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Price drops on wireless chargers, meditation apps and more [Deals]

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Price Drop Roundup (1)
We've rounded up some of the best, extra-discounted gear and apps in the Cult of Mac Store.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The Cult of Mac Store is always a place to find deals on gear and apps. But some deals are better than others, like these price drops on AirPods and iTunes alternatives, meditation apps and a three-in-one wireless charging pad.

Most are discounted by 75% or more!

MLB stadium installs vending machines with portable iPhone chargers

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Hoplite Power portable charger on iPhone
Hoplite Power now has vending machines with portable phone chargers in Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
Photo: Hoplite

You’re at Citi Field watching the New York Mets struggle. To make matters worse, you can’t distract yourself with your iPhone because the battery’s dead.

Fortunately, the Mets this season can solve one of those problems. Citi Field installed vending machines that dispense mobile phone chargers for a fee cheaper than a beer sold at the ballpark.

Want to keep playing Fortnite on mobile? Don’t install iOS 13

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Fortnite mobile controller
You can now play at 120Hz on iPad Pro.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you want to continue to enjoy Fortnite on your iPhone and iPad, you should avoid upgrading to iOS 13 and iPadOS for now.

Epic Games has warned users that there are “stability concerns” with Apple’s latest betas. Installing them early could mean that you’re no longer able to play the its battle royale game.

Hulu 4K streaming comes back to Apple TV

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Apple TV Siri Remote
Hulu subscribers should seriously consider an Apple TV 4K.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The latest Apple TV is one of just two devices that can stream Hulu programming in 4K. Still, until recently there were none.

Watching Hulu shows in Ultra HD is a feature that was removed last year, but now it’s back for a very limited selection of shows and players, including one of Apple’s.

Sony’s new USB-C hub boasts world’s fastest SD card reader

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Sony MRW-S3 USB-C hub
This USB-C hub can pull data from an SD card faster than any other.
Photo: Sony

Taking aim at professional photographers, Sony Electronics unveiled a USB hub that includes readers for UHS-II SD and microSD cards. There are plenty of hubs that can access memory cards, but the MRW-S3 is faster than any of them.

Sony’s hub also has an HDMI port, plus high-speed USB-A and USB-C ports.

How to get free McDonald’s fries using your iPhone

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McDonald’s Fries
Mmmm, feeling hungry?
Photo: McDonald’s

Tomorrow is National French Fry Day and McDonald’s is celebrating by giving away these golden delicious treats every Friday for the rest of July. The fast-food chain has partnered with Apple Pay on this promotion so you’ll need to make the purchase with your iPhone.

Yes, you can unlock the iPhone with a folio cover. Here’s how.

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Apple didn't invent the Slide to Unlock gesture.
The gesture that started it all.
Photo: Jared Earle/Flickr

One of the best iPad features is the auto-lock/unlock that is triggered when you open and close its cover. Introduced with the iPad 2, smart unlock was revolutionary, in terms of lazy unlocking at least.

But did you know that the iPhone can do the same? If you have an X-series iPhone, and a compatible cover, you can use the same auto sleep/wake feature that iPad users have enjoyed since the iPad 2.

Harry Potter actress joins new Apple comedy series

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Imelda Staunton
Imelda Staunton made our skin crawl as Dolores Umbridge.
Photo: Warner Bros.

Tim Cook’s home state might become the backdrop of one of Apple’s new TV shows for 2020. Or at least, it’s lending its name to it.

In its first comedy co-production with the BBC, Apple has tapped Imelda Staunton to star in a new eight-part series that will also feature Darren Boyd and Phil Davis called Alabama.

New MacBook Pro teardown reveals surprising internal tweaks

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2019-MacBook-Pro-13-teardown
Here’s what’s inside the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Photo: iFixit

iFixit just got its hands on Apple’s newest 13-inch MacBook Pro, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to take a look at what’s inside its svelte aluminum shell.

The new model ships with a Touch Bar, Touch ID, and the Apple T2 Security Chip as standard. It also boasts newer Intel chips that promise up to 83% faster multi-core performance.

But that’s not all you get for your money. There’s a bigger battery inside it, too — plus some other surprising tweaks. And not every change is a good one.

Amazon’s next Echo could challenge HomePod on audio quality

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Apple debuts HomePod in India at its cheapest price yet
An Amazon Echo for audiophiles? Yes please!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Amazon’s Echo is annihilating Apple’s HomePod when it comes to smart speaker sales. But Jeff Bezos’ retail giant clearly knows a great idea when it sees one.

