Cult of Mac

If you have a pair of AirPods Pro, then you know all about noise cancellation. That’s kind of the whole point of Apple’s top-tier AirPods, from the noise-sealing silicone tips to the software Ear Tip Fit Test. You probably also know that you can deactivate noise cancellation, and even quick-switch modes by squeezing the shaft of one of the earbuds.

But what if you never want to disable the excellent active noise cancellation on your AirPods Pro? Maybe you keep accidentally deactivating the feature (like I do). Today we’ll see how to switch off the shaft-squeezing shortcuts — and how to access them from your iPhone’s lock screen instead.

Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus is coming to Apple TV+.

The Veep alum signed her first-ever multiyear content deal, which will see the actress both develop and star in TV shows and other content exclusively for the iPhone-maker.

A princess must be quick and clever to rescue a prince in Kings of the Castle, the latest addition to Apple Arcade. This game is all about speed, as players hastily collect gems and avoid traps.

The developer, Frosty Pop, is a big supporter of Apple’s new gaming service. This is its fifth contribution.

Imagine an organization that’s loved by its devoted, cultlike followers, but despised by haters. The close working relationship between its mercurial leader and one of the greatest talents in the field led to an unprecedented run of success. Even the occasional “-gate” style controversy failed to dent its success. But despite all this, analysts still question its long-term viability.

I’m referring, of course, to the New England Patriots. They may not be in the NFL playoffs this year, but people just can’t stop talking about the Pats. Kinda like the way everyone talked about Apple at CES last week, even though it barely attended.

Love them or hate them, the Patriots are the Apple of football.

Ever wondered what it would look like if you combined every default macOS wallpaper, since Apple switched to OS X, into one single image? No? Well, one Apple super fan has done it anyway.

And the results look kind of like a trippy progressive rock/heavy metal album cover.

Video games have come a long way in the last 30 years, but nothing beats the classics. Unfortunately, there’s not much opportunity to play them anymore. But like all things these days, you can find them on your phone — if you get this incredible power bank that doubles as a retro gaming console.

This week on The CultCast: Apple is working on a way to make your existing MacBook Pro far more powerful — we’ll tell you everything we know. Plus: Get your wallet ready … the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro you’ve been waiting for is (probably) right around the corner. And we’ll tell you why Apple might soon be forced to ditch Lightning in iPhones and iPads.

And stick around for our spoiler-free review of the full first season of See!

Out thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast, and use offer code CultCast at checkout for 10% off your first purchase.

Tile, a startup that makes location-aware tracking tags, will testify against Apple in a congressional antitrust hearing today.

Apple and Tile previously enjoyed a good relationship. Apple sold Tile products in its stores starting in 2015. However, last year, Apple stopped selling Tile products. It also hired away one of its engineers — with all signs pointing to Apple having developed its own rival product.

Police have arrested three people in Hong Kong after discovering a massive shipment of undeclared iPhones, Apple Watches, iPads, and assorted luxury items. The suspected smugglers were attempting to sneak the products into China to avoid paying tax on imports.

The South China Morning Post describes it as one of the “biggest hauls of electronic goods” in Hong Kong history. The total value of the tech products was $1 million. Other smuggled goods, including tech components and edible bird’s nests, were worth an extra $2.2 million.

After a draught of new content on Apple TV+ over the holidays, the streaming service got 5 hours and 15 minutes of new shows to watch this week. Apple debuted all 8 episodes of its Apple Originals series Little America.

The critically acclaimed anthology series tells true stories of immigrants in America. It was developed by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, writers of The Big Sick, and former US Office writer and producer, Lee Eisenberg.

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock will employ a distinctly different pricing strategy than Apple TV+, Netflix and other competitors. It’ll be free, but with advertisements.

Those willing to pay will have access to additional content, however.

The 5G iPhone coming this fall is widely expected to be a huge windfall for Apple. But this handset might then turn around and hurt the company next year, according to a pair of market analysts.

And their prediction is equally bad news for those planning to upgrade to the 5G iPhone.

