★★★★☆
New Apple TV+ documentary Sidney tells the story of the great actor and activist Sidney Poitier. Filmed just before his death in January 2022, the film delivers a gripping, first-person chronicle of a man discovering himself, finding his talent, and divining the character of the country he called home.
Irreplaceable guests like Greg Tate, Spike Lee and Harry Belafonte join Poitier to recount his life and times in the excellent Sidney, from director Reginald Hudlin and producer Oprah Winfrey.
Simple. Elegant. These are the best words to describe the Speidel Royal English Leather Apple Watch Band. Supple black leather matches the style of Apple’s wearable, while adding a luxurious feel.
And it’s surprisingly affordable, given the quality of this band.
★★★★☆
Is it worth buying a full-size camera these days? The reasons to do so grow smaller and smaller as smartphone cameras get better and better. It’s getting to the point where you have to spend a thousand dollars or more for a full-frame camera to take noticeably better pictures than your iPhone.
Even then, a dedicated camera still won’t automatically sync your pictures to iCloud and might not tag your pictures with location data. And then you have to buy lenses — and full-size camera lenses are expensive.
What if, instead of buying a different camera, you could add lenses and accessories for your iPhone that fill in the missing gaps? You could get the same versatility with the same convenience.
★★★★☆
The Leather Apple AirTag Cat Collar from Nine Twenty Eight gives you some peace of mind that you’ll be able to find your pet if she ever sneaks outside your home. And it’s well-made and looks good, whatever color you choose.
I tried the tracking collar on my own fuzzy friend. Here’s what it’s like in real-world use.
The first reviews of the Apple Watch Ultra praise the rugged smartwatch’s large display, its new Action button and its longer battery life. But a debate brews about whether the wearable is too big — there seems to be no agreement on this.
Anyone considering whether Apple’s sports-oriented smartwatch is right for them should read on. As the reviewers point out, this isn’t just for fans of outdoor adventure.
★★★★☆
Whether or not you took the plunge and upgraded to a new Apple Watch Series 8 or SE, you can partake of something more affordable if you own any model of the wearable — Apple’s new lower-end Apple Watch bands. I picked up the new Apple Midnight Sport Loop for my Apple Watch Series 6.
I like the new band. But I found it interesting to compare it to third-party versions of similar quality that go for a lot less money.
★★★★☆
Bad Sisters takes a look at John Paul’s mental health in a particularly solid episode of the murderously funny Apple TV+ hit. The series, about a family covering up a murder in the present — and trying to commit it in the past — takes a madcap turn this week.
Bibi is mad with grief, Grace is a broken woman, Roger’s going to jail and Becka’s falling in love. Plus, we get the funniest scene of the season. A fine showing from the cast helps this week’s episode get a good head of steam going in time for a great final sequence of dark slapstick.
★★☆☆☆
War seems inevitable on this week’s episode of See, the Apple TV+ show about a world that lost its sight and its mind. Harlan gets closer to divining the nature of the explosive coup being plotted in Trivantes, and deposed queen Sibeth Kane is in the wind and shacking up with a serpent.
Baba Voss and his family go looking for trouble, and there are vendettas aplenty that need settling. All in all, it stands as a decent episode that exhibits few of the show’s worst habits.
★★★★☆
Five Days at Memorial, the riveting Apple TV+ drama about a hospital staff enduring Hurricane Katrina’s wrath — and the aftermath of their decisions under pressure and hellish conditions — comes to a close this week.
In the miniseries finale, entitled “Reckoning,” Dr. Anna Pou may or may not be put on trial for murder. And investigators Arthur “Butch” Schafer and Virginia Rider come up against the limitations of justice when a city’s future is on trial.
This tremendous series ends on a cloud of doubt, with the promise of lives lived in suffering and uncertainty.
The first reviews of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max praise the replacement for the screen notch and the always-on display. Most are unimpressed with the 48-megapixel camera, though.
Some early feedback from reviewers on Apple’s newest top-tier handsets might help you decide if you want to upgrade.
★★★★☆
The Mophie Powerstation Pro boasts 20,000 mAh of power and dual USB-C ports to quickly deliver it to a MacBook or other computer at up to 45W.
I put this hefty power bank through real-world testing with my Apple devices. He’s how it stood up.
★★★★☆
It’s Bibi Garvey’s time to shine this week on Bad Sisters, Apple TV+’s dark, depraved and hilarious comedy. She deals with the insurance investigators and hatches a new plan to kill the Garvey sisters’ brutish brother-in-law John Paul. But is she the crack shot she remembers?
Bibi and Eva both must overcome personal trauma to make it to their next appointment with death, while Grace starts to crumble as nothing in her life goes even remotely well. This week’s fine episode flirts with hitting risky subtextual bull’s-eyes.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ drama Five Days at Memorial, about the terrifying conditions inside a hospital after Hurricane Katrina, furthers its investigation into the actions taken by medical professionals in the wake of the disaster.
Investigators Rider and Schafer finally get inside Memorial Medical Center to survey the horrors waiting for them. And beleaguered doctor Anna Pou strengthens her defenses in preparation for a landslide. Bryant and Kristy get to tell their sides of the story, and the cuffs finally come out.
It’s a very fine episode of this miniseries as the show winds down.
★★☆☆☆
This week’s See finds everyone taking stock of their miserable situations before the inevitable next course of action. The Apple TV+ dystopian sci-fi epic about a world where most people lost their sight generations ago is getting ready for war.
