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Best List: These ‘social’ headphones let you share your music [Review]

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Wearhaus Arc Headphones
The Wearhaus Arc headphones are the first 'social' headphones that allow music sharing between headsets.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: Wearhaus’ Arc ‘social’ headphones

Wearing headphones tends to cut you off from the world, but Wearhaus’ Arc headphones are more sociable.

The wireless Arc headphones allow multiple headsets to stream audio from the same source. Think silent disco, watching a movie together, or sharing tunes with your BFF.

Sonos Playbase home theater speaker is skinny but can make a noise [Review]

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Sonos Playbase home theater speaker
The new Playbase home theater speaker from Sonos is slim but packs a punch.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: Playbase home theater speaker by Sonos

As TVs get flatter, their sound gets worse. Enter Sonos’ latest home theater speaker, the $699 Playbase, a thin and flat home theater/streaming music system designed to sit underneath your TV.

Like the TV above it, the Playbase is thin, but it packs a significant punch. Resembling a pizza box with rounded corners, it features 10 speakers, including a muscular built-in subwoofer, and it can make quite a noise. In fact, it sounds fantastic.

The Playbase is louder and punchier than Sonos’ current home-theater speaker, the Playbar, and a lot more unobtrusive. You don’t really notice it’s there, until it starts shaking the room.

Weird and wacky Apple gadgets that time forgot, on The CultCast

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Apple TimeBand: great-great-grandfather of the Apple Watch.
Apple TimeBand: great-great-grandfather of the Apple Watch.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: The weird and wacky Apple products Cupertino hopes you’ve forgotten! Well, we haven’t, Tim. Plus: The best new features in iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4; rumor mills say Apple might resurrect the PowerBook; iPhone 8 rumors point to a backside Touch ID sensor; and the inspirations for Steve Jobs’ best one-liners.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.

Pay what you want for a dozen premium Mac apps [Deals]

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Name your price for this bundle of twelve productivity-boosting apps.
Name your price for this bundle of twelve productivity-boosting apps.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Our Macs come out of the box full of capabilities, but there’s a lot more they can do. That means having the right apps. The 2017 Superstar Mac Bundle, containing a dozen apps, will add a wide variety of super useful features to your Mac. It includes apps for visual editing and blogging, trading stocks and taking more effective notes, to name just a few. The best part? Right now you can get the 2017 Superstar Mac Bundle for whatever you’re willing to pay.

Affordable first drones and the perfect minimalist camera strap, this week on The CultCast

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Affordable first drones and our favorite gadgets on The CultCast!
Affordable first drones and our favorite gadgets on The CultCast!
Photo: 3DR

This week on The CultCast: Astounding facts and figures from Apple’s newest earnings report; Nintendo promises a bunch of new iOS games; how to get the best deal in cloud storage; affordable options for your first drone; the perfect minimalist strap for your mirrorless camera; and we pitch you our favorite gadgets in an all-new Fave N Raves!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.

Stylish headphone stand kills clutter dead [Reviews]

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Just Mobile Headset Stand
A clean and elegant addition to your desk, Just Mobile's HeadStand Avant is a must-have.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: Just Mobile HeadStand Avant

If you’re one of those folks who wants a designated spot to store a favorite pair of headphones, you are (oddly enough) not alone.

For about $40, Just Mobile makes a beautiful and functional space-saving stand to hang those cans, avoiding additional clutter to one’s workspace, studio or nightstand. The stand itself is sleek and minimal adding a stylish solution to storing and displaying headphones.