As of iOS 13, you can have your iPhone read out incoming iMessages through your AirPods. And this — along with their awesome sound and noise-canceling abilities — is my favorite feature of the AirPods Pro. On paper, it’s a small feature in a long list. But in everyday use, Announce Messages with Siri makes a huge difference in how I use my iPhone.

Apple original movie The Banker will hit theaters and Apple TV+ this March following a delay, the company confirmed to Cult of Mac.

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, the film tells the fascinating true story of Bernard Garrett Sr. and Joe Morris, two African Americans who built up a successful banking business in the 1950s and ’60s.

The Banker’s release was put on hold last November so that Apple could investigate allegations made against one of its producers.

Apple is expected to deliver at least one iPhone model without a Lightning connector next year, according to a new Barclays report.

The device won’t make the switch to USB-C, as previous rumors have predicted. It is instead expected to rely solely on wireless connectivity options for both charging and data transfer.

Barclays analysts also believe that this year’s iPhone refresh will bring an improved TrueDepth camera system that could mean even better Face ID.

If you own a 2018 iPad Pro, you probably also bought Apple’s USB-C-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter, just so you can plug headphones into your $1,000-plus computer. But what if you want to do something totally crazy like, I don’t know, listen to music and charge the iPad at the same time? Or, given that this a pro machine, maybe you want to hook up a MIDI piano keyboard, or other gear, and use headphones at the same time?

Tough luck, right? No! If you have any old USB-C hub or dock, you can plug Apple’s cheap little dongle into the hub itself. Check it out.

Apple’s 1-for-1 donation matching program, and paying employees for time spent volunteering, resulted in $100 million going to charities last year, the company said.

And it’s not only developers helping kids learn to code. There’s also a barbershop for the homeless run by an Apple employee.

Apple is deepening its partnership with the NBA by teaming up to launch a global playlist on Apple Music to highlight independent hip-hop artists.

The new playlist, dubbed “BASE:LINE” (get it? Cause there’s a baseline in rap songs and on the basketball court), will be curated by Apple Music’s director of hip-hop and R&B Ebro Darden. New artists and songs will be added to the playlist every Thursday with the first edition being made available today.

Apple sold almost 60 million AirPods wireless headphones in 2019, according to a market-analysts firm. That’s a dramatic increase from the 35 million the company is estimated to have sold the year before.

And Apple took the lion’s share of 2019 sales of totally wireless (TWS) headsets.

Revelations that the FBI has access to a tool that can unlock data on secure iPhones are raising questions as to why the agency is demanding Apple help to create a “backdoor” to recover data on the iPhones of a Florida shooting suspect.

Apple is among the companies which want to stop so-called patent trolls from stifling innovation with their claims.

A patent troll, for those unfamiliar with it, is a person or company that holds patent portfolios but does not actually make any products. Instead, they earn their money by licensing out the technology — or suing companies which use it unlawfully. And Apple and 34 other multinationals — including Microsoft and BMW — are none-too-happy about them.

Eating is easy, but eating right can be pretty hard. There’s temptation and misinformation everywhere, so it’s important to have a trusty guide that also can keep you honest and on track. That’s just what this daily diet assistant offers.

When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), Apple wants to have its cake and eat it, too. That is to say that it wants cutting edge data-driven machine learning on its devices, without violating its own user privacy pledge.

And you know what? It’s managing to pull it off — as the company’s latest AI startup acquisition underlines.

The Cult of Mac Store’s big January sale is still under way, with sweet discounts on some of the best Apple Watch accessories. Choose anything from our entire lineup of stunning Strapa bands today and save 15% before this discount disappears on January 17.

And enjoy free standard shipping on orders over $100!

What do you get when you’ve been at Apple for five years — aside from a (hopefully nice) paycheck and the knowledge that you’re valued enough by the world’s biggest tech company that they want to keep you around for half a decade?

The answer: A nifty five years plaque you can hang up on your wall, signed by none other than CEO Tim Cook.