apple sessions will help develop London-based music artists

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Made in LDN Today at Apple
Apple is helping find the music superstars of tomorrow. (So long as they live in London, that is!)
Photo: Apple

Apple’s “Made in LDN” Today at Apple program will kick off later this month, after Today at Apple sessions were canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the continuing effects of coronavirus, the sessions will take place online, rather than in Apple Stores.

The Made in LDN sessions are aimed at teaching skills to young musical artists, aged 16-25, in London. They will run from July 27 through August 28. Registration kicks off today.

Inside an indie dev’s ‘overnight success’ [Cult of Mac Magazine 356]

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It took 10 years of work to create StaffPad, an iPad music app that won an Apple Design Award.
It took 10 years of work to create StaffPad, the iPad music app that won an Apple Design Award.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

David William Hearn, co-creator of revolutionary iPad music notation app StaffPad, reveals the decade-long quest that earned the app an Apple Design Award.

You’ll find that story, plus the usual roundup of iPhone and Mac news and rumors, in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s packed with Apple how-tos and reviews, too. Download it to read the slick iOS mag on your iPad, or hit the links below to get the stories in your browser.

P.S. Don’t miss our Fourth of July sale in the Cult of Mac Store.

A setup journey of epic magnitude starts with a single step [Setups]

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MacBook Pro Setup
It took three years to assemble this rig.
Photo: @carlosazaustre

It took web designer Carlos Azaustre a span of three years to piece together his setup. Everything was carefully chosen.

To start off, the Madrid-based front-end engineer has the Samsung 34-inch UltraWide Monitor. He previously had a 24-inch FullHD Monitor but after a few years of wear-and-tear he decided it was time to make a change. So he splurged and went with the Samsung UltraWide. He runs his rig off of a 13-inch 2013 MacBook Pro which sits upon an AmazonBasics Laptop Desk Stand.

Apple survey is latest hint that iPhone 12 might not come with charger

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Does anyone really need another iPhone charger?
Many iPhone users already have multiple wall chargers, some still in the wrapping. The iPhone 12 might not include one.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Adding weight to recent reports that the iPhone 12 will ship without a charger in the box, Apple supposedly sent a survey to someone who recently traded in a handset to ask if he’s still using the wall charger. The responses from him and others could help the company decide whether it should leave out this accessory.