Luke Miani isn’t afraid to take a header when it comes to buying used Macs on eBay. He’ll scoop up piles of Apple laptops in various states of disrepair, then swap out parts or fix them up as needed. His ultimate goal? Scoring a sweet deal — and dishing out some serious knowledge.

Miani dutifully documents his eBay adventures, then shares the fruits of his labor with a growing audience on YouTube. We talked with Miani about his operation, and you can get the scoop in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Also inside: All the latest Apple news, plus helpful how-tos for iPhone, iPad and AirPods Pro owners.

Upgrading your Mac doesn’t have to mean downgrading your bank account. These four Mac utility apps are among the best you can get, and right now you can grab each one for less than $20. Whether you want powerful dictation software, a superior iTunes alternative, an iPhone ringtone creator or a YouTube video downloader/converter, these great Mac apps deliver the goods — at big discounts!

Apple is testing an iOS fix for Location Services that will potentially allay any privacy concerns among iPhone 11 users.

Apple makes privacy part of its brand yet found itself answering questions when a security news site in December discovered the iPhone 11 Pro continued to track user location even after all Location Services toggles were switched off.

The world views video gamers as couch potatoes who spend countless hours in front of the TV, and that may be true, for the most part. But there are some spectacular exceptions to the rule.

Tommy Monkhouse credits Pokémon Go for changing his life in a big way by helping him lose a whopping 140 pounds in just one year simply by walking.

Twelve South’s terrific AirFly Classic adapter lets you connect your beloved AirPods to almost anything. And you can bag yours today at 33% off the usual price through the Cult of Mac Store.

This sale ends Sunday, January 19, so enjoy it while you can!

Philip Lee makes toys that disrupt our logic boards with mushy feelings.

The Hong Kong designer, known for his cute Classicbots line inspired by classic Macs, will launch two new toys this year that should bring a twinkle to the Apple of your eye.

Meryl Streep, the greatest actress of her generation, is finally teaming up with Apple.

Apple revealed today that Streep will lend her vocal talents to the company’s animated Earth Day short film, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth. The roster also includes vocal performances by Chris O’Dowd, Jacob Tremblay, and Ruth Negga.

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.