Hot dang, Apple’s still got it. The new AirPods Pro are fantastic.

They’re truly great headphones, and every major new feature improves on the old AirPods in big and significant ways.

• The sound is fantastic — a big upgrade.
• Their active noise cancellation is as good as Bose and Sony headphones (and maybe even better). Finally, you can use AirPods on airplanes.
• Transparency mode is weird magic.
• Best of all are the new Force Sensor touch controls, which take a minute to get used to but are way better than tapping. They’re my favorite new feature, and I burst out laughing with delight when I got the hang of it.

I freakin’ love the new AirPods Pro!

Huawei has often been guilty of introducing products “inspired” by Apple designers, and it’s apparently doing so again with an upcoming tablet. Leaked images of the Huawei MatePad Pro show it looks almost exactly like an iPad Pro. Even the name is copied.

This personal finance app post is presented by Dashlane.

Is this the year you pledged to get your financial life in order like a properly functioning adult? If so, there’s still time. Or, you can start laying the groundwork for a 2020 New Year’s resolution that will stick.

Whether you need help saving, budgeting, paying bills, tracking expenses, investing or all of the above, there’s a free personal finance Mac app for that. Some of our favorites are below. And you can use any or all of them more securely, keeping sensitive financial data and logins safe, if you try them in concert with Dashlane, the official password manager of Cult of Mac.

Lusting after Apple’s brilliant new AirPods Pro? Sell your old ones to Cult of Mac today and that sweet, sweet upgrade will be more affordable than you think.

We buy original and second-generation AirPods and make the whole process quick and easy. We also cough up real cash, so you can spend it anywhere you like.

Adonit Note+ is a pressure-sensitive iPad stylus that stands up well in a head-to-head competition with Apple Pencil, and even beats it in some areas. It offers tilt detection and pressure sensitivity, as well as shortcut buttons. All at a price definitely lower than Apple’s stylus.

We used this Apple Pencil alternative for both writing and drawing — read our Adonit Note+ review to see how it handles in real-world use.

Adobe’s massive catalog of fonts is now available on iOS for the first time. You can use them inside any app that supports custom font APIs — so long as you’re running iOS 13.1.

Get started by downloading the Creative Cloud app today.

Two just-released Apple Arcade titles demonstrate the wide variety offerings in this gaming service. The Mosaic is about escaping the dreadful loneliness of modern life, while Monomals features silly animal DJs having a music contest.

Apple also added three other titles to its service, two of which are platformers.

Question: How do you get billboards for a new product up as quickly as possible after launch, without spoiling Apple’s perfectly orchestrated unveiling? Answer: You put up the billboard, then add the product afterward.

If that sounds like way too much effort, we’re guessing you won’t be hearing back from Apple about your marketing job application anytime soon.

Google has confirmed plans to buy Fitbit as it looks to step up its fight against Apple Watch. The deal, worth approximately $2.1 billion, will bring new Made by Google wearables to market.

“Together, we aim to spur innovation in wearables and build helpful products to benefit more people around the world,” Google said.

Apple TV+ launched this morning. Costing $4.99 per month (or free to anyone who buys a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac), the subscription service brings Apple’s eagerly anticipated original TV shows to anyone who wants to watch them.

But what exactly does the service feature so far? And what’s the timeline for the release of Apple’s other shows? Check out our rundown.

Reading is the road to greater understanding of the world and ourselves. For many of us, though, it can be a slower road than we’d like. But reading is a skill like any other, so you can improve with practice and guidance. That’s just what this bundle of six speed-reading courses offers.

Mario Kart Tour on mobile will finally get its much-anticipated multiplayer mode next month. It will initially arrive in beta, giving players the opportunity to compete online for the first time.

But there’s a catch. You can’t enjoy the beta unless you’re coughing up for the game’s Gold Pass.

This week on The CultCast: AirPod Pros! You want them, we got them. We’ll tell you what’s new, what’s good, what’s not, and how they compare to the regular AirPods. We’ve got lots to say…. Plus: The first Apple TV+ reviews are trickling in, and, well … they’re not great.

Our thanks to Belkin for supporting this episode. Belkin cables are built to last and supported with a five-year warranty. If you’re tired of broken, burned-out cables, switch to Belkin, and save 30% off your order with code CultCast at checkout.