This smartphone tripod folds down to credit card size [Deals]

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This tripod is solid, versatile, and folds up to the size of a credit card.
This tripod is solid, versatile, and folds up to the size of a credit card.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

To take great pictures, even with your smartphone, you need a tripod. Here’s a tripod for your smartphone fits in your wallet. Pocket Tripod PRO is a cleverly engineered, versatile platform for your mobile that folds into the size of a credit card. It’ll make for a huge leap in your phonetography that won’t put a dent in your pocketbook. Right now you can pre-order a Pocket Tripod PRO for just $19.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

These earbuds look cooler and cost less than AirPods [Deals]

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These earbuds are more affordable and frankly just cooler looking than a set of Apple AirPods.
These earbuds are more affordable and frankly just cooler looking than a set of Apple AirPods.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

As wireless Bluetooth earbuds become the norm, Apple’s expensive, stormtrooper earing-looking buds look less appealing. Instead of AirPods, consider AirBeans — they’re a high quality, noise-canceling, more affordable, and honestly just cooler looking set of buds. Right now you can get a set of AirBeans for $69.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Finally, a holiday gift guide you actually care about [Deals]

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GG - Mainframe
Beats by Dre, UE ROLL 2, and lots of Mac amenities make for some very happy holidays.

The people on your holiday shopping list deserve cutting-edge gifts. That’s why you won’t find ugly sweaters or gifts that are actually meant for pets not people in the Cult of Mac gift guide.

Loaded with tech gift ideas for Apple fans, this handy guide will make you the best gift-giver in the family for once.

Why Apple’s done chasing hit products, this week on The CultCast

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Waiting for Apple's next big thing?  It may be a while.
Waiting for Apple's next big thing? It may be a while.
Photo: iDownloadBlog

This week on The CultCast: Why Apple’s done pursuing the “new hit product business.” Plus: The demise of Pebble Watch is a bad omen for wearables; Foxconn secretly prepares to make more Apple products in the United States; and we remember our favorite movies of 2016!

Our thanks to Harry’s for supporting this episode. Harry’s super-sharp, German-made razors ship right to your door for way less than drugstore razors, and you can use code CultCast at checkout to score $5 off your order at Harrys.com.

Get lifelong cloud storage for less than a hard drive [Deals]

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Get a lifetime of secure and convenient cloud storage to round out your data backup.
Get a lifetime of secure and convenient cloud storage to round out your data backup.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

It is not practical (or all that smart) to keep all your data on a single device. Even external hard drives can give up the ghost before you’ve backed the up, making cloud storage a necessary part of any sensible data plan. Cloud storage can usually be pretty expensive, but pCloud is offering a deal that’s tough to refuse. Right now you can get half a terabyte of cloud storage for life for $59.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Best List: Shure MV51 is a tough, versatile microphone for iPhone field recordings [Review]

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Shure MV51 microphone
Shure's MV51 microphone is MFi-certified and great for recording with an iPhone or iPad.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Best List: MV51 microphone by Shure

Looking like something Elvis Presley would rock, the Shure MV51 is a handsome, retro-styled microphone well-suited to podcasting with an iPad or iPhone. Sturdy and portable, I find it great for recording on the go. It’s small enough to throw into a jacket pocket and, because it’s made of all metal, it’s nigh indestructible.

Paired with an iPhone and Shure’s well-designed recording app, it’s a lot more compact than most podcasting rigs, and versatile enough for most recording situations. Best of all, the audio it captures sounds great.

Why the masses are mad about MacBook Pro, this week on The CultCast

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The reviews are in on Apple's new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar...
The reviews are in on Apple's new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar...
Photo: @YSR50

This week on The CultCast: Get out your pitchforks — we’ll tell you why a lot of folks are very unhappy with the new MacBook Pros. Plus, we compare the MacBook Pro’s performance to older models and similarly priced machines; Apple calls it quits on external displays; and the end of an era — one of Mac’s most iconic features gets retired.

Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them. Learn why and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast.

What the Xiaomi Mi Mix could tell us about the next iPhone

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Mi-Max-display
Mi Mix is easily the prettiest smartphone to date.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s incredible new Mi Mix smartphone brings a jaw-dropping “edgeless” display, a ceramic design and groundbreaking new technologies.

Unveiled today, it isn’t just the prettiest smartphone of 2016; it’s the prettiest smartphone to date.

The Mi Mix is not an iPhone clone — something Xiaomi has become famous for — but it could tell us a lot about Apple’s next handset.

