If you are overstraining your brain trying to come up with the right gift for an iPhone fan, consider a clip-on game controller. Mobile gamers can appreciate that physical buttons, sticks and triggers make play a lot more fun for many types of games.
I’ve reviewed all the top iPhone game controllers. Here are my recommendations.
★★☆☆☆
It’s dueling dinner parties on this week’s episode of Apple TV+ culture clash comedy Acapulco. Memo is under investigation, Chad is under suspicion, Julia’s jealous, Esteban’s nervous, Sara’s drunk, Hector’s in lust, and — as usual — Maximo’s in the middle.
It’s an agreeably hectic week on the show, which doesn’t seem sure how to proceed with its more- serious ideas. As a result, Acapulco relies on an old-hat sitcom formula instead.
★★★★☆
Mythic Quest goes Hollywood this week as Jo sits down with actor Joe Manganiello to discuss a role in the upcoming Mythic Quest movie.
Also, Dana and Ian go on an accidentally soul-searching trip, while Poppy looks for support around the office. And when Carol takes a personal day, that leaves Brad free to do as he pleases (and once more potentially ruin the game).
It’s a decent episode of Apple TV+’s gamer comedy — with one showstopper of a scene.
★★☆☆☆
New Apple TV+ series Echo 3 follows two very different military men who venture to South America to rescue a mutual loved one during a clandestine war.
Written and produced by Mark Boal, the mind behind Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker, the series is deeply strange, if certainly memorable. And it shows Apple TV+ heading in a new, possibly suspect, direction.
★★★★☆
The Chinese company Edifier has been putting out affordable high-quality audio equipment for more than 25 years. I often find it hits the “high-value” button with many of its products, offering great sound and solid features at relatively low prices. The company seems to stake out that same territory with its W820NB ANC Bluetooth Stereo Headphones.
Edifier sent me a pair of the cans to try out. While they’re not likely to blow anybody away, they get the job done well, with quality sound, strong active noise cancellation and long battery life.
If you want good sound at a good price, they could be for you. But if you’re an exacting audiophile or on the hunt for luxury appointments, look elsewhere.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there’s a good chance you’ll have some down time on the way. Whether you’re planning a trip to see family, doing some shopping, or just want to flex your Apple knowledge, this week we have some Awesome Apps to infuse some tech into your holiday week.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+’s Mosquito Coast finds sanctuary at long last this week, but is it everything it appears to be? The Foxes are still learning hard lessons the hard way, surrounded at once by people who are like them and not — and who know their place, unlike the Foxes.
Dina, Margot and Charlie have their doubts about their new home but Allie is all in, and he’s going to make sure they know how he feels. A hefty new complication rears its head in a tense episode of the thriller series about a family on the lam.
★★★☆☆
In this week’s edition of Apple TV+ limited series Shantaram, Lin recovers from cholera with Karla’s help, and she’s discovering she isn’t the moral person she’d been hoping she was deep down. Shah and Khan go to war over water, Prabhu gets a win, Ravi makes a chilling discovery, and Lisa and Modena have an ultimatum or two in front of them.
As the show enters its back half, Shantaram’s becoming a very agreeable place to hang — even with all the bad people hanging around.
★★★★★
It’s girlboss brunch time on this week’s Mythic Quest, the Apple TV+ show about the overworked, undervalued and confused team of executives and developers who keep a gaming company afloat. Jo, Poppy and Rachel go to brunch together and make some discoveries about themselves and each other.
Meanwhile, Ian and Dana search for inspiration in the desert. David gets excited because a Mythic Quest movie might be in the works, even though everyone and everything is screaming at him that it’s a bad idea. Also, Brad might not be the changed man he appears to be.
★☆☆☆☆
Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco, about an old millionaire reminiscing about his early life as a wage slave at a popular resort in the ’80s, takes two trips down memory lane this week. Diane relives her glory days before Las Colinas, while Maximo remembers a moral dilemma that cost him and rewarded him in equal measure.
There’s a party at the resort, and all the ghosts of Diane’s past are invited in an unfortunately middling episode.
★★★★☆
Interrupting Chicken, the new Apple TV+ children’s show about a family of chickens who get lost in the power of books and storytelling, is a winning combination of beautiful animation, good voice acting, and charming and warm-hearted stories.
Based on the Caldecott Medal-winning book series of the same name, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein, it’s another solid entry in Apple’s growing catalog of kids shows.
☆☆☆☆☆
Spirited, the Apple TV+ musical comedy remake of A Christmas Carol, is a depressingly literal, overly sarcastic and nightmarishly unfunny look at the lives of the people who work from beyond the grave to make Christmas cheer.
In the film, which hits the streaming service today, Will Ferrell plays a spirit who’s lost his mojo when he meets a man who’s more persuasive than he is. The laughs never start and the songs never stop in this gaudy waste of money and talent.
In the 40-odd years that the Mac has been on the market, very few people have actually used all of Apple’s keyboards. I haven’t either, but I’ve come close. Here is my review of every Apple keyboard I’ve got my hands on — ranked from worst to best.
★★★★☆
There’s something especially convenient about having a multi-device charging station on your nightstand. Or you could place at the edge of your desk or on a table by the front door. It’s a place you can charge your iPhone, AirPods charging case and Apple Watch all at once if need be.