Apple has upgraded five executives to Vice President status. This includes one returning early iPhone executive, a report from Bloomberg notes.

Paul Meade is the new VP of hardware engineering, Jon Andrews is now VP of software engineering, Gary Geaves is VP of acoustics, and Kaiann Drance is VP of marketing. Apple has also brought back Bob Borchers, who has been named VP of product marketing.

Apple TV+ is here, and anyone can test it out for a week for free. After that, the $5-per-month charge will be billed automatically, just like any other Apple subscription you may have. Unless, of course, you get to watch Apple TV+ for free. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Apple’s new TV subscription service is pitched as a rival to Netflix, Amazon Prime and so on. It works on Apple devices. Plus, you can watch Apple TV+ on Samsung TVs, Roku boxes and in pretty much any web browser. Signing up is absurdly easy, but a few tips will help you get the most out of the service.

Apple TV+ service launched this morning. And, with it, The Morning Show, Apple’s star-studded drama about the goings-on at a morning news show.

It stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell. With that cast, it’s an illustration of the ambitions Apple has for creating top-tier entertainment for its streaming show. But is it any good? Here’s what I made of the first episode.

Everyone who was busy ogling the “cheesegrater” design of the 2019 Mac Pro can be forgiven for not paying attention to the keyboard. But Apple is prepping multiple keyboards that match the silver-and-black look of this powerful desktop.

An image of one of these not publicly seen before has come to light.

Apple’s two largest competitors enjoyed growth in smartphone sales last quarter, with both Samsung and Huawei up. iPhone sales dropped, however.

The market analysts at Canalys credited the decline to weak demand for the 2018 iPhone models as customers anticipated Apple’s 2019 offerings.

Why am I returning my AirPods Pro just a day after receiving them? If the AirPods Pro don’t fit in your ears, then tough. There’s pretty much nothing you can do about it short of returning them to Apple.

However, if you’re prepared to wait, there might be some hope.

Just in time for Halloween, Apple TV+ is serving up two new teasers of its mysterious new series called Servant.

Created by M. Night Shyamalan, Servant follows a married couple who cope with the loss of their child by buying a therapy doll. Details on the show are being kept under wraps, including Rupert Grint’s enigmatic character Julian Pierce. Judging from the trailers and teasers we’ve seen so far though, a lot of weird stuff is about to go down.

This series looks creepy asf:

Despite being named Donald Trump’s cybersecurity expert in 2017, Rudy Giuliani is so clueless about tech, he had to go to the Apple Store genius bar for help unlocking his iPhone.

Leaked internal documents from Apple reveal that just a few weeks after being tapped as Trump’s top cyber guy, Giuliani waited in front of a San Francisco Apple store with a very pressing issue: he had forgotten his passcode and couldn’t unlock his iPhone.

This post on VPNs for Mac is brought to you by VPNOverview.

Many advanced Windows users have been using VPNs for various reasons for years. However, not many people are aware that VPNs can be just as beneficial for Mac owners. There is a misconception that Macs do not get viruses, and that you are completely safe browsing the web if you do it on a Mac. Apple products are better at defending against attack — and are less frequently targeted by malware. But that does not mean VPNs aren’t useful for Apple computers. In fact, VPNs for Mac are just as effective as they are for Windows systems.

It has taken me just over a day to realize AirPods Pro are the best accessory I’ve ever purchased from Apple. They sound terrific, work exceptionally well with other Apple products, and feel great.

They might be pricier than their siblings at $249. But with new features like active noise cancellation and Transparency mode, they’re worth every penny.

Here’s our full review of AirPods Pro.

If you ever sat with a pair of earbuds, and a handful of interchangeable silicone tips, and felt a sense of apathy and confusion creep over you, then you’re going to love the new AirPods Pro Ear Tip Fit Test. This clever new feature uses the AirPods Pro’s own microphones to test how well the variously sized silicone tips fit in your ears.

It works really well. The only problem is, the results could be bad news.

Now that the iPhone 11 line brings an ultra-wide camera to the bump, there is some question on what to do with an extra-wide lens attachment you may have purchased from brands like Moment, Sandmarc or olloclip.

The short answer: Use it. For now, it’s the better option.