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Sophie tangles with evil British aristocracy in Surface season 2 [Apple TV+ trailer]

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Surface season 2 trailer
Still searching for clues to her forgotten life, Sophie stumbles upon a scandal in British high society.
Photo: Apple TV+

In Surface season 2, amnesiac Sophie enters a whole new world in London on her search for lost memories. But she ends up embroiled in a British aristocratic scandal, tangling with people far more dangerous than they seem on the, er, surface, according the new trailer Apple TV+ dropped Monday.

The psychological thriller returns for its eight-episode second season on Apple TV+ Friday, February 21.

Don’t miss your chance to get AirPods Pro 2 at a huge discount

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AirPods Pro 2 in hand with case opened
Save big on the AirPods Pro 2.
Source: Unsplash

AirPods Pro 2 are — hands down — the best earbuds for iPhone users. They offer high-quality audio while also seamlessly switching between Apple devices as needed. And AirPods sales from multiple retailers mean you can pick up a pair at a sweet 32% off.

And there are more sweet discounts, including AirPods 4 at up to 22% off, and AirPods Max at up to 13% off.

As breaches rise, Surfshark Alert with free Data Leak Checker can help

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Surfshark Alert with Data Leak Checker
Now you can easily find out if your personal information appeared in a data breach.
Photo: Surfshark

With high-profile data breaches on the rise, the digital landscape becomes increasingly treacherous for both individuals and organizations. Fortunately, tools like Surfshark Alert’s free Data Leak Checker can protect your precious personal information.

Surfshark products offer advanced levels of protection against growing online threats. And right now, you can lock in security for less with a great deal on Surfshark One+, a top-of-the-line package that adds an easy-to-use tool for removing your compromised data from the internet.

Today in Apple history: iPhone comes to Verizon at last

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Four years of AT&T exclusivity on iPhone finally comes to an end.
Four years of AT&T exclusivity on iPhone finally comes to an end.
Photo: Jon Fingas/Flickr CC

February 3: Today in Apple history: iPhone comes to Verizon at last February 3, 2011: The iPhone finally arrives on Verizon Wireless, the United States’ largest carrier, ending nearly four years of exclusivity with AT&T.

The move comes as Apple faces pressure to expand its customer base as Android phones grow in popularity. The deal commences with the iPhone 4 available for preorder by Verizon’s 93 million customers.

Software sharpens text on MacBook Pro rig’s external 4K display [Setups]

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Thunderbolt monitor
This MacBook setup uses BetterDisplay to make text as crisp as possible on the BenQ external display.
Photo: [email protected]

What do you think, does today’s featured setup photograph, above, look the product of artificial intelligence? Something too neat and maybe a little off about it? Lots of people thought so. But the user insists only the desktop wallpaper showing on the Thunderbolt monitor is AI-generated. And the MacBook Pro user finds BetterDisplay sharpens text on his external display, a 32-inch BenQ 4K screen.

Get to know Kendrick Lamar before his Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show

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Kendrick Lamar Road to Halftime
Apple offers many ways to get ready not for the game but for the halftime show with hip hop star Kendrick Lamar.
Photo: Apple Music

With hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar taking center stage at the Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show on February 9 at New Orleans, Apple kicked off the artist’s Road to Halftime festivities Monday.

“Throughout his career, Kendrick Lamar hasn’t met the cultural moment so much as he’s defined it,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s global head of content and editorial. “He is an artist’s artist — authentic to his core. We couldn’t be more thrilled to watch him headline the third Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, in what’s sure to be another moment we’ll all be talking about for decades.”

Apple to drop multiyear AppleCare+ plans from retail stores

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AppleCare+ coverage for Apple products
AppleCare+ payment options will get a small but important tweak.
Photo: Apple

Apple reportedly will make a small change to AppleCare+ payments next week. Customers will no longer have the option to prepay for two or three years of AppleCare+ coverage at retail stores.

Instead, they can only purchase AppleCare+ annually or monthly through Apple Stores. The multiyear subscription plan is not going away, though.

Today in Apple history: Gil Amelio takes over as CEO

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Bringing on Gil Amelio was viewed as a big coup for the Apple board.
Many viewed new CEO Gil Amelio as the man to save Apple.
Photo: Apple

February 2: Today in Apple history: Gil Amelio takes over as Apple CEO February 2, 1996: Apple reveals that turnaround artist Gil Amelio will take over from Michael “The Diesel” Spindler as CEO of the struggling company.

With disappointing Mac sales, the disastrous “clone Mac” strategy and a failed Sun Microsystems merger to his name, Spindler is asked to resign by the Apple board. Then Cupertino enlists supposed corporate miracle worker Amelio for the job.

Unfortunately, he turns out to be no better than Spindler.

Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds with heart-rate monitoring reportedly launch Feb. 11

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Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 coming in 2025
MLB star Shohei Ohtani wears the upcoming Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds during batting practice. You can wear them soon.
Photo: Beats

After months of teasing glimpses of Powerbeats Pro 2, the fitness-oriented wireless earbuds will launch next week, if a report from a generally reliable source proves accurate. The updated earbuds reportedly will mark a significant milestone for Apple — its first earbuds with built-in heart-rate monitoring. If you’re planning to use these earbuds with an Android device, you might find this guide on how to pair Powerbeats Pro to Android helpful.