Ugreen sent me its version to test out, the 3-in-1 MagSafe Wireless Charging Station. It’s a good charger for most people — especially because it’s MFi-certified for MagSafe. That means you get a full 15 watts for MagSafe iPhones and 5W apiece for an AirPods charging case and Apple Watch.
But the device isn’t without minor drawbacks.
★★★☆☆
There’s a cholera outbreak this week on Apple TV+ epic Shantaram, and impostor doctor Lin Ford finds himself in the thick of it. If he saves lives, he’ll become a hero. If he doesn’t, he’ll be a pariah.
Meanwhile, Lisa and Karla make business arrangements that threaten relationships with the people closest to them. Abdullah gives Maurizio an ultimatum, Khan gives the competition a scare, and Lin must make some very hard choices.
It’s another gripping episode of the Bombay-set thriller.
★★★☆☆
Candy-colored Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco takes stock of its situation on an eventful trip to the city this week. Sara is sleeping at Las Colinas illegally, and her mother Nora still wants to put the fear of god into her. Meanwhile, Memo’s feeling down and Maximo’s solution just makes things worse. Also, Chad wants to dance, and Don Pablo wants out.
Acapulco goes through a few ups and downs this week as the creative team takes a few risks, and the writers fall back on bad habits.
★★★★☆
This week on Apple TV+ thriller The Mosquito Coast, the Fox family’s boat suffers some serious damage but the show itself refuses to run aground.
Allie suffers a bad bug bite that takes him out of the equation when they need him most. Plus, Charlie finally comes clean about his guilt, and Dina starts being honest with herself. It’s an excellent episode with all the tension and beauty you could hope for.
★★★★☆
Mythic Quest — the Apple TV+ sitcom about the world’s most popular role-playing video game company and the kooks who staff it — returns today for a third season of behind-the-scenes insanity and power plays.
Poppy and Ian are nearly at each other’s throats working together at their new company. And David and Carol are panicking now that they have no idea what to do with Mythic Quest.
★★★★☆
It’s happened to all of us. Your iPhone battery is on empty and there are plenty of chargers around but no Lightning cable. The same thing can happen with a iPad and even a Mac. The inCharge X from Rolling Square is just what you need. It’s tiny enough for you to take it everywhere, but adaptable enough to enable almost any type of Apple device to get power from almost any charger.
Rolling Square also makes inCharge X Max, which is just as flexible but with a 5-foot cable built in.
I tested both. Here’s why I think they’re brilliant.
★★★☆☆
Apple TV+ ’80s comedy Acapulco has romance on the brain this week. Maximo and Julia have to talk, Hector and Don Pablo are feeling unloved by Diane, Memo’s love is over and blooming at once, and Sara is heartbroken but she ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
A strong episode of the tacky comedy reveals some important things about the limits of a show like this, how formula and reality don’t always match, and how much you can get away with in a comedy. It’s a fascinating, frustrating study in the state of the sitcom.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ show Mosquito Coast returns Friday with more under-the-radar thrills. Based on the book by Paul Theroux and starring his nephew Justin as wanted criminal and escape artist Allie Fox, Mosquito Coast is about the many little compromises we make on our way to what we hope is a better life.
In the season two opener, Allie and his wife Margot reminisce about their past lives for their children Dina and Charlie, finally explaining why they’ve been living their lives on the run this whole time. And one telling lie means they’re still not really ready to be honest. It’s a solid return to form after last year’s stellar season finale.
★★★☆☆
This week on Apple TV+ drama/thriller Shantaram, it’s all about escapes. Lin knows a story about his medical work will bring his flight from justice to the attention of the authorities, so it’s time to leave Bombay.
Meanwhile, Prabhu and Parvati want to marry in secret before her parents can prevent it. Lisa discovers Modena is still up to his old tricks, and now she wants out of their new arrangement. And just when Lin is in line for a fake passport, a whole new situation arises that threatens his freedom. It’s a suitably tense time.
★★★☆☆
In new Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, we take a trip into the center of the pop star’s world to discover her journey has been nothing but hardship surrounded by impossible highs, which makes coping with her fame something like a near-impossibility.
Narrated by Gomez herself and directed by Alek Keshishian (Madonna: Truth or Dare), this revealing, well-intentioned and often quite beautiful documentary gets us inside of her turmoil and the whirlwind of both her fame and her illness. It’s important for people to know that being America’s sweetheart is no picnic, and that the machinery of fame is parasitic and unyielding. Hopefully, someone, somewhere will pull the brakes on throwing kids into the show business maelstrom.
★★★☆☆
Depressive drama Causeway, which stars Jennifer Lawrence as a recovering Afghanistan war veteran trapped in her hometown, marks the latest collaboration between indie film company A24 and Apple TV+.
Lawrence, dipping her toe back into being a movie star following last year’s Don’t Look Up, returns to her roots in the film, which premieres Friday on Apple TV+. Causeway hits a lot of expected Sundance/indie movie beats but finds grace notes in quieter, less empathic scenes.
★★★★☆
AirFly 2 from Twelve South can wirelessly connect your AirPods to any 3.5mm audio jack. It’s great for airline entertainment systems and gym machines. The new version has a longer battery life, adds new volume controls and costs less than its predecessor.
I tested the wireless audio adapter with AirPods and other headphones, as well as a variety of audio sources. Here’s why I’m quite pleased with it.