Steve Jobs’ yacht designer created Xiaomi’s insane new concept phone

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xiaomi-mi-mix
Xiaomi's latest smartphone is a stunner.
Photo: Xiaomi

The Mi Mix, an intriguing new concept phone from Xiaomi, offers an edgeless 6.4-inch display in a form factor no bigger than a regular 5.7-inch handset.

The feature-packed new smartphone was designed in partnership with French designer Philippe Starck, who is perhaps most familiar to Cult of Mac readers as the man who designed Steve Jobs’ high-tech yacht.

This pillow is sleep-inducing music to your ears [Review]

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Dreampad is a pillow that joins forces with your iPhones to help you sleep.
Dreampad is a pillow that joins forces with your iPhones to help you sleep.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

A good night’s sleep could start with a good pillow. But the part of our bed designed to rest our head doesn’t do anything to shut it off.

But what if it could?

The Dreampad along with an iPhone app promises to do just that. The firm and fluffy pillow uses a patented technology that delivers relaxing music through the pillow that can be heard only by you and not the sleeper next to you.

This contraption makes bottled beer drink like draft [Review]

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Beer
Mix technology and beer without worrying thanks to Fizzics.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Technology and alcohol don’t usually mix. It normally results in lost iPhones or inebriated calls to an ex. But, I might make an exception for the Fizzics Draft Beer System.

Fizzics is designed to enhance the flavor and aroma of any bottle, can or even 64 oz. growler you place inside. Without the use of any CO2 or nitrogen cartridges, the boozy contraption aims to give you the fresh from the tap experience by using sound technology. But, does it work?

I gladly took on the challenge to try out the Fizzics and put it to the test. Check out the review below.

Revamped iPads and next-era Apple tech, this week on The CultCast

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Apple's bold vision of future tech inches closer to reality.
Apple's bold vision of future tech inches closer to reality.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: Revamped iPads coming this spring; Apple lays the groundwork for the next era of personal technology; how smart homes get hacked; Google’s Pixel phone versus iPhone 7; and we reveal our favorite new iOS and Mac apps!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to build a website that looks beautiful on any device that visits at Squarespace.com. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off.

Hissgate: iPhone 7 Plus emits strange noise when under heavy load

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iphone 7
Apple rode the iPhone 7 Plus' wave into 2017.
Photo: Apple

The first crisis to hit the iPhone 7 Plus is already here, and this time it could be a lot more annoying than Bendgate and Antennagate.

Some iPhone 7 Plus owners are reporting that Apple’s new devices emit a strange hissing noise when performing processor-intensive tasks. And no one is sure what’s causing it.

Hear it for yourself:

From style to utility, we’ve got the iPhone cases you’re looking for [Deals]

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ZeroLemon Slim Juicer Battery Case
The Slim Juicer protects your phone and adds 3,100mAh of extra charge (without extra bulk).
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

We enjoy our iPhones for different reasons — the many uses, the stylish design. One thing we all want though is to make sure our prized device is protected, which is why we’ve gathered this diverse collection of cases. From a tough case that doubles battery life, to a case that will adhere to nearly any surface, and a pair of stylish wallet/case combos, there’s something for any iPhone user. Take a look:

It’s time to seize control of your digital media libraries with MacX [Deals]

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Convert and transfer media file types of all kinds to basically any device.
Convert and transfer media file types of all kinds to basically any device.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When you buy or download a digital video, it’s easy to imagine that you can get it to work on any screen you like, whether your Mac or PC, phone, tablet, etc. Unfortunately that’s just not how it works, with conflicting video and audio formats that might work in one context but not another. It’s an issue that this duo of MacX apps — MediaTrans and Video Converter Pro — solves offering conversion and transfer options for any audiovisual file type. And right now, you can get both for $29.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Windows apps on Mac? It’s easier and cheaper than you think [Deals]

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Run Windows apps on your Mac without having to get a computer science degree.
Run Windows apps on your Mac without having to get a computer science degree.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you ever thought about running an old PC app, you’ve learned it can be an involved and often frustrating task to use Windows software on a Mac. CrossOver takes the headache out of running your favorite Windows apps and Games on Mac or Linux machines. Right now you can get CrossOver’s latest version for $19.99.