This week on The CultCast: It’s the best update in years. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about Apple’s very powerful new MacBook Pros. Plus: New Mac minis are on the way; Ming-Chi Kuo confirms Apple’s about to update its entire product line; how coke heads use Apple Watch to maximize their high. Finally, we talk killer whale attacks, port wines and the story of Saturday Night Live’s world-renowned sax player on an all-new What We’re Into.

Worldwide personal computer shipments are finally making a comeback after a six-year slump in sales.

The latest report from Gartner estimates that during the second quarter of 2018 PC shipments finally grew year-over-year for the first time since the first quarter of 2012. With 1.4% overall growth for the market, PC makers have a lot to be happy about, and Apple’s shipment numbers were some of the best in the bunch.

Editor’s note: There’s good evidence that the new MacBook Pro keyboard actually does address the problems experienced by some owners. Read our: Teardown reveals MacBook Pro keyboard is redesigned to prevent keys sticking

People around the world are hoping the new MacBook Pro models introduced today have a keyboard that’s been carefully designed to not have the same sticky keyboard keys as their predecessors. But it didn’t happen.

A company spokesperson says the problem of grit causing the keys to stick in previous macOS laptops was not addressed.

But that’s not necessarily the whole story. It’s possible Apple did fix the problem but doesn’t dare talk about it.

AirPlus is a silicone case for your AirPods’ case, which adds one great feature, as well as several not-so-great ones. With your AirPods inside the case, you can drop it onto any Qi-compatible charging mat and have the AirPods and their battery case charge wirelessly. That’s pretty sweet, but there are downsides too.

Editor’s note: There’s fresh evidence that the new MacBook Pro keyboard actually does address the problems experienced by some owners.

Read our: Teardown reveals MacBook Pro keyboard is redesigned to prevent keys sticking

The MacBook Pro models just introduced include faster processors and better displays, but the most important new feature might be the keyboard. This has been redesigned, hopefully to fix serious problems that plagued earlier versions.

The “butterfly” keyboard in MacBook Pro models since 2016 have sparked a well-publicized recall petition and multiple lawsuits. This makes the reliability of the keyboard in the new devices a critical matter.

Alongside its fancy new MacBook Pros, Apple is new selling a fancy new external GPU for anyone who needs extra graphics processing power for their MacBook.

Created in partnership with film and broadcast company Blackmagic, the Blackmagic eGPU is a $699 powerhouse standalone unit that comprises an MD Radeon Pro 580 graphics card with 8GB of DDR5 RAM.

Apple just updated its MacBook Pro line, ramping up performance and adding various advanced features. Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing VP, calls the new Apple laptops “the fastest and most powerful notebook we’ve ever made.”

The new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models boast 8th-generation “Coffee Lake” Intel Core processors, with 6-core CPUs in the 15-inch model and quad-core CPUs on the 13-inch model.

Siri has plenty of problems, but it just got one more: a lawsuit claiming Apple’s technology is infringing on patents belonging to another company.

The company in question, Advanced Voice Recognition Systems, is suing Apple for infringing on its previously held patent “Speech Recognition and Transcription Among Users Having Heterogeneous Protocols.”

Apple’s allegedly offending products include *deep breath* the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, HomePod, and Apple TV. Everything that runs Siri, basically!

Tricky text situations:

• You typed a block of text, and it’s all in capital letters because you left the CAPS LOCK on.
• You copy a URL and it’s a mess, like this: http%3A%2F%2F
• You want to capitalize/de-capitalize text, adding or removing title case.

It’s easy to just do this by hand, if time consuming, but now there’s a better way, on iOS at least. Check out Chris Hannahs’s Text Case.

Parents, worried their iPhone-carrying kids are addicted to their screens, likely rejoiced when iOS 12 was announced with a new feature that monitors screen time and allows users to set time limits.

Childless yet eager to test the feature, New York Times tech reporter Brian X. Chen borrowed a kid from an editor for a near-month-long test run of Screen Time – and it worked.