This comes as Apple continues to expand its ecosystem, including new developments like Beats Fit Pro 2 that enhance user experience across devices.

Apple iCloud-based event planning service could launch this week

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iCloud Passwords land on Windows
A new iCloud service could make organizing events and parties easier.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly launching an iCloud-powered events and invite service called “Confetti” inside the company as soon as this week. The feature will enable users to invite their friends and families to upcoming parties and functions.

The move is part of Apple’s plan to revamp its Calendar app.

Bad news for Apple AR glasses, good news for CarPlay and Siri [The CultCast]

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AI-generated image of AR glasses with the word
Another big Apple project bites the dust.
AI image: Midjourney/Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple pulls the plug on a secret AR glasses project. What does this mean for Vision Pro?

Also on The CultCast:

  • Erfon discusses the pros and cons of the 13-inch iPad Pro.
  • Apple’s latest earnings call yields some astonishing factoids.
  • Apple still plans to fix Siri — and to roll out the delayed CarPlay 2.
  • We end with a laugh at one of the craziest iPhone cases we’ve ever seen.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Today in Apple history: Stephen Colbert shows off iPad early at Grammys

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Stephen Colbert shows off a prerelease iPad during the Grammy Awards show.
Jay-Z didn't get one of these in his gift bag.
Photo: Grammys

February 1: Today in Apple history: Stephen Colbert shows off iPad early at the Grammys February 1, 2010: The tech-loving world goes into meltdown at the sight of comedian Stephen Colbert using a prerelease iPad to read nominations during the Grammy Awards show.

“Jay-Z, did you not get one of these in your gift bag?” Colbert quips from the stage. “Am I cooler than you?”

The celebrity sneak peek is all part of Apple’s big (and wildly successful) plan to hype its upcoming tablet.

How to find your lost iPhone using Find My (and Apple Watch)

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Find My iPhone
One of the best iPhone features.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Find My iPhone, a feature available in Apple’s Find My app, will help you locate your lost phone. You can find it using any other Apple device you own or by borrowing a friend’s device. You can even ping your iPhone from your Apple Watch.

From Find My, you can also remotely lock down your lost iPhone, put the device into a special Lost Mode, or even wipe its contents. You should take a peek at this incredibly useful app before you have to.

Keep reading or watch our video.

Apple kills AR glasses project to focus on Vision Pro’s future

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Apple kills AR glasses project
Suddenly, Apple's AR glasses project goes the way of Apple Car.
Photo: Jon Prosser/Front Page Tech

In a significant shift in its augmented reality strategy, Apple suddenly discontinued development of its lightweight AR glasses project this week, according to a new report Friday. This marks another adjustment in the company’s pursuit of mainstream wearable technology. The project, known internally as N107, aimed to create normal-looking glasses with built-in displays that would connect to Mac computers.

Control your Apple TV from your iPhone or Apple Watch

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You won’t lose this remote
The Apple TV remote is easy to lose, but it’s harder to lose your phone — much less the Apple Watch strapped to your arm.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

You can use your iPhone (or even your Apple Watch!) as a remote for your Apple TV. It’s a convenient feature when you’ve lost the remote in the couch cushions. (You can use your iPhone to help find it as well.)

Even if your remote’s not gone missing, sometimes it’s sitting on the table way over there and you don’t want to interrupt a show by asking for someone to pass it to you. Or maybe, someone is intentionally hogging the remote and you want to pause the video yourself. Either way, it’s really easy to do from an iPhone or an Apple Watch.

Snag an M3 Pro or Max MacBook Pro for up to $1,200 off

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huge deals on M3 MacBook Pro models
You can pay $500, $700 and even $1,200 off regular prices for high-spec M3 MacBook Pro models.
Photo: Apple

Good thing come to those who wait for lower-priced Apple gear — this time in the form of M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro models for hundreds off normal prices. B&H Photo marked down prices a mile — even up to $1,200 off a high-spec model. So unless you feel like you simply must have the latest M4, here’s your chance to bag a blazing-fast, highly useful MacBook at a great price.

Today in Apple history: Mac clone-maker closes shop

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Power Computing clone Macs sounded like a good idea at first.
Mac clones did not pan out for Power Computing.
Photo: Antnik

January 31: Today in Apple history: Mac clone-maker Power Computing closes shop January 31, 1998: Mac clone-maker Power Computing goes out of business, having auctioned off its office supplies and computers.

Apple bought out Power Computing, once the fastest-growing PC company of the decade, the previous year. As a result, Power Computing shareholders receive Apple stock as a replacement. As it turns out, that may not have been a terrible deal.

New CalDigit hub sports more Thunderbolt 5 ports than any rival

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CalDigit Element 5 Hub with Thunderbolt 5
The CalDigit Element 5 Hub won’t crowd your desk but offers multiple Thunderbolt 5 ports.
Photo: CalDigit

The CalDigit Element 5 Hub includes four Thunderbolt 5 ports. That puts it ahead of all directly competing hubs, as these include only three ports with the latest super-fast networking standard.