Sibeth is missing, Baba is back, Maghra finally sees the light, Tamacti Jun is at his wit’s end, and Kofun steps up.
★☆☆☆☆
Central Park returns to Apple TV+ on Friday with more singing, dancing, rapid-fire jokes that aren’t funny and plots that go nowhere.
The third season of the cartoon from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, star Josh Gad and writer Nora Smith does the usual spinning in extravagant circles without gaining any momentum. And unfortunately, the songs don’t forward the plot, such as it is.
☆☆☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s Gutsy, a deeply cynical PR stunt from former first lady Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea, attempts to preach to a very specific choir while celebrating everything human about someone who at this point couldn’t be less relatable to the American public.
Gutsy is an expensive, self-aggrandizing road trip shared by women who were never really like the rest of us and now never will be. The series, which premiered Friday on Apple TV+, is replete with jaw-dropping guest stars, rehearsed banter, and about as much “fun” as an orientation day skit at college.
Basically, Gutsy is the unappealing answer to the question, “What do you give the woman who has everything?”
★★★☆☆
EarFun has been putting out affordable audio gear since 2018. It released its latest active noise cancelling (ANC) wireless earbuds, EarFun Air S, in June. The company recently sent me a pair to try out.
The name of the game here is value. Like some of the company’s other earbuds, Air S offers quality sound and features found in more expensive earbuds. But the product is not without a few drawbacks, which I’ll describe below.
Note that if you want to give these a try and buy on Amazon by September 12, you get a discount plus a coupon that bring the regular price of $69.99 down to $56.41, EarFun said.
★★★★☆
The PowerA Moga XP5-i Plus has the same basic design as an Xbox controller, but with a focus on Apple devices. Put your iPhone in the adjustable mount, or remove the mount for iPad or Apple TV gaming.
It stands out from the crowd with a built-in battery for recharging your handset while you play. Plus, PowerA added a couple of useful extra buttons.
I’ve enjoyed gaming on the Moga XP5-i Plus for a few weeks now. Here’s why.
★★★★☆
Five Days at Memorial looks back at the events of horrifying devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in this week’s episode.
The Apple TV+ show about the terrible deaths of patients left behind after a hospital’s evacuation finally turns its sights on the investigation and trial that followed. As investigators try to work through the impossible situation that lead to the deaths of 45 patients, the show slackens its lead a little now that the “worst” is over. But of course, the ordeal of Memorial is nowhere near finished.
★★☆☆☆
Baba Voss returns to civilization after a short-lived exile on this week’s episode of See, the Apple TV+ show about a world in the future where everyone on earth has gone blind.
Our hero Baba Voss (played by Jason Momoa) is trying to raise the alarm about explosives — but no one wants to hear it. Plus, his adopted sun Kofun is still shaky on the needs of fatherhood, and Baba’s wife Queen Maghra is between a rock and a hard place. Maghra’s sister, deposed queen Sibeth Kane, may have run out of ways to stay alive.
It’s a silly episode from start to finish — even if you manage to see what’s happening amid all the murky on-screen action.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ hit dark comedy Bad Sisters takes us through Becka’s motive for a murder this week. In the devilishly good series about the murder of a selfish bastard, we flash back to witness the fourth sister’s experience with bad brother-in-law John Paul — and the dispiriting effect it had on all of Garveys.
Meanwhile, in the present, Becka deals with her complicated romantic entanglement with the man trying to bring her and her sisters down. Elsewhere, Eva gets serious with Gabriel, Ursula runs out of options, and JP finds a new target in a truly stellar episode.
★★☆☆☆
Dreary Apple TV+ series Surface — about a woman who can’t remember her life, and the trouble her condition causes everyone around her — wraps up with a new set of twists and turns and an unrelated mystery.
Despite trying to make it seem like Sophie has finally done something for herself, the particulars and the ambition don’t bear this out. Surface ends by starting from the beginning, having apparently decided its central mystery isn’t interesting enough.
I could have told them that after episode one.
★★☆☆☆
At long last, the third season of Apple TV+ family comedy Trying comes to a conclusion this week. Nikki and Jason must fight for their adopted kids in court — but first they’ve got a wedding to plan. Indeed, the whole gang comes together to help them plan their last-minute nuptials.
The fate of their happiness hangs in the balance. And, against all odds, the Trying cast and writers overcome their worst tendencies to put together the only good episode of this show that has yet aired. Mind you, I still don’t want any more of this. Trying will come back for its fourth season, which puts a knot in my stomach but at least season three went out with a bang.
★★★★★
The Wemo Smart Dimmer with Thread is a new version of Belkin’s HomeKit-compatible wall switch. It can be controlled with the press of a finger or from anywhere – across the room or across the country.
Putting “with Thread” in the name isn’t some odd reference to sewing. The switch uses a new form of mesh networking to provide fast, reliable connections to your home-automation system.
I was able to install the latest Wemo Smart Dimmer in my home because it doesn’t require a neutral wire. Here’s what it’s like to use everyday.
Life is all about what you make of it. Or at least that’s how the saying goes, I guess. This week, we have an app that helps you make the most of your time, an app to help document it, and an app for the times in between. As usual, if you have something you want us to check out for a future Awesome Apps post, be sure to email your suggestion or tweet them over!