Cult of Mac

Even more leaked details give us our best picture yet of all the new features coming to iPhone 11 this fall. Plus, we might get a smaller Apple Pencil this year, and new HomePods and AirPods in 2020.

Get the latest on Apple’s upcoming smartphone (and other big products in the pipeline) in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine.

We’re also serving up tips and how-tos — including one on accessing super-secret Mac settings — as well as new gear reviews and recommendations. Prefer to read in your browser? Get all the week’s best links below.

As we draw nearer to the official release of iOS 13, things are starting to take their final form – as rocky as that may seem at times. One of the more stable, and more useful updates is to the Reminders app on iPhone and iPad.

Reminders was introduced back in iOS 5, and aside from losing some texture in iOS 7,the app has mostly been unchanged. In iOS 13, Apple is finally modernizing and improving on their task and to-do app to make it more functional and more competitive against many third party task managers.

Apple’s facial-recognition system debuted on the iPhone and later expanded to the iPad. It’s high time Apple brought Face ID to the MacBook line, too.

There are people who aren‘t fans of Face ID because they’ve only used it on on iPhone. Don’t fall into that trap. It’s genuinely a better fit for the iPad and even more suited for a MacBook.

This week we rock out with Queens’ Brian May, unsend email with Fastmail, read the news later with Feedbin, and way more.

August 25, 2016: An ultra-rare Apple-1 computer raises $815,000 in a charity auction, one of the highest prices ever paid for one of the machines. Bidding actually reaches $1.2 million in the auction’s final minutes. However, that bid gets pulled seconds before a winner is announced.

The reason for the super-high price? This “Celebration” Apple-1 boasts a feature that did not appear on any production models of the computer.

The Powerstation Hub is a powerbank with an extra trick: wireless charging. There’s no reason to leave the convenience of wireless power at home when you can take it with you anywhere. This accessory also sports USB-C and dual USB-A ports, plus there are built-in AC power prongs for easy recharging.

We kicked the tires on this mobile battery. Come see how it performed in our tests.

Three days of Microsoft Office lessons might not sound exciting, but MS Office is fundamental in almost any professional environment. So the more you learn, the more useful and marketable your skills.

The 2019 iPhone lineup is just weeks away from getting its grand unveiling. And according to recent rumors, it could be a lot more exciting than we first anticipated.

Faster chips and an extra camera sensor may not be the only reasons to upgrade this year. Two-way wireless charging, improved Face ID, and Apple Pencil support could also be on Apple’s list.

Here’s everything we expect from next month’s iPhone refresh.

If you travel for work, you can’t afford to be screwing around with dead batteries or unreliable tech. So we’ve rounded up three of the best power banks from Omni, one of the best companies out there. These run the gamut, flexible power for all your devices to essentially bringing a wall outlet in your bag. Read on for more details:

Carrying essential accessories with you wherever you go can be a nightmare. Your wires can get tangled, your AirPods can get lost, and your Apple Pencil can end up in more than one piece. That’s why you need the Bento Stack.

This compact, multi-compartment storage solution keeps more than 10 must-have accessories neatly organized when you’re on the road. It’s a must-have if you’re a frequent traveler.

Apple and Disney are launching streaming video services this fall. Despite these being rivals, Apple will make money off both. There will be Disney+ apps for iOS and Apple TV, and consumers will be able to subscribe with in-app purchases, which means Apple gets a hefty cut of the revenue.

Plus, Star Wars fans can be assured they’ll be able to watch The Mandalorian when it debuts Nov. 12 with their iPad or other Apple computer.

Did you know that Home Depot shares your “name, address and transactional information … with third party companies”? Or that Marriott Hotels discloses “Personal Data and Other Data with select Strategic Business Partners”?

What about this snippet from The New York Times’ privacy policy: “If you are a U.S. print subscriber, we may exchange or rent your name and postal mailing address.”

The bad news is, pretty much anytime you share your data with a U.S. company, it will sell that data to somebody else. The good news is that you can opt out. And the even better news is that there’s one place to get all the information you need to do it.

The first Apple Watch with 4G cellular-wireless networking came out years ago, and design work for a 5G version is already going on.

Such a wearable will offer faster data transfer speeds, as well as quicker connections.

Use the image of an apple in a logo and the tech company Apple calls its patent attorneys.

Now Apple finds itself on the other side of a design patent question with the logo for the upcoming series The Morning Show, which looks strikingly similar to the logo for Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.

Apple has laid off the contractors whose job it was to listen to Siri recordings to improve the quality of Apple’s voice assistant.

Contractors in Ireland had their fixed term contracts “abruptly terminated” this week. This followed Apple suspending the practice last month. During each shift, employees supposedly listened to 1,000 Siri recordings.

HomePod is now on sale in Japan and Taiwan for the first time.

The smart speaker can be purchased from Apple Stores, the Apple Online Store, and from select cellphone retailers.

Traveling carries a lot of expenses and logistical challenges. One of the biggest is keeping our phones connected in places where our usual call and data plans don’t reach.

Apple is developing rooftop solar arrays with a company best known for making soy sauce, a new report claims.

The Cupertino company has supposedly teamed up with Taiwan’s Wan Ja Shan Brewery Co. as part of its continued push to use renewable energy.

The Fortnite B.R.U.T.E. almost every player hates finally saw massive nerfs this week.

The mech now fires fewer rockets, deals less damage, and takes longer to cool down after boosting. Epic Games has also made it so that materials are no longer granted to B.R.U.T.E. riders.

Tim Cook has tweeted his condolences following the death of EU data protection regulator Giovanni Buttarelli. Buttarelli passed away on August 20 at the age of 62.

In a recent tweet, Cook described himself as “heartbroken by the loss of my friend.” He credited Buttarelli with advancing “the cause of privacy in Europe and around the world.”

A photo of what might be Apple Watch Series 5 appeared on Instagram this week.

The device looks just like a current model at first glance. But the model number displayed on its screen suggests it is actually Apple’s next-generation wearable.

Apple has launched a new beta version of its iCloud web portal. It includes a new background, revamped Reminders app, and new launch screen.

The change ditches the bubble-filled blue backdrop the iCloud web portal had before. Instead, there’s now a simple minimalist white background.

The average iPhone has been active for 18 months, a new report from Strategy Analytics suggests. That compares to 16.5 months for Samsung handsets.

Overall, it seems that people are upgrading their phones at a slower rate. That’s reportedly as a result of “diminishing innovation,” which provides less of a reason to do so. It also likely has a whole lot to do with increased prices.

The Shield charging cable from Fuse Chicken is literally wearing stainless steel chainmail. It seems designed to survive battle with orcs, or at least the dangers it might run into on a job site. Amazingly enough, this company’s Titan cable is even more rugged, being wrapped in two layers of flexible steel.

There are Lighting and USB-C versions of both, and we took them into battle to test their mettle. Actually, we towed a car with one, and hit the other with a hammer. Read on to see how they survived.

The just-announced Bose Portable Home Speaker isn’t an everyday Bluetooth device. It also has Wi-Fi and, even better, supports AirPlay 2, making it cooperate much more closely with Apple devices.

This speaker offers 360 degree sound, and is designed for portability, with a built-in handle.