And that’s not all. CalDigit’s latest includes nine ports in total, and offers up to 90W of power.

Vision Pro keeps making the health care cut for surgery and other uses

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Vision Pro for surgery and other medical uses
Vision Pro can replace lots of expensive screens in surgery and elsewhere in healthcare.
Photo: Sharp HealthCare

Health care leaders from 10 countries gathered in San Diego Thursday to explore Apple’s Vision Pro for surgery and other medical uses, and especially how it can further transform medical procedures and patient care, according to a new report.

The 300-person summit, hosted by Sharp HealthCare, marks another milestone in the device’s adoption by medical institutions since its 2024 launch, almost exactly a year ago. While broader public discussion of the headset tends to pine for a cheaper version, health care pros seem over the moon about how cheap $3,500 per unit is compared to their usual gear.

Severance boldly sends Mark S. back to his Lumon beginnings [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Severance s2 ep 3 recap - Scott-Lower with Mrs. Casey missing poster★★★★
Lumon's Mrs. Casey, seemingly also Mark S.'s dearly departed wife, Gemma, appears to be missing.
Photo: Apple TV+

In our Severance season 2 episode 3 recap, I confess I felt my patience with the endlessly weird show might expire, as yet another maybe-just-weird-for-weird’s-sake thing happened. But then an intriguing puzzle piece appeared, dangled like a treat, and my rising impatience fell away. For now. In a good puzzle-box show, that’s how it works.

Last week’s episode 2 showed what it took, from outies’ perspectives, for Mr. Milchick, Helena Eagan and others to get the innie Macrodata Refinement crew back to work after the Overtime Contingency allowed them temporary freedom. This week’s episode goes further down innie rabbit holes, slowly luring us toward who the hell knows what. But at least there are a lot more goats, and an improved-yet-still-dangerous outlaw reintegration procedure might be outie Mark S’s path to cracking Lumon’s mysteries and finding his wife.

In other words, the whole season’s story arc became more clear in this episode.

Apple Intelligence to gain support for these languages in April

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Apple Intelligence on Mac, iPad and iPhone
Apple Intelligence will soon get a major international expansion.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s rollout of Apple Intelligence has been slow. The AI suite debuted with iOS 18.1 but initially launched in only a limited number of markets and languages.

Since then, the company has expanded support to more regions and languages, but there is still significant ground to cover. This April, the company will further accelerate its efforts and expand Apple Intelligence’s availability to more languages.

Mind-melting stats from Apple’s profitable earnings call

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AI-generated image of Apple logo apparently made of silver-colored liquid metal, with the words
Some of Apple's impressive numbers are so large, it's hard to wrap your head around them.
AI image: Midjourney/Cult of Mac

We went through Apple CEO Tim Cook’s earnings call with investors on Thursday, and found some genuine surprises during the discussion of the financial results of the holiday 2024 quarter. We also turned up impressive figures showing just how well the company is doing.

Financial details don’t have to be boring. Here are the high points from the call as quickly and as interesting as we can make them.

Apple smashes its all-time revenue record

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An AI-generated image with a gold Apple logo sitting atop a pile of American money, with the words
Apple squeaks past Wall Street estimates by delivering "all-time records for total company revenue and EPS."
AI image: Midjourney/Cult of Mac

Wall Street analysts set an ambitious goal for Apple to beat by predicting the iPhone maker’s revenue had increased 4% during the critical holiday shopping season. No problem — Apple met or exceeded those expectations.

“Today Apple is reporting our best quarter ever, with revenue of $124.3 billion, up 4 percent from a year ago,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We were thrilled to bring customers our best-ever lineup of products and services during the holiday season.” Meanwhile, Apple Watch news has been making headlines, highlighting significant shifts in market trends. 

Price drop: 1TB flash drive connects via USB-C and USB-A

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A product shot of a 1TB USB-C and USB-A flash drive.
Save 29% on this flash drive with USB-C and USB-A interfaces.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Efficiency and convenience are essential, and a tool like this ginormous 1TB USB-C and USB-A 3.2 flash drive offers both. It’s versatile enough to work with a wide array of devices. And although it’s tiny enough to put in your pocket, it offers plenty of backup space.

Even better, this 1TB USB-C flash drive is on sale for just $69.97 (regularly $109.99) for a limited time.

Apple Hearing Study: The whole country gets louder on Super Bowl Sunday

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Super Bowl noise
You don't need to be at the big game to suffer excess noise exposure.
Photo: Pixlr Image Generator

Noise on Super Bowl Sunday (February 9 this year) increases throughout the United States, almost everywhere, according to new Apple Hearing Study research findings this week from Apple and the University of Michigan.

The findings highlight the importance of being mindful about noise exposure during major sporting events, even when watching from home. Even those not at the big game get exposed to higher levels of noise, often for several hours, and all the more so at boisterous public viewings in bars or at parties. And that could factor into hearing loss for some, researchers indicated.