According to a new report, Amazon is developing a new Echo device that will measure up more favorably to Apple’s audiophile HomePod.

Struggling iPhone display-maker secures massive bailout

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Apple display maker exec fired for embezzling millions of dollars
Japan Display makes the LCD screens for the iPhone XR.
Photo: Kristal Chan/Cult of Mac

Struggling Apple display-maker Japan Display has successfully secured bailout funding of 80 billion yen ($738 million).

The funding comes from Chinese investment firm Harvest Group and Hong Kong-based Oasis Management. It was previously reported that Apple would be part of this bailout package — to the tune of $100 million.

Big Mac updates! This week on The CultCast

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CultCast 396
It's a great time to buy a MacBook.

This week on The CultCast: Big Mac updates! Apple just refreshed the MacBook Air (and dropped the price), and supercharged the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Plus: A new report says Apple will finally update the butterfly keyboard with a design we were all hoping for. And we wrap with a true story that could save you thousands: How neglecting the batteries in your tech could cost you big-time

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain..

Tesla wants Apple’s help in solving IP theft

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Tesla
Tesla and Apple have something in common.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tesla and Apple have previously engaged in a sort of cold war over next-gen car technologies. However, Elon Musk’s automotive company is now seeking help from Apple — to catch a suspected thief.

The issue involves a lawsuit put forward by Tesla against a former employee, who jumped ship to a Chinese rival while in possession of Tesla secrets. Apple has faced a similar problem in the past.

Apple Park is one of Earth’s most valuable buildings

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Want to buy Apple Park? It'll cost you in the vicinity of $4.17 billion.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple Park is one of the most impressive corporate headquarters in the world — and that don’t come cheap.

In fact, it’s one of the most valuable buildings on Earth. A recent assessment for property tax by Santa Clara County lists Apple’s circular HQ at $3.6 billion. This is based on a detailed appraisal of the building. Including its contents, it’s valued at $4.17 billion.

Dive into a vast library of books, audiobooks and more, straight from your iPhone [Deals]

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Scribd
Save 25% or more on 6 month and year-long access to a million books, audiobooks, articles, and more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Disappearing DVD collections are just one example of how streaming content is transforming our home libraries. So it seems only natural that an online subscription service will replace the books and magazines that take up shelf space.

India might steal iPhone production from China

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
Foxconn will make all three of these 2018 iPhone models in India for the first time.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly significantly increasing iPhone production in India. Rather than just making low-end handsets, the latest top-tier models will be manufactured and sold there.

These will be less expensive than imported units and might improve Apple’s sales in this huge potential market.

Intel chip shortages put a crimp in Mac sales

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Intel Core processor
Not enough Intel Core processors is the reason Apple can’t meet demand for its computers.
Photo: Intel Corporation

Intel continues to struggle to provide enough processors to meet demand from PC makers, and one of the victims was Apple. This is likely the cause for a slight drop in Mac shipments during the second quarter of this year.

Original Apple-1 manual sells for almost $13,000

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A page from the original Apple-1 documentation.
This original Apple-1 user manual is slightly stained but it’s still worth quite a bit.
Photo: RR Auction

Bidding was apparently hot and heavy for a computer manual for the Apple-1, this company’s very first computer. In a multi-day online auction for this rare bit of tech history, the top bid was under $10,000 only a few days ago but in the end the document sold for $12,956.

Real humans listen to what you say to Google Assistant

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Google Home Mini
Your Google Home Mini might not be the only one hearing what you say to it.

When you talk to a Google Home smart speaker, you might have an unsuspected eavesdropper. The company admitted today that it uses humans to review a small percentage of voice interactions.

This is true for all types of voice-control systems, like Amazon Alexa and even Siri. But Apple’s system has some crucial differences.

Hook creates smart connections between documents on Mac

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Hooks, on cranes.
Hooks, on cranes.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Imagine that you’re working on a document on your Mac. At some point, you’ll need to take a look at those emails about the project, or check that photo you snapped of the whiteboard. Maybe you have them all open already, in your perfectly organized workspace. But what about when you come back to that document tomorrow, or next month?

What if you could tap a key, and a panel would pop up, with all those linked documents listed? You could just click on one to open it. That’s what you get with Hook, a new Mac app that links documents together so you never need to go searching for them again.